Well, par for the course, I seem to be a lazy blogger once again. But right now it's a lazy Sunday and nothing happening for awhile except ramen and maybe some videogames. So, what have I been up to lately....
To start, I've just finished a month of Korean class. I do feel like I'm learning and improving, but sometimes the class is frustrating due to the lack of speaking practice and activities in general- it's very lecture oriented. Some new students have joined, so the class will probably be up to 5 people now... which could be good or bad. Previously it's been pretty much just me and one other guy, and we're kind of on the same page as far as ability and opinion about the class, so we both felt pretty comfortable getting our teacher off-topic a bit and trying to have more informal conversations during class time. But, with a bigger class, maybe the teacher will introduce some more group activities (I'm not betting on it though). Anyways, I think I'll stick with it for a couple more months and try to get into Sogang University's evening program starting in December.
Work has been going well. Had a field trip earlier in the month for Chuseok; I was in hanbok and so were all my students. We went to an old palace. It was neat. I've got pictures on facebook... still trying to figure out how I want to do pictures for this blog. Work is pretty busy but no real problems. It's just a whirlwind sometimes. The upside is that the week goes by pretty fast. Gonna get paid in a couple days, and it'll definitely be nice to have a full paycheck. Need to pick up a few things for the apartment: rice cooker, router, an extra PS3 controller, more pillows, and maybe a floor table.
Lots of things going on in Seoul this month. Yesterday I went to a Korea-Japan Culture Festival and got to eat some delish Japanese street food while listening to some kinda bad outdoor karaoke. On Friday there were fireworks to kick off the Hi Seoul festival, which I watched with a group of coworkers on our rooftop. Next weekend there's gonna be more fireworks, and through the week there are performances and concerts all over town. The whole thing is one of those "ah, so this is what real big city life is like"- things are happening and you can watch them from the top of your building.
In general, I've been having fun. Eating lots of great food (I tried snails last night, by the way), enjoying good company, and doing some neat things- the aforementioned plus hiking, watching a movie in Korean w/o subtitles (really hard, but I did better than I thought I would), reading comic books, went to a TESL conference, etc.
Saturday, October 2, 2010
Sunday, September 19, 2010
Round 2 - Fight!
No fighting involved.
I've been back in Korea for a little over a month now. So far things are going well. Long story short: it's nice to be in a workplace that isn't comically fucked up. Now I'll give a rundown of my general situation:
Where I Work:
I'm working at another hagwon. It's called Mokdong SLP. Mokdong is the neighborhood, and SLP stands for Sogang Language Program. Sogang is a university in Korea, and this hagwon chain is affiliated with it. It's a larger school with around 14 foreign teachers and 25+ Koreans on the teaching/education-related staff (librarians, assistants, managers, etc). I'm not sure on the exact enrollment numbers, but I'd guess around 750 students total, ranging in age from 4 to 13-14.
As most of you know, I had a pretty awful experience with a hagwon last time around. Little kids are still annoying at times, but the majority of my troubles last year were the result of awful management and a hostile work environment where communication was extremely poor. In that respect, things are much, much better now. My current work environment is pretty friendly and supportive, and the educational side of things are pretty organized. The curriculum is surprisingly good for most classes, and there are very clear expectations of what you need to do. If you need help, you know exactly who to talk to.
Is it my dream job? No. Like I said, little kids are annoying at times. Also, 6 full hours in the classroom each day is a bit of a grind. There's not really time to make the curriculum your own or devote equal attention to all your classes when it comes to adding new activities.A lot of people don't realize that teaching has a performance aspect to it... it might be comparable to giving a sales pitch non-stop for 6 hours, or leading a tour group, or something else people intensive that requires a clear message to be communicated and engaging activities. All of that said, so far it's turned out pretty good. The days go by fast and I work with some really great people.
Where I Live
I made the move to the big city this year- Seoul, the capital of South Korea, one of the largest metropolitan areas in the world. I wanted to have more opportunities to study Korean (more on that later) and give big-city life a shot (I was young in San Diego and Phoenix is awful at being a big city... 'manpile of suburbs' is a better descriptor). I've also got friends in and very close to Seoul, so that's another reason.
The particular part of town I live in is called Yeongdeungpo-gu, Yangpyeong-dong. I live right around the corner from Seonyudo Station (Line 9) in a medium-sized apartment building. It's about a 15 minute walk from my workplace. I've got a nice spread this year and lucked out in drawing one of the school's larger studios. Being this close to the subway is great, and I'm also really close to the very convenient and central Line 2. There's lots to do nearby- Yeoido Park, Seonyudo Park, Hongdae (area near Hongik University with loads going on), etc. Overall I'm really happy with my location this year, but at times the crowds in Seoul can be a little much.
