Sunday, November 18, 2007
Assimilation Begins
First of all, a shout of thanks out for all of the nice e-mails.... I was never having a terrible time here I was just going through a period of homesickness. It is getting better again though. I think partially this has to do with the fact that I have been so so so busy. I have been making final tests up for my elementary classes, now I am commenting on report cards for all my students ( I swear I have something like 50 of them), I have been busy thinking about Christmas, and we got a new teacher (to replace our friend Bridgett ;( ). His name is Dan (or Joseph) if he comes up in the blog. He is from Kansas I believe and seems like a really great guy. So this has been a great breath of fresh air for all of us, especially because we no longer have to substitute our preps in the Little Kindy classes.
ok enough about work... social stories are a little sparing... but last weekend we were at the foreigner hang out lounge and this Korean lady came running in to our table. She exclaimed that she needed two foreign teachers for tomorrow (Saturday) to help out at this Korean Kindergarten school. We (being Roberta and I) decided to go. We ended up sitting outside on these little (like one foot off the ground chairs) , wearing navy white hats, and pretending to be Immigration Officers. This simply involved us asking them “What their name was, how old they were, and where they were from.” Well, some of the students had never seen foreigners before or ever had to talk to them---- They were just plain scared of us---- one even cried!!! Ha ha ha-- I am sure our over excited smiling ‘teacher face” is a little scary!!!! It ended up being a great morning because I got to see a lot of neat crafts that the students were doing at that school. And once again, met some great people.
Other than that I have been shopping around for Christmas nic nacks. I believe after the last posting I thought that I was feeling ‘ridiculous’... and decided to get out on my own and discover some new great places. Well I went to Seoul and I wandered this great market; Namdaeum Market. I LOVE wandering and there was so much shoved into this four block radius. Large ginseng, next to the most adorable children’s clothes, next to nice pottery, next to a ‘button’ shop, next to prescription glasses, next to raw fish! Complete randomness! I Loved it!!!
So there is not much else left to report!
So I will leave you with another episode of
“Korea Korea”
*one can not drink the tap water-- we buy large bottled water-- around 80 cents to $1.50 a litre
*there are no public restrooms in restaurants... instead one walks out to the hallway in-between all semi-highrise buildings and there is a restroom there (so girls buy toilet paper but more like kleenex in fun animated wrapping from convenience stores to use at these washrooms)
*all the buildings are concrete up and down buildings--- architecture appears not to be an art that has caught on in Korea
*people SQUAT--- I mean if they are waiting for someone on the street, or stopping to have a cigarette, instead of standing straight they squat down a little off the ground... it is so odd seeing men and business suits do this.... but it is What they do in Korea!
*there are no big red/blue garbage bins instead you put your garbage out on the street corner and the city takes it away.... it is a little gross... BUT their recycling/compost system is the same... in my building I get rid of recycling on thursdays by putting it on the corner and food compost on tuesdays--- everything has its own coloured special bag you buy-- white special bag for garbage, yellow for compost, etc.
*there are random fish tanks outside (as you see in the Halloween pics) those contain the live creatures... that they kill in the back to make your meal... mmmm FRESH sushi!
*rent for my place is about $300.00 a month (not bad hey?-- I don’t pay it but I though i should find it out) and then another ($100.00- this I pay) for Utilities (minus cable).
* there is no tax added on when you pay for things --- the price is as marked but I believe tax is something crazy low like 3% (I should look into this)--- and it is all in WON- 10000- would be like $10.00
* they love ‘junk mail’ here-- in the form of colourful cards... or flyers with magnets on them that they stick on your apartment door... or shove under the door
* personally I do not own a microwave, or couch/comfy chair... I sit on the floor most of my existence... and live a simple life... haha ha
* with every meal Koreans eat “Kim chi” it is usually cabbage but may be another vegetable such as radish... it is then fermented for months in these large pots-- it has an odd red spicy sauce with it... and really doesn’t taste very good... but seems to be a necessity because if for some reason it isn’t served with a meal... they go out and buy it!
*worst food I have seen thus far is “fish soup” that is all I call it but it is smelly and has fish cakes which I think are equivalent as pork is to hot dog--- fish is to fish cake!
