I can't use tab in this blog, but I DO know how to indent...

Things have settled down in the Hagwon concerning overtime, but payday is soon so we’ll see what happens there. The rest of the week was spent trying to teach the kiddos how to write an essay. I was amazed at how hard it was for these kids to understand a concept as simple as “indent” and “double space.” I could not comprehend how some of these kids were pros at things like calculus, but completely incompetent at putting two spaces before a paragraph. It was very frustrating and finally I was tired of being patient and nice.
After the first class I simply explained the concept, drew a diagram on the board (which they all had in their books), had them write a small 200 word essay and then had them bring it up to me to check. With my Bic machete in hand I tore up most their papers with red ink and had them write the essay at least twice, if not three or four times until it was right. Oh, and I also tore up a kids paper in class because he was copying the essay straight out of a book right there in front of me. There is a reason why there is next to nothing in the way of copyright laws here in Korea. It is all about appearances. I suppose if you know how to make it look good, forget the content.
That seems to the rule for their music and entertainment too, but I ramble.
In my high level classes I had to do the same thing with the addition of paragraph organization. In Asian literature it is common for authors to write in a circular pattern. They write around the subject, not necessarily on the subject, until the very end when they finally make their point. This is in stark contrast to the Anglo-Western writing style where we follow a kind of pyramid logic. As a result, the Asian style of writing just looks like complete chaos to us Anglos. I know that their writing style is an expression of their cultures emphasis on politeness and respect, but if these kids want to go to an English speaking university someday (and most of them do) they have got to learn how to organize their thoughts.
Therefore, since repetition seems to be the Asian way, I made them rewrite their essays again and again until they got it right…which none of them really did, but that’s okay. We have another week of this so HOPEFULLY some of these concepts will get through their heads. But I don’t know, some of these kids have skulls thicker than the cement blocks on my apartment building.
There also seems to be lots of “secret meetings” going on, but Joey assured me, nothing in them gets done. On a happier note, Jessica, my first problem child from my first month of teaching, is now in Drew’s class and he had his own issues with her; so bad in fact that she was sent to the director. I felt bad for Drew, especially since I have developed this kind of quirky almost sibling like relationship with him, but I also felt justified and that is always nice. AND I finally got my absentee ballot. Whoot! I will let you all think and ponder about who I voted for, it’s a real mystery I’m sure.
As for the weekend, we got Friday off for the mythical creation day of this country when the Gods dropped some dirt on the earth below and called it Korea. I met up with some of the other foreign teachers, rolled my eyes at how stupid some of them were to think that yelling at a girl passing by was somehow attractive, met a group of Mexicans, another group of Englishmen and one Irishman (who was very charming and according to the Englishmen, that is to be expected since all Irishmen are born dripping in charm. This may be true, but I think it has more with growing up in a culture where there is a history and mythology built around women who refuse to put up with the idiocy of men and have been known to send ravens to peck men to death who don’t get it...the accent helps too), I had a great time chatting with all of them, and became friends with Brian, a gay expat from the U.S. who I went dancing with the next day. Yay! I also met up with Joey and went to an unexpected international food festival; tried some Peruvian drink called Maca and wandered around a Latin American Art exhibit where I got to see Diego Rivera and some paintings by Frida Kahlo. We also toured the temple in Seoul, which was beautiful, and climbed over a fence to sit in some in grass (plots of grass are hard to come by in Seoul) and nibbled on some chocolate chip cookies. I also got to try my foot, yes my foot, at one of these “foot massage” paths they have set up at various parks. These paths are just different grades of smooth stones lined up so as you walk down the path it massages the various pressure points on your feet. It was far from comfortable, but my feet definitely felt better afterward.
That’s my week. The rest of it has been spent reading this awesome book “Blink.” I really am enjoying this read since it goes into the unconscious not from a mysterious, misogynistic, mythological Freudian perspective, but more from a scientific we are figuring out how to measure it, perspective. Basically, and I recommend everybody read this book, the author cites various studies acknowledging the existence of the unconscious and our superb ability to make quick snap judgments on limited conscious cognitive processing. This is commonly known as using your intuition. He also talks about the importance of our environment shaping those judgments and how certain things can short circuit “correct” intuition and create disasters, such as the election of Warren Harding who, by many historian’s accounts, ended up being the worst U.S. president in history but, because of his good looks and charm (he was tall, handsome, and had a booming voice that hid his poor character, lack of intelligence and applicable experience), was elected into office simply because he LOOKED like a leader. We humans are pretty susceptible to preconceived notions concerning appearance, hence racism, sexism, and the "height" bias that experts say entitle men six feet or taller to an extra 800.00 a month in comparison to the salary of their shorter co-workers. Fascinating. I am sure I could bore you all with more details about more studies concerning race and gender, but suffice to say, the brain is extremely mutable and never underestimate the importance of positive human communication and interaction in your life. We might not always be able to control our unconscious, but we do have the ability to change our environment, at least to a certain extent, and THAT is how we can influence and improve our intuition/state of mind...or that is one point the book argues, and it makes a good argument.

Peace!
Michelle