Kids Day (May 4th)

A few weeks ago was Kids Day, a celebration just for kids here in Korea. All schools were canceled and we had a party on the roof of our building to celebrate. Pics:

This was a strange game where the kids hit piggy banks down towards us, rounded the chairs and raced back all the way back to the start. Fun if you're a kid I guess...

I didn't trust all those kids with golf clubs...

When the teachers were asked to participate, Joe decided to handicap me...

...we still won.

The kids played with bubbles

and played games.

I entertained them by acting like a jackass.

and lifting them up by their ears, of course. (Though it looks like Eddie here is is terrible pain, he's not. He's grabbing my forearms and that's how I'm lifting him

To Ailey

Don't forget: I have pictures of you drunk, making an ass out of yourself too...

Get off my back. As the last post detailed: I am fucking busy and I am going to be a hell of a lot busier the next month or two. I'm sorry that I'm making it hard for you to live vicariously through me. Why don't you quit bitching and get to Japan already so you can do your own cool Asian stuff?? I'll be in Seoul this weekend, probably touring the DMZ. And you know what? I'm not going to tell you anything about it. Ha.

How do you say "we're fucked" in Korean??

Joey and Suzy, two of the best foreign teachers this school has probably every seen, had their last day of work here at LCI Kids Club on Wednesday. Tired of broken promises from the management and daily schedules that just kept getting longer, they gave their two month notice in March. While we are all going to miss them (as they begin a whirlwind trip around Asia) we all feel a little jealous that their fight is over. They don't have to deal with the problems left here at the school, which, though perhaps small, are starting to add up.

Last week, I asked my supervisor and the director of the school to be moved from the exhausting night shift with the practically mute and disrespectful high school kids to the morning schedule with the kindergarteners. I had been given the late shift because the other four teachers were couples and the school didn't want to separate them. I understood this and accepted it. I hated being away from the other coworkers though, as I was constantly missing out on after work dinners and socializing. With Joe and Suzy leaving though, and a single teacher moving in to replace them, I thought it was a great time to ask to be moved.

I presented a great case. The school makes most of their money from the kindergarten and I already know most of the kids and have a good rapport with them. My older students could easily be taught by Korean teachers. And, after all, I did them a favor (at my own expense) in taking the late schedule and I felt I deserved some consideration. My director was dismissive at best. I talked to my supervisor and she attempted to explain the directors position. She wants to make sure their are existing teachers here for the kinder graduation in February and is concerned that my leaving in January (and Adam and Michelle's) would be disruptive and could cause students to leave the school. I assured them we all would do our best to make the transition as smooth as possible. My director refused.

I was pissed. I didn't want to continue my shitty schedule, isolated from my other coworkers and I was furious that no consideration was being given to me after I had done them a favor. Now, I fully realize that the director is boss and that her word is final, but this is one many examples of her unwillingness to cooperate and her refusal to have any dialog with her teachers about what is happening at this school. I was insulted and I threatened to quit. I posted my resume online immediately and three days later I've been offered 6 jobs.

After I threatened to leave, my director acquiesced and now I teach mornings Tuesdays and Thursdays. Certainly not ideal, but I lost my three worst classes in the process and my threat to leave was not wholehearted (though I made it sound like it was). Also I didn't want to cause a big stir right before the new teacher arrived.

She arrived Tuesday. Canadian, older woman and seemingly real nice. No previous teaching experience. She had one day of observation (7 classes) on Wednesday and was told she was starting a full schedule Thursday. That was today and from what I've heard it's been pretty rough. Even with a year or so of unprofessional teaching, my entire FIRST MONTH was horrible. And I had help, mostly from Joe and Suzy. The new teacher said if the first day didn't go well she was going to leave. And after just talking to her, she's decided to head home.

I don't blame her in the least. The school refused to pay for her airfare here, since she was traveling in Thailand right before she got here and she hasn't even been given a contract yet! It's another example poor management here. Our director turned down two couples who were interested in working here because of their nationalities (Aussies and Brits) and we were left with a single teacher with no previous experience. Our director has left us in the lurch and now all the current teachers are going to have to pay for it. Hopefully this will teach her a lesson about how to treat her staff better but I doubt it.

Ya-gu

"For it's root, root, root for the Giants, if they don't win it's a shame..."

Being from southern California and cheering for the Padres and Dodgers my entire life, it's tough to bring myself to root for the Giants. Here in Pusan though, rooting for the home team Lotte Giants is easy. Yesterday I spent my first day out at the ballpark and I'm going to be making a habit of it.

Baseball (ya-gu) is extremely popular here in Korea and the Korean national team had a stunning outing in the World Baseball Classic, going undeafeated for six games before dropping the semi-final to Japan. The
Korean Baseball Association has 8 teams all of which are sponsored by local businesses, Kia, Hyundae, LG, Samsung, etc. The Giants are sponsored by Lotte, a huge Asian corporation bent on world domination. The Giants, however, haven't dominated anything as of late and have been low in the KBO standings for years.

They had a good showing on Sunday against the Unicorns however. Yup, that's right. One of the KBO teams is called the Unicorns and apparently they suck. Spotty picthing all day by the Unicorns gave way to a 9-1 route. Such a lopsided game led more to drinking than to actually watching the game.

Tickets cost $5 and you can bring in as much food and drink as you can carry. We took them up on that offer and brought in a case of beer. Thoroughly drunk by the 5th, we applied ourselves to learning the Korean chants and songs that were constantly sang by the near capacity crowd. They cheer and chant for every player and every play. Yelling "No, we don't like it" when a pitcher checks the runner at first and "Give it to a kid" when a ball slices foul into the stands. I picked up quite a bit of Korean with the help of two Korean teachers that went to the game with us. My friend Todd also helped this learning experience, but not in a way I appreciated.

"Try this one," he told me. "She-bal. It means 'way to go, good job'. Try it." I did try it. Yelled it, in fact, right after the next good play. When Todd started laughing hysterically and I was hit on the shoulder by the Korean teachers we were with, I knew something was up. I hadn't yelled "good job" but rather the Korean equivalent of "son of a bitch". I spent the next five minutes punching Todd as hard as I could and calling him a son of a bitch in English.

Great times at the ballpark. The Korean fans are so much more into the game than are Americans and with a smaller stadium it feels much more personal. Like I said, I'm going to try to get out there as often as I can. I'm spending next weekend on Geoje-do, an island an hour from here. I'm going with Sarah and I think we're going to have a great time. I'll have pictures to post and a description next week. Take care.