Finally -- I am going to throw a shout out to my “bro” Camille... who is such an amazing girl (the New Zealander) and has made this whole experience that much better with her amazing personality, her love for life & a good shot of soju/ Kim and Chi, her giggle, and well her just being her. Love ya Camille!
ok enough about work... social stories are a little sparing... but last weekend we were at the foreigner hang out lounge and this Korean lady came running in to our table. She exclaimed that she needed two foreign teachers for tomorrow (Saturday) to help out at this Korean Kindergarten school. We (being Roberta and I) decided to go. We ended up sitting outside on these little (like one foot off the ground chairs) , wearing navy white hats, and pretending to be Immigration Officers. This simply involved us asking them “What their name was, how old they were, and where they were from.” Well, some of the students had never seen foreigners before or ever had to talk to them---- They were just plain scared of us---- one even cried!!! Ha ha ha-- I am sure our over excited smiling ‘teacher face” is a little scary!!!! It ended up being a great morning because I got to see a lot of neat crafts that the students were doing at that school. And once again, met some great people.
Other than that I have been shopping around for Christmas nic nacks. I believe after the last posting I thought that I was feeling ‘ridiculous’... and decided to get out on my own and discover some new great places. Well I went to Seoul and I wandered this great market; Namdaeum Market. I LOVE wandering and there was so much shoved into this four block radius. Large ginseng, next to the most adorable children’s clothes, next to nice pottery, next to a ‘button’ shop, next to prescription glasses, next to raw fish! Complete randomness! I Loved it!!!
So there is not much else left to report!
So I will leave you with another episode of
“Korea Korea”
*one can not drink the tap water-- we buy large bottled water-- around 80 cents to $1.50 a litre
*there are no public restrooms in restaurants... instead one walks out to the hallway in-between all semi-highrise buildings and there is a restroom there (so girls buy toilet paper but more like kleenex in fun animated wrapping from convenience stores to use at these washrooms)
*all the buildings are concrete up and down buildings--- architecture appears not to be an art that has caught on in Korea
*people SQUAT--- I mean if they are waiting for someone on the street, or stopping to have a cigarette, instead of standing straight they squat down a little off the ground... it is so odd seeing men and business suits do this.... but it is What they do in Korea!
*there are no big red/blue garbage bins instead you put your garbage out on the street corner and the city takes it away.... it is a little gross... BUT their recycling/compost system is the same... in my building I get rid of recycling on thursdays by putting it on the corner and food compost on tuesdays--- everything has its own coloured special bag you buy-- white special bag for garbage, yellow for compost, etc.
*there are random fish tanks outside (as you see in the Halloween pics) those contain the live creatures... that they kill in the back to make your meal... mmmm FRESH sushi!
*rent for my place is about $300.00 a month (not bad hey?-- I don’t pay it but I though i should find it out) and then another ($100.00- this I pay) for Utilities (minus cable).
* there is no tax added on when you pay for things --- the price is as marked but I believe tax is something crazy low like 3% (I should look into this)--- and it is all in WON- 10000- would be like $10.00
* they love ‘junk mail’ here-- in the form of colourful cards... or flyers with magnets on them that they stick on your apartment door... or shove under the door
* personally I do not own a microwave, or couch/comfy chair... I sit on the floor most of my existence... and live a simple life... haha ha
* with every meal Koreans eat “Kim chi” it is usually cabbage but may be another vegetable such as radish... it is then fermented for months in these large pots-- it has an odd red spicy sauce with it... and really doesn’t taste very good... but seems to be a necessity because if for some reason it isn’t served with a meal... they go out and buy it!
*worst food I have seen thus far is “fish soup” that is all I call it but it is smelly and has fish cakes which I think are equivalent as pork is to hot dog--- fish is to fish cake!
Finally -- I am going to throw a shout out to my “bro” Camille... who is such an amazing girl (the New Zealander) and has made this whole experience that much better with her amazing personality, her love for life & a good shot of soju/ Kim and Chi, her giggle, and well her just being her. Love ya Camille!
Friday, November 2, 2007
My Momma Told Me -- There’d be Days Like This
So I have put off blogging because it has been a little of a struggle the past two weeks. It is all ok though because it has been a Great (somewhat sarcastic... but I KNOW it) time for REFLECTION (any education students/profs understand this statement more than others!!! ha ha).
