Good Evening, Nito and/or Good Morning, Granito.

I'd like to dedicate this post to my one and only partner in secondary English education crime, Ms. Kelly Granito; a poetic warrior, a fierce educator, and a voice of daily reason. As is the case with most people from home, when I talk to Kelly, if it is her morning it is my evening, and vice versa. Hence the title.

Kelly and I met during our sophomore year at Western. I found myself at her apartment one night, and per the usual small talk (What year are you? Where are you from? What's your major/minor?), we realized we were both studying exactly the same thing. There is something to be said for people you meet while in college; there is an automatic connection because you will inevitably have something in common with them. We, they, are a dime a dozen. But to meet someone who is spending their time writing the same papers, having the same discussions and thought processes as you are, it takes your friendship to an entirely different level. As is the case with Kelly and I.

Over the course of the last three years, we have spent hours upon hours chatting about everything from relationships to Janet's essays, to Obama and Dr. Dre, and of course, anything correlating with education-- which most things do. We took four baccalaureate classes together our senior year: Topics in Literature; Popular Culture, Teaching Literature in Secondary Schools, Studies in Verse, and Teaching Students with Special Needs in the Secondary Classroom, aka the worst class either of us have ever taken. Seriously, the WORST CLASS ever. Which is saying a lot, being that it was a 4 credit class and you need at least 122 credits to graduate. That means that out of about 36 classes, this one was the worst. That takes some serious [lack of] effort. Nito and I would just sit there, for three hours a week, wondering how the hell a high school educator was getting paid to teach an upper-level education course to college students. F that. Seriously. It still pisses me off that it was such a waste of our time.

So on top of having taken these classes together, Nito and I were also given the Adolescent Literature Award, recommended to us by two of our favorite professors, Dr. Webb and Dr. Nash. One of the reasons we had initially bonded was because we had both had Dr. Nash for Adolescent Literature. She was one of those professors who, to put it quite simply, shook shit up. Some of the best discussions I ever had were in her classes, and she was such an inspiration as a professor that I took three of them in total. Nito and I had both taken the Adolescent Lit class at different times, but had both read the same book she had assigned, The Diary of a Teenage Girl. When we then took Teaching Literature in Secondary Schools with Dr. Webb, for our final project, we grouped together with three other girls to create a teaching unit based around the theme of literature and sexuality (if you click this link, you will be taken to the website we made for the project; still really, really proud of it). Because Kelly and I had interwoven a novel we were taught in Dr. Nash's Adolescent Lit class, and then used it as our base text for our final project in Dr. Webb's class, the two professors decided we should be given the Adolescent Literature Award. And there you have it. Super sweet. Kelly is someone who, whether she knows this or not, had always challenged me in the classes we took together. She almost always got higher grades than me on papers (for every 92% I got, she got a 96%). She made me want to work harder. Being given an award with her from two established professors was, to me, a highlight of my college career.

Then there was last summer. Kelly and I went to Rothbury, Michigan's first festival, with six other friends. I could wax poetic about my time there... the 36 hours of non-stop dancing, watching The Wailers, 311, and Dave Matthews all in one day, the conversations, the people... but, I won't. Suffice it to say it was one of the best times of my life.

Us on Saturday at Rothbury. Dirty and slightly intoxicated, in the middle of swaying to Michael Franti, and about 3 hours until Dave Matthews.

So, Nito, here's to you; to the time we've spent together, to academia, and to the many, many hours I am sure we will spend chatting daily/nightly about the men and women in our lives. You are the shit. I love you!

Greenery, The Commune, and Some Parade

My favorite color has always been blue. I go between preferring dark blues over light blues sometimes. But in general, in my life, blue tends to be this defining part of me. I have a thing for blue eyes, which for whatever reason is reflected in the guys I've dated. Some of my clothes which hold the most meaning to me are blue. Blue jeans. Crystal Lake, the Atlantic, the sky, cerulean crayola crayons. Now that I've said that for no particular reason, I can get to one of my three topics for this post.

We have had a substantial amount of rain for the last seven days or so, which in turn has turned everything vibrantly green. It's really beautiful. Green comes in a close second to blue. I could wax poetic about both colors if I was so inclined. I have an affinity for trees and there are some really great ones in Korea. Not to mention the mountains being different shades of green.

The view from my apartment.

A block by my place.

Again


A tomb. Apparently the tree on the right, the biggest one, is where Koreans would hang themselves from during the Japanese invasion.

So my friend George and I grabbed some dinner tonight, and after we had finished, a parade loudly sha-banged it's way through the streets. My camera work is awful because I tend to forget that I need to hold it horizontally for videos to be seen properly. I only realized that about two thirds of the way into the video. But it's still pretty good I think...? You be the judge. We think it was a political parade of some sort. It was still SUPER funny though. I tend to not have a clue what's going on in Korea or why they do the things they do half of the time anyway, so then tonight when I've just finished eating, BAM. Parade at 8:00 at night. Double you tee eff.

