Joe S e o u l m a n

2012-02-21T14:31:00.000+09:00

Sometimes, I want to walk around with a gun in my hand.

You know...

Just to hear people say it.

2011 South Korean University Working Conditions

2012-02-10T00:10:00.000+09:00

2011 University Working Conditions

Following is a list of the basic work conditions at universities in South Korea. They are gathered from advertisements on eslcafe, teaching and jobs in korea, emails, and responses to a query I made on Facebook.

I have a few more to add, so if you sent me some information and do not see it here, be patient. I should have it updated within a week. Also, if you would like to add info, please do so in the comments that follow. If you have specific questions about working in Korean universities, feel free to ask me an email. Despite the lack of activity on this blog, I do get weekly emails and I do my best to reply (though sometimes I am slower than I'd like)

Ajou University (Suwon)

Department: Graduate School of Education

Hours: 10 hours/week

Starting Salary: 4 million per month.

Education requirement: PhD in TESOL or higher

Vacation period: not specified

Housing: provided

Anyang University (Anyang)

Department: General English

Hours: 15 hours/week plus a summer/winter session

Starting Salary: 2.3-2.5 million per month

Education requirement: BA

Vacation period: 10 weeks

Housing: 500k housing allowance

*there is a maximum of two contract renewals

Anyang Science University (Anyang)

Department: unspecified

Hours: 12-16 hours/week

“required to teach one or both a summer or winter camp”

Starting Salary: 2.7-2.9 million per month (based on 10 hrs/week)

Education requirement: MA + 1 year; BA + 3 years experience

Vacation period: not specified

Housing: on-campus housing available

Baekseok University (Cheonan)

Department:

Hours: 18 hours/week (MA-holder), 15 hours/week (PhD-holder)

Starting Salary: 2.1 million per month for MA, 2.2 million per month for PhD

Education requirement: MA

Vacation period: 4 months

Housing: 300k per month stipend

Busan National University of Education (Busan)

Department: English Education

Hours: 14 hours/week

Starting Salary: 2.13 million per month

Education requirement: BA (MA preferred)

Vacation period: unspecified

Housing: 300k stipend

Busan University of Foreign Studies (Busan)

Department: Global Dual Degree Division

Hours: 9 hours/week (plus “additional teaching activities requested by the school”)

Starting Salary: 2.9 million per month

Education requirement: Ph.D. in Economics
(Will have to teach business math, business statistics, and may have to teach English Conversation classes as well)

Vacation period: unspecified

Housing: provided or a 300k stipend

Bucheon University (Bucheon)

Department: unspecified

Hours: 15 hours/week

Starting Salary: 2.3 million per month

Education requirement: BA

Vacation period: 8 weeks

Housing: 350k stipend

Cheongju University (Cheongju)

Department: various/multiple

Hours: 12 hours/week

Starting Salary: 2.9 million per month

Education requirement: MA + one year unit teaching experience

Vacation period: 5 months

Housing: provided

*this university has two-year contracts renewable only twice for a maximum of 6 years

Cheongju University (Cheongju)

Department: Unspecified department, but teach mandatory freshmen/sophomore classes

Hours: 12 hours/week plus up to 6 hours of overtime

Starting Salary: 2.64 million per month

Education requirement: MA + one-year experience or BA + three years experience

Vacation period: 20 weeks

Housing: provided
*this university has two-year contracts renewable only twice for a maximum of 6 years

Chinju National University of Education (Chinju)

Department: unspecified

Hours: 16 hours/week

Starting Salary: 2.1 million per month for BA; 2.3 for MA
(+ severance pay and airfare reimbursement)

Education requirement: MA preferred; BA accepted

Vacation period: 12 weeks

Housing: furnished apartment provided

Chonnam National University (Yeosu)

Department: Language Education Center

Hours: approx 20 hours/week (including teaching children)

Starting Salary: 2.37 – 2.55 million per month

Education requirement: BA

Vacation period: 8-10 weeks

Housing: furnished dorm provided

Chonnam University (Gwangju)

Department: Language Education Center

Hours: 20 hours/week

Starting Salary: 2.01-2.25 million per month.

