Week 9- A Letter to...

Week 9 is rushed and late and all kinds of lame and I'm sorry. I just....haven't been myself lately (even more so than usual). I believe I have mastered the art of "spazzing", though. If I keep it up, I might give someone ELSE a heart attack....

Here's the Deal
I'll be writing a letter to at least two people a day.

Say What?!
It doesn't seem like much, but think about it: a letter. An actual handwritten letter. It'll have to be something substantial, as well, because I'm mailing these letters internationally (for the most part, at least) so none of this second-grade pen pal business.

Why?
Because when was the last time you got a letter in the mail? I mean an actual letter. And a handwritten one, at that. e-mail is lovely, I have an ongoing love-hate relationship with Skype, and Facebook makes it seem like I'm right next to EVERY person I know (I still haven't decided if that's a good thing or not)...

The last time I got a letter in the mail was...so long ago I can't remember. It means a lot more (at least I think it does) when someone takes the time to put pen (NEVER PENCIL!) on paper and write something out. Sure, my handwriting is garbage (or 'chicken-scratch' as my twin brother so lovingly puts it), so it'll take a little deciphering, but I think it's a bit more...personal...to get a letter when someone has actually written it by hand. Besides, typing is overrated. There are little nuances (in my writing, at least) that can never show up in type-written work.

Plus, I don't know about you, but I LIKE getting letters in the mail. Most of what I get is bills, advertisements and stuff to the previous tenant. Something for me that's not requesting payment or suggesting I spend (or donate) money would be a nice change....

I'll write to just about anyone, even if I don't know you, so send me an address!

Yes, I own a calligraphy pen. No, I have NO idea or desire to use it. I can barely use a pencil properly!

400 × 300 - british-legal-centre.com

Liar Liar- Day 7

The last day....at last.

While I doubt there will be any lasting changes, I'm at least a bit more aware of things.

Let me throw this out there right now:
My director is cool and all, but there are times when I just wanna smack her and say "WHAT WERE YOU THINKING?" Reason? The series of lies that follow.

I had made plans to meet someone after work. Work finishes at 7.30. I LOVE my TIME. Even if all I do is sit around and channel surf, it doesn't matter, because it's MY TIME. Anyways, she arranged for a potential student to come in BETWEEN 7:30 and 8, then proceeded to make it MY problem when I told her that that wasn't gonna fly. So I lied and said "okay, whatever. sure." (because I was already peeved and trying to politely explain wasn't going to work well) the girl came and was all fine and good. I was expecting a 2-3 minute meet and greet.Yeah, no. She looked at me expectantly and said "aren't you going to give her a test?" Test? I don't level test kids, especially AFTER work for a class I don't even that I know I want to teach.

Don't you just love that isht? Then she wanted me to talk to the mom and sit there and smile and nod for another 15 minutes while they blathered on in Korean about things that had nothing to do with the class. Non-verbal lies for the win. I'm so flippin' sick of the smile and nod of this place. Look, you want to work all hours of the night for next to nothing, go for it. But I don't and I won't.

Which is why I was more than a little peeved when I learned that she decided that classes were going to start on Thursday and I'd be getting about $18 per class. That's NOTHING. To say I was displeased is an understatement. "But, for Korean teachers, that's a lot of money to ask for..." I'm not a Korean teacher. At this point, I quit with the lies and said "No one would teach for $18 an hour. It's not worth it. Most private lessons start around $40 an hour. I'm getting less than half of that. Foreign teachers aren't cheap. Private lessons aren't cheap."

Then I FINALLY got to meet up with the person I was with and continued to lie...to myself. "Just one drink" "I'll go to the gym after this" "I'll study while I'm at the gym". Not so much. 1.5L of cheap Korean beer and popcorn later, and I wasn't about to go to the gym. I just wasn't feeling it. So of course, I didn't study. So glad the week is almost over. I see now that lying is a necessary evil to avoid snapping...

Liar Liar- Day 6

1) I CRAVE DEAD ANIMAL ON A PLATE.
In my last class, my students asked me what I liked better: bacon or steak. I died a little inside. Steak is the king of meats, but bacon can redeem ANYTHING!  So I rambled off something and didn't answer. My inner fatkid has been all kinds of crazy since I stopped photographing everything that went into my mouth (apparently I eat a lot less fruit and more processed cheese than I should...)