I will update more videos later from The Commune later. :)

Update: 11:50 a.m. on Tuesday. I planned on getting a haircut this morning, but I woke up 1.5 hours later than I had planned. Shit. Oh well. Here is a video of a Korean cover band playing some Weezer, circa last Saturday at The Commune in Daegu. It was more than a pleasant surprise to stumble upon them!

Intrinsic Motivation...

There is none. One of the biggest challenges I have found from what minimal teaching experience I have had as an intern, is that it is borderline impossible to get students to do something because they really want to. It is always for a prize. Do the work, get the grades. It is completely extrinsic.

What is even more difficult and frustrating is that when teaching students ESL, the entire system is based off of reward. Because there is such an impeding language barrier, the reward system has to be broken down to the most elementary level. If you are my student and your performance is excellent for that one class period in which I have you, I will give you 5 stamps ("lemons") in your stamp book, and whenever you decide to, you can cash in that stamp book for a prize. A CD, a coloring book, or, for the ones with the most self control, a portable DVD/TV/Internet device. If your behavior is bad or if you act out in my class, I am supposed to give you anywhere between 0-4 stamps for the day. So how am I supposed to teach my students to care about something when they get points based on good behavior? I know this system is implemented in thousands of schools internationally, but it's so defeating when you know that they're only doing it so that at the end of the day, they can take home some free music. And what about the kids who don't even care about the stamps? It's not like I can call their parents and tell them that their child needs to put more effort into their English education. I am consistently reminded of my lack of control as an ESL teacher. The most I can do is send a student out in the hall if they don't do their homework, so that they can then copy their homework from a friend whilst sitting in the office, undoubtedly enjoying their time more outside of class than they would inside of it anyway.

I wanted to become a teacher because I wanted to have the ability to motivate my students to want to learn. Simple enough. I can do that with students whose first language is English. I have not been able to strike a chord or ignite any sort of affinity for education doing what I am doing now. There is a reason I spent my time getting a degree in secondary education rather than elementary education. As cute as my kids are, I want to be able to hold a real conversation with them rather than spend half of my class singing heads, shoulders, knees and toes. I want to be able to relate to them and joke with them and get them to love knowledge and the pursuit of having an active mind.

Le sigh. Some day.

There are some things pure, while certain things blur.

I whole heartedly love Sundays. And for me and many of my friends, Sundays slowly bleed into Mondays because no one has to be at work until 1:00 or so. It always makes for an extremely relaxing end of the weekend when you don't have to be up for the typical 9-5.

Weather wise, this past week has been gorgeous; high 60s/low 70s, and it looks as though it's going to stay like that for the weeks to come. It is long skirt and t-shirt weather. It is sitting-in-Wonsong Park-with-friends-playing-guitar-in-front-of-a-historic-site weather.

Per the request of a certain friendsies, while walking towards the small tomb to meet some friends for lunch yesterday I pulled out my camera and gave a quick tour of some of the surrounding area which I live. It is completely windy in the video so I do apologize in advance. It cuts off for some reason in the first video, and then picks back up again in the second.

I have loads of other pictures I want to share, but I don't want to take up my entire blog with a random compilation of them. So I think what I am going to do is just show the best ones from various nights. The thought of making a photo album account stresses me out! So anyway, here are a few from the past couple weeks. :)

Bulguksa.

For thousands of Asians, the swastika still holds its' original meaning, which was of wealth, good fortune, and for Koreans, protection. Shame it means to us what it does.

I went to Bulguksa two weekends ago when it was still cold, and before the cherry blossoms had fully bloomed. It was really cool going with my boss and my coworker, but I need to go back now that it's warm outside and the trees are greener.

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Climbing cherry blossom trees. Photo credit: Diane Hall.

Photo credit: Diane Hall

Some women!

Mmm alright. That is enough photo uploading for one blog. Next weekend is the Traditional Korean Wine and Rice Cake Festival here in Gyeongju, also known as the Soju Festival. There will be people coming from all over Korea to be a part of it, which is awesome for us who live here because friends of friends will be visiting. More people to meet. There will be tents and tents of Koreans giving out free Soju samples. I will also have the opportunity to make my own. Can't wait to tell you about it! :)

Raining Pink

Saturday morning while in Daegu for my medical exam I noticed that some of the cherry blossom trees are starting to fade. It was really beautiful. In any direction I looked, there would be hundreds of white-pink petals drifting to the ground; it was like walking through cherry curtains.

Gyeongju is amazing in the spring. It's super people oriented. You can be walking around and stumble upon a park with benches hugging the trunks of the biggest trees. There are people biking, hiking, skateboarding, eating sushi outside of 7-11s, holding hands, taking in the scenery. The locals are starting to recognize me which is almost kind of nice. Case in point: last night Diane and I were about to part ways at Lotte when a Korean man walked past us and said "Lo-La?" pointing to Diane. And I said, "No, I'm Laura". And he goes "Sisters?" And Diane says, "Nai". Nai meaning yes, we are sisters, and why do you know my name? I suppose it's good though. They need a shock of culture in their homogeneous town. At least they aren't staring as much as they were in the beginning.

Anyway. You know how I said it better be warm by the time I post again? :)
It's in the high 60s/low 70s all week this week. And according to my lifeline, the coolest it is going to get in the next 15 days is 62. I know it's snowing back home. But hey. At least the Michigan weather keeps you on your toes!