My Studies
First off, I've completed my TESL Certificate from NAU and have recently been admitted to the MA TESL program there. In the spring I plan to get some practicum credits done and hopefully conduct a study related to accent/dialect perceptions of young EFL learners. I'm really happy with how my graduate studies have gone so far. I plan to be back at NAU for the Fall '11 semester after I finish my year here. Also, a couple weeks ago I met up with one of my professors at a conference here in Seoul- oddly, it was our first in-person meeting as I took his online course in the summer.
Secondly, I'm trying to ramp up my Korean study. I'm taking classes on Tuesday and Thursday nights after work in the previously mentioned Hongdae area. There's a Korean language school called Ganada (translates to roughly "ABC" in English) that offers evening classes. The location is really convenient; I can get there in about 20-30 minutes after work. It's a bit heavy on the lecture side and a bit light on speaking activities, but it's certainly helping with vocabulary and grammar. I try to read and study vocab in my free time, and I do hear a good bit of Korean everyday. I need to focus more on actually speaking Korean myself; I feel that I'm not taking full advantage of the opportunities I have.
I'm considering signing up for one of the university evening programs in the winter, which would be 3 nights a week. I'll have to see how things are going at that time.
I've been back in Korea for a little over a month now. So far things are going well. Long story short: it's nice to be in a workplace that isn't comically fucked up. Now I'll give a rundown of my general situation:
Where I Work:
I'm working at another hagwon. It's called Mokdong SLP. Mokdong is the neighborhood, and SLP stands for Sogang Language Program. Sogang is a university in Korea, and this hagwon chain is affiliated with it. It's a larger school with around 14 foreign teachers and 25+ Koreans on the teaching/education-related staff (librarians, assistants, managers, etc). I'm not sure on the exact enrollment numbers, but I'd guess around 750 students total, ranging in age from 4 to 13-14.
As most of you know, I had a pretty awful experience with a hagwon last time around. Little kids are still annoying at times, but the majority of my troubles last year were the result of awful management and a hostile work environment where communication was extremely poor. In that respect, things are much, much better now. My current work environment is pretty friendly and supportive, and the educational side of things are pretty organized. The curriculum is surprisingly good for most classes, and there are very clear expectations of what you need to do. If you need help, you know exactly who to talk to.
Is it my dream job? No. Like I said, little kids are annoying at times. Also, 6 full hours in the classroom each day is a bit of a grind. There's not really time to make the curriculum your own or devote equal attention to all your classes when it comes to adding new activities.A lot of people don't realize that teaching has a performance aspect to it... it might be comparable to giving a sales pitch non-stop for 6 hours, or leading a tour group, or something else people intensive that requires a clear message to be communicated and engaging activities. All of that said, so far it's turned out pretty good. The days go by fast and I work with some really great people.
Where I Live
I made the move to the big city this year- Seoul, the capital of South Korea, one of the largest metropolitan areas in the world. I wanted to have more opportunities to study Korean (more on that later) and give big-city life a shot (I was young in San Diego and Phoenix is awful at being a big city... 'manpile of suburbs' is a better descriptor). I've also got friends in and very close to Seoul, so that's another reason.
The particular part of town I live in is called Yeongdeungpo-gu, Yangpyeong-dong. I live right around the corner from Seonyudo Station (Line 9) in a medium-sized apartment building. It's about a 15 minute walk from my workplace. I've got a nice spread this year and lucked out in drawing one of the school's larger studios. Being this close to the subway is great, and I'm also really close to the very convenient and central Line 2. There's lots to do nearby- Yeoido Park, Seonyudo Park, Hongdae (area near Hongik University with loads going on), etc. Overall I'm really happy with my location this year, but at times the crowds in Seoul can be a little much.
My Studies
First off, I've completed my TESL Certificate from NAU and have recently been admitted to the MA TESL program there. In the spring I plan to get some practicum credits done and hopefully conduct a study related to accent/dialect perceptions of young EFL learners. I'm really happy with how my graduate studies have gone so far. I plan to be back at NAU for the Fall '11 semester after I finish my year here. Also, a couple weeks ago I met up with one of my professors at a conference here in Seoul- oddly, it was our first in-person meeting as I took his online course in the summer.
Secondly, I'm trying to ramp up my Korean study. I'm taking classes on Tuesday and Thursday nights after work in the previously mentioned Hongdae area. There's a Korean language school called Ganada (translates to roughly "ABC" in English) that offers evening classes. The location is really convenient; I can get there in about 20-30 minutes after work. It's a bit heavy on the lecture side and a bit light on speaking activities, but it's certainly helping with vocabulary and grammar. I try to read and study vocab in my free time, and I do hear a good bit of Korean everyday. I need to focus more on actually speaking Korean myself; I feel that I'm not taking full advantage of the opportunities I have.
I'm considering signing up for one of the university evening programs in the winter, which would be 3 nights a week. I'll have to see how things are going at that time.
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