Weekend update.

Today I had two difficult 5th grade classes after lunch and I found myself getting a little upset inwardly. The problem stems from my co-teacher's lack of control over the noise level in the class. Kids just scream whenever and whatever they feel like, and they are silenced about every ten minutes. I can tell her voice is stressing to yell over them and explain things. I am trying to be patient and say, "Listen" in an assertive tone that sometimes helps. Also, it is helpful to chant words or phrases in unison, so students know when to speak and they can hear me. This gets most of the class on-board. For those that hide their insecure voices or don't know how to pronounce the target language, it is imperative to quiz individuals. This is a basic formula for the presentation portion of the class, but it is sometimes rushed through. I think we take it for granted that students know how to say something or what they are saying, even when it appears that they are participating. For the really disruptive kids (always boys), I give them the stink-eye, then I pull them out of their chair and make them stand somewhere with their arms in the air, out of reach of things to play with and the means of entertaining their friends. I was half-way through a game with the whole class (that they were mostly enjoying), when I quit it because they wouldn't listen and chant together. The point was for the class to repeat a sentence I wrote on the board so their teammates could perform a simple task. But when all you hear is an undifferentiated mass of shouting, there is absolutely no communication happening and the game is failing to be instructive. My teacher tried to pick up the pieces, but that was that. She walked out without saying good-bye, perhaps with some shame, but we will get on the same page sooner or later. There is no doubt that 30 5th or 6th graders collectively can be an unwieldly opponent. Respect has to come before learning.

This weekend I rode the slow train up to Seoul, which took nine hours roundtrip. It dropped me off at Yeongsan Station, which is the electronics hub of Korea. I walked through miles of electronics of all kinds, though the brands were limited mostly to Korean and Japanese companies. I couldn't find a single e-book reader in any of the three six-story electronic malls. Finally, I found a sign for an IRiver store that was hiding off the beaten-path, and I bought an e-book reader for about $300. It was discouraging to find that the market in Korea is behind the times on such a useful tool. Samsung makes three models that I couldn't find at any of the dozen Samsung stores and none of the sales-people could help me find. Ironically, I believe you can buy this model in Europe and the U.S. now. Anyways, the screen resolution is easy on the eyes, though I am having some problems getting the font size and flow of text to allow for easy reading in some common book formats (.pdf, .txt). The good news is that I have a massive library at home that I can take anywhere and distribute to anyone. But mum's the word.

I am fighting the remnants of a throat bug, which got worse on the trip. Yesterday, I mostly slept it off and did some weekend chores. On Sunday, I got together with my South African (SA) friends (more like a family now) and had rooti (like naan) and chicken curry. I brought my selection of Costco import cheeses to the table with some cheap mixed veggies and table wine. We chased this with various ice-cream flavors and French-press coffee or Rooibos tea with lemon and honey. While I mostly enjoy the strange variety of seafood and spicy dishes that my Korean schools serve up, I still crave traditional Western and Middle Eastern dishes. Soon, I will make a trip to a Pakistani spice store in a nearby city and get my own Indian food fixings.

The language is getting easier. When I repeat an expression or word, I don't get laughed at quite as much. I can read hangul much quicker now, and I have amassed a collection of dictionarys, charts, workbooks and audio tools to push my studying forward. I am endeavoring to learn the vocabulary I am presenting to my students, though I use very little Korean in the class. It is a catch-22 because the students love it when you speak to them in their native tongue, but then they rain questions on you because they think you can speak better than you do, which frequently ends in mutual frustration. They also appreciate my presence on the playground when I am not busy having coffee and stumbling through the language barrier with other teachers in the lounge.

On Friday, I got together with a small group of taekwondo people for dinner and drinking. We ate bibimbap (a great variety of side-dishes mixed in with rice and red pepper paste) at a traditional restaurant out of handmade stone dishes. The makoli (tangy milky rice wine that is fairly strong) was plenteous and free. Afterwards, we went to another bar and drank soju (20% rice liqour) and mekju (weak macro-beer lager), while we shot semi-drunk messages across the great gulf of language. Hand gestures (miming), tone of voice, and cell phone dictionaries saved the day.