Happy Chuseok Everyone

Thank God for Roseanne Arnold

My high school class is by far my favorite...for the simple fact that it is a small class, the students are the most respectful, and they know the most English. (One day I printed out Green Day lyrics, and we just talked about them) Usually I'm up for a challenge, but after a entire day of kids screaming, saying Bye-Bye as soon as I enter the room, barely understanding a word I say, and probably talking in Korean to each other about me behind my back, it's very refreshing.

So in my high school class today, we talked about their upcoming harvest celebration Chuseok and compared it to American Thanksgiving. There were many similarities. Both holidays are dedicated to family, food, and giving thanks. They showed me some Korean food, so I returned the favor and told them about American Thanksgiving traditions: turkey, stuffing, football, and family arguments.

There apparently aren't any songs for Chuseok, but as I was searching for youtube videos for our Thanksgiving song We Gather Together, I came across a Thanksgiving special from the TV sitcom Roseanne. Within five minutes, Roseanne was stuffing a turkey, another character was going to the store for some cranberry sauce, John Goodman was practicing football moves in the house wearing a football jersey, and all the characters were complaining about other family members.

After sharing the Roseanne episode with my students, I realized how much of my American culture I simply take for granted. It's so easy to dismiss our holidays as come corporate scheme to keep us shopping compulsively. But even something as simple as a white sweatshirt with a turkey on it (which Roseanne was wearing in the episode) is a cultural artifact. This year, I am not going to be able to celebrate Christmas or Thanksgiving with my extended or even immediate family, It saddens me a little but the fact that I know I will miss it is a quiet reminder of how American I really am.

I also introduced my students to wikipedia, which apparently has not hit Korea yet since they had not heard of it. I amused them when I demonstrated that anyone can edit an entry by changing the word Canada to Korea in a section about Canadian Christmas (before changing it back). It was a great lesson in American internet culture and also the reliability of websites in the English.

For what it's worth, right now--wikipedia says Virginia (at Berkeley Plantation) was the first place where Thanksgiving was celebrated. Who knows what it will say tomorrow!

Cultural Days

Because of my talent and versatile ability to plan adventures in different countries among my close circle of friends here (or perhaps just my tendency to not get too drunk the night before), I have been named the Minister of Culture. We have decided to make Sunday “Cultural Day.”

There is always the risk of Culture Day devolving into the practice of going to a new bar or even an old bar and ordering a new drink, but thankfully we haven’t reached that point yet.

Here are some instances:

A. Chinatown
B. Youngsan
C. Busan
D. Baseball Game
E. Tiger World
F. Wolmido
G. Pentaport Rock Festival

This last Sunday, however, given that half of the group was out of town and the rest of us were pretty tired, “Cultural Day” ended up as one guy and I just ordering a new type of Pizza. Usually we order the Bulgogi pizza (which is beef, corn, and peppers), but this time we decided to switch it up and get one with beef, king crab with a cheddar cheese stuffed crust. We decided not to take our chances with the sweet potato pizza.

I really need to start taking more risks...

A Night in Korea

Here is another video my roommate made.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=RGaac2vL6T0

Granted, this doesn't happen every night..or any night really for me. I tend to be a little more low-key. But I thought it was interesting footage that he spliced together.

Live from the Classroom...Uncensored

One of the ways we teach is to present English conversations for them to study. The book I use includes two main characters (Andy and Euri) who have conversations back and forth such as "Hello Andy." "Hello Euri" Where is your mother today?" "She is at the supermarket." "What will she buy?" "She will buy apples."

Usually the kids have to recite and memorize the conversations; for some classes, however, I have them write their own conversations using the Andy and Euri characters. This gives them an opportunity to think in English and to be creative in the process.

Some days of this exercise are better than others. I probably don't even need to mention that many of my students are better suited for comedy than English study.

Here's a sample:

Andy: Let's go see the gorillas.
Euri:Your face is a gorilla face.
Andy: You're very crazy.
Euri: No, but let's go see the crazy monkeys.
Andy:Shut-up you have a crazy gorilla face!
Euri:False, crazy boy.

Andy: Wow! Look at the gorilla!
Euri: Where?
Andy: Hoho, you're stupid.
Euri: AWW.... Hey, look at the monkey!
Andy: Where?
Euri: Hohoho you too are stupid.
Andy: ...............
Euri: Hoho Bye stupid Andy.

Andy: Let's go see a tiger.
Euri:What?
Andy:What? Let's go see a tiger.
Euri: What?
Andy: You're very very crazy!
Euri: What?
Andy:Go away!
Euri: What?

Andy: Let's go to the zoo!
Euri: No I don't want to. Let's go to the restaurant!
Andy: Hey I don't like restaurants!
Euri: Ok you go to the zoo.
Andy: Ok, goodbye stupid woman.
Euri: Goodbye crazy man.


In an upper level class, I added a third character (the zookeeper) and even gave them a story scenerio (Andy and Euri start to feed the animals and the Zookeeper tells them no). This was also a class that I banned the following overused words: stupid, crazy, childish, childlike, stonehead, and shut-up.

Here's a sample from that class, a dialogue where Andy and Euri actually persuade the zookeeper into letting them feed the animals:

Andy: Let’s go to the zoo!
Euri: Yes! Let’s go.
Andy: What’s your favorite animal?
Euri: I like the elephant.
Andy: Really?
Euri: No. Just Kidding!
Andy: So what is your favorite animal really?
Euri: The desert fox.
Andy: I brought a scorpion. Let’s feed it!
Euri: Ok!
Zookeeper: Stop!!
Andy: Why?
Zookeeper: Because I said so!
Andy: Let’s go to another zoo.
Euri: Ok. Good idea.
Zookeeper: Wait. I’m sorry, you can feed the fox.

The 31 Day Ordeal...

As the unusually long rainy season comes to a close (well almost), the curtian falls upon another unusual occurrence. It was little over a month ago when the Taliban took several Koreans hostage. Since then, it has been a long reoccurring nightmare for the families and for the entire country.

Interestingly enough, the first day I picked up an English newspaper in Korea was the day the hostage situation first began. Since then, I gauged a variety of reactions from South Koreans I talk to daily. Many Koreans I talked to one-on-one blamed the hostages themselves for not listening to the South Korean government (who warned them against going to Afganistan) and causing a national emergency. It’s worth noting that now that the hostages are finally returning home, they are not being treated as heroes. They have had to apologize to their fellow Koreans for how much of a liability they have been for the entire country and perhaps the world

I also witnessed a protest against America at Seoul Station for its misplaced priorities and (in the protestors’ minds) generating the sorts of responses that terrorists resort to all around the world.

Here's a picture from that protest:






But then there was that one unspeakable possibility… to talk and negotiate directly with the Taliban. I first heard this perspective by a high-ranking individual at the school where I work and sort of shrugged it off as if it would never happen. A few weeks later, it became a reality.


Yes South Korea negotiated directly with the Taliban. Some may say that this was giving into the Taliban and empowering a terrorist agenda, but I see it a different way. Believe it or not, the Taliban has to deal with public relations just like any other organization, and after a while it just was not good for their public image to keep these Koreans, while demanding things from the Afghan government, about which the Koreans could do nothing. If you look at what the two actually agreed to (withdrawal of South Korean peacekeeping forces by the end of the year, ban on Christian missionaries, and removal of NGOs in the area), you will find it not much different than what the South Korean government would have done anyway (or so it claims).

The only missing pieces of the puzzles are the rumors circulating around (by the Japanese press and others) that the South Korean government paid a hefty ransom for the return of the hostages.

Wait..it’s raining again….