MontanaRon

An English teacher's blog about his travels and his digital art.

Month: January 2011

Light at the End of the Tunnel

January 25, 2011 /

This is the final week of the Kids’ Camp for this session. No more kids until Summer Camp. Yippee! Ok, let me say that I don’t hate kids. They’re usually cute and adorable. But, put 15 of them, between the ages of 8 and 11, in a classroom and chaos ensues. They know that a foreign teacher is going to go easy on them, as far as discipline goes (by nature, I’m certainly NOT a disciplinarian), so they’ll get away with whatever they can. A couple of the boys were fighting as I walked into one of the classes last week, so I got between them and hauled them both down to the main office. It’s best to let the Korean admin people take care of something like that. They’ve been very well behaved since then. Here’s a few shots from a couple of my three classes.

The first one is from the youngest class. Wow, look how diligently they’re working. What could possibly hold their attention like that?

Let’s look at their work, shall we?

Ahh, budding Picassos. They’re supposed to be working on English activities, but I give them some free time near the end of class. It keeps them busy and out of trouble.

Here’s a girl from one of the other classes showing off the latest gizmo, which doubles as a ball point pen.

Hey, what are the boys up to? Looking up words in their electronic English dictionaries? Hahahahahah. Very funny. They’re playing games on their cell phones with the five or so minutes of free time I gave them.

We actually do get some English work done, believe it or not, and they’re pretty cool kids for the most part. Anyway, Friday is the final day of fun and games. I just hope that light ain’t a train. More later. (If I survive.)

Eating Healthy

January 20, 2011 /

What with all the teaching hours I’ve been doing, I don’t really have time to go to my dorm apartment and eat lunch. I’m off from noon until 2 p.m., but I use most of that time to do lesson plans. Still, because I eat only a small breakfast every day, I’m pretty hungry by lunch time. Luckily, one of the school cafeterias is just a short walk from my office, so I go there for a quick bite.

Like many institution eateries, the food isn’t all that great. It is, however, cheap (3,000 Korean won) and it’s pretty healthy. These 4 weeks of kids’ classes is about the only time I eat Korean food regularly. I’m glad it’s healthy, ‘cuz I’m not getting much exercise, except for on the weekends. Here’s a typical lunch.

From the top left, it’s tofu (or a variation thereof), the ubiquitous National Dish, kimchi (which is usually spicy fermented cabbage), a pasta of some kind, also spicy (I think it’s a rice-based pasta and very chewy), soup or broth, and rice. Not deliciously inviting, but, really, not all that bad, either. And, like I mentioned, healthy. Hasn’t stopped the weight from going up, though. Gotta get some regular exercise. One more week of kids’ classes to go, then back to the treadmill or outdoors, if the weather isn’t too cold or windy.

It Never Snows in Yeosu

January 18, 2011 /

Nor does it ever get cold . . . compared to the rest of Korea. At least, that’s what Yeosuites tell me. I believe them about the snow, since we’ve never received more than a meager amount during the three winters I’ve been here. The cold? Hah!! This past weekend I don’t think we ever got above freezing, which isn’t terribly bad, but a banshee wind screeched along the university hillside for three straight days without a letup. According to the KMA website, winds were steadily blowing at over 30 mph, but some of the gusts (by my own estimate) were hitting 40 or more. Nonstop. Three days and nights. Horrible. It reminded me of the extreme winds around Livingston, Montana. I stayed in my apartment all weekend. 😮

It does snow sometimes, however. We had a few, what?, milimeters a couple of weeks ago. It started off in the early afternoon like a Montana blizzard, though.

It was pretty much gone by evening. I took a few photos while walking a short couple of blocks to the local convenience snow. This clump of roses looks like it’s yearning for warmer times. (Yup, roses in January–so I guess it actually doesn’t get all that cold in Yeosu!)

There’s an automobile junkyard just down the road from the apartment. The snow dressed it up a little bit.

Let’s see if I can’t dress it up a bit more.

Ahh, that’s better. (I think.)

And, finally, a view down the sidewalk. I like the pattern the snow makes on the bricks.

Enough for now, but, as always, more later. (Maybe not until the weather warms up :smile:)

Consumed

January 10, 2011 /

I mentioned in a previous post that my work schedule would be a killer in the month of January, and it’s turned out to be that way, consuming most of my time (hence the paucity of posts, so far this year). I’m in my office around 8 or 8:30 each morning to do a bit of prep work, and I don’t get home until 7:45 at night. I’ve got a few hours off here and there during the day, but not enough time to go to my apartment to relax or have lunch. The few hours that I do have free I spend preparing lessons or, if it’s not too cold and windy, taking a short walk in the sun. Ah well, one week down and three to go.

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