There will be a new post on Monday the 29th...that is states time. I will be quite long and full of some cool stuff. Sorry about the hiatus.

The Koreans Finally Broke Me

I will edit this later. I am in a rush and do not have time to proofread.

Well the Koreans finally broke me. They got to me; they crushed my spirits. I guess it was a combination of things met with the right circumtsances than it was a willful attack on my chi. As of late I have not been sleeping well. Those who know me know that I have spells of insomnia. This week I was in the midst of such a spell. The day was Tuesday, the worst day of the week for me now. On this day I teach what would be like American fifth graders. This is the day I see Steve or "the middle-finger man", I have another class with two snooty girls that pretty much have given me all the convincing I need to get a vasectomy, and finally my last class is the one with four girls that act like Hannah Montana fans that have had too many Red Bulls.

Tuesday morning I was up at 5, 5:30, 6 and so on; you get the picture. I eventually conceded to awaken at 8 in the morning. I cooked breakfast and sat to enjoy a nice omlette when a knock came on the door. As soon as I opened it a woman barged in with a little meter-thingy-do and started walking around my apartment without saying a word. In America, I would probably have some choice words for this person. She walked in like she owned the place and went in every room. Come to find she was checking for gas leaks. She definitely went about it in an unconventional way that was at the very least bothersome. I settled down after an hour or so and decided to go for a run. I ran really far and was in the zone, feeling good.

When I eventually got to school I was dog-tired from my run and not in the mood to deal with the screaming, hacking-in-my face school children. It started right off the bat. All the kids were out of control all day. All of my notoriously bad classes were notoriously bad. Steve told me he hated me. The two girls wouldn't even talk to me, even when I asked them questions directly to their face. Needless to say that when I got to the last class full of girls I was utterly at my wits end and exhausted. I sit in my classroom and I know all hell is about to break loose because I hear them sprint down the hall screaming. They break into the room like there is a fire in the hall and chuck their belongings towards their assigned seats like shotput. Then they go Kindergarten Cop all over me; they dance all around and scream the lyrics to their favorite pop songs and top it all off with a sufficient guerilla style attack on my blackboard, writing and drawing all over it until it is a yellow board. I literally stand there watching them silently in disbelief, wondering to myself--"Christ Almighty, These are the kids are nuts." I can't even react to such an unbelievable display of adolescent insanity. I actually want to videotape it and put it on my blog.

I finally got out of work after what seemed like ten years of hard labor. I was going to go to the gym that night and work off some steam. I got to the gym and found that just the mere sight of Koreans was starting to anger me. After being subjected to the screams of Korean children all day the conversational tone that I heard at the gym was even now unbearable. I began to see the faces of my students in the visage of every passing Korean. I gathered my things and ran home to my happy place to cool down. Don't get me wrong; I am not looking down on Koreans. It is just that the contrast of culture had finally caught up to me.

I can now say that I have truly experienced culture shock.

KICKS ASS: I am going to Seoul this weekend for what should be a great weekend. My Grandfather turned 90 and is doing well. I met two guys that live right next to me that are good guys and love to run and workout.

SUCKS ASS: THE GAS LADY!!!!!

Broken Promises

(Forgive my typos and format please. The format looks fine in the entry window and then goes haywire once I publish the post; I apologize)

I have titled this blog "Broken Promises". Why the word promises? Well this particular blog will be about te contract that I have with my academy. Formally, it is called a contract, but I have come to find that a contract here is really nothing more than promises, broken ones at that.

Let me list you some things that I am supposed to have here by contractual agreement:

Sick Days
Vacation - one week
Residence - within 10 minutes or less walking distance
Curriculum
Reliable Pay of 2.3 million Won
3 Days of paid training before starting class

Now, let me list for you what I don't have:

