I wrote some "Stories of Absurdity" a few posts ago and recently noticed wow, people are actually reading what I write. It makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside. Speaking of these stories, I'd still love to hear more of them from you guys. Check a few posts down and add your own.
Thanks for the love to the bloggers below!! I've read both of these sites before and they are totally worth a look!
Shotgun Korea
What the Kimchi?
Monday, April 18, 2011
Lunch in Korean Cafeterias
Today as I was browsing around the internet, I found this post over at Brian in Jeollanamdo . His blog is probably my favourite in Korea and also one of the most popular boasting over 1 million hits. I've been following it for a few years now and have linked to his site several times from my own blog.
In the post, Brian mentions a video called "Lunch in Korean Cafeterias". In about four days, the video has received over 4000 hits. Whoever made this is obviously a hilarious, creative genius. Haha, oh dear. But it really is a pretty accurate description of how said lunches go. Check it out for yourself.
In the post, Brian mentions a video called "Lunch in Korean Cafeterias". In about four days, the video has received over 4000 hits. Whoever made this is obviously a hilarious, creative genius. Haha, oh dear. But it really is a pretty accurate description of how said lunches go. Check it out for yourself.
Monday, April 11, 2011
Stories of Absurdity
I've come to the conclusion that the reason I love living in Korea is because of the constant entertainment value. From a Western perspective, some of the things I've seen and heard about here could be considered quite insane. They're the kind of stories you talk about over a beer and laugh over until you're crying. Better yet, they're the kind of tales that sound as if they've been concocted on a week long acid trip...until you remember they're true and actually happened.
That being said, I'd like to share 3 of the most absurd tales that I've experienced or heard about in Korea. If it didn't happen to me, it happened to a friend of mine. I swear.
If you have a story to add, throw down a comment because I'd love to hear.
1. This happened to a good friend of mine.
Almost every hagwon and public school in Korea has what they call a "Sports Day" festival once or twice during the year. Contrary to what you might expect, they often don't actually play sports. They usually consist of seemingly strange games which are unsafe, hilarious and perplexing to the expat observer. The best part about these games is that all directions are given in super fast Korean, so even if you are a participating foreigner you have no idea what's going on until it's too late.
My friend's hagwon was playing a game where all students were literally supposed to run around in a field chasing a pig. Yes, a live pig. (They had to change to this game after one of the foreign teachers was seriously injured by a prior game resulting in multiple stitches.) However, on this specific Sports Day, it was decided that pork was rather expensive. Consequently, the school chose to purchase a live chicken instead. As the teachers released the chicken onto the ground, it stood motionless beside the cage. It was a docile and relaxed bird. So, they did what anyone would do in this situation- they harassed the crap out of the chicken until it started running around. My friend stood by watching wondering what the hell was going on.
Suddenly, all of the students in the school began to chase the chicken around the yard until two of them finally caught up to it. Each was super excited to be the potential winner and grabbed a leg for himself. The students then fought over the chicken with all of their might and ripped the live chicken in half, while blood and guts shot out everywhere. My friend, a vegetarian, was mortified.
2. This happened to a colleague of mine.
At my old hagwon, a colleague of mine was living in an apartment above the school. One morning, she awoke to find a massive puddle of water on the floor in the kitchen. Using a little bit of common sense, she determined that there was a leak in one of the pipes under the sink that required a plumber to fix.
Because the apartment belonged to the school, my colleague spoke to our supervisor and asked her to call in a plumber. My supervisor ensured her this would be done. After several days of cleaning up kitchen puddles with no plumber coming by to the check out the problem, my colleague confronted our supervisor again. "You need to send somebody in to look at this. There's more and more water on the floor each day."
Finally, a few days later, our supervisor came back with an update on the situation.
"_______ teacher, the "landrover" [sic] went to your apartment. He is an expert. He said there is no problem with the pipe. He said you are throwing water on the floor in the middle of the night."
Really? Seriously? Oh dear.
3. It happened to a friend of a friend.
Recently, a friend's colleague had to have a major operation on her brain. They literally cut open her skull and removed a chunk on a Friday. On Monday, adminstration told her that she had to return to school immediately....to deskwarm.
You can't make this stuff up.
That being said, I'd like to share 3 of the most absurd tales that I've experienced or heard about in Korea. If it didn't happen to me, it happened to a friend of mine. I swear.
If you have a story to add, throw down a comment because I'd love to hear.
1. This happened to a good friend of mine.
Almost every hagwon and public school in Korea has what they call a "Sports Day" festival once or twice during the year. Contrary to what you might expect, they often don't actually play sports. They usually consist of seemingly strange games which are unsafe, hilarious and perplexing to the expat observer. The best part about these games is that all directions are given in super fast Korean, so even if you are a participating foreigner you have no idea what's going on until it's too late.
