Scroozle's Sanctuary

The Curious Case of Air China

2012-01-30T16:31:00.001+09:00

How many times have I flown between Korea and Canada? The total stands at seven times. Generally speaking, that has been the extent of my travel expertise. Making that incredibly long trip between Incheon and Ottawa. I’ve done it enough times, I know what to expect at this point.

Since 2007, I have taken several different airlines for that trip. I generally take Air Canada, but I have also flown Korean Air (to Tokyo, or from Daegu to Incheon), United Airlines, and Japan Airlines. I prefer Air Canada due to the modernity of the fleet and the awesome personal entertainment system. Japan Airlines was a close second, although the open bar policy created a lot of noise with some American soldiers on the flight I took in 2010. Korean Air was okay for the short flights I took with them. United Airlines was gross.

Being an English instructor, I can’t help but notice the level of English employed amongst the flight attendants. I also notice how versed they are in speaking other languages.

The long haul flight with Air Canada gets top marks in this category. English and French are spoken as per Canadian law. However, Japanese and Korean are also present, so you have the staff speaking at least four languages throughout the flight. Communicating isn’t a problem.

Japan Airlines had Japanese and English as the primary languages. I can’t remember if there were any Korean speakers, although I think a stewardess spoke some basic Korean. The level of English was okay for me, but was giving other people problems. It wasn’t a grammar or vocabulary issue, just North Americans having trouble with an accent they weren’t familiar with.

United Airlines spoke English, since it was an American company. They may have spoken Japanese and Korean too, but I can’t remember. I just remember being squashed in the middle of five seats. And a stray dog running around the flight (seriously).

The Korean Air flights spoke English, Korean, and Japanese. Their English was passable. They spoke it in a very Korean/Konglish way, so while not a problem for me, your actual mileage may vary. I have been on a few flights where the stewardesses couldn’t really speak in English, and gave up once they understood I spoke Korean.

It’s the same at Incheon and Narita airport. The English is good enough, but nothing truly exemplary. It’s enough for basic understanding, but for anything deeper, you might have to pull out the native language. I’ve flown enough times I’ve come to expect it, so I rarely pay the English levels any heed.

But then I flew to Singapore.

From Incheon to Beijing, and then Beijing to Singapore (and back again), I flew Air China. The entire trip took two flights to leave Korea, and two flights to return. It was my first time to fly Air China, so I didn’t know what to expect.

Having spent so much time in Korea, some Koreanisms have rubbed off on me. One of these Koreanisms is how Koreans view other East Asian countries. I figured the English service on Air China would be passable, or useless. I figured Chinese and Korean would be the top two languages on the flight to Beijing, and English would be a distant third.

In Canada, I viewed China as a country with restrictive freedoms. That was the primary image I had of the country. Here in Korea, many Koreans view China as a poor country. I have been hit with that message so many times, I just assumed the level of English education would not be on par with Korea’s or Japan’s.

And that is where I was wrong. In retrospect, it’s kinda shameful I bought into that kind of ethnocentrism, but there you go.

How was the English on the flights? Damn near impeccable. Everyone spoke in Chinese or English (with one or two announcements in Korean). The level of English was far beyond anything I saw on Korean Air or Japan Airlines. I wouldn’t say they spoke in a North American accent, but it was very close, and clear. In any case, grammar and vocab were spot on.

At the airport, I had to go through security again. Although it was at a ridiculous time, early in the morning, the security (made up of uni students it looked like) could all speak great English.

I was beginning to clue in that I had unfairly judged China.

I had assumed with all the English education happening in Korea, Korean Air’s and Incheon Airport’s staff would be a touch above everyone else’s. When comparing the amount of native English teachers in Korea and China, surely this would be a no brainer.

And yet, it wasn’t as simple as that.

There was another thing that caught my eye: the courtesy levels of the stewardesses. I’m accustomed to Korean and Japanese crews fawning over passengers, and Canadian ones with being overly-polite. The Chinese girls were awesome. If a passenger was being an idiot, regardless of age or sex, the stewardesses would be abrupt with them. They would tell them to sit down, without a smile or bow of the head. If they were making unreasonable demands they would tell them to be quiet, or to stop complaining. If the passengers were polite, then the stewardesses would follow suit. It was refreshing to see this change. I wish the staff at other airlines had this kind of backbone.

Aside from English proficiency and mannerisms, there is one more difference I caught. Korean Air is famous for its drop-dead gorgeous women. In fact, the first thing I thought when I boarded the flight from Incheon to Daegu, in July 2007, was: “wow, everyone is a supermodel”. Everything about a Korean Air stewardess is meant to be beautifully elegant and graceful. The Air China staff was pretty, but they weren’t as dolled up as my encounters with Korean Air. Their hair and uniform were neat, but their skin tones were more natural, and didn’t have the artificially bleached look the girls at Korean Air use all the time.

Am I saying Korean Air prefers superficiality over customer-handling expertise? I don’t know if I am qualified to make that judgement call.

However, I do have some experience with Korean Air’s hiring program. One of the secretaries at my Daegu hagwon had dreamed of being a flight attendant with Korean Air. She was a few years older than I, and this was very important. Eventually it got to the point where being 30 wasn’t good enough, because at that point she was too new at the game and her looks would only deteriorate [*their opinion, not mine*]. While she was a good friend of mine, her English abilities were rudimentary at best. This past summer, one of my former high school students needed help getting through the personal interview process. I coached her, and she got through. But while I would absolutely defend my students to the death, her English levels cannot compare to the girls on my Air China flights.

Aside from kicking myself for misjudging China purely on Korean instinct, I began to question other things. Namely, just how effective is English being taught in Korea?

But that will be a future post.

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DISCLAIMER:

China has 1,000,000,000, people, so I am not saying per-capita China’s everyday English users are a cut above Korea’s. I’m just saying the handful I ran into, while traveling, were better than the groups I normally encounter at Incheon (and Narita).

I’ve never traveled throughout China, so it’s entirely possible many of the proficient English studiers go into airline-related industries. It’s also possible I just managed to go to Incheon and fly Korean Air on days all the best English speakers were home. Who knows?

The point of post is not to slam Korean Air, or Korean English speakers by proxy, but to give mad props to the crews of Air China and to chastise my own ignorance.

The Korean Connection

2012-01-27T14:46:00.001+09:00

One of the things going to Singapore made me realise was how the definition of “home” really shifted for yours truly. If you’ve been an expat for a long enough time, I am sure you’ve gone through a similar experience.

While I was in Singapore, there were several instances I heard Korean being spoken. My ears zoned in on those familiar sounds and my eyes sought out the speakers. It was also true when I was on international flights. My mind ignored everyone else, but made sure to identify the Koreans.

When I was walking around Singapore, my mind completely tuned out the North Americans speaking English. For the most part, I ignored them, unless they came up to me asking for help.

White folks speaking North American English got a pass, but Asians speaking Korean made me perk up?

Have I gone native?

I knew I would write this blog entry today, so last night I broke down my friends list on Facebook. I wanted to see which group I was naturally inclined to be friendly towards and maintain the most connections.

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Unlike most, I delete people from Facebook if I haven’t had contact with them for three months. I also hate second-guessing posts I make, so I delete people I figure I will end up offending. This keeps the friend list nice and close. Despite being on FB since early ‘06, I have less than 100 friends, due to my 3 month rule.

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So, what are the stats?

Total number of Facebook friends: 94
Total number of females: 54 [57%]
Total number of males: 40 [43%]
Total number of relatives: 11 [12%]
Total number of non-related contacts: 83 [88%]
Total number of Koreans: 44 [47%]
Total number of Canadians: 20 [21%]
Total number of Americans: 14 [15%]
Total number of South Africans: 3 [3%]
Total number of British: 2 [2%]
Total number of French: 2 [2%]
Total number of Palestinians: 2 [2%]
Total number of Singaporeans: 1 [1%]
Total number of Filipinos: 1 [1%]
Total number of Germans: 1 [1%]
Total number of Pakistanis: 1 [1%]
Total number of Irish: 1 [1%]
Total number of Nepalese: 1 [1%]
Total number of Australians: 1 [1%]
Total number of personal students: 24 [26%]
Total number of personal co-workers: 10 [11%]
Total number met prior to coming to Korea: 16 [17%]
Total number met prior to coming to Korea, excluding relatives: 5 [5%]
Total number met in Sea Cadet movement: 3 [3%]
Total number who went to Dalhousie university: 1 [1%]
Total number met after coming to Korea: 78 [83%]
Total number met during hagwon period: 42 [45%]
Total number met during EPIK period: 36 [38%]
Total number met at SeoulTube events: 21 [22%]
Total number living in Daegu: 37 [39%]
Total number living in Gangneung: 6 [6%]
Total number not yet met face-to-face: 3 [3%]

Due to Facebook still making inroads in Korea, many of my Korean peeps aren’t on the site (yet). If they were, the Korean number would crush the others to an even larger extent.

These stats help explain why I tend to identify and associate with Koreans abroad, than I do with people from my own culture. Apparently I’ve been “shunning” everyone else for such an extended period of time that it’s become the norm.

If you take out relatives, the number of “friends” on Facebook is 88. 44 Korean Facebook friends is 50%. If you also remove relatives from the equation, I have 9 Canadian friends, as opposed to 14 Americans (although nearly all of that number comes from SeoulTube and EPIK this year).

This helps explain why I scoff at my family’s weekly reminder of moving back to Canada. As of now, my preference is heavily weighted towards Korea.

Earlier, I asked if I had gone native. I don’t think so. While I enjoy my time in Korea, understand the culture, can stomach the food and have many Korean friends, I wouldn’t be able to cut it as a native Korean. I am too highly critical and independent to match the level of conformity necessary to be Korean. Confucian ideals like blindly respecting elders and your “superiors” hold little sway over me (I prefer simply being polite). I can’t stand nationalism (unless it’s for stuff like the Olympics, and even then I prefer good sportsmanship), and all the “Dokdo/Arirang/Kimchi is Korean, rah rah rah!” stuff makes me gag. As for the music…hmmm.

I prefer to pick and choose aspects of Canadian and Korean society and live by the ideals I agree with. Canada’s egalitarianism where everyone should be treated equally regardless of sex/age/orientation/race/etc? Hells yeah, I’m all aboard. Koreans’ continuous effort for self-improvement is something I identify with. Canada’s multiculturalism and bilingualism are preferable to Korea’s xenophobia and pureblood nonsense. Korea’s attempt to pursue clean energy is more admirable than Canada’s reliance on the embarrassment that is Alberta’s oilsands.

In Korea, being an outsider, I am afforded the opportunity to live the kind of lifestyle I generally agree with. Koreans don’t expect foreigners to understand Korean culture, so there isn’t any pressure to become naturalized. Being a citizen of Canada, if I were to return, there would be obligations and expectations necessary for me to perform in order to fit back into the society. They would be here in Korea too, if I were a Korean citizen. But I am not. And that’s the difference.

With that being said, and the number of connections I have in Korea being noted, it’s a bit of a no-brainer why I’m in my fifth year of living in Korea. My Korean connection runs too deep. When circumstances change, and they will, I will return to Canada. Until then, I will make like the Enterprise and keep on Trekkin’ (in Kimchiland).

What’s the scale of your Korean connection?

Singapore: The Tourist’s Account

2012-01-26T16:34:00.001+09:00

After leaving Beijing’s airport (the post below gives a brief account of when I was there) I settled in for the somewhat lengthy flight to Singapore. The day had been my first encounter with Air China, and I didn’t know what to expect from them. I figured a close estimation to Korean Air or Japan Airways would be good enough. I wasn’t expecting anything like Air Canada, though, with its in-flight entertainment system, on the back of every seat.

