I think it's pretty universally accepted that Monday morning is the worst time frame of the week. Absolutely 100% true. Unless, of course, you work shift work and then just replace actual Monday with whatever Monday is to you. I felt my first case of the Mondays today. Haha, I'm only three weeks in and it already feels like a job! Maybe the weekends are just that good? Maybe, but a boy's gotta get that chedda.
As it turned out, today was actually my favorite day of teaching yet. I taught for the first time with the final remaining co-teacher I had yet to teach with. He's already my new favorite. Usually people would be unhappy about being left to flap in the wind, but I loved it. It allowed me to just be an individual teacher and find my style. After being smothered with Koreans padding everything for the Westerner, it was refreshing to have some space. He's like, "you do this part, I do this part," and we're done lesson planning. Really nice.
I even had the principal grace us with his presence for one class. He didn't know how co-teaching went down so he wanted to see it first hand. I'm not really sure what his reaction was, but it was probably somewhere between elated and appalled. He's just so stoic, you know? And I don't subscribe to the traditional cardboardy Korean way of teaching, so I may have been a little flamboyant for him, especially for a male teacher. I gotta insert the humor though. Would it really be like me to just be straight serious all the time? Psh. Besides, the kids like it and that's what matters.
Alright, let me back track and then jump forward. Time warp! So yesterday, Sunday (which has unofficially become the "Daegu exploration day" of the week), I paid a visit to the Daegu National Museum. That was a good way to burn fifteen minutes. It was kind of small and all in Korean, so my knowledge intake was limited. What I gathered was that some guy who liked showing off that he was missing some fingers tried to murder the Japanese Emperor back in the day so he was hung (hanged?). Then they found some really old stuff around here and put it on display. The coolest thing was actually a series of photographs of Daegu from 1954. It looked like a completely different city. Dirt roads and rice paddies. No high rises, no spitting, no scooters on the sidewalks, no wae-gooken.
So, tonight I had semi-live octopus for dinner. It was a little strange because I watched it die being cooked and then I ate it. What kind of person does that make me? Sara, I know you've got an opinion.
I guess we did it for the novelty and I'm not sure how the Koreans serving us thought of us as we snapped pictures of our dying meal. Oh well. It was actually pretty tasty, all things considered. Quite spicy, but nothing a little soju didn't chase away. Ok, I guess I have nothing else for you so I'm gonna hop in bed and take an 8 hour nap.
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The Hardest Goodbyes
I had to post twice in a day. It's my final day in Korea and there are so many emotions running through ma veins, through ma brains. I u...
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Brave of you to try octopus, very cruel way of eating it. I don't approve. ;)
ReplyDeleteI believe it's "hanged."
It's so much better to have your own space for creativity and imagination in your job, especially when you're teaching others. Good for you!!
Yeah, yeah. Thanks. I just hope I finally make up my mind on a guitar soon and get some art supplies. This boy is starved for creative outlets! The accordion is too frustrating to express my inner angst appropriately.
ReplyDeleteDude, fuck it. Just get the guitar. You have to treat yourself once in a while. You only live until you reach Nirvana, and who knows how many times that could be?!! DO IT NOW.
ReplyDeleteAlso, I keep meaning to tell you that one time when I was posting a comment on your entry, the security word it made me spell to prove I wasn't a crazy android computer was simply "sword." I thought you'd appreciate that.
ReplyDeleteHmmmm.....watching something die and doing nothing is one thing. Pretty bad. Having the small pleasure of your palette be the reason for it's death is another. Really BAD! Or in Korean if you like, Belly Bad. Please watch The Cove and/or and then maybe you'll FINALLY kick the habit of eating the beautiful, majestic and rapidly decreasing creatures of the earth's waterways. Stopping eating other animals is great and I'm not sure why you don't include sea animals, as if they are less sentient or important than land dwelling ones. Hmmmm......
ReplyDeleteAnd just give in to the accordion shredding. Someone has to do it, I don't know why is can't be the Holcomb duo. TONS of people shred on the guitar, how may shred on the accordion huh?
And saving up that guitar money and then instead choosing to spend it on a plane ticket to VA would be much more appealing to me.
That's my two cents. or 2,000 wons or whatever.
I meant to say The Cove and/or Earthlings....duh.
ReplyDelete