Asia | GRRRL TRAVELER

Video: My First Day at a Korean Elementary School

Filed under Survival Issues, Teaching English by MyCrazyKimchi on March 7, 2010 at 2:33 am {6 comments}

A video of my first day at Anil Elementary School
(totally rough version- I threw it together at the last-minute…)

There was no “teaching” on my first day of school and essentially the rest of the week.

My job has been to sit in our English teacher’s office room and browse through textbooks. So I volunteered to do a Learning about Introductions presentation for my classes, to escape boredom and to finally see some of my kids. Apparently, on Facebook, some others are experiencing the same sitting-around thing. It sounds as if many co-teachers aren’t prepared to have to work with us or are (more…)

Korean Cold

Filed under Crazy Korea, Korea by MyCrazyKimchi on March 4, 2010 at 11:36 am {7 comments}

Korean Classroom Heater- only the middle one (for our teacher's room) is on at the time.

The words cold and Korean are synonymous… it’s winter here and the buildings in Korea don’t have central heating. Instead, buildings get “selective heating” and only rooms with consistent occupancy get their heat turned on. Alternately, this means every hallway, restroom, lobby and staircase is almost a guaranteed icebox. It’s Korea’s effort to conserve energy and not “waste” electricity on things such as passing human bodies. For the new EFL teachers coming in– Westerners like myself, Europeans, Australians, South Africans, etc…– none of us know how to deal with the winter freeze in places we’re not normally accustomed to being cold… indoors, for instance.

Just so that the Korean freezing policy doesn’t feel unfair to foreigners and newcomers however, it may brave you to know that Koreans are (more…)

GRRRL Goes Whimpery in Her New Korean Location

Filed under Just Show Me Pictures!, Korea by Christine Ka'aloa on March 2, 2010 at 3:33 pm {35 comments}

: My Korean bathroom (sink/toilet/shower compressed in the same room) is smaller than my NYC apt bathroom

How do you take a bath in Korea?

Let me tell you how I just did it. I washed over my sink and shaved my legs by propping them up on my toilet lid. Yes, a toilet lid can have more uses than just one when you’re in an efficient country like Korea…

But all smart-assing aside. You haven’t heard peep from me since I’ve arrived in Korea, as I’ve been in an intense transition and it just hit rocky. The “rocky” is something I’m still working through. I’ll fast-forward over my escape from the draft of flu, my partial hearing loss due to airplane travel with a cold and my suspended bowel movement, which had me alarmed for several days. I will blow past my initial romance phase with Korea- my wonderful EPIK orientation, experiencing Korea for the first time and the “Oh snaps, I love being here!“

I’m gonna start my Korean blogging with my first “real” GRRRL whimper… the moment when “yours truly” turned girlie whiny and wanted to book the (more…)

10 Things I’ve Learned About Koreans from Watching K-dramas

Filed under Crazy Korea, Glam Around the World by Christine Ka'aloa on February 14, 2010 at 12:28 pm {10 comments}

Popular K-drama, Full House

In lieu of Valentine’s Day, today’s post is about the language of Sarang-he (Korean for “Love”)! K-dramas have been the recent rage and drug popular that’s been sweeping across the globe and hitting Asian countries and places like Hawaii. As mentioned, I’ve been trying to speed-learn Korean, so I’ve injected a healthy dose of Korean dramas into my diet and I’ve found myself, well,… a bit addicted to it too!

You can learn a lot about a country by watching their films and tv programs. I’m not saying everything you see on the tube will be true or accurate, but you get a general impression- good, bad or weird- of how a culture observes themselves, their social and fashion trends, customs, codes of conduct, etc… Inevitably, of course, you forge a raw stereotype based on what you’ve watched; then, wonder if it’s all true. (more…)

5 Tips for Speed Learning a Language

Filed under Just Show Me Pictures! by Christine Ka'aloa on February 8, 2010 at 11:36 am {2 comments}

Trying to learn a new language or in a rush to learn the language of the country you’ll be moving to? Here are some tips to help you with your memory technique, as well as ideas to help you optimize your speed learning process.

5 TIPS TO IMPROVE YOUR MEMORY & TECHNIQUE FOR SPEED LEARNING A LANGUAGE:

• Practice first thing in the morning.
Did you know that the morning is the best time for learning and memorization? Your mind is fresh, alert (after you’ve had your coffee…), retentive and most permeable to suggestion.

• Create your own immersive environment.
Dress up in your sari or beret and bombard yourself with the language in various forms- watch films, listen to radio news and music, listen to language tapes, join language groups. The more you surround yourself with a language, you become familiar with its sound and the way it’s spoken. This will help your mind’s receptivity to it- intuitively, rhythmically and tonally.

• Employ active listening.
Listening to a language doesn’t have to be a passive sport- you can add other activities to it to optimize your lesson and make it fun. Be creative! If (more…)

Learning Survival Korean (Part II)

Filed under Just Show Me Pictures!, Korea by MyCrazyKimchi on February 6, 2010 at 9:50 pm {no comments}

The countdown to my Korea launch date has officially begun so roughly put, I’m trying to speed learn Korean. My learning obstacle?…I’m kinda vacillating between a silent freak out and a scattered panic. A few weeks ago, I started my search for the Cinderella’s glass slipper of grammar books

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Learning Survival Korean (Part 1)

Filed under Just Show Me Pictures!, Korea by MyCrazyKimchi on February 6, 2010 at 4:43 pm {no comments}

To learn a word is to chew into it and digest it; and when you’re a vegetarian moving abroad to a foreign country, in order to eat you’ll eventually need to learn to read a restaurant menu, food ingredients or be able to ask the waitress …

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How to Apostille Documents (Teaching English in Korea)

Filed under How & why teach in Korea?, Korea by Christine Ka'aloa on January 26, 2010 at 4:52 am {11 comments}

Want to English in Korea? Preparing your documents for apostilling doesn’t have to be scary. Here’s some guidelines to certifying and apostilling official documents for working abroad…

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