Education requirement: MA

Vacation period: 8-10 weeks

Housing: provided

Chosun University (Gwangju)

Department: Language Education Institute

Hours: 23 hours/week

Starting Salary: 3.1 million per month

Education requirement: MA plus one year of university teaching experience

Vacation period: unspecified

Housing: 400,000

Chung Ang University (Seoul)

Department: English Program in the college of Liberal Education

Hours: 18 hours/week

Starting Salary: 2.91 million per month

Education requirement: MA

Vacation period: unspecified

Housing: 500k stipend

Daegu University (Daegu)

Department: Freshmen English

Hours: 12 hours/week +4 office hours

Starting Salary: 2-2.16 million per month.

Education requirement: MA + 1-year university teaching exp. or BA in English/education + 3 years, or BA + CELTA + 3 years

Vacation period: 16 weeks

Housing: provided or a 300k stipend

Daejon University (Daejeon)

Department: English Language and Literature

Hours: 12 hours/week

Starting Salary: 2.15-2.65 million per month

Education requirement: BA, MA preferred

Vacation period: 8 weeks

Housing: 300k is included in the salary

Dankook University (Cheonan)

Department: Global Business Administration Department

Hours: 9 hours/week (plus research)

Starting Salary: 3.045 million per month

Education requirement: MA in Business administration

Vacation period: unspecified

Housing: unspecified

Dankook University (Cheonan)

Department: International Trade Department

Hours: 9 hours/week (plus research)

Starting Salary: 3.045 million per month

Education requirement: MA in International Trade

Vacation period: unspecified

Housing: unspecified

Dongseo University (Busan)

Department:

Hours: 12 hours/week

Starting Salary: 2.4 million per month

Education requirement: BA

Vacation period: 8 weeks

Housing: studio, shared, or a stipend of 300k.

Dong-A University (Busan)

Department: English Language and Literature

Hours: 12 hours/week (9 hours if MA is TESOL-specific)

Starting Salary: 2.5 million per month.

Education requirement: MA (if you have a TESOL-specific MA, you get fewer teaching hours)

Vacation period: 4 months

Housing: 350k stipend

Dongduk Women’s University (Seoul)

Department: General English department/English Department

Hours: 15 hours/week

Starting Salary: unspecified

Education requirement: MA

Vacation period: unspecified

Housing: provided (no note on allowance)

*Note: The ads for this university state that the applicant must be fluent in both Korean and English.

Dongshin University (Naju, Jeollanamdo)

Department: Unspecified

Hours: 18 hours/week

Starting Salary: 2 million per month for BA (2.1 for MA)

Education requirement: BA

Vacation period: 8 weeks

Housing: provided

*This job requires additional teaching of elementary children

Duksung Women’s University (Seoul)

Department: International Language Center

Hours: 18 hours/week

Starting Salary: 2-2.1 million per month

Education requirement: BA

Vacation period: 9 weeks

Housing: 300k

Ewha Womans University (Seoul)

Department: English Program

Hours: 12 hours/week plus either a winter or summer intensive session

Starting Salary: not stated in ad

Education requirement: MA in English, TESL or EFL

Vacation period: 6-week per semester

Housing: NOT provided

Gwangju University (Gwangju)

Department: unspecified

Hours: unspecified

Starting Salary: 2.2 million per month

Education requirement: : BA + 3 years university experience or MA + one year

Vacation period: unspecified

Housing: provided

Gwangju Institute of Science and Technology (Gwangju)

Department: Graduate School only

Hours: 15 hours per week during spring/fall; 16 per week during winter/summer session (must teach one session)

Starting Salary: 2.5-2.6 million per month; annual increases

Education requirement: : MA only

Vacation period: 10 + per year (paid)

Housing: provided on campus, but no stipend for off-campus

Gyeongin National University of Education (Incheon)

Department: TESOL, YL-TESOL

Hours: 15 hours/week

Starting Salary: 2.8 million per month

Education requirement: MA in TESOL

Vacation period: unspecified

Housing: provided, or 500k stipend

Handong Global University (Pohang)

Department: Department of Language Education

Hours: 16 hours/week

Starting Salary: 1.8 million per month for BA
3.01 million per month for MA

Education requirement: MA + 1.5 years teaching exp or BA + 4.5 years

Vacation period: 16 weeks

Housing: provided

Hanshin University (Osan)

Department: Liberal Arts

Hours: 15 hours/week

Starting Salary: “28,000,000 won per year including severance pay” (2.15 mil per month)

Education requirement: BA

Vacation period: unspecified

Housing: 500k stipend

* “Applicants who share the Christian values are preferred.”