Sure enough, Air China didn’t offer much by way of in-flight fun. They had a movie play on the overhead screens, but the screens were entirely too small to read the subtitles, so I didn’t bother with it. On the plus side, they made sure we were fed, which was great. Air Canada doesn’t bother with mandatory meals, unless the flight is ridiculously long. Air China gave us plenty to eat, even between Korea and China (which was a short flight), and the food wasn’t half bad. Another pleasant surprise was the level of English the flight attendants used. I hadn’t been expecting that, and I will touch upon it in a later post.

Touching down in Singapore, I was immediately greeted by the wall of humidity, even at 6 AM. Immigration wasn’t much of a hassle, and customs was a breeze as I only had the one bag (definitely the way to go). My unlimited data roaming plan I had set up in Incheon was all set to go, and I immediately sent Shaine (the native) a message on KakaoTalk of my arrival. Then, I sat on a bench and tried to think of my next step.

The hotel said check-in time was 2:00 PM, so I wasn’t sure if I could check in earlier. I decided to go with it, and opened up the Google Maps app on my phone to plot a course to Value Hotel Nice. The quickest way would be to take the subway and then jump on a bus.

I made my way to the airport’s subway station.

If you go to Singapore, you should consider getting the EZ Link card, which gives you access to the subway and bus systems. You can buy one at any subway station by asking the people there. They’re cheap, and they come pre-loaded with money (you pay $12, and $7 of that will be fare money). If you are totally lost, and look it, someone will wander over to you and help you navigate the system. If you have a smartphone, and you have a roaming plan, just charge up Google Maps and it will do all the work for you.

I took the subway at the wrong time. What’s the wrong time? The time when everyone else is going to work and school. The thing was packed. I’ve been on Busan’s and Seoul’s systems during rush hour, but they weren’t as tight as that! I was worried I wouldn’t be able to get off. There was a girl who wanted to get off, but she was too timid to say “excuse me” so she rode until there was an opportunity to squeeze out. When the train got to my stop, I just pushed my way through, while apologising and teetering over with my bag.

The bus I got on wasn’t bad, in fact, none of the buses I took were jam-packed. There was always space to stand without bumping into folks.

When I got to the hotel, I checked in, without any problem. I was early, but they didn’t seem to mind, maybe because I had reserved it so far in advance, and I would be there for four days.

What was my room like? It was small. The main room, only had enough room for the bed and a drawer. The bathroom was the same size as the ones I had in Korea. It was clean, cool, and quiet. It was close to the bus stops, giving me access to different locales. The only negative, was there wasn’t a fridge, but I didn’t mind that too much. Unfortunately, I only discovered a massive eating market on my last night there. It was a big food court with many different restaurants, and it was behind the hotel. Oops.

The first place I was to go, was Little India, which was the Indian section of the city. Shaine wanted to take me to a famous restaurant that served fish head curry, called Muthu’s Curry. She had planned the day’s activities, so I agreed to meet her at the subway stop and eat some fish head for lunch.

While I waited for her in Little India I scrutinised my surroundings:

Singapore is a tropical country, and the flora definitely suggests this. There are palm trees, as well as other large trees white people correlate with Indian jungles. When you look outside, it looks nothing like Canada, is what I am saying. In contrast, looking outside in Korea, you don’t see anything remarkably different from Canuckistan, other than all the mountains.

Singapore also has a lot of tourists. It’s the place to be, since it’s always summer. So many European tourists. They were all over the place. So many…rich people.

When Shaine finally arrived, we had our first official meeting. It was great to finally meet someone in person after being in contact with them for nearly three years. It was different than the SeoulTube gatherings, because the two of us knew each other fairly well. That being the case, we were able to hit it off right at the start. This manifested itself when it was revealed I knew the layouts of the streets better than she did (thanks to aforementioned scrutinising of said surroundings).

At the restaurant, we ordered our food. It was an Indian restaurant, and it served authentic Indian fare. It was my first time eating food off a leaf. We ordered the small fish head curry, but were surprised by the size of the “small” dish.

Taking up much of the centre of this photo is the “small” fish head curry dish. It could have been a meal in and of itself.

Before you say “eww! Fish head?!” (my family), allow me to explain. It was the head, and part of the neck, of a large fish. There was a lot of meat on that thing to pick off, and the meat was really good. She found the curry to be spicy, but my Korean tongue didn’t notice anything (if you’re accustomed to Korean food, then the spice won’t register at all).

The entire meal was tasty, but there was too much to eat in one sitting. It would have been okay if the fish head dish was half the size, because as it was, it could have fed 4 people by itself. Alas, we also had a few other dishes as well. We did our best to finish everything but even in the hour we sat down, eating, we knew it was a losing battle. Our stomachs were simply not gonna be able to stuff all that food in.

After lunch, we decided to go downtown to hit up a few locations. One of the locations we hit up was the Mint Toy Museum. It was a museum. With toys. And, it was awesome. Koreans don’t appreciate the notion of collecting stuff, for whatever reason. As a geek who enjoys collecting a variety of stuff, this museum was my ideal definition of HEAVEN (being an atheist, I need a good substitute, and that museum fits the bill.).

It had everything. Star Trek. Star Wars. Comic characters. Disney. Beatles. Manga. Toys worth $14,000. Original Disney movie posters from the 1930’s. It also had a section devoted to racist dolls (I have ample video footage, and will share later).

After resting our feet, we went to a Starbucks (my first time, I do believe) and sat at the waterfront, chatting. A bit earlier, we had visited her university, where I had the opportunity to shoot a few cityscape shots. At the waterfront, I was able to do the same.

We had also stopped into a massive supermarket that had food from the different cultures making up Singapore (Chinese, Malay, India, and Eurasian). It was there I bought some Turkish Delight.

I remember reading The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe when I was eight or nine. When Edmund asked for Turkish Delight from the White Witch, I always wondered what it was. It must have been awfully good for him to backstab his own family. The film adaptation only piqued my interest as it gave me my first look at it, but it wasn’t onscreen for very long.

When I saw it on the shelf, I figured I had to get it. When we went into the supermarket, they binded our backpacks’ zippers so we couldn’t shoplift, and my wallet was in my backpack. Like a shmoe, I asked Shaine to purchase it for me, and I would pay her back (but, like a shmoe, I never did. Sorry).

If you haven’t tried it before, allow me to describe it. It’s a gummy candy doused in powdered sugar. Now, you know. I thought it was okay, but was expecting something a lot more (since I had been building it up in my mind for the past 19 years). Shaine didn’t care for it, at all, and made it clear she would rather spit it out then swallow it. If you like spearmint leaves, or candies of that sort, you’d like it. After being wasted by walking so much, a few pieces of Turkish Delight restored my energy levels.

Eventually, the sun went down and we got up to leave. It was a good chance to take pictures of the buildings with their lights on. It was also a good chance to get away from all the corporate rich people (the douchebag types who make toasts over the continued success of their corporations while their trophy girlfriend/wife stands by their side with a plastic smile frozen on her face. Y’know. That type).

Singapore at night is a classy place. Some of the architecture is from the colonial period in the 1800’s. Some of it is hip and modern.

The picture on the right is the Marina Bay Sands hotel. Three towers make up the hotel, and rooms do not come cheap. In fact, they are probably the most expensive. The T-beam at the top of the towers is an observation deck, and a swimming pool. It would be the next day’s destination.

If there’s one thing I should mention, it’s the slight paranoia of the Singaporean government (and that’s no big secret). I was aware of it, before I went to Singapore. Singapore isn’t a place you want to get in trouble in. Got drugs? Expect a death penalty. Got chewing gum? Expect a hefty fine. Spitting? Fined. Littering? Dish out $500. There are cameras everywhere, watching, making sure you don’t do anything wrong. On the subway, there are signs telling riders to report suspicious people and bags to the authorities (Indonesia is nearby, and there’s terrorist activity there, but I am unsure if the warnings are connected to that). Gambling and casinos are off-limits to its own citizens. The presidential grounds are protected by guards carrying machine guns outside its gates. I know some US politicians have compared the government to that of a dictatorship. The democratic processes of the government have been criticised non-stop, and in cases, that’s warranted.

Dictatorship, or not, it’s not the police state everyone compares Korea to. Where Korea has a heavy police presence, everywhere, I wasn’t aware of too many police officers in Singapore. I guess when the country is one city, you don’t need a lot of officers patrolling the streets when there are so many cameras watching people. If you go to Singapore, and play by their rules, you won’t have any problems. You might get a chuckle out of the warnings of fines plastered everywhere (in fact, there’s a novelty t-shirt sold there, that says “Singapore is a fine city” and then goes and lists all the various fines you have to pay for breaking one of the many laws).

The next day, I met Shaine at a market. The rain was coming down by the bucket load, and people were scurrying about trying to find shelter. Luckily the city must have a good drainage system, as no water was building up, like Daegu usually had during the 장마. She took me to a food court, where we ate a late lunch. I had laksa, for the first time. I enjoyed it, although I thought the shellfish in it could have been done away with. I also ordered some dumpling noodles, because I was starving.

After chowing down, we went to the library where her university was located. Her classmates were enjoying some fermented bean curd dish, for the coming Chinese New Year. It was really good. Sort of like a creamy mix between tofu and yogurt and peanut butter. At least to my tongue.

We had decided we would go up to the top of the Marina Bay Sands hotel to take snazzy cityscape pictures. Luckily at this time the rain had stopped and we were able to go up after paying for the ticket. The photo at the start of this entry was taken from the observation area. It was really high up.

She wanted to wait for the sun to set, to make the tickets worthwhile, so we waited several hours. Unfortunately, like most of Singapore, there weren’t any benches to rest on. People sitting on the ground were told they couldn’t. Eventually, we realized that you couldn’t sit against the glass, but if your back was against the wall, on the side, that was okay with the security (if you are sitting next to the glass, then you are blocking photo ops for other people).

I managed to take some video of the sun setting. I will speed it up so it looks really cool and throw it on YouTube, at a later date. Once the sun set, all the shutter bugs came out to take pics.

After we had exhausted our energies, we walked about around the area and then called it a day.

The next day, I went around the city by myself. The weather was kind of crummy, so I thought I would check out the museums. I figured the National Museum would be a good starting point, so I went there first. There was a display of famous European painters taking place, so I paid the extra dollar to go see that (original Van Gogh, Manet, Monet, etc).

The National Museum is massive. You really need an entire day to see all the exhibits, even half a day wouldn’t suffice. The main exhibit shows the history of Singapore from its beginning to the present, but this is split in two. One path takes you through the “Personal” path, while the other takes you through the “Events” path. The personal trail shows you Singapore’s history through first hand accounts (this would be like learning history through regular people). The events one takes you through all the major events of Singaporean history (whereas this would be like learning history through the major movers and shakers). I decided to go through the Personal Path, and I didn’t even get a chance to go back and do the other half, since it took me 5 hours to clear that one! When I go back, I will do the Events Path.

You have a little machine that is your tourguide. When you get to an exhibit, you punch in the number and the machine narrates everything through voice actors (or historians). That way, you can see the museum at your own pace and can tune out the people around you. It’s an effective way to do it. The only problem is the vast material to go through at each exhibit. You can easily lose yourself in there.

After completing the personal circuit, I went to check out the paintings. They had arrived from whatever European museum was their home, and were swarmed by art connoisseurs of every colour. It was funny seeing all these famous paintings in person. I’ve seen them in books for so long, I never thought I’d see the originals (least of all in Singapore).

After all the walking and standing I had done that day, I needed to rest, so I went back to my hotel, as my legs were becoming numb. I meandered along the way, taking pictures of different things and seeing more geeky shops begging me to spend all my money.

