so i have a few ideas for some posts i want to make as i climb deeper and deeper into somethings for example rugby, north korea and life in general. just got home from the lantern festival to begin the celebrations for buddha's birthday. i went last year as well and it nice and fun.
as for other things - i am stoked for a real rugby match on saturday! we are playing a team from hong kong- this is for real. we will be playing 15s which i havent played before so i am nervous but excited because it seems a bit easier to me. but well see if everything i cram in my head at practice will come out...or at least if i can knock some hong kong girls around it will be awesome. :)
also working on going to japan with the rugby team to play! how cool is that?!? working on it while i also plan bringing my two sisters over here. hehehe....who needs to ever pay off their credit cards? debt may just be something i carry with me forever. but i really dont regret any of those past purchases except the wisdom teeth! oh peace corp!
anyways, life is going well. im busy doing some exciting projects. i have more pictures to post and hopefully soon getting internet in my house, as ive decided i should work at work and not play on the computer. hehe. oh well.
i hope all is well in your world...until next time.
~your amber
Sunday, April 26, 2009
Wednesday, April 22, 2009
a moment in the life
teaching older students who speak english raises alot of interesting situations that are hilarious at the time...like i'm literally rolling on the floor, but i somehow can never manage to get them from the classroom to the computer whether here or in emails. but last night while chatting with my friends i remembered one of my highlights of this week.
so i have one class of 5 kids and i walk into class setting things up and they ask me,
Teacher! Teacher!
Yes.
america if i say f*** you (said in a very cute accent) and do this (gestures to middle finger) someone shot me?
what? what are you talking about? ~at this point im thinkig about yelling at them for saying a word that could possibly be f**** but i can't really tell plus they are all attentive and looking at me inquisitively.....
teacher! ~they explain again and then procced to draw a pick of one person flipping the bird and the other person with a gun
oooooh! so you mean, if you say f-u-c-k and give someone the middle finger will you get shot in America?
yes teacher!
ummm~ at this point i dont know what to answer....hmmm, maybe. its definitely not a "no" answer hahah...i picture one of my students walking down Times Square and turning to someone and saying that and what the response would be? they could get shot. maybe if i tell them they will get shot they will stop saying it....hmmmm
well, kids, maybe.
maybe? what maybe?
yes.
yes teacher?!?
no, not yes, yes and no.
what teacher?
well maybe they will shoot you and maybe not. like if you said f-u-c-k (spelling it out) to me i wouldn't shoot you. i would just look at you liek "whaaaat?" maybe i would punch you.
oh punch teacher! yes, yes so if you say f*** you and do this you will be punched in america.
yes, maybe.~ummmmm
teacher all black people have guns?
~ oh dear.......but this question is easier to field
no! white people do too! many people do!
oh, ok teacher.
crisis averted. one small step forward for my JB english class and one giant step forward for the korean view of american culture...errrr....
other small highlights of note, because i truly love the usage of the english language by my students.
when making fun of another student who they were calling psycho:
no, he's not psycho, he's super-psycho. he leveled up!
~too many video games?
and everytime the kids get lost in my class i yell
PAY ATTENTION!
teacher detention?!??!? ~a look of fear washes over the crowd
no, no, pay attention!
detention! teacher why?
no! no! no!i said P-A-Y ATTENTION and NOOOOO detention
ohhhh, ok teacher.
ill try to do a better j0b of sharing these wonderful highlights of my day. ;)
so i have one class of 5 kids and i walk into class setting things up and they ask me,
Teacher! Teacher!
Yes.
america if i say f*** you (said in a very cute accent) and do this (gestures to middle finger) someone shot me?
what? what are you talking about? ~at this point im thinkig about yelling at them for saying a word that could possibly be f**** but i can't really tell plus they are all attentive and looking at me inquisitively.....
teacher! ~they explain again and then procced to draw a pick of one person flipping the bird and the other person with a gun
oooooh! so you mean, if you say f-u-c-k and give someone the middle finger will you get shot in America?
yes teacher!
ummm~ at this point i dont know what to answer....hmmm, maybe. its definitely not a "no" answer hahah...i picture one of my students walking down Times Square and turning to someone and saying that and what the response would be? they could get shot. maybe if i tell them they will get shot they will stop saying it....hmmmm
well, kids, maybe.
maybe? what maybe?
yes.
yes teacher?!?
no, not yes, yes and no.
what teacher?
well maybe they will shoot you and maybe not. like if you said f-u-c-k (spelling it out) to me i wouldn't shoot you. i would just look at you liek "whaaaat?" maybe i would punch you.
oh punch teacher! yes, yes so if you say f*** you and do this you will be punched in america.
yes, maybe.~ummmmm
teacher all black people have guns?
~ oh dear.......but this question is easier to field
no! white people do too! many people do!
oh, ok teacher.
crisis averted. one small step forward for my JB english class and one giant step forward for the korean view of american culture...errrr....
other small highlights of note, because i truly love the usage of the english language by my students.
when making fun of another student who they were calling psycho:
no, he's not psycho, he's super-psycho. he leveled up!
