Recycling

Recycling in Korea is more than just a "feel good" act, it can cost you money. Many foreigners have been fined for throwing away recycleables. On that note, I'm glad my "family" helped me move in and could give me the heads up about the system. First, there are specific garbage bags for city neighborhoods... they have tons of writing on them and even bar codes! The smaller ones are a little less than a dollar a piece, which initially I thought was expensive for a garbage bag. Then I realized that with all the recycling, a single person living alone doesn't accumulate much waste. My apartment complex has large containers for glass, paper, styrofoam, plastic bottles/containers, plastic bags, cans, etc. Even specific containers for food waste. So, I'm proud to announce that after being here for 6 weeks I have just thrown out my first garbage bag- and it wasn't even completely full! It's a small garbage bag as well... I'm amazed at how much waste is saved by this recycling program here. Well done Korea!

Dieting and Hangman

Two things-

1) Instead of wasting money on a gym membership and expensive diet food, I have a new plan. Move to a foreign country, preferably S Korea, live in a cockroach-inhabited apartment, and for the first two weeks walk everywhere and eat mainly rice. Lose 10 pounds in 1 month. Guaranteed. Even if you are the type of person who loves food, the image of cockroaches in your kitchen will curb your appetite for at least a few weeks.

2) We've been playing Hangman a lot and the cutest thing happened today in my kindergarten class. "D" likes to tell the other two students his word, then still make them guess letter by letter. He whispers the answer to them but won't allow them to guess the full word. And the funniest thing is, the other students are OK with it.

Discipline

Well it happened, I had my first crying student today in class. I just wish it would have been one of the misbehaving ones and not my little one.

To backtrack- my school has no disciplinarian. None. The director and my supervisor are both so nice to all the students. It’s a business after all, so they want the students to return. So while other foreign teachers have the luxury of threatening to send their students to the Director, I have no such person. This week I’ve had to crack the whip (not literally, although they do hit middle school and high school-aged students in most schools.) Phones are being taken away, kids are sitting in corners, this foreign teacher is not taking any more shit. To clarify, I am using stickers and positive reinforcement as well for the little ones. This works most of the time.

Last week was the first day of a new “special kindergarten speaking class.” It’s a combined class of all the kindergarten sections. It was chaos to say the least. My youngest student was sitting there sweating because of how crazy the older boys were acting. I felt so bad for her and tried to calm her down. This week, I was more prepared. Multiple coloring and writing activities and to my amazement, they were wonderfully behaved. They were even behaving well enough for us to enjoy a friendly game of Bingo. Things were going well until I looked over and saw my poor little 5-yr old sobbing. She was being quiet, but she was definitely crying and repeatedly wiping the tears away from her eyes. I didn’t know what had happened! I walked over and knelt down trying to figure out what had happened. Unfortunately, she can barely tell me all the colors in English let alone explain to me why she was so upset. After hugging her and calming her down, the class finished out smoothly (looking forward to a wonderful call from her parents next week I’m sure.)

So, now it’s Friday night. Other teachers are meeting up at the bars ready for a night out, but not this gal. I teach at 10am tomorrow and spending all Friday with kindergarteners has me worn out. Is it wrong that I keep a bottle of wine and bottle opener at my computer desk and not in my kitchen? That’s what I thought.  Cheers!

Leonid Meteor Shower

For the Leonid Meteor Shower on November 17 (the best viewing hours for Korea were scheduled for pre-dawn November 18th), a group of us foreign teachers went on a midnight hike of Mt. Cheongryang. It's a small "mountain" right in Yeonsu with a wonderful observatory structure at the top. Armed with blankets, hot tea, flashlights, and cameras we were prepared for a show. One teacher even brought yummy sweet potatoes. At the observatory there is an amazing view of new Songdo.

We misjudged the timing of the show and arrived at the observatory a little before 1am. We huddled together and got ready. And waited. And waited. Every 20 min or so, someone would "swear they saw one." It was terribly cold and windy at the top of the mountain so we started singing 80's songs and TV theme songs. Turns out, the meteor shower just wanted a soundtrack. While singing Fresh Prince, Madonna, Family Matters, Crystal Waters, and The Pretenders, our group saw about 5 decent meteors and at least 10 more small, quick ones. Granted we were up there for a little more than 2 hours, but it was worth it. Nothing like lacing up new hiking boots, meeting up with a bunch of people you barely know, climbing to the top of a mountain and singing one-hit-wonders. With extremities becoming numb and some of the teachers having to work in the morning, we called it quits around 3am.

It's a rare condition, this day and age,
to read any good news on the newspaper page.
Love and tradition of the grand design,
some people say it's even harder to find.

Well then there must be some magic clue inside these tearful walls
Cause all I see is a tower of dreams
real love burstin' out of every seam.

As days go by,
we're gonna fill our house with happiness.
The moon may cry,
we're gonna smother the blues with tenderness.

When days go by,
there's room for you,
room for me,
for gentle hearts an opportunity.

As days go by, 
it's the bigger love of the family.