Sick Days - all days/classes missed due to illness are rescheduled at the STUDENT'S earliest
convenience, usually on the weekend.
Vacation - there is no vacation at all.
Residence - My apartment is an hours walk from my school, a thirty minute busride, or a 5000
Won cab ride. The campus I work at on Friday's is on the other side of the city; a
10000 Won cab ride. I have to pay for some of the cab rides to and from the closer
campus when I have plans. My other travel expenses are paid for, but it does take
considerable time out of my day.
Curriculum - I was given curriculum; however, with no time to learn it or get familiar. Shortly
after receiving it, I was told I couldn't use it anymore because the kids didn't like it.
I was told that I have to have conversations with kids that don't talk or behave for
90 minutes at a time. Tedious, Tedious, Tedious.
Reliable pay of 2.3 million Won - This month I am getting paid late again. I am scrapping a big
trip I had planned this weekend because I am unsure if I will
have the money, and I cannot go out this weekend and do any
thing. Also, I have not gotten paid the full amount yet. My
paychecks are usually around 2.1 million Won. Over a years
time I will have been shortchanged about 2 million Won. This
will be dealt with tomorrow!
Three Days of Paid Training - My first ten minutes at my academy on January 2nd went like
this: "This is you (not a typo) room Weeyum. Classes are 90 minutes. Bye." Before I knew it, I was in a class full of kids
ready to be taught God Knows What by me. No Training.

**All of my friends at other academies live close to work, get there pay on time and in the correct amount, had training, have curriculum that doesn't change, vacation and sick days. Also, their directors got all their alien registration, health insurance, cell phone, etc. setup for them in three weeks or less. Not me**

The bad news: I like the people I work with and in leaving I would really be screwing them over. Getting released from my contract because of their fault and going to another academy would put my academy in a dire financial situation, thus putting a strain on my coworkers, many of whom I have become close with as of late. Some might even lose their jobs, or at the very least, have troubles with their salaries.

So the moral conundrum is: Do I bite the bullet for six more months and deal with the crap? Or do I speak up knowing that I most likely won't get my way or any improvement, probably end up leaving and hurting many of the people at my academy who depend on this job and aren't just tourists of sorts who are on to bigger and better things in six months? I hope I can find a middle path, which is to say I hope my boss can as well.

KICKS ASS: Crazy co-worker got the axe at work. She is no longer around to harass me. She feigned illness and was caught and fired immediately. Awesome!

SUCKS ASS: No money and can't go on the trip. Also, my bus card ran out of points. I took it to my director, and he didn't know why I was giving it to him when he told me to bring it back to him when it ran out. He told me very blatantly, "Fill it back up with points." I had to explain to him that since I lived so far from work that that was his responsibility. After some reluctance he conceded and did the right thing. But, that with the addition of the late pay was the catalyst for this post.

As Promised: A Collection of Random Observations and Experiences

Well today was a PEACH! In my second class there is an evil, devil child named Steve. This is the kid that loves to play naive and innocent to authority figures when he is called to answer for his crimes, yet go spanish inquisition on my a$$ when it is just us in the class. We play a game in this class called crazy cards (like UNO with some small variations). If we don't play Steve acts up. When we do play he has to be in charge of shuffling and dealing the cards; all the while, he is looking at the cards and taking the wilds so that he can win. He was cheating very badly today, and so I said that there would be no crazy cards because of him. Teacher's trick, create disciplin by having the students police themselves. Well Steven then went on to flip me te bird, with both hands, and call me the equivalent of bigfaced, facist-American (not a true translation, but I was told that was his meaning). What did the secretary say when I asked for help? "Just a kid." That was it. I put my foot down and said, "I won't teach him today, and I won't teach until he is disciplined!" --What is wrong with this country, when acts such as this go unpunished?--

What else has made this a special coupl of days? If you have been following my blog, you possibly remember that I have an mentally infirm co-worker. Well, I guess she has figured that enough time has passed since the last time I told her off, and she is back. I was going to get a drink by myself last weekend and unwind. I am turning the corner to enter the bar when low and behold she is coming out at the exact same time. She says her friends just left and she was bored and on her way home. But, now that I am here she said, " I am going to hang out with you tonight." In my head I was screaming obscenities and burning with anger. I said okay and thought that I could send her messages that would have her leaving soon--not talking to her, being distant, talking about girls. This did not do anything. Said girl is a raging alcoholic and before too long began to get drunk. She started to touch me and try to hold my hand. I told her not to and that it was inappropriate. Eventually, I left to go meet friends. What did she do? She said, "Okay, I am coming with you." We get to the next place, and when I meet my friends I ditch her and ignore her completely. The next two hours she harasses me that I am not paying attention to her and that I need to dance with her; I say no. She keeps bothering me and eventually grabs me and pulls me by my nice ironed, oxford shirt. This is the proverbial "STRAW". I gave her a serious, with no embellishment, piece of my mind. Did this do anything to asuage her routine phone calls and texts? NOPE! I have been bombarded still with texts for dinner dates and movie dates. What else can I do. "So much is lost in translation."

