So today at lunch, I asked Miss Baek which of us was going to do next week’s lesson plan, and she said she would do it.  She looked so happy and I was also in a good mood and actually looking forward to the break.

But then today at our last class together, which I taught, I had an idea of having a contest for whichever group could keep a conversation going the longest, and she got really excited.  She told me she could tell the kids were really enjoying themselves during the conversation time, and that she liked my method better because it provided more time for the kids to actually practice speaking.  And then she offered that maybe we should keep on doing my method and did I want to do the lesson plan next week.

I told her that what I really need help with is coming up with more helpful tools for the kids and a steady stream of interesting topics for their level.  I also told her that if we could just keep on working on conversation skills, that by the time the open classroom came around, we could let the kids themselves wow the other teachers and the school district, because the speaking would be coming from themselves and they would really be communicating and expressing their own opinions.

Ahhh…so that is actually a relief.  She’s on board with the program, and lately has been very helpful with the classroom management.  So finally I have a co-teacher.  I mean, REALLY have a co-teacher.

Now to work on Mr. Lee…

The farming women often wear towels tied around their visors for added protection from the sun, as well as tie cushions around their hips for sitting upon when they are doing intensive weeding. They all wear these baggy pants for ease of movement, and rubber gloves and arm protectors:  I don’t know how they can harvest and weed with the reduced mobility wearing those thick gloves!

It’s back-breaking work and I can’t imagine the heat and humidity during the summer months.  So many of the old women here are bent at almost 90 degrees when standing upright, probably due to a lifetime spent bending over the fields.

Even the country dogs like hanoaks…

I’m at school and went to respond to a comment posted on one of my You Tube videos, and found my response was disabled due to “real name Korean verification laws.”

There are many sites in Korea, where activity is only allowed if you type in your Korean citizen number, so foreigners can’t post at those places.

Annoyingly, I find I often have to make sure my search engine and You Tube, etc. don’t morph into Korean all the time.  Maybe one day I won’t need to keep on top of this, but for now it’s kind of a pain.  If I one day get to the point where I can allow it to go fully Korean, will that real name Korean verification law kick in?

For those of you in America reading this, “Korea Sparkling” is the slogan chosen by the tourism board to promote Korean tourism.  The English teachers all find this humorous, but when I try to think about it, I can’t come up with a better slogan, even if I do change the word order. Resolute, enduring, and stubborn come to mind, and while those words are complimentary in my estimation, they might not be for tourists.

Anyway, I’m adding some of my favorite photos now, and I’ll attribute them later when I get some time…

then…

and now…

(this was for men – I don’t know where the women were supposed to go)