The Most Anticipated Film of the Year...

Is finally here! Presenting a video tour of my apartment.

Want a job?

I've mentioned in the past through conversation about the huge demand for English teachers here in Korea. The qualifications are: 4 year college degree (any major), no criminal record, and native English speaker. That's pretty much it. Teaching experience helps, but is not necessary.

Anyway, time for a shameless plug. My recruiter back in the States is wondering if I have anyone to refer to him. I'm not doing it just for him (although, full disclosure, I get a 250,000 won bonus if they hire anyone I refer), but because even though it has been one month for me, I am really enjoying my time here and would highly recommend it to anyone who is curious. Remember, it is only a one year contract, the pay is pretty good and they set you up with an apartment and all the rest. The recruiting agency I used, Aclipse, recruits exclusively for Chungdahm Institute. It is a good company; there are no horror stories associated with it. Some of my co-workers have been here for years and they like the company. Don't expect a vacation, though. You are expected to work. You get little time off and school goes year round. But that doesn't mean you can't have fun, because you will.

If you want more information, just send me an email. If not, that's fine too!

Update

I know everyone is eagerly waiting for a video tour of my apartment, and it is coming. I'm having some technical problems, but those will be solved. Specifically, the file size is too large to upload, so I have to downgrade the resolution. Too bad, because you could have seen my apartment in dazzling HD video. Oh well.

So to tide you over, let me explain my teaching schedule to give you a sense of how I spend my days.

I work 6 days a week, only resting on Sunday. On Wednesdays and Saturdays I only have 1 class that is 3 hours long. On Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays I teach 2 classes that are 3 hours long, for a total of 6 hours per day (confused yet?).

In terms of the classes themselves, I have 5 different groups of students. Class sizes vary, from a low of 9 to a high of 15 (15 is the max number that any class can have). That may not seem like a huge spread, but in a room that is about 240 square feet it can make all the difference.

ChungDahm Institute, the company I work for, divides students by skill levels, not age, although all the students of a particular class are approximately the same age. The lowest level is called Engish Chip, or EC for short. This is further divided into 4 levels. I, for example, teach two classes of EC-3. The understanding level is still basic, so all the activities are grade-school level. Yet most of the kids in these classes are in elementary school.

The next tier is called Memory English, and is divided into 3 levels, called Mega, Giga, and Tera, in that order. I teach 2 Giga classes and one Tera class. This material is more intermediate, and correspondingly the students are mostly in middle-school or early high school. The readers in these classes are about 40-50 pages long, and have higher level vocabulary. It would be the equivalent of maybe 5th or 6th grade reading in the U.S.

Each class is highly structured; each day the format is the same, but the content differs. It is the same with the homework. Each class meets twice a week, and during the 1st class of the week the class takes 2 written tests over memorization and sentence structure. The 2nd class of the week an oral test is given, in which students have to recite selections that they have memorized. During class time, we go over reading comprehension, there are listening components, and there is writing practice, with a little speaking practice thrown in. Students get a chance to hone all of their skills, and in fact have no choice but to, since speaking Korean is strictly forbidden while class is in session. Each class has a 5 minute break every hour. I teach almost 6 hours straight most days, but it goes fast. Believe it or not, a lot of days I'm pressed for time!

March Madness

Here are my brackets, split into two parts. Click to enlarge:




I have UConn and UNC in the title game, with UNC winning it all. For all my complaining about East Coast Bias , I picked 2 ACC teams and 2 Big East teams to get to the Final Four.

North Korea, cont.

One of the cool things about having a blog while I'm over here is that since a lot of people are interested in how I'm doing, I can post comments on important news and less important things, and you're forced to read it! Bwa-ha-ha-ha! But seriously, I will of course primarily focus on my experiences here. Just expect from time to time to hear commentary on news, entertainment, and sports (especially when the NFL season rolls around in Sept.).

This is one of the "important news" posts. Of course, soon after I posted my comments about N. Korea's rhetoric and how I'm not worried, they have upped the verbal ante. Some background: Every year at this time, the US and S. Korea conduct extensive war games on and around the Korean peninsula. Remember that North and South Korea are still technically at war. There was no peace treaty signed between the two sides after the Korean War "ended" in 1953. There is only an armistice, which means that they only agreed to stop the shooting. The same thing happened at the end of World War I: the armistice was signed on 11/11 in 1918, but the peace treaty (Treaty of Versailles) was signed in 1919. That's why the North/South border is the most heavily guarded in the world, and that's why every once in a while infiltrators (usually from N. Korea) sneak across and cause trouble, although this doesn't happen much nowadays.