Squatters. This nation is a country of squatters. It is really very odd. Mostly in the older generations I have noticed it, but I do see it amongst the young from time to time. People of all ages in the middle of sidewalks, outside restaurants, in back alley's and outside malls can be seen in the catcher's position, man or woman. They just sit there and read or drink, eat or converse. It cannot be comfortable and is quite odd to see; especially, since most are dressed in business clothes (shirt and tie, pant-suits, and so on). I don't get it. I do believe it goes hand and hand with the freakish amount of freakish orthopaedic problems that I see many times throughout the day. People walking permanently hunched over. Joints can be seen bent and disfunctional. At times it does look very gruesome.

KICKS ASS: I am getting a hair cut tomorrow. My hair looks totally UNSAT and nappy. If the cut goes bad, I will do as I always have and go bald again.

SUCKS ASS: This is also a nation where people don't cover up for sneezes and coughs. Two little girls that sit next to me in class are both sick with hacking coughs. for forty-five minutes today I sat sandwiched between to hacking, unapologetic little girls. I was furious, and I am screwed. I await the sickness that is to undoubtedly befall me.

5 Months in Korea: What Not To Do In the Business World

Well it has now been 5 months that I have been in Korea. I remember thinking during week one that this would be one helluva long year! Time flies! This blog will be a reflection on business practices that I have noticed and valuable lessons I have learned should I ever decide to become and entrepreneur.

First, I would like to say somethings about what I have learned about in regards to Business Administration. No one I work with knows about this website nor could they read it; so, I am allowed to be slightly and safely critical. I am now completely certain that my academy was thrown together in a moments notice to supply a growing demand that plateaued about two years ago; in a time when all you needed was desks, an address, and some mediocre teachers. Now that the demand for academies has plateaued, the ones that are standing the tests of time are the academies with good business models, which you will find does not include mine. For Example:
*My academy has no system in place for initial assesment of new students, as well as no system for placing the new students in the appropriate level English class; students are placed solely by age. What does this mean? Everyday I come to class, or get a new class, I get students who are the same age, but can't barely speak, while others are more than proficient. How do you teach that class? Not only this, but my class sizes change weekly without warning, which is a bad sign . How do you plan appropriately? This problem is easy to solve, but is not and presents our academy as unorganized and careless.

*Across the board, other academies have strict, uniform rules that followed methodically for the regular implementation of homework, testing, routine assesment, and discipline. This does not exist at my academy. Not only does it represent our academy in a poor light, but it gives the kids the upperhand and room to argue; this is unacceptable.

*There is no set curriculum at my academy. Kids are switched from class to class and have to buy books everytime they change. This sends another bad message home to our investors, the parents. The message--we don't know what we are doing with your money.

*There is no employee support. There is no employee accountability. We need our director to take a page out of Obama's play book and "REGULATE" like Warren G. Weekly meetings should be held with all teachers to discuss their lesson plans and the pace of their teachings. Grammar, writing, listening, and speaking classes should be coordinating with eachother so that there can be continuity between lessons. Teachers must have a lesson plan for each class, as well as testing and homework schedules. All of this should be kept in a binder, organized and neat to show parents and students should disputes over methods arise or to impress a potential customer. Approved teaching supplements and resources should be provided for all courses; however, right now, I am given a class and told to go talk to them for an hour and a half.

*It is an English academy and the only language that is spoken is Korean. Parents come into our academy and hear no children speaking English. There is just children running around screaming Korean and rough-housing. Korean should be outlawed in English academies. This is of no concern at my academy, so far as I can tell. This behavior is dismissed throughout the chain of command.

*Finally, there is no relationship with our customers, the parents. We should do an open house to advertise our academy and show our parents what we are doing for their children, who will be teaching them, what their qualifications are, what the curriculum is, how we are organized and so on. Not just, give us your money, we will throw some English at your kids face like wet spaghetti at a wall; let's see what sticks.

The good news about these problems, if you can imagine any, is that they will be fairly easy to change and cheap. None of them are serious pecuniary issues. Also, we have good teachers; teacher that I believe would like to see these changes, who are diligent and hardworking.

The bad news is that in Korean culture I have no platform to speak to my boss on these matters, and I do not believe he fully understands what is necessary to right the ship.

KICKS ASS: My exercise regimen is getting pretty intense. I ran a 19:34 3-mile. I am starting to lose even more weight.

SUCKS ASS: The beers on the weekend make me feel like I am spinning my wheels a little. Oh yeah, and war looks eminent between N. and S. Korea.