My friend's hagwon was playing a game where all students were literally supposed to run around in a field chasing a pig. Yes, a live pig. (They had to change to this game after one of the foreign teachers was seriously injured by a prior game resulting in multiple stitches.) However, on this specific Sports Day, it was decided that pork was rather expensive. Consequently, the school chose to purchase a live chicken instead. As the teachers released the chicken onto the ground, it stood motionless beside the cage. It was a docile and relaxed bird. So, they did what anyone would do in this situation- they harassed the crap out of the chicken until it started running around. My friend stood by watching wondering what the hell was going on.
Suddenly, all of the students in the school began to chase the chicken around the yard until two of them finally caught up to it. Each was super excited to be the potential winner and grabbed a leg for himself. The students then fought over the chicken with all of their might and ripped the live chicken in half, while blood and guts shot out everywhere. My friend, a vegetarian, was mortified.
2. This happened to a colleague of mine.
At my old hagwon, a colleague of mine was living in an apartment above the school. One morning, she awoke to find a massive puddle of water on the floor in the kitchen. Using a little bit of common sense, she determined that there was a leak in one of the pipes under the sink that required a plumber to fix.
Because the apartment belonged to the school, my colleague spoke to our supervisor and asked her to call in a plumber. My supervisor ensured her this would be done. After several days of cleaning up kitchen puddles with no plumber coming by to the check out the problem, my colleague confronted our supervisor again. "You need to send somebody in to look at this. There's more and more water on the floor each day."
Finally, a few days later, our supervisor came back with an update on the situation.
"_______ teacher, the "landrover" [sic] went to your apartment. He is an expert. He said there is no problem with the pipe. He said you are throwing water on the floor in the middle of the night."
Really? Seriously? Oh dear.
3. It happened to a friend of a friend.
Recently, a friend's colleague had to have a major operation on her brain. They literally cut open her skull and removed a chunk on a Friday. On Monday, adminstration told her that she had to return to school immediately....to deskwarm.
You can't make this stuff up.
Monday, April 4, 2011
First Prenatal English Hagwon to Open Doors Tomorrow
The opening ceremony for a new kind of English hagwon is scheduled to take place in Busan tomorrow morning. Embryo English, a private language academy for expecting mothers and their unborn babies, is the first of its kind in the nation. The school caters to women in any stage of pregnancy who want their children to get ahead in learning English.
"We are so excited to be the pioneers in this industry," explained Yun So Bin, owner and manager of the hagwon. "The response to our program has been overwhelming. We even have a waiting list with the names of hopeful couples who are trying to conceive!"
One such prospective mother, Kim Geum Jin, stood eagerly outside of the hagwon. "I heard about the program from other mothers in my neighbourhood. We discuss educational matters quite frequently," she commented. "Especially when it comes to English education. I want the best for my unborn daughter and I want her to get a head start studying for the university entrance examination."
Embryo English is the second language academy opened by Yun. Her first, called 24/7 English, is open all hours of the day for those who prefer to receive instruction past midnight. However, she has even higher hopes for her new school and wants to surpass her current enrollment at 24/7.
When asked about the pedagogical techniques to be adopted by this new school, Yun responded enthusiastically. "Our primary method of instruction will be robot-centered learning. Because they are still in the womb, the embryos will not even realize the robots are not native English speakers. We have already purchased several of the machines in anticipation of tomorrow's opening. In addition, our curriculum has been designed to incorporate embryo- level English textbooks written by a Professor at a local university."
The ribbon cutting ceremony is set to kick off at 10 am tomorrow. All are welcome to attend.
"We are so excited to be the pioneers in this industry," explained Yun So Bin, owner and manager of the hagwon. "The response to our program has been overwhelming. We even have a waiting list with the names of hopeful couples who are trying to conceive!"
 |
| Mothers with already -born- children in awe of Embryo English robot teacher |
One such prospective mother, Kim Geum Jin, stood eagerly outside of the hagwon. "I heard about the program from other mothers in my neighbourhood. We discuss educational matters quite frequently," she commented. "Especially when it comes to English education. I want the best for my unborn daughter and I want her to get a head start studying for the university entrance examination."
Embryo English is the second language academy opened by Yun. Her first, called 24/7 English, is open all hours of the day for those who prefer to receive instruction past midnight. However, she has even higher hopes for her new school and wants to surpass her current enrollment at 24/7.
When asked about the pedagogical techniques to be adopted by this new school, Yun responded enthusiastically. "Our primary method of instruction will be robot-centered learning. Because they are still in the womb, the embryos will not even realize the robots are not native English speakers. We have already purchased several of the machines in anticipation of tomorrow's opening. In addition, our curriculum has been designed to incorporate embryo- level English textbooks written by a Professor at a local university."
The ribbon cutting ceremony is set to kick off at 10 am tomorrow. All are welcome to attend.
More random thoughts
Recently a new co-worker of mine told me she thinks anyone who stays in Korea longer than a year is probably a little strange. Upon hearing this I immediately threw up my defense shield and started telling her about all of the great people I've met here. Witty, intelligent, creative, open-minded, worldly, beautiful people. Then, I remembered I'd spent the last several hours trying to write the lyrics to a parody song called Papa Roti to the tune of the Gaga's single Paparazzi and I realized oh shit, it's me. haha.
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