The next day would be my last. It was the eve of the Chinese New Year, so I decided to hit up Chinatown. The place was pretty packed by tourists looking for photo ops. The sun was out in force that day, so I was trying to duck under over hangs to stay in the shade. It was a place bustling with a lot of activity and colour.

Families of Chinese ethnicity were bustling about, getting food for their Reunion Feasts. As I walked, I took a lot of photos and videos. A few stall owners wanted to sell me stuff, but I gave them a polite “no thank you” which they accepted without further pressure (seriously, just say that and they will leave you alone. In Korea, they don’t take “no” for an answer).

The highlight of the day was heading to Shaine’s family’s place for dinner. I had been invited a few days prior and had accepted. I wasn’t sure what to expect, since my only experience with these sort of things is Korean by nature. In Korea, when I go for Chuseok or Seollal, families are initially shy around me as they are too scared to use English in my presence (they are also unsure if I am comfortable around Korean culture and food and fret nonstop that I am not enjoying myself). In Korea, I have the luxury of using my Korean skills to open communication during these traditional gatherings. However, the only words in Mandarin I can speak are “hello” and “thank you” (and apparently “how are you?”). And while Korean culture was historically shaped by Chinese etiquette, the connections are more vague these days. So I was privately hoping I wouldn’t do anything unseemly while I was there.

But it was a relaxed affair and her mom cooked up a storm for everyone. Singaporeans call it steamboat. Others call it hotpot. In Korea, I identify it as shabu-shabu 샤브 샤브(which is Japanese, I think). We talked while we cooked (and tried to find) our food. Laughs were had, as were good times. Eventually we ate until we couldn’t, and we retired to the living room, where Mulan II and Just for Laughs Gags were playing on the TV. We spoke some more while Pepper, the dog, acted hyper around my hand.

Eventually it was time to bid adieu to everyone. Shaine walked me to the bus terminal (where, along the way, I crushed a giant snail. I thought I had stepped on a large chicken egg. The snails that come out in the night are massive. And crunchy). My plane was leaving the airport at 12:15 AM, so I needed to go to the hotel and pick up my stuff. So I said goodbye to my former blogging buddy (I don’t think she still keeps a blog), and did exactly that.

The trip back to Gangeneung was a slow and tedious affair. Nothing bad happened; it just took a very long time. Next time I go to Singapore, I should invest in a direct ticket. The flight between Beijing and Singapore is over six hours, which isn’t all that bad (for a Canadian). But I had a seven hour layover in Beijing, and that was annoying. I landed in Incheon just past 4 PM, and cleared customs at 5. The bus to Gangneung left at 6, but it was Monday night. Seollal (lunar new year). The traffic? Let’s just say a stretch of highway that should’ve taken 20 minutes took 90. I didn’t get back to my apartment until around midnight, making it 24 hours of travelling.

Overall, I greatly enjoyed my time in Singapore. It was great to get out of Korea and see another corner of Asia. It really opened my eyes to certain things (which will be listed in follow-up blogs). It was great being in a place, like Canada, made up of a multi-cultural population (Koreans really don’t know what they’re missing). It was great to finally meet Shaine, and then be introduced to her family. It was nice being in a location alien from my Canadian and Korean experiences.

Should you go? Definitely. It’s easy to get around, as is evidenced by the elderly white senior citizens taking the public transportation. English is one of the official languages, and is the common language between the different ethnicities. The heat makes it easy to pack for (and I took too much). Stuff in the country isn’t as cheap as it is in Korea, but 1000원 is more than $1 SD. If you’re the type of tourist that likes to be pampered, you can experience the good life in Singapore. If you’re the type of tourist who likes to eat out of authentic food stalls in the midst of hundreds of hungry folks, Singapore’s got you covered. Whether it’s Lamborghini and Rolex or backpacking and hostels, the city caters to both traveling styles.

Make it happen!

In China

2012-01-18T22:58:00.001+09:00

I left my home at 9:30 AM, to see if I could take an early bus. When I got to the terminal I decided to take a bus to the Incheon terminal, rather than directly to the airport. I had never taken the subway system to the airport before, and since I had a lot of time to kill, I thought "why not?". Didn't expect the subway to take another hour...

I still had plenty of time to kill before checking in. I decided to scope out KT's unlimited data roaming service. For $10 a day, you can use your smartphone abroad without worrying about incurring huge fees. So, I signed up for that.

Checking in was really easy since I just had the large backpack (which is awesome). Security was another matter. For the first time, they confiscated my toothpaste. And my old Porters Lake glasses cleaner spray bottle. I've flown with both for years and never had any problems. I didn't complain, but inwardly I thought "god dammit, America". Seriously. The paranoia coming out of that country is greatly annoying when you're travelling.

The flight to China was smooth, aside from the landing. I hadn't realized we were so close to the ground, and with a massive crash, we touched down. Our plane stopped far from the terminal, so we got off, and took a bus in. It was my first encounter with Beijing's smog. My god. It is truly disgusting. It is like a haze, clinging to the ground out there. Once I got into the terminal, I tried to get my iPad access to the free wifi. To do this you need to scan your passport into a machine. Then the machine gives you an ID an password to use. That's how you connect. Now, of course, this is China. You can't get Facebook. Or Blogger. Or Twitter. Or YouTube. Or even the iTunes store. So how am I posting this? I am just too good for China's great firewall. I still have another 90 minutes to kill before the flight to Singapore,which is pretty lengthy. I am currently charging up my iPad and phone so they are good to go! That's it for now. Peace.

All Set to Go?

2012-01-17T21:31:00.001+09:00

I have decided to err on the side of caution. It was 31 degrees Celsius in Singapore today. Shaine, my friend, told me via KakaoTalk that even Singaporeans found the heat to be particularly oppressive. It’s also raining (forecasts call for thunderstorms).

So, I have decided to pack more clothes than I should require. I figure I should get fairly soaked and/or sweaty. A change of clothes may be necessary at certain points.

My iPad is all set to go as well. I removed as many apps as I could to make way for video content. I don’t know what Air China provides for entertainment, but I will have something to keep me entertained, at least. With lay-over times taken in consideration, things will be pretty tight, video-wise. I decided to go with a British flair, and got the first season of Sherlock (which I’ve yet to see), and The Office (the original, British version, which I’ve also yet to see). I also have a million e-books on it too, and I’ll make use of them if the battery runs low (and I can’t charge).

Shaine says she has my itinerary all planned out, but there’s a problem. We don’t have enough time to cover it all. We’ll see about that!

I’ll do my best to get some decent video footage while there. I’m not lugging my laptop with me, so I won’t be editing it in Singapore.

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I will leave for Incheon, some time tomorrow morning. I haven’t exactly decided when. My plane doesn’t leave until 6:00 PM, and the last bus from Gangneung leaves at 4:00 PM. I’ll probably make my way to the bus terminal some time past 10 AM.

At the airport, I will inquire about KT’s roaming services. If they’re suitable, I’ll go with KT while in Singapore. If not, I’ll make sure my Galaxy S2 is unlocked (I was told that it was), and then just get a Singaporean SIM card to use. I should have plenty of time to sort things out.

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I went to the bank (I now have an account with KEB) to change my Korean won to Singaporean dollars. I was pleasantly surprised with the exchange rate. I thought the Singaporean dollar was more than 1000 won, but it’s the other way around. Sweet.

Some of the new bills are plastic. Now, I heard Canada will be getting plastic bills in the future, and I gotta tell ya, it feels weird. I dunno if Canada’s future bills will have the same texture or not, but prepare for an alien experience when handling them. They feel like stiff pillow tags.

Speaking of banking, my NongHyup bankbook can no longer be read by its ATM’s for whatever reason. What a useless bank.

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While I was adding stuff to the blog, last week, I updated the “Further Places of Interest” page.

I added two new gals to the page.

Jo Miller (who has the same last name as QiRanger. I wonder if they are related somehow) has a blog where you can see her photographic talents. She’s currently vacationing in the Philippines, so get ready for an onslaught of Filipino-related pics.

Mary Tanner is a fellow EPIK’er in merry ol’ Gangneung. Like Jo, she has a photography related site. She’s been to a million different places worldwide, and has quite the eye (some folks even say she has two).

Check ‘em out and give them some traffic!

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I’m thinking I’ll do the Japanese thing in February, on my second vacation. This one, I will go to Singapore, Daegu and maybe Seoul.

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Since I stop in Beijing for four hours, and am flying Air China, I will practice my Chinese. As of now, I only know Hello and Thank You. We shall see if I can expand upon that.

I will also try to crack the Chinese internet firewall they have set up. I’ve got a VPN app on my iPad, but I am unsure if it will work. If I post in here, or on Twitter/Facebook, know that the mighty Scroozle is a free man. If I am abnormally silent, know that the communists beat me to a pulp.

Because a vacation without 24/7 access to Facebook can hardly be called a vacation.

Nationalism- The Inferiority Complexes of Canada and Korea

2012-01-14T19:22:00.001+09:00

Here is a post I have been meaning to do for some time, but didn’t have the energy to pull together. Since it’s the first day of vacation, I figured now would be an opportune moment to crank it out.

I am well aware of the sensitive nature of this topic, and I fully understand this entry has the potential to let tempers flare. I will handle things as diplomatically as possible, but also as honestly as possible. If you are of Canadian or Korean ethnicity, and get sore whenever someone says something less than endearing about your country, I suggest you stop reading and spend your time elsewhere.

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Many Americans have noted the anti-American sentiment within Canada. This isn’t a product of their imagination, nor is it paranoia. It’s real, but it (usually) isn’t personal; it’s a by-product of Canada’s inferiority complex.

What could possibly warrant an inferiority complex in the world’s second largest country?

America was a powerhouse throughout most of our collective history. And as most powerhouses are want to do, America wasn’t afraid to throw its weight around every now and again. America’s Manifest Destiny may be the primary reason Canada came together in the first place. In an attempt to put a stop to America’s creeping expansionism, the Canadian colonies confederated in 1867, and then quickly did their best to claim the western lands with a continent-wide rail system.

Although the US never officially invaded the Canadian colonies after the War of 1812, the fear of invasion was a constant one throughout the 19th century. The 20th century saw Washington exert influence upon Ottawa in ways less overtly confrontational. Economics. Due to the closeness of the US, America has always been Canada’s biggest trading partner; a relationship ripe for exploitation by politicians.

Economic dealings with the US, as reported by the Canadian media, has always led Canadians to see America as a bully. Canadian administrations and politicians have rarely displayed the gall to directly break from Washington policy. This has further entrenched the notion that Canada’s sovereignty is very much up to Washington’s discretion. In the few instances where Ottawa split from Washington, the powerful right-wing lobbies of the American media made enough noise to sullen the capricious nature of Canadians’ collective self-worth.

American criticism of Canada, no matter how slight or justified, is amplified amongst Canadians. 313,000,000 individuals call themselves American, compared to 35,000,000 Canadians. Enter the inferiority complex.

Canadians have an annoying tendency to become agitated and defensive if they overhear an American disparaging the Great White North. This naturally flies in the face of the stereotype of the mild-mannered, polite Canadian. Comments on Canada, by Americans online, draw fire-breathing Canadians by the dozens. YouTube and Facebook comment threads illustrate this to a tee.

Canadians often feel it is their duty to stick up for the little guy, and most Canadians see their country as “the little guy”. When Fox News bashes Canada, it’s an example of America displaying its ignorant superiority. When Canadian stars make it big in the US, it’s an example of Canadians selling-out for the allure of American fame. When Americans show their lack of basic Canadian knowledge, it’s an example of America deeming Canada unimportant.

