No-Name Student

One of my kindergarten students (no, not THAT student) is always eager to point something out to me.

All the students have activity books, colored pencils, “big files” (big binder-like folders with plastic page protectors in them, for keeping pages that they’ve colored and whatnot), and various other items that they keep at school and have had since they began the year with us.  When they graduated from scrawling things in colored pencil to learning how to write with real pencils, however, their mothers bought them pencilcases, pencils and erasers, and labeled everything using their English names.

Some time ago, I was walking around, making sure everyone had everything they needed to complete whatever their activity had been, and this student held her pencil up to me and said, “Teacher!  No name!”

Sure enough, her pencil had no name.

A few days later, she showed me another pencil that was new.  “Teacher!  No name!”

From time to time she’ll get a new eraser or new pencils, and every time she’ll eagerly point out to me, “Teacher!  No name!”

Almost all the other items of all the other students do have names, however, so it’s not really that big an issue, since I know the ones without a name must belong to her.

It’s interesting to me, though.  I wonder if her mother doesn’t have time to write her name on everything, or if she just forgets or doesn’t think about it, or if my student actually likes not having her name on her school supplies so much that she requests it.

It seems almost to be a matter of pride for her to announce, “Teacher!  No name!” about a new supply she’s brought.

Maybe someday she’ll be like the Nittany Lions, who pride themselves on their blank helmets.

Lately in my mind I’ve come to think of her as “No-Name Student,” because she tells me that so often, but I hope she knows that I will always know her name.

Emergency Numbers in Korea

For quite some time now I’ve known the emergency number in Korea is 119, and I’d tucked it in my head as the Korean parallel to 911 in the U.S.  I’d never had occasion to test this knowledge, however, until today.

From time to time I hear yelling and thuds coming from somewhere above my apartment.  Up until now I’d assumed it could be anything, ranging from hearty furniture revamping to heated discussion.  I can’t make out the words, and I don’t know Korean anyway, so really, who am I to say?

But today the sound of a woman screaming and crying was indisputable, and regardless of the reason why, she was very clearly distraught.  The voice of a man yelling—more loudly and more intensely than I’ve heard before—was also indisputable.  The thudding I kept hearing could have been from furniture or someone stomping on the floor, but considering the other factors I didn’t think that was a safe assumption anymore.

A lot of thoughts ran through my head.  I don’t know if domestic violence is a concern in Korea.  I don’t know if it’s something the police would handle or if there is another number I should call.  I don’t know if I could communicate well anyway.  I don’t know how to explain that I don’t know if it’s violence or that I don’t know exactly where the noise is coming from.  I don’t know if just suspicion counts as an emergency enough to tie up 119.

But in the end, I realized that it would be a pretty big deal for me, morally, to suspect that something bad was going down and walk away.  It’s one thing if there’s no reason to suspect anything.  It’s another if I’m totally oblivious to begin with.  But if I really think that something like that’s going on, and I don’t do anything about it, is that really okay?  Should that really be a choice that I could live with?

So I called.

And I found out something useful!  119 is actually the number that you call when you need an ambulance sent out.  If you only want to reach the cops, the emergency number for police in South Korea is 112.

The police came and talked with me, and checked the apartment above mine, but as I suspect is often the case with these things, they didn’t find much going on because it had died down by the time they arrived.  (The yelling, screaming, and crying went on for what I think must have been a good 20 minutes before they came, though.)  They left and told me I should call again if I hear anything again.

I still don’t know what number you would call if you needed firefighters to come save you, but, fortunately, I haven’t needed to know that one yet.

It Really Sucks

Since I moved here I’ve been sick with a variety of minor illnesses, but almost all of them have been somewhere in the specialty of Ear/Nose/Throat.  The ENT doctor I go to here is fairly good at English, never rushes me or makes me feel like I’m a waste of time, and is an easy bike ride from my work, so when I need to see a doctor and my symptoms are the ENT variety, I head over to his practice.

Sometimes when I’ve gone with severe congestion, he’s shoved this strange stick up my nose.  It always felt like maybe he was sucking the snot out of my head, but then I thought, “Eh, that’s probably my imagination.  It’s probably just some camera tool, or some other weird device that helps him see inside.”

Today, though, I finally asked him what it was, and what he uses it to do inside my head.  So he showed me a diagram of a person’s head and pointed to the sinus cavities.  (He had already given me a nice little explanation when I went on Saturday detailing what sinuses were, what the different ones were called, and what a sinus infection is and does to other parts of you (such as your ears).)

He reiterated what he’d said about the sinus infection, that the mucus membrane around your sinus cavity excretes some sort of discharge when you’re sick, and he said that yes, he uses that strange tool as a suction device to “vacuum” (my word, not his) the excess discharge from my sinuses.  Apparently it’s better for them to get “ventilated” (his word, not mine) that way.

Since I’d been wondering for quite some time if the tool really sucked the snot out of my head or not, this was actually quite a satisfying revelation for me, and I left feeling good because my curiosity had been appeased.

I’m still toting all those bags of pills, though.  You win some, you lose some.

