I never really hated them until my schedule was revised a month ago. One could say I merely disliked them, or even dreaded them - with good reason of course. After pondering what pushed me over the edge, I reached a conclusion (which took me approximately 0.005 seconds to reach)
I have 5 (and soon to be 6) classes on Wednesdays. 3 of which are with a co-teacher who I feel needs a lobotomy, and 2 classes of my lowest level, most disinterested/uninterested, and rowdiest students.
I had a really simple, fun, and entertaining lesson that 90% of my classes understood and enjoyed. But those 2 classes made it unbearable. Sometimes I just try and get through the material, but find myself giving up because the students have given up. It is even more painful when they have given up in the first 10 minutes of class. The co-teacher (the head of the English Department too, I might add), has no control over them. I can only do so much with my broken Korean, and scowls of disapproval. She will threaten to hit them with her punishment tool (a broken wooden recorder), and might slap them on the hands or behind the leg with it. Sometimes I've seen her punch kids in the stomach too. They simply laugh at the pain, sometimes to her face. She laughs too, and plays into their games. If only I had the stomach (and the authority) to smack these kids - they might actually pay attention. After all those games of wiffleball over the past few years, I've built up a powerful swing. (I'm joking people)
What I really found amusing happened yesterday. I did a lesson called "Deserted Island" in which the kids go on a boat trip with me, we stop and buy some supplies (some useful, some not). One of the items was an axe. I asked the students what the items name is and they write it on a worksheet/shopping list, then they fill in the blank (which I give them the answer) "This would help me ___how?____." The answer I give them is "cut things", but there is always some boy who answers "KILL!". I chuckle and tell them, I would buy the axe to help me cut off their hands if they don't behave (we all think it is funny when I threaten to kill them). My co-teacher on the other hand, thought I was being too violent. I didn't have the patience with her to explain how my jesting words (which we all know are in fun, and not serious) are nothing compared to her physical actions. I love hypocrisy.
She was also upset when I was teaching verb tenses (to eat) and showed this picture:
I didn't need to don my Sherlock Holmes hat this time to figure out why I loathe Wednesdays. I think it is pretty clear. And for you math nerds out there:
if ct = co-teacher, w = wednesdays, and h = hate; then
1ct + w = h
To add to this already deplorable Wednesday, I was going to meet Hwayoung (who also had a bad day) in the city for dinner and a movie (something to de-stress us both, and at least cheer us up).
I ended up taking the wrong train, (which exits only a block from the right train so this story is not too bad). On top of that, there is a transit worker strike going on which delayed my train 15 minutes. Not a big deal. But then add in that there was an already packed train, and we crammed in about 40 more people into a car. I think at one point I my face was fused to the back of another man's head. I was already late, on the wrong train, and due to experiencing what I could only describe as a Holocaust cattle car, I was now sweating , couldn't breathe, couldn't move for about 40 minutes, and probably made a baby with a balding old man.
Once I was reborn of the womb of the train, the day improved. I met up with Hwayoung, and we enjoyed a nice dinner, and then headed off to the CGV IMAX to see "A Christmas Carol" starring Jim Carrey (my first ever IMAX movie) in Yongsan.
Here is the trailer:
The movie is excellent. Especially with the "coolness-of-all-coolness" that is IMAX. The 3D animated characters are very realistic. I could even make out the pores of their skin and the hairs on Scrooges nose.
Directed by Robert Zemeckis (who also did Back to the Future, Forrest Gump, and Polar Express), Disney retells (again) the story of Charles Dickens' classic. The dialogue keeps true to the book for the most part, but the animation is the most astounding part of this flick. You fly with Scrooge and the ghosts of past, present and future throughout 1840's England in amazing detail. The story is a little scary (maybe too scary for younger kids). Even Hwayoung was clinging onto me at some points. The only thing about this movie I didn't enjoy was that I felt as if it wasn't "Christmassy" enough. It gives same message as all the other versions I've seen, but the focus isn't as much on Tiny Tim as I would have expected - it seems more focused on the nephew and Scrooge himself.
I highly recommend you see this at an IMAX as the characters literally leap off the screen in their 3D glory, but also because the story has a more authentic feel than all the others I've seen (which is odd to say because it is not a live action film, and the only version I'm really comparing this to besides the book is Disney's: Mickey's Christmas Carol from 1983).
After the movie, as we walked to the train station, Hwayoung said to me: "Do you know what Yongsan is famous for?....Prostitutes."
She showed me the "pink butcher lights" that distinctly marks the glass store fronts in the back alleys. This is one of Seoul's Red-light Districts (pink lights if you ask me). Prostitution is illegal, but the laws are not really enforced. The girls do not act discretely at all, and will come up to you without hesitation. They even parade in front of their stores, where you can go and "be jolly" in the back room. I blogged before about the massage parlors that are legal businesses, but also act as brothels and escort services -- this is different. These girls are out-right hookers - no qualms about it.
pink butcher lights - either way, they're selling meat.
In the past, the government tried to clean up area and be strict on these ladies-of-the-night. The government actually cleaned up the area. At first. Then the hookers basically went on strike and petitioned the government to let them operate as they "liked the work" and said "this is the only way we can make a living". (at least that's what Hwayoung told me).
It's now Thursday, and I only have one class for the rest of the week! Things are looking up! I apologize for the length of this blog. But frankly, I'm going to be a little bored the next few weeks and I will probably be posting way too many. Try to keep up!
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