As time goes on, all this petty resentment builds within the average Canadian. It takes one ill-timed comment for a Canadian to let fly a barrage of anti-American sentiment that puts anti-American countries to shame.

Many Americans I have met abroad believe Canadians should develop thicker skin. I agree, but I doubt it will come any time soon.

Most Canadians, when traveling abroad, will encounter the eventual mistake of being labelled American. There is usually no greater insult to a touring Canadian as being mistaken for an American. It is at this precise moment, the realization dawns that the Canadian identity is not strong enough to step out from under the shadow of the American identity, on the global stage. The traveling Canadian, after unclenching their jaw (and fist), will no doubt (politely) inform the offending party that they are, in fact, Canadian.

If you have the time, and will-power, to read previous blog entries of mine, you can see how rankled I was when confronted by this very situation. It was so frequent an occurrence, I took it upon myself to learn the phrase “I am not an American; I am Canadian”, in Korean. Eventually the years marched on, and it became less a point of contention; I developed thicker skin.

The same inferiority complex can be seen in Koreans. To Koreans, nationalism is, quite often, everything. Koreans also see their country as “the little guy”, and take any disparaging comments to heart.

Non-Koreans are often confronted with the Korean Defence Brigade when any sort of criticism is levied against the country. Whereas the Canadian inferiority complex stems from a fear of being globally irrelevant, and insignificant, the Korean inferiority complex stems from a sense of continuous persecution by outside forces.

The roots of this lie within Korea’s own history. Korea rarely dealt with outside countries, other than China, unless it was invaded. One of the longest lasting dynasties was Joseon. The Joseon dynasty feared outside contamination by the “barbarians” of Japan, or through the morally-decayed tendencies of the West. It literally closed its borders in order to maintain its air of cultural superiority and sophistication, thus earning its nickname “the hermit kingdom”.

Failing to keep up (meaningful) diplomatic ties with other nations ultimately lead to Joseon’s downfall when Japanese imperialism spread westward. With no military worth speaking of, Joseon (now called the Greater Korean Empire) was eventually put under Japanese colonial rule through annexation. What Canadians often feared from America, Japan enacted upon Joseon. Sovereignty was stripped by the Japanese, and Joseon’s culture was discarded to the annals of history.

For decades, the peninsula languished under Japan. Its agricultural and industrial sectors fuelled the Japanese war machine while its people starved. Its men were conscripted to fight in Japanese armies. Its women were raped by Japanese soldiers. For all its cultural superiority, Joseon had proven to be no match for the Western-inspired modernisation of Japan.

When Japan surrendered at the close of WWII, Korea’s moment of freedom had come. Only, it hadn’t. The peninsula was divided with the North being the puppet of communist China and Russia, and the South being the puppet of America. Civil war broke out as the great powers of the world fought shadow battles with each other on foreign soil. When formal hostilities ceased, the North remained under communist control, and the South had tens of thousands of American troops stationed within it at all times.

Koreans were once again confronted with the reality they were unable to stand on their own two feet as a sovereign nation. This was a sobering realization for a society that had enforced strict isolationism.

To promote self-worth, the fledgling republic’s propaganda ministries worked overtime. Korea: one nation, one people, forever united against outside adversity. Any attempt to criticize the country, or an individual, immediately drew a response from the collective society.

This continues to manifest itself in a variety of ways. Tensions between American GI’s and the native populace. Exaggerated fears of foreign English teachers. Proposed free trade agreements drawing violent protests. Unwarranted fears over international food products. Attitudes towards “foreign” diseases, such as HIV. All these foreign elements wrecking havoc on the persecuted Korean nation.

Like Canadians, Koreans fly off the handle if you mistake their nationality. Being mistaken for Chinese is no longer the compliment it was centuries ago (if it ever was). To many Koreans, China is dirty, poor and smelly. Being called Japanese is akin to a Canuck being called a Yank. Koreans don’t want to be associated with the imperialist past of Japan’s, just as many Canadians don’t want to be associated with the war-hungry tendencies of America’s present.

There are always hot button issue destined to set off both groups. In Canada, it’s hockey. In Korea, it’s Dokdo.

Hockey is more than a sport in Canada; it’s an institution sown throughout the very fabric of the Canadian identity. And while this may seem slightly amusing to most, the sport has had larger roles to play besides being merely a game.

Dokdo for Korea symbolises another foreign assertion of control. On the surface, it’s a collection of rocks, of no possible benefit to anyone. Yet, they are Korea’s rocks, and Japan must abide by the treaty it signed following WWII. If Japan fails to live up to that agreement, it’s just another example of Japan flouting respect towards Korea.

Canadians and Koreans alike need to move beyond their perceived inferiority. They are too busy nursing their bruised egos to think, or behave, rationally when confronted with “unfair” criticisms or comparisons. In desperate attempts to prove themselves on the international stage, they merely draw attention to their own immaturity.

Canadians need to collectively stop caring what the US thinks of Canada. Canada has all the necessary ingredients for absolute greatness, and yet squanders them. Canada wants to be differentiated from the US, but doesn’t want to stray too far for fear of economic repercussions. The needless pandering has gotten us nowhere.

Koreans need to stop defending every aspect of Korean society from outside criticism. Being able to handle criticism is necessary in today’s globalised world. Korea wants to be seen as a progressively modern country, but too quickly clings to past attitudes to defend itself.

Like preening teenagers, both sets of citizens are too preoccupied with how others perceive them. It is high time to grow up and move on. =================================================================

Herein lies my disclaimer:

-Due to expediency, and intellectual laziness, I draw some pretty broad generalizations between Canadians and Koreans. Of course not all Canadians have anti-American tendencies. And many Koreans criticise their country a lot more than this entry gives them credit for. While I am on vacation, I am not particularly keen on writing a 4000 word essay, when 1900 words will do. I’ll leave that for when I get my MA in (Korean?) history.

-While I address present day problems, I am more interested in the historical roots of these attitudes. The history lesson was included to give you a better understanding and explanation. I dumbed it down a bit because most people’s eyes glaze over when confronted with detailed historical facts. The 19th century was a little more complicated for Korea than what I’ve decided to include.

-Many foreigners don’t understand why Koreans are so uptight with criticism. If you dislike K-pop, then you hate Korea. If you think Jeju is unworthy of its recent designation, then you hate Korea. Etc, etc. I wanted to illustrate why this was, and the historical connotations it has had. To make the point stick, I chose Canada as a comparison subject. I am Canadian, and most Westerners are aware of Canadians’ irritability with the US.

-If you are American and are being hazed in Canada, or by Canadians, take them to task. Ask them why they are being so intellectually lazy by conflating American governmental policies with citizens who probably didn’t vote in the politicians responsible. If they are unable to do this, ask them why they continuously vote in Harper. As a final insult, you could also ask why the Canadian junior team is unable to beat the Russian one.

2nd & 3rd Grade Class Material

2012-01-13T18:19:00.001+09:00

This afternoon was the final one I would spend desk-warming prior to my first vacation. That being the case, I decided I would hop to it and complete the rest of the editing I had been working on.

I finished the final lesson plan just before 4:30. It came down to the wire, but it felt good.

So here they are, in all their finalised glory:

Middle School Grade 2 Lesson Plans, Worksheets and Prezis.

Middle School Grade 3 Lesson Plans, Worksheets and Prezis.

The Prezis are linked at the bottom of the lesson plans. If there isn’t a Prezi link, it’s probably because I played a PPT game that day.

All that’s left is to organize the camp material, along with the afterschool stuff. Then I will be completely finished.

It was quite the chore to put all this in chronological order, and properly formatted for Google Docs, but I think it was well worth it. Now it’s backed up in the cloud, and accessible everywhere in the world. My USB drive looks like a mess in comparison.

Happy teaching!

First Grade Material

2012-01-12T17:39:00.001+09:00

Today, I went through all the material I created for my first grade students in 2011. It was quite the chore getting all the lesson plans and work sheets organized chronologically, but now that it’s done, I don’t need to worry about it in the future.

Yay.

In the following collection you will get ~26 different 45 minute lessons. I came in at the start of Unit 4, so I didn’t create anything for 1, 2 or 3. Je suis désolé.

You will see the lesson plans for each class, which include a rough guide as to how I taught the classes. At the end of the lesson plan is a link to the Prezi designed just for that lesson. My early Prezis are fine, but they don’t compare to my later efforts. All the Prezis can be copied to your own accounts, and edited if you want. As the next semester rolls around, I will go through them once again, and edit them on my own. Also included are the worksheets I created for the lessons. Some are missing, but most are there.

HERE YOU GO.

I will go through the 2nd and 3rd grade material tomorrow, as well as the camp stuff. Who knew desk-warming could be so productive?

Hundreds of ESL Worksheets

2012-01-11T19:18:00.001+09:00

I have finally completed editing the hundreds of worksheets and tests I created while teaching in Daegu. They are now ready to be used by everyone who wants to use ‘em.

I uploaded them to Google Docs, which means any computer with internet access can access them. You can print them off. You can download them. You can edit them to your heart’s content, and call them your own.

While I fixed their formatting, I probably didn’t catch all the typos I made. There were some instances where I forgot to save a file after I had corrected them. Typos will be rare, but I am sure there will be a few that crop up from time to time. Be sure to proofread them before you hand them to your students (if there’s one thing I hate, it’s English worksheets with cruddy English).

HERE THEY ARE.

Having been in a hagwon for over three years, prior to coming to Gangneung, I worked with a variety of different English textbooks. With this collection you get 100’s of sheets and tests for:

Can You Believe It?
Easy Reading
English Time
Essence Reading
Gateways
Go For It
Grammar Friends
Grammar Jump
Intensive Reading
Kids Reading
Let’s Go
Magic Time
My World
Panorama
Pen Pictures
Person to Person
Reading Boat
Speak for Yourself
Spectrum Reading
Totally True
Up and Away

You’ll also get:

Camp Games and Activities
Parties (Christmas and Halloween)
Random elementary and middle school tests
English math problems for more advanced students

If you teach at a hagwon, using those books, this should be perfect for you. You can provide review tests, without having to waste hours (like I did) in making them. Even if you don’t use those books, you can still give them to your students as homework, as punishment, or to kill time in the class. Parents will love you for being an awesome teacher.

If you teach at a public school, you can still use these as time-fillers. They’re excellent for afterschool classes.

For further resources, check out this list I created. Hope all of this helps you out!

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Next, I will format all the stuff I created for this school year in Gangneung. This will include lesson plans, worksheets, Prezis and camp stuff.

Stay tuned.

Why Are You Going to Singapore?

2012-01-09T21:32:00.001+09:00

Every time I inform someone of my vacation travel plans, the above question is the very first thing asked.

[After the shock that I am actually leaving the country has worn off]

Singapore is pretty small. In fact it is one of the few remaining city-states in the world. It’s very humid, probably a tad more than a Canuck like moi is comfortable with.

So why go?

Well, on May 16, 2009, a Singaporean contacted me on the ol’ blog. Initially, we spoke about Korea-related stuff (and I did my best to avoid the K-pop talk), but afterwards, we gained a pretty good understanding of one another. I told her one day I would go to Singapore, so she could show me around. After reading my blog, watching my videos, and browsing my photos, she had promised (on numerous) occasions to show me around her native land. We also agreed that if she ever came to Korea, I would guide her around (if I had the time).

Like the Joker, I am a man of my word. Because I said I would, I have decreed I must.

Also, I really like travelling to places where someone in the know can show me around. It seems like a more authentic traveling experience. I have a good pal in the country, and I have five weeks of play time. I had said I would go to Singapore, years ago, so it seems like a win-win scenario.

[although it will likely rain the entire time]

What else will I do in Singapore? I wanna make videos, yo! I want to experience all that crazy food from the mix of cultures that make up Singapore. I want to learn a bit of Singlish, leh.

