Mediocre Reflections

I spent a good twenty minutes staring at my keyring today, contemplating it. There are several keys that I require on a daily basis hanging from the worn Miller Lite bottle opener and fancy nail clippers disguised as a decorative lion. Keys for my apartment, my classroom. But there are other keys that have no business here. A key for my car, for my girlfriend's apartment, for my parents house. Why did I bring these here? Why do I carry them with me day to day? I have no answer to these questions and the inquiry itself is not compelling enough a reason to inhibit me from continuing to do so.

The majority of my week has been routine. I wake up, get a shower,ride the #13 bus to school, eat an orange with coffee while the students are in homeroom, teach two classes, enjoy a free period, go to lunch and eat whatever weird Korean concoction happens to be served (most of the time it's edible, often it's fairly enjoyable, once in a while I reluctantly choke it down) while struggling to converse with my co-workers, play some baseball with the students, shoot the breeze with Mr. Kim the custodian who owns a super fast Kia Coupe and knows how to have a good time after work, check Facebook and G-mail, teach two more classes, play pop music for the girls who show up to clean my classroom, turn everything off, catch the bus or bum a ride back to Tapdong, open the windows and turn on the fan to air the mustiness out of my house caused by the wet bathroom floor, run to and hike Mount Chilbo or run around the lake and go lift at the gym, admire the squadrons of fighter jets, call up some friends to get dinner or make Kimbap and salad at home, play X-Box, call Rachael, fall asleep while watching an American movie on Super Action. On Wednesday there was a slight change in routine as I got to go observe another foreign teacher who has been here for eight months. I thought that the classes I teach are not only more effective and educational than hers but probably more fun for the students so I felt good about that.

This week I'm showing clips from Indiana Jones, primarily the temple scene from the beginning of Raiders which I've seen almost twenty times now. I can recite it by heart and admit that it seems progressively more corny every time it is screened.
"Dr. Jones, again we see that there is nothing you can possess which I cannot take away, and you thought I'd given up. You chose the wrong friends and this time it will cost you."
"Too bad the Hojvitos don't know you the way I do Belloch."
"Yes too bad. You could warn them...if only you spoke Hojvitos."
I made a work sheet with about ten short phrases describing the scene such as, "Giant spiders," "Indy switches idol for bag of sand," or "Jock, start the engine." Then I mix them all up and leave it to the students to arrange them in the right order. Naturally, I prime their motivation with lots of candy. It's a very fun lesson and teaching it makes my day go by really fast. There have been a lot of class cancellations this week because they are studying for finals which always dissapoints me because I'd rather be fooling around with the kids than reading sick novels (American Psycho), blogging, or streaming South Park episodes.

I've eased into the role of instructor with little resistance and find that I have a natural inclination towards the occupation. A big part of the job is motivating and disciplining students who are either unruly or don't want to learn. The psychological strife that persists between students and educator both fascinates and beguiles me, but I am the more clever of the two and outwitting them is hardly an insurmountable challenge. Allow me to present you with an example. Last week I had a student who would say "wow" in a condescending tone after every thing I asked them to repeat.

Me- "I am a doctor and I treat patients."
Unruly student - "Wow!"
Me - "I am a police officer and I enforce the law."
Unruly student - "Wow!"
Me - "I am pilot and I fly airplanes."
Unruly student - "Wow!"

I try to give them a little slack because I understand their situation. They study for 12 hours a day, six days a week, and they are exhausted from preparing for finals but this kid was clearly trying to disrespect me and his distraction threatened to undermine my control of the class. To counter his exclamatory salvo I simply began to say wow myself and got the rest of the class to join in.

Me - "I am a dentist and I clean teeth. Wow!"
Unruly student and class - "I am a dentist and I clean teeth. Wow!"
Me - "I am driver and I drive a bus. Wow!"
Unruly student and class - "I am a driver and I drive a bus. Wow!"

By utilizing his distraction to my advantage I took the power away from him and regained control. Everyone was laughing, having a good time, and before you know it he was tired of saying "wow!" I find that embarrassing them is also affective. If a student won't be quiet or is continually talking over me I'll ask them to come sit up front with Mr. Popielarski. The rest of the class thinks it's funny but they'll quiet down because they don't want to suffer the same fate. Singling out a student from his friends goes a long way here and it's a very effective means of discipline. You can also stop the lesson and just stare at them. It usually quiets them down right away but if they don't notice my piercing gaze while they continue to ramble on then their friends will catch on and warn them. As a last resort, if a student is being completely disrespectful and simply will not comply I just tell him to leave the room. It serves to single them out and since they have nowhere to go except the principle's office, they'll likely have their parents called. I've only had to do that once and I reserve it for extreme situations because it means that their parents are probably going to beat the snot out of them for disrespecting a teacher. Still, when one student is cast out of the room the rest of them immediately fall into line. It's like how Vlad the Impaler would demoralize his enemies by skewering his prisoners on long pikes for everyone to see. Who's gonna take a chance getting captured by that guy? I also find that if you know it's going to be a wild class than you can't, for any reason, let them sit next to their friends. I usually split them into equal groups of boys and girls before I even get started or it will simply be me against the masses. You may know this military tactic as "divide and conquer" and I'll even say that to their faces before switching their seats, "Okay guys, time to divide and conquer."

I went to a Galbi restaurant on Tuesday night that is popular with my friends and which is referred to as Heejay's, though I'm pretty sure that's the owner's name rather than that of the establishment. Eating Galbi is just as much about the food and it is the social exchange. Twelve of us filled three outdoor tables, taking turns roasting pork, pouring Cass, laughing, joking, enjoying the night air and vibrant, though blighted Oriental mise en scene. Also managed to find the Laos Bar (not Now Bar), a place I've been hearing about since I touched down in this country as an establishment where expats congregate. I didn't think it was that great but to be fair I really didn't give it a chance. Perhaps it deserves a second day in court. Well, I'm tired. Goodnight.

Cool Thing About Korea #14: Samsung makes everything. Seriously, every appliance in my apartment is Samsung; air conditioner, refrigerator, television, cell phone, toaster, microwave, rice cooker, gas range, washing machine...I even think my shower head is Samsung. It makes sense because the corporate headquarters is in Suwon..but wow...Samsung.