So moving to a new completely different culture means that one is going to experience “Culture Shock.” Well, of course, the people who research such things (honestly who are these people?) have poured out articles on the subject and there are four (sometimes five stages) of ‘Culture Shock.’ Well, I think I can safely say that I have sailed through stage numero uno; the “honeymoon” stage.
“When you first arrive in a new culture, differences are intriguing and you may feel excited, stimulated and curious. At this stage
you are still protected by the close memory of your home culture.” Now, I have travelled a fair bit before and nothing seemed to “shock” me...meaning that instead of finding anything truly “weird” or worse “awful” I knew that it was just “different.” I am a person who naturally marvels at these differences and enjoys them. Shopping at overcrowded 4 storey supermarkets seemed cool, eating rice for every meal is “just what one does in Korea,” and the random fish smells in the street--- well again one just learned to take a little shallower of a breath;) But all this has changed within the last 2 weeks.
I have graduated to phase 2 (or as one website refers to as phase 2 and 3). I am at the “distress” stage.
“A little later, differences create an impact and you may feel confused, isolated or inadequate as cultural differences
intrude and familiar supports (eg family or friends) are not immediately available.”
I have felt really lonely and I have been longing for those friendships/relationships from back home. What seems to be escalating these feelings are my kindergarten students. My “good” class, has been fighting non-stop. They start yelling at each other in Korean over the silliest things like not sharing pencil crayons and a lot of times it ends up that one of them cries. Obviously this distresses me and even though I don’t know what is being said I have learned to observe when an explosion is going to occur and try to head it off... by basically yelling “Stop it... Diana class does not talk mean... I don’t want to hear anymore!” How effective hey?... ummm NOT! Sometimes I bring in a Korean “helper teacher” to help work it out with the students. She comes in... every student shares their side of the story in Korean and then this helper says a couple of words to them to “solve” the problem ... and then to me says “YES” and leaves! GAWD... and I am left to wonder what the “H” it was all about! I am reading the Positive Discipline book (sorry again educators will understand) but it basically talks about how to socialize students and give them ownership to feelings/choices/actions.. ha ha well this is ideal but when there is a language barrier... it seems to all fly out the window. One day a student came in late, and two of the girls said “AWWWW!!!” when he showed up! (meaning they were sad he made it to school and verbally voiced this) I “lost” it and got mad at them... saying that it was inappropriate and mean and said something to the effect of how would you like it if Keira teacher said “Aww when you came to school!” They were mad at me for being mad at them (mostly because these are “good” students and rarely ever get into trouble) So they talked bad about me in Korean (blah blah blah Keira teacher... blah blah blah)... I just told them to stop and reiterated that they were wrong! It is just so frustrating to me because I am not the type to bark orders... if I say “stop running,” for example, (and then they fall and bump into each other and cry) I want to explain that Keira teacher says things like “don’t run... not to be a monster teacher but so that everyone can be safe and not get hurt!” I go the distance and act out these things... and still say this stuff to them.. but I do wonder if it is like the Simpsons episode when they are training the dog and all he hears is “Blah blah blah blah.. “sit” blah blah”... How much of the ramble really gets through?
We then have had a lot of disorganization at school for more than one reason... but a big one being that a foreign teacher friend of ours just packed up and left. This has left us with having to pick up extra classes (more tiring day) and honestly just feeling betrayed as it was one of the girls we hung out with all the time! I suppose she has her reasons, but it was definitely a bit selfish and inconsiderate on her part.
Ok so then with everything going on... everyone in stress “fight” (vs flight) at school and me being on edge with phase two... I whipped right into phase three the; “Re-integration” stage.
“Next you may reject the differences you encounter. You may
feel angry or frustrated, or hostile to the new culture. At this stage you may be conscious mainly of how much you dislike it compared
to home. Don’t worry, as this is quite a healthy reaction. You
are reconnecting with what you value about yourself and
your own culture.”
ha ha this stage makes me laugh. I do not dwell and hate everything a lot of the “cultural things’ like the food, smells, pushiness, are not my huge “issues” Mine are mostly school related. I have been complaining a lot about the lack of organization and communication with the foreign staff. (ie learning about decorating for three hours after school at about 2:30 that same day!) Anyway, so Roberta, me, and this guy, Jamar, are out for coffee on Sunday afternoon... and we all just start complaining about everything and really wondering if we are going to make it! I laughed and said ... you know what? I read about these stages and I told myself before coming “nah you won’t hit that stage” (nieve I know). I then went on to say that what we are all feeling is apparently completely normal... and that we are going to make it! It is funny too, cause this guy we first met when we got here... we coined as “Mr. Grumpy”, because all he did was complain. Well I now realize that he was about month 2 and half into Korea (similar to us) so he was just going through his “phase”... on a happier note he seems to have come around again... so there is hope for us!