~too many video games?
and everytime the kids get lost in my class i yell
PAY ATTENTION!
teacher detention?!??!? ~a look of fear washes over the crowd
no, no, pay attention!
detention! teacher why?
no! no! no!i said P-A-Y ATTENTION and NOOOOO detention
ohhhh, ok teacher.
ill try to do a better j0b of sharing these wonderful highlights of my day. ;)
Monday, April 6, 2009
lenten traditions
So for Lent I decided to give up drinking. This was a bit spur of the moment as I discovered Ash Wednesday on Ash Wednesday. But I decided I would do my best to give up all alcohol including all Korean ones as well. This I knew, would be a big test of my character and persistance. And it has been, and I have one more week and half a weekend to go. When I made the decision I had a few thoughts in mind of how I would learn from this season of abstinence, but its actually been a lot more revealing than i thought originally. so i thought i would share about it since this is my blog, and i need to quit avoiding the issues that are really on my heart.
so when i began this endeavor here is what i thought i would learn:
1. how often i really do drink
well, i knew was slightly unbelievable. it has saturated our time together in so many ways. and so by not drinking, its really changed my view on what to spend my time doing
2.how much money i spend on drinking
this is not quite so bad considering how cheap drinking in korea is...
3. how people view you if you don't drink
this was kind of shocking, not with my miguk friends, because i expected that and you go between people - oh come on! just have a drink! and the others, ok thats cool. but it was harder with my korean friends. i think probably the reason for that was my attitude for it, i didnt want to explain why or talk about it. i just wanted to not drink and have that be ok. but its so cultural that if you dont have a shot with them, its like...what? so that was harder for me as i jumped into the culture with a cultural drinking attitude which slowly mutated and transformed.
4. my attitude toward drinking
this is where i really began to discover things i had forgotten over time. Lately ive been reminded of how i said its ok to drink but not get drunken. (during high school before entering the drinking culture of 21.) oh its easy, you know, just drink slowly so you are participating and part of it, but no one feels left out and you dont get drunk.
granted ive attempted to draw new lines on what it means to be drunk and buzzed and the excuse- oh, i was just so tired, i didnt really drink that much.i wasnt drunk.
i got to the point where i liked the feeling of being drunk and dancing around. these habits i think i gathered in my first experiences here and never really thought about them since then. which leads me to my next revelation
5. Drinking makes it easier
this i never thought would occur - but it did. i have found myself drinking to get along better with other people. these people - my own friends! in general to make it easier to start and contiue conversations. when i drink- as many other people - the first thing that occurs is the laugh. it comes easily and frequently perhaps for things that just aren't that funny.
how long ive been using alcohol to be lazy in my relations with other people!
do you know why we haven't filmed a funny video in a long time? because we are always drinking. our minds are soak in liquid and lazy. i always praised myself on the fact that i dont need to drink to be fun or goofy and yet i have found myself looking forward to it as a way to become more fun and goofy! ahhh!
it kind of makes me laugh inside when i choose not to drink and i can hear and feel the awkwardness because when you drink you just relax and say whatever. I watch my coworkers change from quiet people to loud swearing laughing fun people. i'm not syaing whether this is good or bad. its just an observation. and when you don't drink you become keenly aware of it.
for me it makes me want to work harder. i used to be a good conversationalist - enjoying trying to find a topic of conversation that can include the most amount of people as possible and last longer than a yes or no question. with drinking its easier, but not drinking...well thats the challenge.
so when i began this endeavor here is what i thought i would learn:
1. how often i really do drink
well, i knew was slightly unbelievable. it has saturated our time together in so many ways. and so by not drinking, its really changed my view on what to spend my time doing
2.how much money i spend on drinking
this is not quite so bad considering how cheap drinking in korea is...
3. how people view you if you don't drink
this was kind of shocking, not with my miguk friends, because i expected that and you go between people - oh come on! just have a drink! and the others, ok thats cool. but it was harder with my korean friends. i think probably the reason for that was my attitude for it, i didnt want to explain why or talk about it. i just wanted to not drink and have that be ok. but its so cultural that if you dont have a shot with them, its like...what? so that was harder for me as i jumped into the culture with a cultural drinking attitude which slowly mutated and transformed.
4. my attitude toward drinking
this is where i really began to discover things i had forgotten over time. Lately ive been reminded of how i said its ok to drink but not get drunken. (during high school before entering the drinking culture of 21.) oh its easy, you know, just drink slowly so you are participating and part of it, but no one feels left out and you dont get drunk.
granted ive attempted to draw new lines on what it means to be drunk and buzzed and the excuse- oh, i was just so tired, i didnt really drink that much.i wasnt drunk.
i got to the point where i liked the feeling of being drunk and dancing around. these habits i think i gathered in my first experiences here and never really thought about them since then. which leads me to my next revelation
5. Drinking makes it easier
this i never thought would occur - but it did. i have found myself drinking to get along better with other people. these people - my own friends! in general to make it easier to start and contiue conversations. when i drink- as many other people - the first thing that occurs is the laugh. it comes easily and frequently perhaps for things that just aren't that funny.
how long ive been using alcohol to be lazy in my relations with other people!
do you know why we haven't filmed a funny video in a long time? because we are always drinking. our minds are soak in liquid and lazy. i always praised myself on the fact that i dont need to drink to be fun or goofy and yet i have found myself looking forward to it as a way to become more fun and goofy! ahhh!
it kind of makes me laugh inside when i choose not to drink and i can hear and feel the awkwardness because when you drink you just relax and say whatever. I watch my coworkers change from quiet people to loud swearing laughing fun people. i'm not syaing whether this is good or bad. its just an observation. and when you don't drink you become keenly aware of it.
for me it makes me want to work harder. i used to be a good conversationalist - enjoying trying to find a topic of conversation that can include the most amount of people as possible and last longer than a yes or no question. with drinking its easier, but not drinking...well thats the challenge.
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