Hanyang University (Seoul)

Department: CEEC or ELL:

Hours: 12 hours/week (minimum)+office hours

Starting Salary: 2.63 million but experience/Master's count.

Education requirement: undisclosed

Vacation period: 20 weeks per year; optional summer/winter school (currently 54.000/hr); Housing: Some free housing is available or 300,000 won/month stipend. No Key money.

Hanyang University ERICA Campus (Ansan)

Department: General English

Hours: 12 hours/week

Starting Salary: 2.68 million per month

Education requirement: MA

Vacation period: unspecified

Housing: 300k monthly stipend

Hoseo University (Asan)

Department: English Conversation

Hours: 15 hours/week

Starting Salary: 2.49 million per month

Education requirement: education-related MA

Vacation period: unspecified

Housing: provided
*must be Christian

Inha University (Incheon)

Department: Department of International Trade and Regional Studies

Hours: 9 hours/week

Starting Salary: 3.019 million per month. (2-year contract)

Education requirement: MA + two years of teaching experience

Vacation period: unspecified

Housing: unspecified

Inha University (Incheon)

Department: College of Business Administration

Hours: 9 hours/week + three hours per week in English Café/lounge

Starting Salary: 3.019 million per month.

Education requirement: MA

Vacation period: unspecified

Housing: unspecified

Inha University (Incheon)

Department: University English Program

Hours: 15 hours/week teaching, 5 office hours; and vacation-period courses taught if needed

Starting Salary: 2.87-3.22 million per month.

Education requirement: MA + two years of teaching experience

Vacation period: unspecified

Housing: 200k housing allowance plus a one-time 400,000 resettlement allowance

Jeonju University (Jeonju)

Department: Department of Liberal Arts

Hours:16 hours/week

Starting Salary: 20-30 million per year, depending on experience and education

Education requirement: BA + 3 years (MA preferred)

Vacation period: 16 weeks

Housing: 330k stipend

*Christian preferred

Keimyung University (Daegu)

Department: College of Liberal Education

Hours:18 hours/week, “may be required to teach additional classes during semesters, and also during vacations”

Starting Salary: million per month

Education requirement: BA + 3 years university experience or MA + one year

Vacation period: unspecified

Housing: unspecified

Korea Polytechnic University (Siheung)

Department: general English

Hours: 18 teaching hours/week (plus about 5-8 hours a week of extra duties like English Café, plus summer and/or winter session)

Starting Salary: 2.35-2.5 million per month

Education requirement: MA preferred, BA accepted

Vacation period: 8 weeks

Housing: provided

KonKuk University (Chungju campus)

Department: General Education Department

Hours: 12-18 hours/week

Starting Salary: 2.75-3.33 million per month.

Education requirement: MA + 4 years EFL experience at university level

Vacation period: approx. 5 months per year

Housing: unspecified

Kookmin University (Seoul)

Department: Institute of International Education

Hours: 25 hours/week

Starting Salary: 45,000 won per hour (4.5 mil per month)

Education requirement: BA

Vacation period: unspecified

Housing: unspecified

Kyungpook National University (Daegu)

Department: Language Education Center

Hours: 18 hours/week during spring/fall semesters; 20 hours/week during summer/winter sessions

Starting Salary: 2.3 million per month

Education requirement: MA (preferred, BA accepted with CELTA/TEFL cert and three years university experience)

Vacation period: 8 weeks

Housing: unspecified

Kyunggi University (suwon)

Department: English Language and Literature

Hours: 12 hours/week minimum

Starting Salary: unspecified

Education requirement: MA or higher in TESOL

Vacation period: unspecified

Housing: unspecified

Kyung Hee University “Global Campus” (Yongin)

Department: Institute of Global & Continuing Education

Hours: 20 teaching hours/week

Starting Salary: 2.5 – 2.8 million per month

Education requirement: BA + TESOL or TEFL cert.