Honestly, though I like the positive spin of this phase; “learning about the things you value about your own culture.” I believe I do have a deep appreciation for my close relationships (Randi and I always say life is about relationships) but being away from everyone makes me realize how much more I miss/value them. Korea is great... but I feel really in limbo at times... I don’t know how much I am affecting my students (yes I know they like me) but with the communication barrier it is hard, and then the close friendships are not really there either. It is very much “just me.” I miss the give and take of a good conversation... or needing/being needed as a friend. There are also other things like ‘fresh air” and big trees that I have really really really been missing. Korea does have some beautiful trees and fall as brought out a lot of spectacular colours but I miss the ones back home. I also miss varied architecture (vs concrete buildings), people saying “I’m sorry if they bump into you” or “excuse me,” spacious grocery stores (mainly the beautiful Co Op --ha ha but this is a bias), being able to have a diverse amount of food if one chooses--- asian, italian, mexican.... or seeing diversity (in people) in the streets, classrooms etc. I also really miss teaching back home... connecting with students, making crazy lesson plans, communicating with staff, dare I say even being able to converse with a parent would be so so so helpful!!! These couple of weeks have been hard teaching but I do know more than ever that teaching is still what I want to be doing and can at least be thankful that my non-verbal observation skills are being finely tuned (which will be an asset back home.) Anyway, so I will survive this stage...and learn even more... and hopefully sooner rather than later graduate to the fourth/fifth stages; Autonomy” stage;
“Differences and similarities are accepted. You may feel
relaxed, confident, more like an old hand as you become
more familiar with situations and feel well able to cope with
new situations based on your growing experience.”
and similarly “Independence” stage“
Differences and similarities are valued and important. You may
feel full of potential and able to trust yourself in all kinds of situations. Most situations become enjoyable and you are able
to make choices according to your preferences and values.”
I’ll get there--- thanks for the reading this rant... and drop me an email/facebook me if you are out there (or leave a comment)-- meirab@hotmail.com.
Much Love from Korea
XO XO
Me
(1990, Barker, M. “Orientated for Success”)
http://72.14.235.104/search?q=cache:gS6iMYB0An8J:www.ukcosa.org.uk/files/pdf/info_sheets/culture_shock.pdf+4+stages+culture+shock&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=7&gl=ca
So I have put off blogging because it has been a little of a struggle the past two weeks. It is all ok though because it has been a Great (somewhat sarcastic... but I KNOW it) time for REFLECTION (any education students/profs understand this statement more than others!!! ha ha).
So moving to a new completely different culture means that one is going to experience “Culture Shock.” Well, of course, the people who research such things (honestly who are these people?) have poured out articles on the subject and there are four (sometimes five stages) of ‘Culture Shock.’ Well, I think I can safely say that I have sailed through stage numero uno; the “honeymoon” stage.
“When you first arrive in a new culture, differences are intriguing and you may feel excited, stimulated and curious. At this stage
you are still protected by the close memory of your home culture.” Now, I have travelled a fair bit before and nothing seemed to “shock” me...meaning that instead of finding anything truly “weird” or worse “awful” I knew that it was just “different.” I am a person who naturally marvels at these differences and enjoys them. Shopping at overcrowded 4 storey supermarkets seemed cool, eating rice for every meal is “just what one does in Korea,” and the random fish smells in the street--- well again one just learned to take a little shallower of a breath;) But all this has changed within the last 2 weeks.
I have graduated to phase 2 (or as one website refers to as phase 2 and 3). I am at the “distress” stage.
“A little later, differences create an impact and you may feel confused, isolated or inadequate as cultural differences
intrude and familiar supports (eg family or friends) are not immediately available.”
