Thursday, July 2, 2009

Diary: "that's very hot!"

There's a popular Korean comedy duo whose catchphrase is "That's very hot!" For awhile now I've been hearing students repeat it and mimic the duo's "dance" moves. I must say, it got very annoying at times. I got this diary a few weeks ago with a student's own interpretation of the phrase!

That's very hot!
Oh, today is too hot!
I'm doing sweat shower!
but not refreshing.
on the contrary feel uneasy.
Maybe student too hot.
I don't like summer,
and I don't like mosquito.
(insert cute drawing of girl fanning herself here)
-by Nicole, 6th grade

Now, check out this video of the original skit from Korean TV. The guys are a little strange, but I understand why the kids repeated it all day long - it's quite catchy! There's no need to watch for long...you'll get the idea pretty quickly.

Wednesday, July 1, 2009

New Classes, New Faces

One of our foreign (English-speaking) teachers finished their contract at the end of May and the rest of us remaining teachers have taken over his classes. Most of us now have full or almost full teaching schedules so the month of June was a little crazy. I was assigned to begin teaching one of his Wake Up (beginner level) classes and another more advanced group of 5th graders. The young ones are very playful and enthusiastic. The girls are sweet, but the boys are at the age where everything is about making as many gross noises as possible and pretending to blow things up. It can be hard to keep them in their seats for more than a few minutes!

I'll keep this same teaching schedule through the end of August. It will be a challenge, but I will gladly welcome all the overtime money which will easily pay for a new camera to document my fall travels! Below are some pictures of my new class.

This is Katie - she doesn't usually look this bored, but got very camera shy.

Bora - super shy and quiet, but has a very sweet personality.

Alice - I love her and her colorful outfits!

Now for the boys - this is Harry, Martin, Jeff and Vince (poor kids, I don't know who chose their names). I asked them to pose for a picture and they were more than happy to do it. Then, after they saw the results they wanted to get creative with a few more shots!

Take two - still nice, but starting to get a little crazy!

Take three - out of control, but very creative pose! Good thing it was almost time to go home at this point because I was having a hard time getting them to calm down.