I bought a guitar yesterday after my trip to the acupuncturist. The guitar is a Charpel. I got it from the man who owns the Yamaha shop in Sunggong dong-- my new favorite Korean. He's super old, super funny, a total hippie and laughs like he's never laughed before. He included a free "kah-po" and a case which I thought was kind.

I had acupuncture for my back which has been murder and for my legs which also haven't improved, even with the physical therapy. And the acupuncture helped a lot. I am going back tomorrow morning so she can work on my balance. When I saw her yesterday she put her hand on my back and said, in a very soothing voice, "You have... five vertebrae in your back. One, two, three, four, five. Vertebrae four is... mm.. how do I say... behind other vertebrae. I fix it and in three weeks you will be well." I felt amazing after seeing her. And it was also really nice to have her say specifically what was wrong with my back. I went with my friend Maria, whose right shoulder, if touched, would make her wince in pain. She's had this problem for years. As we were walking out of the office, I could touch Maria's shoulder and it didn't hurt her for the first time in a long time. Pretty incredible. I highly recommend it.

Yesterday sort of dragged on, though. I have a feeling this week is going to be like that. I just want it to be Friday again.

Me Likey

Current play(life)list:

Kings of Leon: Sex On Fire
The Band: The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down
Fionn Regan: Hunter's Map
Guster: Come Downstairs and Say Hello
Jack Johnson: Breakdown
Jason Mraz: After An Afternoon
Old Crow Medicine Show: Wagon Wheel
Silversun Pickups: Three Seed
The Avett Brothers: Swept Me Away
The Prize Fighter Inferno: The Going Price For Home
Smokey Robinson and the Miracles: You Really Got a Hold On Me
The Fugees: Fu-Gee-La
James Taylor: Mexico
Jeff Lynne: Lift Me Up

* * *

Twouble with Twitters-- "Don't you twitterstand? You can become a twitter-elbrity!"
Hilarious! Although it makes me feel guilty for updating my facebook status. =/

Anis Mogjani-- "Rock out like the mangoes are in season. Rock out like the record player won't skip. Rock out like this was the last weekend, like these were the last words, like you don't wanna ever forget how." Slam poet.

* * *

It has been a fairly slow week for me here in Gyeongju. First of all, it is damn cold, making me not want to go out and do much. According to AccuWeather (which you know I live by) it is 37 degrees with a "real feel" of 28. Brr. It made my hot and fresh mendu dinner all the more delicious. Well that, and I also forgot to turn my heat off when I left today so I came home to a surprisingly warm apartment. Not the worst thing in the world!

The other night Diane and I had dinner at some chain restaurant in wonsungdong. It was delicious. My meal consisted of spicy ramen noodle soup with egg and mozzarella. Immediately after we treated ourselves to ice cream from Baskin Robins (boom batty much?). They serve the babiest of sizes there, and all for fairly cheap (2500W/cup). I am going to have to really try to not go there frequently. Instead of grabbing a cab home, we decided to walk. We walked past the Gyeongju stadium where our home opener is being held. It is huge and beautiful and says "Gyeongju" in the stands. It is definitely a professional stadium, with flood lights and room for 10,000 fans. I hope my leg is feeling up to it.

We also walked past this statue of a Korean general on a horse pointing his sword onward and upward. It was really amazing. It's got to be like, 20 feet tall or so. Huge. I estimate that it's a couple hundred years old. I don't know the name of the General, just that he fought off the Japanese. I have heard Koreans say that Japan has invaded Korea "2,000 times in 2,000 years". Not to be taken literally of course, but an interesting indigenous perspective all the same.

In other news, North Korea has a (test range) missile on a launch pad. The images from GoogleEarth that have been shown in the media show it clearly. The North Korean government is saying they are sending a satellite into space, but from what I've heard and read, nobody believes that. Supposedly the missile could reach somewhere as far as Alaska. The whole thing has got the Japanese military protecting the sea as well as part of their territory that the North Koreans have mapped out as "missile zone". The Japanese are concerned that debris could hit near Tokyo. I don't know. I try to keep myself informed and I keep reading about it. The conclusion I've come to is that ultimately North Korea is calling a nuclear weapon a satellite; China, who is a distant ally of the North has remained relatively quiet about the situation; Japan has urged the North to scrap its' plan, saying that it would "damage peace and stability".
The U.S. and South Korea, along with Japan, are strongly opposed to North Korea testing long range missiles, and say that the North would "face international sanctions under a 2006 U.N. Security Council resolution prohibiting ballistic activity by Pyongyang (NK President)".

I'm not worried, and I won't be worried until the Koreans worry, which here in SoKo, they are not. Just something to think about. To end this rant-tacular blog on a positive note, here are a couple pictures of the Gyeongju crew from Aleesha's birthday last Friday.

George and Steve

Nightmare Before Soju (props to Diane for the pic)

Beau, Diane, and Simon

Bill, Simon, and Aleesha

Kelly, Beau, Lena, and Dave

Diane and I

Til next time... it better be warm by then! :)