I have felt really lonely and I have been longing for those friendships/relationships from back home. What seems to be escalating these feelings are my kindergarten students. My “good” class, has been fighting non-stop. They start yelling at each other in Korean over the silliest things like not sharing pencil crayons and a lot of times it ends up that one of them cries. Obviously this distresses me and even though I don’t know what is being said I have learned to observe when an explosion is going to occur and try to head it off... by basically yelling “Stop it... Diana class does not talk mean... I don’t want to hear anymore!” How effective hey?... ummm NOT! Sometimes I bring in a Korean “helper teacher” to help work it out with the students. She comes in... every student shares their side of the story in Korean and then this helper says a couple of words to them to “solve” the problem ... and then to me says “YES” and leaves! GAWD... and I am left to wonder what the “H” it was all about! I am reading the Positive Discipline book (sorry again educators will understand) but it basically talks about how to socialize students and give them ownership to feelings/choices/actions.. ha ha well this is ideal but when there is a language barrier... it seems to all fly out the window. One day a student came in late, and two of the girls said “AWWWW!!!” when he showed up! (meaning they were sad he made it to school and verbally voiced this) I “lost” it and got mad at them... saying that it was inappropriate and mean and said something to the effect of how would you like it if Keira teacher said “Aww when you came to school!” They were mad at me for being mad at them (mostly because these are “good” students and rarely ever get into trouble) So they talked bad about me in Korean (blah blah blah Keira teacher... blah blah blah)... I just told them to stop and reiterated that they were wrong! It is just so frustrating to me because I am not the type to bark orders... if I say “stop running,” for example, (and then they fall and bump into each other and cry) I want to explain that Keira teacher says things like “don’t run... not to be a monster teacher but so that everyone can be safe and not get hurt!” I go the distance and act out these things... and still say this stuff to them.. but I do wonder if it is like the Simpsons episode when they are training the dog and all he hears is “Blah blah blah blah.. “sit” blah blah”... How much of the ramble really gets through?
We then have had a lot of disorganization at school for more than one reason... but a big one being that a foreign teacher friend of ours just packed up and left. This has left us with having to pick up extra classes (more tiring day) and honestly just feeling betrayed as it was one of the girls we hung out with all the time! I suppose she has her reasons, but it was definitely a bit selfish and inconsiderate on her part.
Ok so then with everything going on... everyone in stress “fight” (vs flight) at school and me being on edge with phase two... I whipped right into phase three the; “Re-integration” stage.
“Next you may reject the differences you encounter. You may
feel angry or frustrated, or hostile to the new culture. At this stage you may be conscious mainly of how much you dislike it compared
to home. Don’t worry, as this is quite a healthy reaction. You
are reconnecting with what you value about yourself and
your own culture.”
ha ha this stage makes me laugh. I do not dwell and hate everything a lot of the “cultural things’ like the food, smells, pushiness, are not my huge “issues” Mine are mostly school related. I have been complaining a lot about the lack of organization and communication with the foreign staff. (ie learning about decorating for three hours after school at about 2:30 that same day!) Anyway, so Roberta, me, and this guy, Jamar, are out for coffee on Sunday afternoon... and we all just start complaining about everything and really wondering if we are going to make it! I laughed and said ... you know what? I read about these stages and I told myself before coming “nah you won’t hit that stage” (nieve I know). I then went on to say that what we are all feeling is apparently completely normal... and that we are going to make it! It is funny too, cause this guy we first met when we got here... we coined as “Mr. Grumpy”, because all he did was complain. Well I now realize that he was about month 2 and half into Korea (similar to us) so he was just going through his “phase”... on a happier note he seems to have come around again... so there is hope for us!
Honestly, though I like the positive spin of this phase; “learning about the things you value about your own culture.” I believe I do have a deep appreciation for my close relationships (Randi and I always say life is about relationships) but being away from everyone makes me realize how much more I miss/value them. Korea is great... but I feel really in limbo at times... I don’t know how much I am affecting my students (yes I know they like me) but with the communication barrier it is hard, and then the close friendships are not really there either. It is very much “just me.” I miss the give and take of a good conversation... or needing/being needed as a friend. There are also other things like ‘fresh air” and big trees that I have really really really been missing. Korea does have some beautiful trees and fall as brought out a lot of spectacular colours but I miss the ones back home. I also miss varied architecture (vs concrete buildings), people saying “I’m sorry if they bump into you” or “excuse me,” spacious grocery stores (mainly the beautiful Co Op --ha ha but this is a bias), being able to have a diverse amount of food if one chooses--- asian, italian, mexican.... or seeing diversity (in people) in the streets, classrooms etc. I also really miss teaching back home... connecting with students, making crazy lesson plans, communicating with staff, dare I say even being able to converse with a parent would be so so so helpful!!! These couple of weeks have been hard teaching but I do know more than ever that teaching is still what I want to be doing and can at least be thankful that my non-verbal observation skills are being finely tuned (which will be an asset back home.) Anyway, so I will survive this stage...and learn even more... and hopefully sooner rather than later graduate to the fourth/fifth stages; Autonomy” stage;
“Differences and similarities are accepted. You may feel
relaxed, confident, more like an old hand as you become
more familiar with situations and feel well able to cope with
new situations based on your growing experience.”
