A visit to the doctor

So I've picked up some kind of nasty bug that refuses to leave my system. It's no surprise, really- 600 students bringing in who-knows-what, plus 15 teachers stuck in a staff room the size of a large bedroom. Basically, what goes round, everybody gets. So I have a cold that started in my throat, then moved to my sinuses, and recently turned into a middle ear infection. Today I experienced my first visit to the doctor, an ear, nose and throat specialist.

The office was a standard doctor's office, but when I was led back to see the doctor, I was a little surprised. He was sitting calmly at a computer hooked up to a computer screen and a bunch of equipment. He looked very doctorly- he was sitting confidently in his chair at the computer, dressed in scrubs and wearing a doctor's headband (not sure what the purpose of it is). On his feet were a pair of silver Nike runners. He seemed very relaxed, and put me in the chair and looked inside my ears. Then he grabbed a long silver needle-like instrument, attached it to a handle, and inserted it in my good ear. I soon found out that that long needle-like thing was a camera, and he was taking photos of my middle ear. He took two, and showed me on the computer monitor, which I thought was very cool! Now I know why they call it an ear"drum", because that's exactly what it looks like. My infected ear was not such a pretty sight. It was all red and swollen and I couldn't really see the drum. No wonder it hurts so much!

After putting some heat on it for a few minutes, I left the doctor's office and went to the pharmacy next door to get my prescription filled (just a day's worth). The pharmacist gave me three little packets of pills, one for each mealtime. In each packet there's a big white one, a little white one, a long yellow one, and an oval blue one. I'm assuming it's mainly antibiotics and painkillers. And here's the best part of the story (besides the great photos of my eardrum): the doctor's visit cost 3000 won (about $3), and the pills cost 1500 won (about $1.50). Excellent!

Teacher! Puck you!

I was teaching one of my youngest classes, a group of 12 five year-olds, when one of the students unintentionally used his middle finger to count. Immediately, all the other kids seized the moment and pointed out to me (tattling is pretty popular with the younger kids) that Kevin had used his middle finger. Rather than make an issue of what seemed to be an accident, I feigned ignorance and pretended not to know what the raising of one's middle finger actually means. So the students collectively set out to teach me, and started yelling, "Teacher! Kevin 'puck you!'" And they repeated it over and over (with gestures) until I gave some sign that I understood. I have to admit- I was pretty entertained by all these little kids yelling this out, especially with a "P", but frankly I'm baffled- where do they learn this stuff??

From the mouths of babes

Once our students achieve a certain level of English proficiency, they begin to keep a diary. It's a pretty simple affair, really- a once a week assignment in which they write about something they know or like- what they did on the weekend, their family, favorite foods or activities, etc. I grade them every week, and I expected them to be mildly entertaining, showing life from a kid's perspective, or containing "Engrish", which can also be amusing. What I didn't expect, however, was the insight I would gain into the students' lives and what actually goes on behind the closed doors of their homes. Here are some of the better ones I've come across lately:

Tess, Age 7
“My Favorite Food”
my favorite food is rise and ham. my mom’s favorite food is kemche. I like kemche too my dad’s favorite food is meat I don’t like meat I thought my mom is very beautiful beautiful woman. but dad said mom is very ugly woman. my friend’s favorite food is kemche and candy. my favorit food is candy and ice-ceam flog’s favorite food is bugs. But I can’t eat bugs.

Sally, Age 7
“Describe yourself”
I have a nose and two eyes and two ears and one mouth. I have a face I have a black hair and straight hair My father said you are pretty! My mother have two ears and two eyes. My father have two glasses My parents are pretty My uncle and aunt has two glasses and they are ugly

Sally, Age 7
“My toys”
I have a many many toy what is it. They are a doll and jump rope, ball, in line skates. It is a my toys. my favorite toy is jump rope, ball.