Vacation period: Unspecified, but must work both a summer and winter camp

Housing: 10 mil key money provided

Kyungnam University (Changwon)

Department: Unspecified (but apply to ‘Institute of International Education)

Hours: 15 hours/week contracted, more expected

Starting Salary: 2.15 million per month (BA); 2.25 mil for MA holders

Education requirement: MA preferred

Vacation period: unspecified, but faculty ‘may be asked to teach 8 weeks during vacation time’

Housing: on campus provided; 300k stipend offered

Pusan National University (Busan)

Department: Department of Global Studies; College of Economic and International Trade

Hours: 12-18 hours/week (over 12 hours is overtime)

Starting Salary: 3 million per month

Education requirement: MA (in “history, international relations, political economy, economics, culture studies, business, political science, ethics, anthropology, sociology, psychology, philosophy, media, other social sciences and humanities fields, tourism, lodging, and travel.”) This is because in addition to English, candidates will teach courses in the above fields.

Vacation period: unspecified

Housing: various options available

Sangmyung University (Seoul)

Department: unspecified

Hours: 14

Starting Salary: 2.16 million per month (1.91 mil for BA)

Education requirement: MA (BA considered)

Vacation period: 22 weeks

Housing: 500,000/month stipend

Seokyeong University (Seoul)

Department: Many departments (in their October 2011 ad, they had 25 positions open in 5 different departments)* but all courses are English conversation.

Hours: “10 hours plus office hours; 20 contact hours” **

Starting Salary: 2 million per month

Education requirement: BA

Vacation period: unspecified

Housing: unspecified

*to me, this is a serious red flag that raises a lot of questions. Why are they hiring so many all at once? Did they lay off all of the teachers? Were there none before?

** I don’t know what this means

Seoul National University (Seoul)

Department: College English Program

Hours:12 hours/week

Starting Salary: 2.6 million per month.

Education requirement: MA

Vacation: 20 weeks per year

Housing: on-campus available; 600k monthly housing subsidy

Seoul Women’s University (Seoul)

Department: General English

Hours: 16 hours/week per semester, plus 96 hours total during 6-week summer/winter intensive session

Starting Salary: 2.66 million per month.

Education requirement: MA + 2 years exp or BA + 4 years

Vacation period: not specified

Housing: provided, 500k per month stipend provided only if university housing is not available

Seowon University (Cheongju)

Department: English Education (there is another ad for the Foreign Language Education Center with the same working conditions for both)

Hours: 15 hours/week (plus summer and winter school programs)

Starting Salary: 2.4 million per month

Education requirement: MA preferred

Vacation period: 8 weeks

Housing: provided

Sogang University (Seoul)

Department: Foreign Language Education Center

Hours: 17 hours/week

Starting Salary: 1.9-2.4 million per month

Education requirement: BA

Vacation period: “6 weeks/2 months unpaid (optional)” *

Housing: 30 million key money or 200k monthly

* I don’t know what that means

Sookmyung Women's University (Seoul)

Department: General English Program

Hours: 15 hours/week

Starting Salary: 2.74 million per month

Education requirement: Education-related MA (or BA plus 3 years experience AND currently enroled in MA-TESOL program)

Vacation period: 16 weeks

Housing: 340,000 won per month stipend (or faculty dorms--that cost 340 per month)

Soonchunghyang University (Asan)

Department: School of Global Education and Exchange

Hours: 16 hours/week

Starting Salary: 2.2 million per month

Education requirement: BA

Vacation period: 10 weeks

Housing: Unspecified

Soongsil University (Seoul)

Department: Freshmen English Program

Hours: 18 hours/week

Starting Salary: 2.3-2.5 million per month.

Education requirement: MA or above. If MA is not education-related, then must have TEFL/TESL certificate

Vacation period: 8 weeks in summer; 8 weeks in winter

Housing: 390-450,000 won per month or faculty housing may be available.

Sunchon National University (Suncheon, Jeollanamdo)

Department: Dept. of English Education

Hours: 12 hours a week on average in the spring and fall semesters and 10 hours a week for 3 consecutive weeks during both summer and winter sessions.