and similarly “Independence” stage“
Differences and similarities are valued and important. You may
feel full of potential and able to trust yourself in all kinds of situations. Most situations become enjoyable and you are able
to make choices according to your preferences and values.”
I’ll get there--- thanks for the reading this rant... and drop me an email/facebook me if you are out there (or leave a comment)-- meirab@hotmail.com.
Much Love from Korea
XO XO
Me
(1990, Barker, M. “Orientated for Success”)
http://72.14.235.104/search?q=cache:gS6iMYB0An8J:www.ukcosa.org.uk/files/pdf/info_sheets/culture_shock.pdf+4+stages+culture+shock&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=7&gl=ca
Halloween
Halloween Weekend
For Halloween I found an amazing wig (Cruella Devil style) and cape, Roberta and Camille went as Pirates, and Will as a dirty dirty (mind not body) man with a fro/moustache. We also invited this Lovely Korean guy, Tom, out with us. He came without a costume, so I drew on a moustache and chops (sideburns), gave him some sun glasses and he was pretty much equal to Will. We all went to a bar, in our neighbouring city, where we were meeting a heap of other foreigners. It was a pretty good night. There were some great costumes, and I met a lot of really nice new Korean friends... but there are no crazy stories to tell. I will mention though, that walking around in costume in Korea feels a little funny. Everyone stares at you as it is not something the country celebrates! It didn’t really feel like Halloween this year... I felt like we were just the usual “odd foreigners” doing something not surprisingly strange... and I never got sick on candy and besides the one day at school (more to follow) I didn’t see any Halloween decorations around in the stores.
Brighton Halloween
So Thank-Gawd it is over... and looking back on it ... it was pretty pretty pretty spectacular! In Korea, no one really celebrates Halloween with the exception of the English Kindergarten schools. Halloween is actually an interesting celebration to try to explain to students who have no idea what you are talking about. “Children in Canada and the US (interestingly not in Australia or New Zealand) dress up one night in costumes (ghosts, monsters, princesses) and go from house to house knocking on doors, saying “Trick-or Treat”... and then the house owners take a look at them and exclaim how great they look and give them candy.”.... HONESTLY what a weird weird weird tradition... no wonder they were a little lost!
This week has been loooong (and it is only Wednesday ha ha). Tuesday we arrive at school as usual and then at 9:00 just as the students are arriving we were told that we had to carve pumpkins with out students during fifth and sixth period. This is not a terrible thing... actually it seems like a great idea as none of the students have ever done this before... but... it was sort of one of the “last” straws with being told plans at the very last minute. I think Roberta and I gave the Korean head teacher looks that could kill! We both had other things planned... and of course as is the job of teaching... one must be “flexible” but Korea takes Flexibility to a WHOLE NEW LEVEL!
(Just before this we were told that after our 8 hour teaching day we would have to stay after school and decorate for Halloween).
Ok So on to DECORATING!!!!
HOLY! is all I can say. The decorating took at least three hours!!! With about 15 of us doing it! We blacked out (with black garbage bags) the classroom windows, all the walls in the gym (the gym would be the “haunted house”) every wall had decorations-- pumpkins, spiders, skeletons, ghosts), there was stuff hanging from the ceiling. As the students entered from the elevator they were greeted with their jack-o-lanterns on blacked out paper and a dead woman decoration hanging from the ceiling. After doing all of this decorating we were spent! (11 hours at the school is too long... but I know every teacher has done it before!) At the time, it all seemed a little crazy... this was the most extreme amount of decorations I have ever seen. Ironically, here I was in a country that doesn’t celebrate Halloween and I was decorating like it was going out of style, and yet back home... the public schools are wiping away traditions like Halloween (and replacing them with ‘orange and black day’) in the name of being more sensitive to multiculturalism. I don’t have an answer to this dilemma but I do think it is worth thinking about.