Just before the war games began, (they go from March 9-20) North Korea "said it could not guarantee the safety of South Korean civilian aircraft" during the exercises. The North also cut the hotline between it and South Korea, but that has since been re-established. The airline threat was credible enough to prompt civilian planes to change their routes. I'm glad I came over three weeks prior.

Again, there should be nothing to worry about, because if a war broke out, that would be the end of the communist regime. North Korea knows this. They're not going to start anything because above all else the communist party wants to maintain control over the country. A war would mean the loss of that control. And the only way a war would start would be if they crossed the border en masse. They're threatening that if the missile they want to launch is shot down by the U.S., and I don't think the U.S. would shoot it down unless it was specifically aimed at S. Korea or Japan. Again, I highly doubt they're going to rush the border even if their missile is shot down.

But until they test/launch this missile of theirs, look for the saber-rattling to continue.

You Blink and It's Thursday

I'm now almost done with my third week of teaching already. The second week went by so fast (especially compared with the first week) that I could hardly keep track of all the days. The same is happening this week. It is Thursday already. Thursday! It goes by so fast! Working 6 days a week will do that. Now, when I say 6 days, I mean I have to teach 6 days a week. But 2 of those days I only have one 3 hour class, and the other four days that load is doubled. In other words, even when I have to teach 6 hours, it is still less than the standard 8 hour day. (Confused yet?) I do have to do some prep work, but that isn't a big deal. In short, I love my schedule.

Also, on a housekeeping note: I noticed that people have started commenting without registering or anything like that, as I planned. I only request that if you leave a comment using the "Anonymous" option, please put your name in the text field. I just like knowing who's out there!

Quick Update

I posted some new pictures, but since I started the post on March 1, it was put in chronological order, so you'll have to scroll down a little.

Also, for my readers who have been having trouble posting comments, I found that I can change the settings governing who can post comments, so I changed the setting from "registered users" to "anyone" so now you should be able to comment with one click with little hassle.

T.O. Done in Big D

With apologies to my readers who don't give a lick about the NFL....

I just saw on ESPN.com that the Cowboys cut Terrell Owens. I have to say that I'm surprised, but not totally. There was a lot of talk about cutting T.O., even though it seemed unthinkable at the time. But the more you think about it, the more it makes sense. Yeah, he's good--when he doesn't drop the ball, as he was wont to do the past couple of seasons. Add to that the extremely short half-life of his willingness to be a good teammate. You can get T.O. for maybe two years before he dissolves the bonds of team unity like an industrial acid. Who will pick him up? Why not Cincinnati? Put him with Chad/Ocho Cinco Johnson just for the media headlines. Heck, I'd watch. But really, who would? The only thing I can think of is that a team on the brink would sign him for one year, hope to win the Super Bowl, and then let him go after that season no matter what. Hold onto him too long and get burned. It's a game of hot potato with T.O.

P.S. My favorite T.O. episode of all time occurred this past year, when he accused QB Tony Romo and TE Jason Witten of drawing up "secret plays" just so they could avoid throwing to him.

We have nothing to fear...

I don't know how many of you have heard about the goings on in North Korea lately. If you haven't, the main thing is that they are probably going to test-launch a long range missile capable of reaching the western United States. It is highly likely that North Korea has nuclear weapons, so you can put two and two together to see what the big deal is all about. Consequently, they also release saber-rattling statements on a near-daily basis. Things like "punishing warmongers", "resisting aggression", "fully ready for an all-out confrontation", and the like. I find the rhetoric to be quite hilarious. You'll find such lively prose from communist and other authoritarian states. It's much more interesting than press releases in the West. Of course, it's all for show. But it's an entertaining show.

Anyway, before I stray further: If you are aware of what's happening on the Korean peninsula and worried/concerned about what might happen while I'm here, please don't be. I have not sensed any tension on the part of the locals in regards to this issue. It is not a topic amongst my co-workers or students. I only think about it when I see news stories online or occasionally on CNN International (I get cable in my apartment!). Right now I'm more frightened of the economy. (The Dow's under 7000! Yikes! And it ain't stopping there.) North Korea likes to talk. Unfortunately they also like to test missiles and develop nukes. It is a big issue, make no mistake. But just listening to the North, you'd think the Korean War would re-start any day now and that it would be an all-consuming conflict of a magnitude just short of the battle at the beginning of "The Lord of the Rings" movie. Frankly, the odds of that happening are very long at this point. Not impossible, but very improbable. Put your money on a more likely scenario: a Cubs World Series championship.

Pictures, Finally!

Here are some long-awaited pictures. Enjoy!

Some nice views of Incheon Intn'l Airport

Shots of Seoul while going through the city



These 2 pictures were taken from the CDI Training Center in Seoul


This was my motel room for the first two nights in Daegu


This has not been photoshopped

Stay tuned for some videos: exploring the neighborhood and touring my apartment.