THERE WILL BE ANOTHER BLOG POST TOMORROW. -- WSR

Seoul Sorrows

So I had yet another weekend with big plans that fell through for one reason or another. This last weekend I decided that I was going to finall see Seoul, the capital city of South Korea. On Saturday, I took the KTX up to Seoul around dinner time, I had just ran about five miles and was ready to eat some serious food and pound some beers. I took a cab off the KTX to Itaewon, a well-known foreigner hot spot, and decided to stop at a restaurant before meeting a friend. The place was called The All American Grill. I saw on their sign that they served breakfast all day, as well as hot wings, burgers and all things American. I could not resist considering that up until then I have been knee deep in kimchi, rice, and God knows what. I went in and went American on their ass and got ten hot wings, an enormous burger, and like 5 MGD's, which are terrible but taste like a unicorn's tears when compared to Korean beer like Cass and Hite.

While in The All American restaurant I had a chance encounter. It just so happened that sitting down the bar from me was one of the most famous pop singers in all of Korea. Her name (I have no idea if this is how it is spelled, so I will spell it how it sounds and how I think it is spelled based on my meager knowledge of Korean.) is Paq Gyu Dee (pock cue dee). She is really pretty and spoke pretty good English. I told her I was a teacher at an academy and all my students were huge fans, so she took a picture with me on my phone under the condition that I don't share it or upload it. I showed it to all my students and they all think that their teacher is the coolest, especially since some can't understand me and now think that I am dating her ( I did try to correct this misunderstanding.) Well anyways, she left and I left and by now it was past nine o'clock. I couldn't get in touch with my friend and was getting nervous because I had drank a few beers and wandering the streets of Seoul with no one to call and nowhere to stay. By 10:30 I was still out of luck and knew that I had to go back and get a train by 11:00 or stay, wandering Seoul until 5:00 the next morning. So, I caught the train that night back to Daejeon. What made the trip even better was that it was on the slow train back (two hours instead of forty-five minutes, and the ticket I got was for standing room only). So here I am, a little bit tipsy, disappointed (mostly in myself) and standing on a train for two-hours, alone on Saturday night.
AWESOME weekend.

KICKS ASS: For the little time I was there, Itaewon is awesome and bustling with foreigner activity. I will be back soon to do it right.

SUCKS ASS: Under the persuasion of a few beers, I told the Korean pop star, when asked, that I was not a fan of the music. Maybe we could have had a Nottinghill moment? We will never know; I ruined it!!!

A Bit Past Due: With Regards to Mr. Devaney

This post could be a lengthy post containing all kinds of great stories from my trip to Busan, but I am afraid it won't be. My trip was capsized, so to speak, when an unfortunate series of events unfolded--a bank mishap, some issues with the locals, and a fight, quasi-domestic dispute that I don't wish to delve into. Needless to say, the trip which I was hoping would rejuvinate my excitement in Korea, left only more disappointed than I was before. However, there are some nice things that I can say about the trip: First, I got to go to the Busan Aquarium, which pretty nice; although, I told my mother, "I feel a little spoiled because I have had so much access to the Atlanta Aquarium" (which by the way is unbelievable if you have never seen it); second, I found a nice place for any future trips where I can drink and eat a breakfast buffet for the better part of the day while looking over the beach; it is relatively cheap and has good scrambled eggs, a rarity here; Lastly, the first twenty or so hours of the trip were actually quite nice, spending time with friends. It just so happens that the bad stuff all came to a head at the end, thus making it hard to focus on anything else.

I have been spending a lot of time by myself during the weeks, and it has proven to be quite nice. I am doing a lot of reading (thanks to the books I have been getting sent here from my mother), and I have been able to exercise a lot. I hope to return to the U.S. in much better shape than I left it.

Exams are over in public schools now, so my schedule has returned to normal, and I have to see all of the children again; this I assure you is bittersweet. I am spending more hours at work now, and most of my days aren't spent watching movies, reading, exercising, and relaxing before heading to work. I am not going to be able to travel as much as I had originally intended this month, but my plans have changed. I believe now that I will try to go to one big place every month. This month's was Busan. Maybe next month will be better!

KICKS ASS: I am excited that after all of my dietary blunders I ran a 3-mile time in the 19 minute mark.

SUCKS ASS: My Busan trip. Want to know the details? Email me, and we can discuss them privately, depending on who you are of course.