All in all, do you think it was worth it? Of course it was, when those kindergarten students entered the school with their costumes on ... they were astounded!!!!
The costumes were varied. We had a few red Powerangers, witches, vampires, pumpkins, Minnie Mouse, Halloween Minnie Mouse (Minnie in orange/black), Spiderman, Snow Whites, and way way way too many Princesses!!! (Korean girl’s sometimes where tiera’s whether or not it is Halloween so this is no surprise... and yes yes... their are multiple jokes going around that I need a tiera and that this is but one more way that I can easily become Korean).
So the day consisted of the classes being led around to 5 different rooms at different times (teachers think “centers’.) We had a haunted house (the gym) which was decorated like a graveyard. At one point the foreign male teachers (Ivan & Will) would grab their legs from their hiding spot under the table or they would just jump out and scare them. The next room was a “Pin the Nose on the Jack-o-lantern” room (think Pin the Tail on the Donkey). There was a bobbing for apples room... (Roberta’s) only there were no apples instead there were candy worms laid out on trays of flour. Apparently this was more sanitary... yet Roberta and I were worried about the choking hazard... yet no CPR was administered... so I guess it was a success?
There was a musical chair type of game where the children danced around and then had to stop on witches hats (remove witches hat one at a time). Then there was a “Trick or Treat Room” where the students were given these felt jack-o-lantern candy bags... if they did whatever the teacher asked (practiced english). Finally, there was my room. The “Gross Feely Room.” I had boxes with gross feeling stuff in it. I told my students that I had caught some naughty bad Brighton Students and I had cooked parts of them for dinner (brains/stomach)... MWHA HA HA... So EVIL I know... but I asked them if they believed this story and most didn’t. I then had them feel it ... and after showed them the cold spaghetti and the raw squid. YEP SQUID! It was nasty, smelly, slimy, had eyeballs... I completely recommend i! (minus the fact that I stunk like squid all day)
So the day went off without any real hitches... and we all breathed a big sigh of relief as we pushed our boys and ghouls into the elevator (to go home). Then we had to take down all the decorations for the afternoon Elementary classes (which were classes as usual)!!!!! I know three hours of decorating for 5-6 hours of fun! I don’t understand why we couldn’t have had a lot of the decorations up during the month of October.. it would have even helped with some of my phone test questions and the things I was talking about to have more visuals.. but ahh well.
I only have two classes on Wednesday in the afternoon so I went and bought them candy and I stayed in costume (surprisingly I was the only one... but everyone loved it) and we learned about Halloween through a crossword and then I let them do a word find. It was a low key afternoon but these are good classes so I thought they deserved a break and I think they learned a bit!
For Halloween I found an amazing wig (Cruella Devil style) and cape, Roberta and Camille went as Pirates, and Will as a dirty dirty (mind not body) man with a fro/moustache. We also invited this Lovely Korean guy, Tom, out with us. He came without a costume, so I drew on a moustache and chops (sideburns), gave him some sun glasses and he was pretty much equal to Will. We all went to a bar, in our neighbouring city, where we were meeting a heap of other foreigners. It was a pretty good night. There were some great costumes, and I met a lot of really nice new Korean friends... but there are no crazy stories to tell. I will mention though, that walking around in costume in Korea feels a little funny. Everyone stares at you as it is not something the country celebrates! It didn’t really feel like Halloween this year... I felt like we were just the usual “odd foreigners” doing something not surprisingly strange... and I never got sick on candy and besides the one day at school (more to follow) I didn’t see any Halloween decorations around in the stores.
Brighton Halloween
So Thank-Gawd it is over... and looking back on it ... it was pretty pretty pretty spectacular! In Korea, no one really celebrates Halloween with the exception of the English Kindergarten schools. Halloween is actually an interesting celebration to try to explain to students who have no idea what you are talking about. “Children in Canada and the US (interestingly not in Australia or New Zealand) dress up one night in costumes (ghosts, monsters, princesses) and go from house to house knocking on doors, saying “Trick-or Treat”... and then the house owners take a look at them and exclaim how great they look and give them candy.”.... HONESTLY what a weird weird weird tradition... no wonder they were a little lost!