Starting Salary: 2 million per month

Education requirement: MA in TESOL or related

Vacation period: 11 weeks

Housing: provided (and airfare reimbursement)

Sungshin Women’s University (Seoul)

Department: General Women’s Education

Hours:12 hours/week teaching; 9 office hours (where you have mentoring duties), plus run a one-hour-per-week study group *

Starting Salary: 2.9-3.5 million per month

Education requirement: MA

Vacation period: unspecified

Housing: none provided; no stipend

*also expected to teach courses in the Language Center as needed

University of Seoul (Seoul)

Department: Freshmen English

Hours: 14 hours/week (Summer and/or winger sessions may be required)

Starting Salary: 2.9 million per month

Education requirement: MA in English, TESOL, or other education-related field

Vacation period: unspecified

Housing: 400

University of Suwon (Suwon)

Department: English Department and Language Institute (Teaching conversation classes)

Hours: 12 hours/week; plus a 3-week summer/winter camp

Starting Salary: 1.9-2.1 million per month

Education requirement: MA or BA plus three years experiences

Vacation period: 4 weeks during each break

Housing: 350,000

Yeungnam University (Gyeongsan)

Department: English Language and Literature

Hours:12 hours/week for 16-week semesters *

Starting Salary: 2.7-3.5 million per month depending on experience

Education requirement: MA +

Vacation period: unspecified

Housing: provided or 450k stipend

*extra duties: summer and/or winter sessions upon request

teaching 6 hours a week in Gumi—a town 50km away during the semester, upon request

My response to "Ten Tips for Newbies to the Korean University Teaching Experience"

2011-12-13T19:11:00.000+09:00

My Life! has a great post called "Ten Tips for Newbies to the Korean University Teaching Experience"

I typed up my response to these tips for the comments, but then realized that my response was both longer than her original post and also did not even fit in the comment field. I thought that I'd like to post it and the original points here for you to enjoy. Here are her 10 tips:

1. Your students will not be as high of level as you think. While they may have an impressive range of vocabulary, they're often extremely weak in actually using it. And basic grammar points will need to be reviewed.

2. University is a party-time for Korean students, between Sooneung Hell and selling their souls to Samsung or Hyundai or Kia. Adjust your classes accordingly. If you make them too hard with too much homework, the students will be unhappy. Give a little bit or homework and a few tests so you can have some self-respect but don't stress too much about making it like a university class is "back home."

3. Don't trust the students to "check" the box for their own attendance. They will lie and cheat for their friends. You need to personally do it. And carefully. It's the only fair way.

4. Don't accept Kyeol-gung-wons (absence excuse papers) for minor things like colds. Reserve it for the serious such as a car accident/brain trauma/close family member's death.

5. Chill out. Korea is a Bali-Bali (fast-fast) last minute kind of culture. Lots of decisions will happen just in time with regard to classes and schedules and housing. Don't worry about it and just go with the flow. If you stress out about it, something terrible might happen to you by the end of your year, like all your hair falling out. I guarantee it.

6. Cheating (cunning) is not such a serious offense in Korea as it is in the Western World. Most students think nothing of plagiarizing something off the Internet for a written assignment. Or copying off their friend in the few minutes before class starts. Or bringing a cheating paper to the test. So give assignments and tests that minimize this and you won't have to deal with it. I do exclusively speaking tests, with groups of 2-4 students in my office. There is no possible way for them to cheat. And I simply don't assign the "workbook" as homework.

7. Class sizes really do matter. Before accepting a job, perhaps the most important question to ask would be, "What are the class sizes?" I'm not sure I would ever take a job with more than 40. This was the reality in my first semester and it was extremely difficult. Now, some of my classes are down to 10 students and the difference is astounding. I can actually get to know my students as individuals and see them actually improve their English skills. It's far more rewarding.

8. Simple is better. Syllabi, tests, activities, grammar points. Everything really.

9. Keep on top of the paperwork. Input attendance into the computer each week. Enter grades into your spreadsheets as you get them. Have at least a couple of weeks lessons planned ahead of time.