See what I did there?

Malaysia is literally a bus ride away, so I can spend a few hours there if I choose to. There should be enough to do, and keep me busy from the 18th-23rd.

Once I am back in Korea, I will plan my next excursion. My best friend will finish studying in China on the 15th of February, one day before my next vacation, so maybe we can do something together. Maybe.

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If you are also in Singapore, and are of a savoury sort of person (in that you don’t stab people), get in touch with me.

WE CAN BE AWESOME, TOGETHER.
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Update!

I have booked it (unless something screws up while I sleep)

Seoul (ICN) to Beijing (PEK)	18/01/12	6:10 PM - 7:20 PM	Air China 126

Beijing (PEK) to Singapore (Changi)	18/01/12	11:30 PM - 5:50 AM	Air China 975

Singapore (Changi) to Beijing (PEK)	23/01/12	12:15 AM - 6:20 AM	Air China 970

Beijing (PEK) to Seoul (ICN)	23/01/12	1:45 PM - 4:50 PM	Air China 125

Sitting in Front of the Computer

2012-01-07T21:39:00.001+09:00

I’ve been here all day. First, I was looking for reasonable airfare to and from Singapore. Then, I was looking for a reasonable place to crash.

When I had those two taken care of, I decided to look for luggage. One of the math teachers at my school will be going to Indonesia and she’ll only be taking one bag with her. That’s it. A single backpack. That inspired me.

The thing that always makes traveling a drag for me is the luggage. I hate carting it everywhere, and I hate carrying multiple items. Notice how in The Amazing Race the contestants keep things simple? That’s what I need to do. Restrict myself to one piece of luggage.

Is it possible?

Some of you may be wondering why I would need to bring a lot of stuff to Singapore, since it’s a tropical country that is perpetually summer (by Canadian standards). I only need a few t-shirts and shorts, so a medium sized bag should be a-okay, right? Not really.

While it is currently 27 degrees in Singapore (at 8:00 PM), it is well below zero in Seoul. I will be wearing my winter clothes and will need space to pack them.

So with that consideration in mind, I decided to hit up GMarket (Korea’s Amazon). I used Facebook and Twitter to implore my fellow English teachers for help, since I am a noob to these sorts of things. I was given several recommendations and guidelines.

I wanted something large, but compact. I wanted something that would be rugged enough to handle years of air travel. I wanted something that would handle the elements. I wanted something that cost less than my airplane tickets!

Up first is the Osprey Atmos 65L bag:

It comes in at $194. It has some good reviews, and was recommended on different websites around the net.

It’s sleek and looks compact.

The seller is in Korea and I don’t need to worry about importing through customs.

Next is the National Geographic Explorer Backpack:

It comes in at $244. It’s made out of durable material (hemp, brass etc). It looks like you can take it on a safari, and if the lions started chewing on it, that would just add to its charm.

It has built in camera housing for lens, cameras, tripods etc.

While it does look durable, I don’t know if it would be comfortable. It doesn’t have any fancy technology to keep the weight balanced, nor does it include features to circulate air between your back and the bag. Some reviews mentioned it’s not really built for air travel, as all the straps can get caught on stuff.

Next is the North Face Terra 65L bag:

It clocks in at $257. North Face got a lot of kudos from air travel backpackers. They’re pricey, but they seem to be durable, and the tech in them is really good.

This one looks pretty sleek. It loads from the top, but there’s also a side zipper, so you don’t need to take everything out to get at stuff (or take it off your back). It has several compartments, and the sleeping bag one would be perfect for my winter jacket.

People travelling in Asia seem to like them (and Koreans love the company, for whatever reason).

Last is the Eagle Creek Rincon 65L bag:

This one is the most expensive, at $414.

Eagle Creek is apparently the “standard” amongst people who spend multiple years backpacking. They’re expensive, but they’re supposedly durable. Experienced backpackers stress that the one thing you should not skimp on is your backpack.

This one can be separated into two bags. One bag will be checked, and the other can be carry-on. Then you can just connect them, and leave the airport, hassle-free.

I think the seller for this one is in America, which means you have to import it, thereby adding onto the price.

As far as style goes, I like the National Geographic one. For reliability, I lean towards the Eagle Creek one. For comfort I look at the North Face offering. And Osprey obviously has the price factor…

Return airfare will be around $705. Five days at the “hotel” is $227. I’m aiming to leave January 18, and get back on the 23 (which happens to be the Lunar New Year…perhaps not too smart a move). That’s how things stand at the moment.

If you have any further words of advice or recommendations for me, lemme know!

The Sound You Hear?

2012-01-06T18:15:00.001+09:00

That’s the sound of the 2012 GwanDong Winter Camp coming to a close. As I write this, it’s Friday. The students received their prizes, performed their skits, and gave their farewells. All is well.

On Thursday, the students interviewed the brother of my Canadian compatriot. Like the week before, Skype was used. It went really well, and I’m glad we decided to do the activity. The point of coming here to teach English is to introduce the kids to situations like this. Our group of students passed with flying colours. Afterwards we performed the Beatles.

That sound you hear? It isn’t a cat dying. It’s me, singing.

That was the final news clip we filmed.

Today, while the students had their hamburger party, we watched this:

Picture within a picture within a picture? Sure.

It was a bit crazy producing all these videos every evening. I’d get home around 4:00, and then wouldn’t be finished until 10:00 (or later). On the plus side, I’ve discovered quite a few new tricks I can employ with Cyberlink’s PowerDirector. It’s a robust little program.

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My overall opinion of the camp?

It was excellent.

The first week had a few glitches. I wasn’t sure if I could locate powdered sugar, so that had stressed me a tiny bit. When I got it, I wasn’t sure if I could produce quality icing, as I had never made it before. Then, my iPad’s mic broke on the first day, and I was going to use that for the Skype convo. The skits had a lukewarm reception. And then, the scheduled treasure hunt apparently wasn’t planned. In the end, the icing worked. My laptop stood in for my iPad. The skits went off without a hitch. And the treasure hunt was cancelled for producing the news magazine.

Week two saw the greatest bunch of first grade students to ever grace a camp. No complaining. No talking while the teachers spoke. No mumbling when on camera. Lots of smiles. They were pitch-perfect, and every activity went off without a hitch. As a teacher, I really couldn’t have been happier with them. I’ll definitely miss their chipper personalities next week when I am desk-warming.

As crazy as the news program was, it went over well. The first graders, in particular, really took to it. Even though they were shy with photographing their faces, they looked right at the cameras for videos. They also spoke clearly when doing interviews, or being news anchors. When filming was going on, the students in the background were quiet, which I wish the 2nd graders had done. They also wrote a lot for their reports.

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All the materials for our camp will be made available to all. You will have access to lesson plans, work sheets, Prezis and PowerPoints. If you go through it all and are unsure how we proceeded, you can always look at the videos to guide you.

We’re just that awesome.

Critical Critiquing

2012-01-05T14:49:00.001+09:00

The Girl Who Hated Books, a favourite once more.

Wednesday had the students watch four short animated films, and then prepare reviews for them. I added another film to the Prezi at the behest of my co-worker, so if you go back to it, you may notice a few changes.

Right now, it’s Thursday afternoon, and the students are all home. I am creating the news magazine that I will hand out tomorrow. Only one more day left for our English camp.

The girls have been really great the entire week. No sass, and just obedience. Not a single complaint. When they’re given a report to write, they hop to it with actual zeal. Kinda uncanny.

Can’t wait to see them as second grade students once the new school year rolls around in March!

Did Somebody Mention Cookies?

2012-01-04T21:07:00.001+09:00

Tuesday was part two of the cookie house saga. This time around, a pack of girls had to complete the challenge. The results?

Trying a few different tricks out.

That was a labour-intensive video to make, and it took me three rendering attempts to finally end up with a finished product. Trying to sync two different video sources shot at the same time was a novel challenge.

In the end though, I really like this video because it shows how happy the students are. There had been difficulties in getting students to sign up for the camp, because they thought it would be boring, and they would rather be lazy at home. And yet, they arrive early in the morning, before they have to, and wait at their desks for the teaching staff to shuffle in. The twins, Yeona and Seona, in particular are there early. Their English isn’t the strongest (in fact it’s the opposite), but they don’t mind, because they try regardless.

It’s really awesome to see. And it makes me terribly proud as their teacher.

The one thing this camp allows us to do, is to take the cameras inside the room. Throughout the rest of the year, there weren’t any examples of class time videos. I couldn’t exactly teach and shoot videos at the same time, because I was too busy lecturing. Going through my YouTube playlists, it’s easy to see how I taught in a hagwon, because I used the cameras often. Coming to Gangneung, I only used the cameras at lunch time, once classes were on hold.

It’s true that camp is different from my regular classes, but the atmosphere is roughly the same. The students are as diligent with their writing exercises at both times (which may surprise some). While I was holding classes, I’d call upon random students to stand up and read their work aloud, or answer questions. The students were not as fearful as you’d expect, and they quickly gained confidence.

I know many first-time teachers in the public school system are fearful of camps. Hopefully you get a clearer sense of what you can do through this series of videos. The sky’s the limit, so don’t be afraid to be ambitious!

The First Graders Have Landed

2012-01-03T21:59:00.001+09:00

100% girls? That might change things up a bit.

Now that it’s January, the second, and final, week of camp is underway. Last week was the second graders (grade 8), but this week it’s the first (grade 7).

Monday was the intro day to the camp. You can see how it compares to last week’s by watching the above video and comparing it to this one.

So We Come To It At Last

2012-01-01T16:54:00.001+09:00

Know what 2012 signifies? The 21st of January will be the start of my FIFTH year in Korea (April 28th, will be the start of my fifth contract). Kicking off half a decade in Kimchiland, and half a decade of living outside the borders of Canuckistan.

Noteworthy.

What are my resolutions for this year? I was going to make a Scroozle Vlogs video for the Facebook page, but thought it would run too long, so I’ll break it down into blog format. Why? Because you are utterly interested in every facet of my life. Right?

Right.

THOU SHALT NOT INFORM ROOKIES THAT THOU HATH BEEN THERE AND DONE THAT

I came into far greater contact with my fellow foreigners in 2011. Thanks to EPIK. Thanks to SeoulTube. Thanks to socializing.

The thing I noticed? I was constantly puffing up my own sense of self importance by letting everyone know my expertise with all things Korean. I’m sure that was annoying.

I shall endeavour to be more humble and allow the good folks on Facebook revel in their new Korean discoveries.

THOU SHALT CONTINUE TO CUT DOWN THINE USELESS SPENDING

I saved a lot of money in 2011, thanks to smart purchases in the beginning of the year. I saved a lot of money by ripping my DVD collection to the external hard drives. I still bought some new Blu-rays, but they were mostly Korean ones I wouldn’t be able to purchase in Canada.

I’ve been trying to spend around 100,000 on an average week (so a week that doesn’t include traveling to other cities). That being the case, I’ve been trying to buy nothing but groceries each week. A week’s worth of groceries comes to around 70,000-80,000 a week.

THOU SHALT NOT PROCRASTINATE WHEN IT COMES TO ART DUTIES

My rather weak art portfolio is a source of much shame. To most people, they probably think “Holy crap, Zack. Loot at all these awesome drawings!”. To me, it’s more like “Holy crap. Look at all these mediocre attempts, and handful of decent ones!”. I doubt I’ll ever crank out art like I did in my pre-university years, but there’s no reason why I can’t try.

The problem with going digital, is that each time I draw, I discover new settings. The new settings generally make things look better, and more in line with my pencil and paper skills. I can’t draw a comicbook, because each time I discover new settings, my style gets tweaked. If I drew more, I would finally discover the perfect settings for moi, and then I could go back to creating comics.