This Job Ain’t For the Weak, Ya Know

For those of you who think that leaving everything you know and flying solo to a country on the opposite side of the world—where you don’t know anyone and don’t speak the language—is for the faint of heart, think again.

Today I came back from running errands on my break at work and was called into the director’s office.  I thought maybe it would have something to do with asking me to renew my contract, since I’m over nine months in, and I’m technically supposed to leave in February.

No.  It was nothing so easy or so simple as asking, “Won’t you stay another year?” to which I’d likely reply, “Yes, I will!”

It was an entirely different proposal.  Well, except that my two options were accept, or else…accept.

“My sister wants to improve her English skills!  So, on Tuesdays and Fridays, you will have a new class, teaching her, one-on-one.”

Gahhh!

It’s one thing to be confident around children (especially young ones who don’t yet know I don’t know everything), but it’s an entirely different matter to be confident around a successful business woman, much older than myself, who happens to be my very shrewd boss’s sister!

Let me repeat:

Gahhh!

I’ll admit that I feel slightly doomed…

Paying Tribute

Look what I got yesterday! Can you guess who gave it to me?



That's right, the Phonics Pirate!

I didn't even ask her to pay tribute. She just offered me a portion of her bounty loot of her own free will. I'm telling you, this girl has her priorities straight! I'm raising these marauders right.

The North Issues Poetic Threats

This New York Times article is interesting, albeit not all that suprising:

North Korea Warns South on Maritime Drills

I found the language of the statement issued by the Supreme Command of the North's People's Army to be strangely poetic.

“If one single shot drops in our sacred waters and territory again, the sea of fire on Yeonpyeong-do will spread to a sea of fire on the Blue House, and that deluge of fire will sweep away the stronghold of the group of traitors,” the Supreme Command of the North’s People’s Army said in a statement carried by the official Korean Central News Agency.

(Essentially, the Blue House is to South Korea what the White House is to the U.S.)

Thanksgiving in Korea

All week I've been so busy and so stressed that Thanksgiving was the last thing on my mind. Since the week began I was just waiting for it to be over. (I wish I could link you to some previous posts to explain my busyness, but I've been so busy I haven't even written those!)

My newest coworker, an American who arrived here in September, was very gung-ho about putting together a big Thanksgiving feast in his apartment Thursday night. All week long he was talking excitedly about it and I just didn't have the energy to look forward to it at all. I felt bad because I could tell my weariness was something of a downer, but I was just so tired.

Despite my lack of enthusiasm, however, he persevered and really championed Thanksgiving for us. We had six people in attendance: two Canadians, one Korean, and three Americans. I acquired three roast chickens hot off the rotisserrie, our host prepared amazing mashed potatoes and refreshing salad, our other coworker (famous for his patio kebabs) brought corn with sweet syrup and pork, and the Canadian-Korean couple brought a fantastic chocolate cake.

We drank Pepsi, orange juice, and boiled water and populated our friend's dining room with forks, plates, knives, and chairs from our apartments and from work. To make a table big enough for all of us, he moved his desk and drew up an elaborate construction using wooden boards and an old chair.

We swapped all kinds of stories and I think that it's been months since I laughed as hard as I did tonight. It was really a great time and, also, it was good for me. It seems a bit redundant, but I have to say that this year I am thankful for Thanksgiving.

The Times

The more I hear and read about the U.S. and the world, the more I think about the way the times are changing and wonder what the future holds. I continue to come back to an incredibly apt line uttered by my coworker the other week:

“It's an interesting time to be alive, and a good time to be in Korea.”

I couldn't put it any better.

The Phonics Pirate

My hilarious kindergarten student has done it again.

She was playing during snacktime, prancing around and trying to look formidable. Then she called out to me, “Teacher, I am a pirate!”

I said, “Really? You're a pirate? What letter is for pirate?”

She planted her feet firmly on the floor, stood staunchly with her fists on her hips, puffed out her chest, and bellowed with the grim face of a conqueror:

“HA! HA! HA! P is for pirate!”

It's been two weeks, and I'm still cracking up about it.

Millennium Pepero Day

November 11th is already a more sober holiday in many places in the world, but in Korea it is also Pepero Day. Pepero, or 빼빼로, is the name of a sort of snack here, essentially thin rods of cracker (or cookie?) dipped in chocolate. There are various kinds (I enjoy the ones with almonds in the chocolate) and they come in small boxes.

On Pepero Day, people give out boxes of Pepero. It's almost like Valentine's Day back in the U.S. The boxes even have places to write the giver and recipient's names.

Since it is the eleventh day of the eleventh month of the (two thousand) eleventh year (11/11/11), today was an even more special holiday. Millennium Pepero Day only comes once in your lifetime!

I was almost shocked at how much my kindergarten class gave me. They always give me cute little things here and there, but I was overwhelmed.





If I was shocked at my kindergarteners' outpouring, I can only say that I was floored by my afternoon classes'.

I ate some of them during the day, so my count might be a little off, but I think I got around 25 boxes of Pepero today.

I had no idea my students liked me this much. It really made me happy, and it really made my day.



Happy Millennium 빼빼로 Day!