10. Your teaching impact does not equal your self-worth. You'll have some bad classes and students that don't like you. It doesn't mean that you're a bad person, or a terrible teacher. Get some hobbies and friends and learn to leave your teaching behind you at the end of the day.

After 19 semesters of teaching in Korean universities, I'd say this list isn't too far off. I’d like to add my 20 won to each of these, if you don’t mind.

1. I agree that students will be lower level than you think. More importantly, I think that our students vary much more than we realize in every given class. They each have a very different set of strengths and weaknesses that are not apparent at first. You may have to dig a little deeper than you expect to figure out their overall levels.

2. This is certainly true for the first-year students. I noticed it to be true for the guys before they go off to do their military service as well. I use past tense because I’ve been at a women’s university for the past 6 years and things are a little different here. About five years ago, the administration gave the department the green light to “make the curriculum more academically challenging.” With support from above, we were able to make changes. Students started taking the classes more seriously because they were told they had to. This trend is not just limited to my place of work, but something I’ve noticed at other Seoul-based universities (to some extent). The key is that it has to be top-down. As a new teacher, you are not going to change the world. If you try, you will become the square peg that just does not fit in and you will have many problems.

3. Absolutely true. This is related to number 6 as well. I tell my students that I trust them individually as people; that I know that they (personally) would NEVER do anything like that but I don’t trust students in general because all of the other students will cheat.

4. This one is complicated. Unlike North American universities, Korean colleges check attendance, and if a student misses too many classes they fail. Part of the system is that they get a note from the doctor. After my own experience with getting a doctor’s note (for an extension on an assignment for my doctoral studies), I now treat these all with a grain of salt. In my case, I sat down with the doctor and told him what I needed it to say. I told him the dates and he wrote what I asked him to write. I paid a fee for the document and that was it.) I’ve had students come in at the end of the semester with one of these notes for each day they had missed throughout the whole semester. Now I know what she did.

On the other hand, people get sick. In Korea, people get sick and go to work/class. Then more people get sick. I tell them that if they are not well to send me a message before class and I’ll probably forget about it. Probably. They know that they are responsible for anything missed. I don’t want sick people in the class. I’d rather they stayed home or went home and rested and tried to get better. They’re not very likely to learn much anyway.

Have your own attendance policy that adheres to the “spirit” of the university system, if not to the letter. Ms Bolen states that she doesn’t check 결궁원’s for minor things. That is her policy. I have known people who tell them that they all get two freebie absences—no questions asked. After that, they are penalized—again, no questions asked, or no excuses accepted. They then use them very wisely. Knowing the teacher, there are times when exceptions are made, but only if it is something major and they talk to the teacher in a timely manner.

5. This is probably the best advice. In fact there are times that I have to remind myself of this even after more than a decade in the country. I think the people who are most successful are best at dealing with this aspect of the culture.

6. This is one of the biggest areas of stress for many a teacher or professor. The way around it is through planning. It also helps to understand it. All cultures have a hierarchy of values. Western culture tends to value honesty higher than loyalty (or at least on an equal level). Here, loyalty trumps all. Loyalty to your family, to your seniors, to your friends, and to your juniors. Sometimes if you’ve got an age difference in your class, the younger student really will have no choice but to help the older one cheat—if asked.

The trick here is in the curriculum and assessment design. Speaking tests are good for this, but for beginning teachers can be difficult to assess fairly and accurately. Speaking tests are also only good if you are teaching a speaking course. The assessment should match the course’s aims, goals, and objectives. For writing, focus on the process and actually give class time for them to work. Make sure they know that you will be collecting everything they write (brainstorms, outlines, drafts, etc) and follow them along in the process. If they submit a paper without all the other stuff, or if the paper doesn’t match the process, you’ve got red flags.

You’ll need to teach them about plagiarism. You’ll have to teach them about how to cite sources and why. Much of the plagiarism stems from a COMPLETE ignorance of it. We’re teachers—teach them what they need to know so they don’t make the mistake.

7. Class sizes should be a bigger deciding factor in accepting a job than teaching hours. I’ve had classes as big as 60 and as small as 12. In the former, everyone’s time was wasted while in the latter, real learning took place.