Practice makes perfect.

THOU SHALT SHARE THAT ****

As I’ve mentioned before, I intend to open up every single TEFL-oriented thing I’ve created in the last four (five) years.

As it stands, everything has been uploaded to the ‘net. This coming week will be the last one for camp, but after that, I have one week of desk warming. I’ll use that time to edit everything so people can use it.

As with all my stuff, it will be free and open to everyone. It’s how I roll, yo.

THOU SHALT GO ABROAD AND SEE MARVELOUS SIGHTS

Since I can’t use my Daegu Bank account to send money overseas, I can’t really use my Visa Card. This week, I will go to KEB Bank and set up an account. That way I can send money back to Canada, and then be able to use my Visa Card.

Once my credit card is good to go, I shall purchase my airfare for my vacation. Having been in Korea since 2007, it’s embarrassing that I haven’t been to anywhere else. 2012 shall be the year I change that!

Japan and Singapore will be the first places graced by Scroozle. I don’t know if I will go traveling this summer, but I might. Next winter, I will have to go to Canada.

THOU SHALT NOT SUFFER A FOOL TO LIVE

I was a bit too forgiving in 2011. Especially on Ye Olden Book of Faces. If I witness ignorance/bigotry this year, it’ll be hasta la vista, baby. This was my MO for years, but in 2010/2011, I was a bit forgiving to those who “didn’t know any better”.

We’ll see how many bridges I can burn at once…

THOU SHALT RESPECT THINE WEAKNESSES

I haven’t puked my guts out in several months now. I’ve begun to wizen up on which types of foods I am unable to handle. Certain types of greasy foods served at lunch made me empty out my entire digestive system after 45 minutes over the course of 3-5 hours (it must be a type of oil they’re using to fry stuff with. Other types of fried foods are a-okay). I’ve also discovered that certain milk brands here had been destroying my stomach, which is probably why I was never hungry for lunch in Daegu after eating my morning cereal. It was only after summer here, I discovered the brand of milk that doesn’t harm me in any particular way.

2009 had been a year where I wanted to push myself beyond my limits, and I continued that into 2010. We all know how that ended.

THOU SHALT ENDEAVOUR TO BE EVER MORE ACADEMIC

I need to start seriously thinking about the next stage in my university “life”. Putting feelers out to different universities would be a good start. I’ll have enough money to put aside for that when the time comes, so there’s no worrying about student loans next time around.

Online courses, like the TEFL certification, can’t hurt.

I gotta get my masters in history, and I’d prefer it to be sooner, rather than later. I’m still relatively young, so there isn’t an immediate rush. I graduated Dalhousie when I was still 21 years old, which is ridiculously young. I remember there being 30 year olds in my undergraduate classes, congratulating me for deciding to graduate right away.

THOU SHALT NOT PLAY SOCCER AND BASKETBALL IN THE SUMMER WITH THE STUDENTS

I’d play, and then my clothes would be soaked through with sweat. It was fun, and it helped build bonds, but it made a heckuva mess.

THOU SHALT GO SKATING BECAUSE THOU DOTH LIVETH NEXT TO AN OLYMPIC CLASS RINK

I still haven’t visited Gangneung’s rink. It was christened by Kim YuNa herself, and will host 2018 events, but I haven’t gone yet. I even have my skates. Waiting.

What the hell.

THOU SHALT CONTINUE TO DISPARAGE K-POP AND ITS LISTENERS

It sucks. So do the hordes of sheep that prop up the industry.

THOU SHALT CONTINUE TO BETTER THINESELF UNTIL THOU ART GOD OVER ALL THE WORLD

Done.

Day 4 of Camp

2011-12-30T16:44:00.001+09:00

Now accompanied by nice tunage.

I had implemented Skype several times in Daegu at my hagwon. It always blew my students minds when we did a voice conversation (with Dominique, in Finland). This time around, we did a video conversation with my brother in Canada.

We had the four teams rotate, so every student was given a chance to speak with him in front of the camera. Due to the presence of video cameras throughout the camp, the students were accustomed to speaking before one. This will all come in handy once NEAT rolls out.

The students also sang a few Beatles songs, and finalized the props for their skits.

Thus end’th day the fourth.

Today, Friday, was the final day of the camp. Due to a SNAFU, our plan for the morning was cut for news magazine time, so the students worked on that. They also gave their final performance for their skits.

We had a junk food party, and gave out the awards for best teams.

We also watched this as we munched on our salty/greasy food.

The students had a pretty good time at the camp. Perfect attendance for all five days! I wasn’t sure how they’d react to the daily videos, but the chance to play with the iPad seemed to quiet any camera shyness (for the most part).

All the lesson plans, and materials used (PPT’s, worksheets, Prezis, etc), will be posted online in the coming days. Stay tuned if you’re interested!

Winter Camp Day THREE

2011-12-29T17:01:00.001+09:00

You can skip to the 2:00 mark if you wanna

[The Girl Who Hated books: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Efrg23Sqe8
Reach: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tzg2jjH2z8E
Prezi for this lesson: http://prezi.com/9hm4ecn9gmhc/winter-camp-2011/]

I was really happy with the students’ interviewing efforts of their peers. They spoke a lot of English, and they did so in a clear voice. Usually when I take my SD card home, it’s chock-full of Korean clips. Wednesday was a different story. I had so many English clips, I couldn’t include all of them in the video.

Next week when the first graders have their camp, I’ll try to get them to interview themselves more. It seems to put them at ease, rather than when one of the other teachers try asking them questions on camera.

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Things I discovered this week: My iPad’s mic is broken. I forgot my camera at school on Tuesday. The only chair I have in my apartment is broken. The bank I use to send my money overseas no longer offers that service.

Le sigh.

Winter Camp Day TWO

2011-12-28T20:17:00.001+09:00

Yum yum

Since Korea has a shortage of gingerbread, we decided to go with generic “cookie” houses. The results were anything but generic though.

This particular lesson caused a lot of stress for me, since I originally came up with the idea. I had trouble finding powdered sugar when we initially when shopping. I wasn’t sure if our rounded cookies would be able to be used appropriately. When I found the sugar on Christmas Day, I wasn’t sure if the icing would be good enough to hold things together, since I never made it before. Finally, I wasn’t sure if the students would enjoy it, or if they would get frustrated with their constructing skills.

In the end? It went well. Really well and everyone enjoyed themselves!

It went so well, that I’ve convinced several other teachers in Korea to give it a go for their own camps. Score.

Winter Camp

2011-12-27T18:21:00.001+09:00

So, winter camp is in full swing and we’ve completed our second day of it. It has a news room theme running throughout it.

What does that mean?

It means this.

I’ll fill you in on the details a bit later, since I’m in the midst of making today’s video.

All Set for 2012

2011-12-24T18:26:00.001+09:00

Last week was the final one for classes. On December 23, the school year officially came to an end. For my first grade students, I gave them a lesson about New Year’s resolutions. I had all of them write their resolutions on a provided worksheet.

When I got home, I typed all the resolutions out. Over 4,000 words! I then plugged that into a wordcloud generator, to make a video out of them.

The result?

How much work did I put into that? Waaaaaaaay too much.

I put the wordcloud into Prezi, and then recorded my screen while I was zooming around. That produced the animation effect.

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Here are all the resolutions. Have fun reading them:

