Only in Korea could they come up with a holiday that’s even more depressing to singletons than Valentine’s Day. What could be worse than a day that focuses on loved-up, simpering, slushy couples kissing and smooching and giggling from behind mountains of roses and fluffy toys? Oh, I know – a day that focuses on [...]
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Korean hagwons (private academies) are all about the money. These institutes – as they’re called, to differentiate them from public schools – charge extremely high fees and pay their staff relatively low salaries. Foreign teachers get paid a bit more because, well, no one would send their children to a hagwon where there were no [...]
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On Saturday, I went to the Cherry Blossom Festival in Sintanjin. Observation and celebration of cherry blossoms is a Japanese custom, but it was introduced to Korea during Japanese rule, and is one of the remaining Japanese influences remaining here today. Because the flowers begin falling from the trees only 10 or so days after [...]
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I’m worried that yeterday’s post reads like I’m bragging about my incredible teaching abilities, so I just want to point out that when I share little victories like that with you, it’s because they’re events worth remembering. They make up about 1% of the amount of time I spend at school and thinking about school. [...]
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Yesterday my boss told me that she got a call from the mother of one of my students – words that will strike fear into the heart of any teacher in Korea. Mothers are terrifying. They rule the school. They rule you. Parents pay obscene amounts of money to send their children to private English [...]
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As I switched on my fan this evening when I got home (yes, I’ve started needing a fan… and it’s only April), I spotted something that reminded me of a post I’ve been meaning to write. It was this: That’s the timer. The timer which is there by law, so that your fan doesn’t kill [...]
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Just to make our group of expats here that little bit more unforgettable, we’ve recently welcomed two lovably mad Italian guys into our ranks. We’re a very multicultural group, here in one of the world’s most ethnically homogeneous nations. Others drift in and out, but at the moment the regularly present are: 1 Irishman and [...]
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You’re not telling me that potatoes actually grow here? I ask no one in particular, in disbelief. I am standing in a ploughed field on a typical Korean farm, cityscape and traffic on one side, majestic mountains and beautiful natural scenery on the other. We have come here with the kindergarteners to plant potatoes on [...]
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Last night, in the latest episode of my Korean cookery experimentation, I made a big pot of 김치찌개 (kimchi jjigae). I’m really loving learning to ‘cook Korean’, because not only is it about a million times easier than learning to speak Korean, it’s also very rewarding in that you get to eat what you learn. [...]
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On Just Friday, a child called out to me several times during class. When I went to see what was wrong with him, he held out his finger. He wore an expression that seemed to say “I don’t really know what to do with this, but I don’t want it, so… here.”. I came closer [...]
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You Say Goodbye, I Say… Historical Snapshots It Just Makes Me Happy