This week has been loooong (and it is only Wednesday ha ha). Tuesday we arrive at school as usual and then at 9:00 just as the students are arriving we were told that we had to carve pumpkins with out students during fifth and sixth period. This is not a terrible thing... actually it seems like a great idea as none of the students have ever done this before... but... it was sort of one of the “last” straws with being told plans at the very last minute. I think Roberta and I gave the Korean head teacher looks that could kill! We both had other things planned... and of course as is the job of teaching... one must be “flexible” but Korea takes Flexibility to a WHOLE NEW LEVEL!
(Just before this we were told that after our 8 hour teaching day we would have to stay after school and decorate for Halloween).
Ok So on to DECORATING!!!!
HOLY! is all I can say. The decorating took at least three hours!!! With about 15 of us doing it! We blacked out (with black garbage bags) the classroom windows, all the walls in the gym (the gym would be the “haunted house”) every wall had decorations-- pumpkins, spiders, skeletons, ghosts), there was stuff hanging from the ceiling. As the students entered from the elevator they were greeted with their jack-o-lanterns on blacked out paper and a dead woman decoration hanging from the ceiling. After doing all of this decorating we were spent! (11 hours at the school is too long... but I know every teacher has done it before!) At the time, it all seemed a little crazy... this was the most extreme amount of decorations I have ever seen. Ironically, here I was in a country that doesn’t celebrate Halloween and I was decorating like it was going out of style, and yet back home... the public schools are wiping away traditions like Halloween (and replacing them with ‘orange and black day’) in the name of being more sensitive to multiculturalism. I don’t have an answer to this dilemma but I do think it is worth thinking about.
All in all, do you think it was worth it? Of course it was, when those kindergarten students entered the school with their costumes on ... they were astounded!!!!
The costumes were varied. We had a few red Powerangers, witches, vampires, pumpkins, Minnie Mouse, Halloween Minnie Mouse (Minnie in orange/black), Spiderman, Snow Whites, and way way way too many Princesses!!! (Korean girl’s sometimes where tiera’s whether or not it is Halloween so this is no surprise... and yes yes... their are multiple jokes going around that I need a tiera and that this is but one more way that I can easily become Korean).
So the day consisted of the classes being led around to 5 different rooms at different times (teachers think “centers’.) We had a haunted house (the gym) which was decorated like a graveyard. At one point the foreign male teachers (Ivan & Will) would grab their legs from their hiding spot under the table or they would just jump out and scare them. The next room was a “Pin the Nose on the Jack-o-lantern” room (think Pin the Tail on the Donkey). There was a bobbing for apples room... (Roberta’s) only there were no apples instead there were candy worms laid out on trays of flour. Apparently this was more sanitary... yet Roberta and I were worried about the choking hazard... yet no CPR was administered... so I guess it was a success?
There was a musical chair type of game where the children danced around and then had to stop on witches hats (remove witches hat one at a time). Then there was a “Trick or Treat Room” where the students were given these felt jack-o-lantern candy bags... if they did whatever the teacher asked (practiced english). Finally, there was my room. The “Gross Feely Room.” I had boxes with gross feeling stuff in it. I told my students that I had caught some naughty bad Brighton Students and I had cooked parts of them for dinner (brains/stomach)... MWHA HA HA... So EVIL I know... but I asked them if they believed this story and most didn’t. I then had them feel it ... and after showed them the cold spaghetti and the raw squid. YEP SQUID! It was nasty, smelly, slimy, had eyeballs... I completely recommend i! (minus the fact that I stunk like squid all day)
So the day went off without any real hitches... and we all breathed a big sigh of relief as we pushed our boys and ghouls into the elevator (to go home). Then we had to take down all the decorations for the afternoon Elementary classes (which were classes as usual)!!!!! I know three hours of decorating for 5-6 hours of fun! I don’t understand why we couldn’t have had a lot of the decorations up during the month of October.. it would have even helped with some of my phone test questions and the things I was talking about to have more visuals.. but ahh well.
I only have two classes on Wednesday in the afternoon so I went and bought them candy and I stayed in costume (surprisingly I was the only one... but everyone loved it) and we learned about Halloween through a crossword and then I let them do a word find. It was a low key afternoon but these are good classes so I thought they deserved a break and I think they learned a bit!
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