I will study all subjects harder. I will sleep earlier. I will exercise more. I will grow taller. I will draw on paper. I will get up early. I will go to bed early. I'll read more books. I'll study hard. I'll draw a gun. I'll drink milk. I'll bomb a volcano. I'll grow tall. I'll play games. I will study hard and exercise hard too. I will game. I will study harder. I will grow tall. I will read more books. I will exercise very hard. I will draw pictures better. I will sing a song harder and better. I will sleep before 12 am. I will study hard all subjects. I will read more books. I won't hit my brother. I will eat more food. I will exercise more. I will get up early. I will grow tall. Go to ski. Study. Go to the movies. Grow tall. Watch TV. Play the computer. I will study hard. I will read more books.I will get up early. I will go to bed early. I will help clean the dishes. I will read books. I will read more books. I will be happier. I will study math harder. I will be ready for my future. I will learn more technology. I will meet my friends and make some audio files. I will be kinder. I will study harder. I will enjoy my hobbies. I will study hard. I will reduce to read novels. I will play games. I will read a lot of novels. I will play a game. I will study hard. I'll be very happy. I'll play games. I will study hard. I will study hard. I will get a certification for a chef. I will be a great student. I will be happy everyday. I will study hard. I will be kind to every person. I will be funny to friends. I will smile every day. I will do a great job with my homework. I will not fight with my sister. I will help my parents. I will be great for every person. I will be funny to study. I will buy many clothes for me. I will make many friends.I will get many birthday presents. I will change my cell phone. I will read many books. I will eat ddeokguk. I will study hard. I will have a perm. I will grow up. I will grow up. I will diet. I will be prettier. I will go to America. I will be kind. I will find my boyfriend. I will buy clothes. I will eat ddeokguk. I will study hard. I will be pretty. I will be beautiful. I will have a thin face. I will make boyfriends. I will cut my hair. I will buy a jacket. I will read more books. I will be taller than Beomjun. I will study hard. I will be pretty. I will be beautiful.I will diet. I will be taller than Hanjae. I will be taller than Taehun.I will have a thinner face. I will find a boyfriend. I will have curly hair. I will have big eyes. I'll exercise more, like running and jumping rope. I'll study hard. I'll practice drawing pictures. I;ll go to a rock concert with my friends. I'll increase my money. I'll go on a diet. I'll go to a classic concert. I will read many books. I will study harder. I will exercise more. I will get up early. I will study hard at social studies and music. I’ll practice the violin. I’ll draw more beautiful picture. I’ll grow up. I’ll be kinder. I will study and read books. I will study harder. I will read books. I will play games. Read comics. Play games. Grow taller. I will read many books. I will exercise. I will play hard. I will study hard. I will watch TV. I will read books hard. I will study math hard. I will exercise more. I will study math harder. I will play the piano. I will get up early. I will read many books. I will study a lot. I will help many people. I will write many letters. I will watch many movies. I will study harder. I will get up early. I will practice the musical instruments. I will grow up. I will be happier. I will study all subjects harder. I will grow taller. I will sleep earlier. I will read more books. I will study more. I will grow taller. Study. Grow tall. Reading book. Go to the library. I will exercise. I will study hard. I will eat more food. I will grow tall. I will lose weight. I will exercise more. I will study hard. I will study. I will grow up. I will be healthy. I will be happy. I will be lucky. I will be strong. I will be rich. I will be smart. I will get up early. I will study. I will grow up. I will be healthy. I will be happy. I will be lucky. I will be strong. I will be rich. I will be smart. I will get up early. I will study. I will be healthy. I will be happy. I will be lucky. I will be strong, I will be rich. I will be smart. I will get up early. I will diet. I will be taller. I will study English. I will play computer games. I will study math. I will learn another language. I will study hard. I will get up at 7:00. I will play computer games. I will study for 3 hours. I want to be taller. I will read one book. I will make a boyfriend. I will study hard. I will get up early. I will exercise. Next month, January is the next year. I have some resolutions for 2012. First, I will be a diligent person. I sill study hard and get good scores. Then I and my parents will be happy. Next, I will get a boyfriend. I will study hard. I will be 163 cm.I will be taller. I will study English. I will play games. I will study hard. I will be taller than this year. I will be thinner. I will be kinder. I will study hard. I will be good person. I will be taller than this year. I will be a perfect student. I will study hard. I will get up early. I will be taller than this year. I will be a good son. I will make a girlfriend. I will exercise more. I will play Sudoku. I will go to school. I will study English. I will play computer games. I will buy a monitor. I will buy a computer. I will read books. I will read books. I will study hard. I will read books. I will study hard. I will be taller than this year. I will be a good person. I will exercise more. I will exercise more. I will study harder. I will be a kinder student. I will be a good dear. I will be taller than this year. I will be a good person. I will read many books. I will study hard. I will get a good score. I will make a new boyfriend. I will exercise. I want to be taller. I will study hard. I will not swear to my friends. I will not swear. I will not ignore my friends. I will study harder. I will be kinder. I will be taller. I will make a lot of nice friends. I will change my phone. I will have a clean mind. I will grow taller. I will be taller. I will study harder. I will be the happiest. In 2012 I will get up earlier. I will exercise. I will not fight with my brother. I will study better than 2012. I will get up early. I will grow up. I will be taller. I will diet. I will get 100% on the English test. I will be taller. I will be smarter in my iPod. I will read more books. I will be kind to my parents. I will be smarter. I will be taller. I will be thinner. I will be stronger. I will be kinder. I will be better. I will help more people. I will lose my weight. I will grow. I will be taller. I will make my test score better. I will buy a new smartphone. I will grow I will have better test scores. I will sleep late. I will study. I will grow up. I will study. I will bow. I will watch movies. I will keep a diary. I will exercise more. I will study more. I will read many books. I will have many friends. I will get up early. I will grow and diet. I will lose my weight. I will grow tall. I will lose weight. I will grow tall. I will lose weight. I will have a smart phone. I will increase my average. I will be taller. I will sleep a lot. I will read books. I will study hard. I will lose weight. I will study hard. I will read books I will be kind. I will grow taller. I will grow taller. I will sleep a lot. I will sleep. I will not die. I will not kill people. I will make friends. I will be taller. Tall. I will be a perfect student. I will read many books. I will study hard. I will save money. I will grow taller. I will be a famous soccer player. I will grow tall. I will study more. I will spend less money. I will save money. I will be nice to friends. I will be taller. I will not have junk food. I’ll study more. I will be kinder than now. I’ll not waste time. I will get more money. I will read more books. I will lose my weight. I will grow taller. I will be better at class. I will save more time and money. I will buy new skates. I will go to another country. I will grow up more. I will study hard. I will grow up more. I will have better test scores. I will grow up more. I will be taller. I will lose weight. I will draw cartoons. I will learn clay art. I will be evil. I will study English. I will grow taller. I will play computer games. I will read books. I will be taller. I will watch computer and TV more. I will buy black crow set. I will not sleep while studying. I will play computer games sometimes. I will make my home in minecraft. I will read a book every two days. I will read many books. I will study more. I will exercise more. I will relax. I will play with my friends. I will go on a trip. I will go icefishing with my father. I will read books about world history. Play soccer. Play computer games. Play the piano. Play the guitar. Listen to music. Study hard. I will study more. Go to church. I will be richer. I will be richer. I will grow taller. I will be taller and thinner. I will memorize 50 English songs. I will read good books for me. I will get good score in school exams. I will get good score in TOFEL. I will behave better for my family. I will increase my test score. I will grow. I will increase my score. I’ll get rid of stress. I will move from 2nd violin to 1st violin. I will study hard for test. I will bake many cakes and bread. I will read many books. I will study about baking and cake. I will study. I will watch movies. I will be a 2nd grader. I will study hard. I will exercise more. I will exercise. I will go to church every weekend. I will study English. I will sleep a lot. I will play games with my friends. Will study. I will eat. I will cook. I will play songs with a ruler. I will study harder than this year. I will study much harder than this year. I will play the piano much harder than this year. I will be a great student. I will get up early. I will learn about drums. I will read many books. I will study harder than this year. I will be taller. I will go on a diet. I will have longer hair. I will change my phone. I will study every day. I will play sports. I will take a dress. I will play a game. Hello, I’m Su youn. I will write my resolutions for 2012. First, I will study hard because I want to get a good score. Finally I will want to have sports because I want to be healthy. That is my resolutions. Thanks to listen to my resolutions. Bye. I will study harder than this year. I will go on a diet. I will be a person who is tall. I will be a perfect student. I will be 170 cm. I will be stronger than 2011. I will eat less. I will make new friends. I will be rich. I will give money to my friends. I will buy a new MP3 player next year. I will give a gift to my parents. I will study hard. I will wake up late on Sunday. I will make many dishes for my family. I will buy figures. I will buy pets. I will buy parody nine clothes. I will do magic better. Maple Story level up! Next year I will study more. I will wake up early. I will help my mom. I will study well. I will watch movie. I will change my phone. I will get a pet. I will go to another country. I will buy a new book. I will raise a pet. I will study more. I will grow. I won’t catch a cold. I will study English. I will play soccer. I will level up. I will study. I will study more than this year. I will exercise more. I will play more games. I will exercise more. I will play more games. I will go on a trip with my family. I will play the game more. I will wake up early. I will do my homework. I will study hard. I will watch horror movies. I will play the piano. I will learn Japanese. I will be rich. I will learn drawing cartoons well. I will be a power blogger. I will learn drawing cartoons well. I will write a diary every day. I will clean my room. I will be a good student. I will play baseball with my friends. I will make a book. I will buy a Big Bang photobook. I will play hard. I must change my phone. I will be rich. I will be a smart student. I will read a lot of books. I will play on the computer a lot. I will go to Everland. I will play Nintendo a lot. I will watch movies with a friend. I will wake up early. I will study hard. I will be a kind student. I will be a great student. I will be the best. I will help my mother. I will study English, math and science. I will level up in Maple Story. Level up in Maple Story. I will meet B1A4. I will grow taller. I will get a higher math test score. I will buy a calendar. I will play computer games. I will study harder. I will study hard. I will get my computer certification. I will exercise more. I will drink milk every day. I will have a good grade. I will study more. I will play. I will read more books. I will read more books. I will study hard. I will buy Infinite CD. I will exercise. I will grow taller. I will buy shoes, bags and clothes. I will get a higher test score. I will go to bed early. I will read more books. I will study harder. I will die. I will fall from a mountain. I will kill everybody. I will study more. I will pray hard. I will read more books. I will drink some milk every day. I will study. I will get a computer certification. I will read many books. I will be safe. I will read a book. I will exercise. I will study harder. I will study English. I will study very well. I will be taller. I will read many books. I will sleep. I will play a game. I will usually clean my room. I will go to bed early. I will get some FPS games. I will get Mine Craft. I will study about nuclear bombs. I will study English very well. I will score high. I will go to bed early and read books. I will play computer games a little. I will study hard next year. I will study better. I will do more exercise next year. I will study harder. I will grow more. I will study hard and get in fifth of class. I will learn how to make piraminks cube. I will grow more than 180 cm. I will get a 100 score in English exams. I will read more than 40 books. I will be smarter. I will exercise more. I will gain 1000000 won. I will study harder. I will win 200 games of Starcraft. I will buy a B1A4 calendar. I will read more books. I will study English. I will grow taller. I will exercise more. I will get a higher test score. I will study science. I will study science. I will study more. I will play computer games. I will read more books. I will be a good student. I will study more. I will be a thin student. I will be 180 cm. I will study hard. I will play computer games. I will be taller than now. I will read a book. I will play computer games. I will study. I will be watching TV. I will fish. I will get a higher test score. I will express my gratitude to my parents. I’ll read more books. I will collect a lot of IV pictures. I will get a higher test score. I will express my gratitude to my parents. I will have greater dedication. I will study hard. I will read books. I will get richer. I will go to the movies. I will go to a dream concert. I will study. I will get richer. I will study more. I will exercise. I will read books. I will exercise. I will get good test scores. I will have greater dedication. I will get richer. I will read more books. I will exercise more. I will do my homework. I will wake up early. I will have greater dedication. I will be taller. I will read more books. I will get a higher test score. I will read a lot of books. I will study hard. I will express my gratitude to my parents. I will make friends. I will read a lot of books. I will study hard. I will express my gratitude to my parents. I will make friendship. I will live kindly. I will not use bad language. I will eat vegetables. I will study hard. I will drink milk a lot. I will exercise. I will read books. I will go to an art museum. I will study. I will travel. I will study more English. I will study hard. I will p[lay soccer. I will lose my weight. I will play more computer games. I will be taller than now. I will live for a long time. I will practice the piano. I will practice games. I will lose my weight. I will study very hard. I will play computer games. I will play soccer. I will wake up early. I will get money. I will study hard. I will exercise more. I will play computer games. I will go to a PC room. I will lose my weight. I will read Inso more. I will be better. I will not hit. I will make a boyfriend. I will study more. I will play the piano well. I will read more books. I will be a kind person. I will be a good soccer player. I will study math and English. I will sleep more. I will play baseball more. I will play soccer more. I will play baseball more. I will be a smart student. I will read world history. I will study hard. I will be taller than now. I will read books. I will study. I will get up early. I will get up early. I will study hard. I will be kinder to my brother. I will sleep more. I will be taller than now. I will practice playing the guitar. I will listen to music. I will study English. I will read books. I will live hard. I will study well next year. I will be kind next year. I will use good words next year. I will lose my weight. I will be cuter next year. I will study, I will exercise. I will be taller. I will study hard. I will read more books. I will study more next year. I will write a diary every day. I will exercise more. I will play computer games. I will play soccer. I will play games less. I will play with my friends outside. I will study harder. I will practice the guitar. I will be kind to my friends. I will not fight with my brother and sister. I will play games. I will play soccer very well. I will play computer games very well. I will read books. I will go to a PC room. I will study. Next year I will play games and read books and study in school. I will study science. I will play. I will play computer games for 30 minutes on Saturday and Sunday. I will read books. I will study hard. I will play basketball a lot. When I was in elementary school I was crazy at soccer, so I never played basketball. I will practice games a lot. I will read a lot of books. I will listen to a lot of songs. I will play with my dog. I will practice FIFA Online. I will put effort in upgrading my faith. I will study harder than this year. I will keep my promises. I will keep my health. I will save money. I will exercise more. I will study harder. I will get up early. I will study. I will get up early. I will exercise. I will be taller. I will exercise more and I will grow taller. I will play table tennis. I will study harder. I will wake up at 9:30. I will live harder. I will study math harder. I will read a book. I will play harder. I will study English. I will get up early. I will read books. I will study. I will get up at 9:30. I will read more books. I will be taller. I will not cry. I will watch more movies. I will learn the guitar. I will study hard. I will be healthy. I will practice singing. I will practice dancing. I will get up early in the morning. I will do exercise. I will study. I will study. I will get up at 7. I will play with my friends. I will be taller. I will play games. I will play CSO. I will study. I will be taller. I will not be stupid. I will study hard. I will read many books. I will exercise more. I will be taller. I will be kinder than this year. I will read many books. I will practice singing. I will play. I will buy skull-9 and skull-5. I will be a student. I will be much more mature in 2012. I will buy a cute rabbit for my little sister. I will read ‘Mollymoon’ series and I will buy Twilight’s fourth book. I will get 100 score on the exam. I will read many books. I will clean my house. I will read many books. I will be taller. I will cook more. I will play more games. I will buy my phone. I will go on a diet with my mom. I will read many books. I will study science more. I will be kinder than this year. I will study harder than this year. I will get along with my sister. I will exercise more. I will not give up and try. I will get along with my friends. I will be taller than this year. I will join English Camp during vacation. I will buy an iPhone. I will study about animals. I will buy a panda mouse. I will exercise more. I will be taller than this year. I will study hard. I will play computer games more. I will go to school. I will go to the USA. I will buy clothes. I will be more sleepy. I will study math. I will play with my friends. I will play soccer. I will read books. I will lose my weight by exercise. I will jump rope. I will study to pass the exam. I will read more books. I will study harder. I will be thinner than this year. I will watch more cartoons. I will help old people. I will read many books about cooking. I will clean my room. I will study more. I will not fight my friends. I will learn hard. I will be taller than Zackary.