In my last class, I made myself crazy looking at photos of food porn. America, I miss you.

What I wanted...(yes, that's 4+ pounds of burger between two pizzas)

What I ate...(Sad Korean version of a BigMac)

2) Being 100% honest as a teacher would get me into serious trouble with the higher up, but get some "good teacher" points with students.
I have a class of two boys. I like their class, because it's 45 minutes long, and the one kid is usually 10-15 minutes late. By that time, I don't really have enough time left for a full lesson so...yeah. See where that's going? They asked if I liked the book we were studying. I HATE the book. And I told them so. I think now that they understand that I don't enjoy plowing through the material any more than they do, they've cut me a bit of slack, so to speak, on being the hardline study hound.

In another class, we were talking about education, specifically the Korean education system. they asked if I think hagwons are good. I gave a little disclaimer about working at one and said "as a general rule, no." There's really no need to have kids going to school during the day and then going to 5-10 DIFFERENT after school/weekend schools to learn, as well. If you want some extra help with math or want to learn about game science (which I think would be pretty cool), then go for it. But shoving a 13-year old in school from 8am-10pm and then having them go to "extra lessons" on Saturday and "church classes" all day on Sunday? STOP THE MADNESS!

3) I got a phone call that left me more than a little confused. I wish that I hadn't pretended that I understood, because now I have questions that I don't really know that I want answered.

Liar Liar- Day 5

Not much to report here, mostly because I haven't been interacting with people much.


-SIKE!-

The day started off well enough, with me lying myself silly.

"I'll study in a few minutes. Just a few more minutes and then I'll  study for sure."
Yeah, not so much. I wasted a good part of the day with that nonsense.

Then I got to church and promptly fell asleep. I've heard that it's a sign that I find church to be a comfortable place, but I have other (more "logical") reasons in mind. I'm only ever knocked out for the sermon. I wake up right as he's wrapping up, I never catch more than a few seconds at the end.

Why am I telling you this? Because afterwards the pastor asked about the sermon (I had asked for some advice and he was referencing what he had talked about) and I drew a total blank because I was way off in Sleepyland. I stumbled over a sorry attempt to answer and then he gave me the answer.

Non-verbal 1: So I sorta kinda went out with this guy (once, ONLY ONCE) and it was kinda really awkward. I did NOT want to see his face ever again. When we met, he told me that he worked in Gaeksa (the downtown area), but I didn't know at which shop. Well...I found out. It's on the main strip, and it was the place where I buy my headphones (I kill headsets on a regular basis). Anyways, the nonverbal this time was that I'm pretty sure that he saw me...and I immediately pretended that I had gotten a phone call to avoid ANY kind of interaction. I wasn't being mean, it's just that he was a COMPLETE PERVERT. (No. I'm not kidding. The FIRST *and only* time we met, he asked if we'd go to a motel...)

Non-verbal 2: of the day: So, there's a small English school under my apartment (same building, first floor) The teacher is creepy, to put it lightly. I came in from church yesterday and he goes "ah, today finish early?" I smiled and nodded "uh-huh" pretending to give a damn while resisting the urge to gag.

Liar Liar- Day 4

So...yeah. Day 4 went without much incident.


I told my kids that I "love boshintang" (Dog soup) and that I think dog tastes good. That was just for kicks because I love the expression on their faces when I say that. In reality, I've never eaten the stuff and likely never will. If I didn't know what it was it'd probably be fine, but considering that most boshintang restaurants have pictures of the "livestock" plastered everywhere, I doubt that will happen.


In a later class, I said "I don't care" when asked about the assignment I gave. They were just making me all kinds of crazy. Truth be told, I did care. I wanted to know how in the heebie-jeebies someone could be learning English at their level and not understand what I was saying.

When I look back on it, perhaps I'm being a bit hard on them, seeing as how they're only kids and they're learning a foreign language in an English-only classroom, but DAMN WAS I HEATED. Every day it's something different. "I can't find my book" "I don't know the answer" "teacher" "teacher..." "teacher..." "teacher..." I don't think I'm cut out to be a mom, because it feels like this, except that I'm a teacher, so I can get rid of them at the end of class.

Yeeeeup.

The end of the day was so "RAWR" that I found myself wanting a pack of cigarettes, and I don't even smoke.


So, I've clarified for myself another reason that people lie: to get through the day and just because they can.