Matthew, Age 7
“Describe yourself”
My pants are blue. My t-shirt is green. My belt is brown. My glasses are orange. My skin is a little black. My hair is straight. My hands are small. My feet are small, too. I love myself.

Jinny, Age 7
“My family”
My family is 5 people. father, mother, me, Hoya, grandmom. I love my family. my father is make houses and, school. my mother is house mother. I going to DDD school is student. Hoya is go DDD to. my grandmother is house grandmom. end.

Jinny, Age 7
“My toys”
My toy is many, many. I like doll, tedy bear. Because doll is Pretty. I love toys. I like pulzze too! [end]

George, Age 11
On Friday I went to go a church I see a white peoples. The white woman says /~!@#$%^&*() I say lodvuy /~!@#$%^&*()/. I am crazy.

Ally II, Age 11
My hermit crab is cute I like her but her is don’t like me I am sad That is my friend first Friend
Hermit crab is like a darksike Its are doesn’t like we because It tinkk we eat hermit crab Wow I don’t tink so~ ha ha ha

Vince, Age 11
STPTEMBER 5th Sunday 2004
"A maternal grandmother in the house"
Mother and I go to matermal grandmother’s house. I am be bored to death. Because matermal grandmother’s house is not in the toy in house.

Pre-school outing to Emart

Last Thursday we took our pre-school classes on an outing to Emart, a huge national big box store comparable to Wal-Mart. The idea was to give each student 1000 won (about a dollar) and teach them how to buy stuff (glad to see that we're teaching kids to be consumers at a younger and younger age). It seemed like a made-up trip to me, since these kids go to the store with their moms all the time, but I figured "What the heck- it gives me a break from teaching, and if I'm really lucky we just might be able to 'accidentally' lose a few of the bad kids along the way."

At 10:00 we loaded up the Ding Ding Dang buses, which are yellow 10-passenger vans with the D.D.D. logo on the side, and headed off for Emart, a twenty-minute drive away. I played with the kids along the way, and instead of calling me "Brian teacher", which they normally do, they started calling me "Brian opa", which means "big brother". I thought that was kind of cute. In unison the kids urged the bus driver to go faster (they were pretty sure we were racing the other D.D.D. buses), and we finally arrived at Emart. Following brief instructions to the children (stick together, yada yada yada), we went inside to show them the wonders of Emart. It was entertaining to see a bunch of kids in their uniforms (orange and white T-shirt and shorts set), yelling the name of fruits and vegetables in English. When the kids unabashedly protested the smell of the fish section, we decided it was time to move on.

We wandered through the rest of the store, and helped the kids find their items and make their purchases. With their 1000 won, they ended up buying a variety of items, most of them school related, like pencils, erasers, and the like. They seemed thrilled at the idea of having their very own money, and being able to pay all by themselves. Although I'm not sure of the educational value of the experience, it was fun, and when you're a kid, I guess that's what really counts!

Primping is a public affair

Asia is often known for having cutting edge technology, especially when it comes to electronic gadgets. Korea is no exception, and it seems that I'm the only one in the entire country that doesn't have a cellphone (even the little kids that I teach have one!) And of course, these aren't "just" cellphones, but often camera phones, MP3 players, etc. People use these features for all kinds of things, but there's one that I would never have suspected. Everywhere I go I see girls primping with the help of their camera phone! I have yet to see the camera phone used to take a picture of someone or something else- it's always used to take a picture of its owner! Girls will sit at work, in a restaurant, in stores, in a park, on the street, or just about anywhere else you can imagine, when they'll turn the camera phone on themselves, take a picture, and then fix that one unruly strand of hair. The result is then confirmed with at least one more photo. The camera phone can also be used for other primping purposes too, like putting on make-up, checking one's complexion, etc. At home, primping seems to be a more discreet, private affair- you walk past a mirror in the mall and then, when you think nobody is looking, you quickly adjust. But Korea is definitely a nation where primping is a public affair.