That last one is real, and it was the last one on the last paper, haha.

Zax a Teacher

2011-12-21T22:16:00.001+09:00

For years I’ve been planning to release all the lessons, worksheets, games, and materials I have created while doing the teaching English as a foreign language thing. I released a few dozen on Waygook.org and folks appreciated them, but that platform is too clunky. That’s part of the reason I haven’t done this before; I needed a platform that was easily accessible, and searchable, for people.

That, and the fact I created 530 files while in Daegu, and am already at 304 in Gangneung (not counting all the Prezi presentations).

That’s a lot of…stuff.

So this is what I will do! I am currently uploading everything to Google Docs. I will go in and fix the formatting. I’ll also clean up the typos that escaped my notice. Once that’s finished, I will organize all the files into folders. Finally, I’ll change the privacy settings so they are open to the world.

100’s of tests, writing assignments, games, supplementary material, reading exercises, lesson plans and essay themes will be unleashed en masse onto the world.

I’ll also go through my Prezi’s. I never used the program until I came to Gangneung, but have used it daily since then. My skills with it have immensely improved, and I’ve made some pretty awesome lessons with it. My early attempts are still very solid, but a little lack lustre. I’ll polish them up, and organize them in chronological order. Then I’ll add a link, or embed them to a page. Today, I decided to pay for the Edu Pro version of Prezi. Now that I have 2 GB’s of space, I don’t need to worry about running out.

The best part of all this is that you will be able to copy everything and edit it to your heart’s content.

The Spirit of the Holidays

2011-12-20T17:43:00.001+09:00

Earlier in the month, BusanKevin (a YouTuber, now teaching in Japan), sent out a call. The call for 10 second YouTube Christmas greetings. You had to record your greeting, and e-mail the video file to him, so he could make this:

The magic starts at 0:35. Yes, I sped it up. I don’t normally talk that fast. Normally.

Two Fridays ago, in my afterschool class, I told my students of my intention to enter the collab video. With such a tight schedule, the students wrote their greetings on pieces of paper they would flash in front of my iPad’s camera.

The girls were excited about seeing themselves with folks around the world. Last Friday, they asked me if the video had been released, because they really wanted to see it. Sadly, it wasn’t, but it is now, and it was worth the wait!

I wanted two of my good friends to join in the fun. My fellow Nova Scotian pal, Dominique, and my Singaporean chingu, Shaine. Both gals have YouTube channels, so I thought it’d be great if they got involved too. Thus began the endless pestering to get them to submit their vids.

I’m at the 0:35 mark, Shaine is at 5:27, and Dominique is at 6:48. Despite being in three very different countries (Korea, Singapore and Finland), we get to be in the same video. Awesomesauce.

(A fellow Seoultuber, Mike Durkee, is at the 1:07 mark)

Kinship is more important to me at this time of year than presents, dinners, etc. Thanks to Kevin, and YouTube, for tying us all together like that!

Scroozle and Little Kim

2011-12-19T19:10:00.001+09:00

Sorry. I couldn’t pass this up; it has to be blogged about.

These days I don’t feel particularly keen on rehashing the Korean expat blogosphere. I’ll just make a link on Twitter and Facebook to another blog and leave it at that. Even when the huge blow-out over the native English teacher thing took place, I killed the urge to blog and express my feelings. I was getting the hang of it too. When I called my folks back in Canada (first time in three weeks), my mother told me I hadn’t updated my blog since Thursday.

True. I hadn’t.

But this. THIS happened. I couldn’t just let that slide now, could I?

How did I first get the news? After returning from lunch, I checked my Facebook feed. It had blown up with news of his death. I inhaled a “what?”, and turned to one of my co-workers.

“Did you hear the big news?”

“Yes, I heard. Mr Kim is dead,” she replied, turning from the text message she was sending.

The staff at lunch must have been discussing it, but I was sequestered into the corner with some other teachers and we were discussing another matter. Some of the other tables were joyously talking about something, but I wasn’t paying attention.

When my Canuck co-worker returned to her desk, I hit her with the news.

“What?! Are you serious?”

As serious as a BBC news article can be.

My feelings on the issue? This isn’t a happy or a sad moment. It’s a waiting moment. Wait to see what happens next.

WILL THERE BE A POWER STRUGGLE?

In my opinion, Kim Jong-un (Jeong-eun/정은) hasn’t consolidated himself as the Dear Leader just yet. Before Kim Il-sung died, Kim Jong-il had decades knowing he would be the successor. He had real power for years before his father died. Jong-un? He was made a general, but he hasn’t done anything to earn it. He was appointed as successor just over a year ago. His older brothers were passed over. When he was being “groomed”, the military seemed to employ questionable tactics with the sinking of the battleship, and the bombing of the islands.

Kim Jong-il had personally positioned people he knew/trusted as seniors in the government and military. The problem? Those people are also ancient and going to croak pretty soon.

Power struggle? Bet on it.

WILL IT SPILL OUT OF NORTH KOREA?

That’s the big question. They would have to go out of their way to cause international problems, though, and it wouldn’t get them much.

The safe answer would be to say “no!”. Any problems that could arise probably would have arisen earlier. A military coup could take place, but that wouldn’t worsen the situation any. As crazy as they want to be, they cannot sustain and maintain a prolonged “fight” of any sort. That’s the reality. If tomorrow the generals say “let’s bomb Seoul, yo!”, they’re still going to be smashed to smithereens by the Americans, South Koreans, Japanese, Russia and China. Their equipment is outdated, their soldiers are malnourished and it’s the onset of winter.

WHAT HAPPENS IF THERE’S PEACE?

It’s a tantalizing prospect. But what would actually happen?

The South certainly isn’t in a good financial situation at the moment. The last thing they need are tens of millions of beggars. There isn’t any financial infrastructure set up in the North, so folks would cross the border in droves to search for work. Doubt that would be helpful. Suppose the South could annex the North and tightly control it for the next decade or so. That would be a legislative nightmare.

China could…absorb the North. The process has already started, but most people probably don’t realize it. China has been quick in recent months to take certain elements of “Korean” culture and weave them into the fabric of Chinese heritage. Many Koreans were upset when China co-opted Arirang (or with their claims to Baekdusan). They thought China wanted to rain on Korea’s parade and steal its heritage. I figured it was to plant the seeds of legitimacy for when North suddenly collapsed. That way, China could incorporate the North (like Tibet) if no one else wanted them.

Or, the North could drop its crazy shenanigans, completely open up, and remain a separately sovereign state. I think most younger Koreans would prefer this option the most. That way they don’t need to shoulder the burden of the North’s financial disasters, but it’s peaceful enough for people to freely come and go. Later, when things are stabilized, reunification could take place.

WHAT IF SOME FACTIONS PLEDGE SUPPORT TO THE SOUTH AND OTHERS SUPPORT THE STALINIST SYSTEM OF GOVERNMENT?

That’s the juicy stuff. What if factions within the North splinter into a million different groups. Some could support the South. Others could support the Kim dynasty. Others could pledge allegiance to China. Still others could be beholden to the military junta.

That’d be a messy situation. We’d be looking at another Somalia.

I’M IN KOREA. HOW WORRIED SHOULD I BE?

Only wimps worry.

I lived through missile tests flying over Japan. I’ve lived through underground nuclear bomb explosions. I’ve lived through grenade incidents. I’ve lived through the shooting of tourists. I’ve lived through the sinking of a battleship. I’ve lived through the shelling of an island.

I don’t lose any sleep over it. Nor should you.

THANK YOU FOR WASTING MY TIME TELLING ME STUFF I ALREADY KNOW.

No problem! Glad to be of assistance^^

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To close this blog entry, I will present you with stuff I have created featuring Kim Jong-il. I will totally cash-in on his death, since he built his life cashing-in on his people’s.

[Read more HERE]

Waving…farewell?

I’m glad I decided to rush that video into production when the idea hit me. I figured he’d die sooner or later. He died just before Christmas, but not before he could watch my awesome video of him at the Santa Claus parade.

The knowledge of it being on YouTube probably did him in.

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The man victimized his country’s population. They are starving and dying. But he is not only responsible for their deaths. Labour/Concentration camps still run in the country.

He has neither my respect nor my pity. He died knowing his country is in dire straits and completely isolated because of his own stupidity. Good riddance to rubbish.

A Look Back

2011-12-15T19:57:00.001+09:00

One of the benefits of keeping a blog, such as the ol’ Sanctuary, is the ability to look back and see what you have done. It makes for an effective diary and/or journal. If you’re someone like me, it’s an invaluable resource.

I sometimes go back through the 1050+ entries to see how I’ve changed. How my opinions have evolved. How I’ve grown.

At this time, one year ago, I was leaving Daegu behind. December 15, 2010 was my final day as a resident of Daegu. Ten days before marked my final stint at the academy that employed me since July 2007. I was heading back to Ottawa, Canada, with the intention of returning to Korea in the very near future. Nothing was set in stone, but I figured I’d land a suitable job sooner or later.

I needed the break. 2010 hadn’t been the easiest of years, in fact it was pretty darn difficult. The content of the blog attests to that. Too many cagey, frustrated entries. The year opened on a pretty low note with one of my favourite students quitting the academy. My co-workers continuously quit throughout the year, and that was frustrating to deal with. I became embroiled between two political bodies. My body quit at the end of August. Luckily I had good friends, as well as excellent students to rely on when the going got rough.

2009 was all right for the most part. The economy completely bottomed out, and much stress was produced over that, since I had to pay off student loans. Aside from that, much of the year was hunky-dory. Except for the last two months. November and December 2009 were horrendous. I had just returned from Canada to discover everything lay shattered into a million pieces. It was bad news after bad news, with lots of bickering thrown in. Reading through December 2009’s entries is an interesting activity.

December 2008 wasn’t too bad (although it seems I had a lot of grading to do, haha). On the 15th I met up with one of my original coworkers and we went out for the evening with another. Much of the year was spent really discovering Korea. I had enough Korean friends to help me navigate the culture, and I was rapidly picking up the language.

December 15, 2007? A day that shall forever remain in infamy. I remember it well. It was the day I dressed in pink hanbok, got on stage for five minutes and gave a Korean speech.

Cough….cough….

I had a few weeks to memorize the script. I had arrived in Korea on July 21, 2007, and at that time I didn’t know a lick of Korean. I was able to read it after a few weeks and had memorized a few simple words but that was it. Then (in November), I was notified I would be performing a speech. And the speech would be on TV. Cue the immense load of stress.

Oh god. The horror.

I bluffed my way on stage, and managed to secure a prize for myself. I didn’t really understand the words coming out of my mouth, but I tried to act like I did.

This year? 2011? I was in Canada until April 21st. Then, I arrived in Gangneung on the 28th. It’s had some minor bureaucratic annoyances, but it’s been largely full of unbridled sweetness. The adversity of 2010 has prepped me well.

December 15, 2011 saw me teach a handful of classes, have a meaningful afterschool class with some teachers, and leave for home at 4:30 PM. I planned next week’s lessons and found time for a 15 minute nap at 2:40 (I love my job). My classes were a success and the students and I fed off each others’ energy. What more could you ask for?

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2012 promises to be an interesting year. The departure of the current president could be huge. So many problems I have with the current administration could be erased over night. On the other hand, things could go in a downward spiral if recent news reports are an indication. Things are very much up in the air.

We’ll just have to see how it goes.