8. Simple is better. I don’t want to add much to this so as not to complicate things.

But I will.
Clear instructions are just as important. ALWAYS write instructions out on the board or printed on paper. This will save you more time, will improve the quality of work you receive, and will help facilitate a more smoothly-run class.

9. Two minutes per day per class is nothing if you do it every day. It’s a whole day if you wait until the end of the semester to do your attendance. It’s another day of Excel madness if keep your grades on a paper and then try to enter everything at once.

10. When you are at work, work. I like to bring as little work home as possible, even if it means I stay late or come in very early in the morning. Then when I leave work, I leave the work there. Hobbies are good. Friends outside of work are good.
Having a blog about teaching is... well... I suppose it might just make one get burnt out.

Something about my Extensive Reading Program

2011-09-13T23:12:00.000+09:00

I got this question in on my last post:

I'd love to hear more about your extensive reading program. I'm working on building up a library now, so I can start one next semester at my job.

Some background first.

I was first introduced to extensive reading at a KOTESOL workshop six or seven years ago. It was probably at one of the international conferences. I don’t remember exactly, but it was quite a while ago. I thought it sounded great, but I didn’t know if I could ever use it in my classes. At the time, it was out of the question.

Then I started to have more control over the curriculum of what was being taught (I’d changed universities and was in fact the curriculum coordinator for the general English program). I didn’t want to include it in my classes that were required for all freshmen. There was just too much infrastructure that had to be set up to operate an extensive reading program for 3000 students. The idea simmered on the back burner though. At one point I was working on the curriculum for one of the advanced classes. I thought I could introduce it there. What I did was focused on particular genres. I had several books in each genre that students had to select. They had to buy a book from each of the four genres that we’d be exploring. I had activities for each one, and students eventually would have to write their own short story.

My Library (and the university’s library)

I’ve been building up my own library over the past six or seven years. It started with the Oxford Bookworms that I used when I used to teach small groups of kids. Some of them left them behind after reading, and I always had a copy of the book we were using. That left me with about 40 or so books. Whenever I’d see a book on sale somewhere (like at one of the used bookstores in Seoul) I’d pick up a copy here or there.

As I mentioned above, I taught an advanced reading and writing course. For that course, I had the students read a selection MacMillan or Oxford or Penguin books. Since I got a very large discount at one of the local book distributors, we did a big book order and the students were happy to get 25% off. (I would not recommend doing that again. I didn’t like dealing with money with students, it just felt awkward.) Somehow, I ended up being stuck with about a dozen books that nobody seemed to remember ordering. I added them to my own library. I was up to about 120 or so books. I had catalogued and numbered them all, and set up a check-out system where students could borrow from me directly. Also, at the end of the semester, I asked if anyone would want to donate their books to future students. I had them write a note inside to future students. (They liked that idea, however they wrote them on post-it notes, so they are pretty much all gone now). My own library and the books that students bought were enough to support two classes of about 20 students each. My colleagues used to tease me as they watched me carry my bags of books (they fit neatly into two old KOTESOL conference bags) to class every week. I’d spread them all out and during the journal-writing time students would come up and pick out a book at their convenience. It did not disrupt the class at all, and I got to build up my shoulder muscles by carrying the bags!

By this time, the university library had set up their ‘Reading Garden’ that had a complete set of Oxford Bookworms, MacMillan and Penguin Readers, and a selection from various other publishers. In the beginning, I’d estimate the total number of graded readers in the university library to be in the neighborhood of between 250 and 300. A lot of books to choose from, but students could not check them out. They had nice comfy sofas and chairs where they could sit and enjoy—but they couldn’t take them home. They couldn’t pull them out when they were on the subway during their long commute. Needless to say, they were not used that much.

A couple of years ago, I noticed that Oxford had changed the covers on their bookworm series. The text inside was identical, but the covers were different. I happened to be in a bookstore (one that is owned by the distributor for Oxford Korea) and they had boxes of the old versions on sale for 50% off. That was too good to pass up, so I bought about a hundred more. My current library is 249 books, all but 35 are Oxford. Every summer, I go though and update my database since some books go missing. That no longer bothers me at all, as I’ve come to expect that it is inevitable.

This Semester

Things have changed. I no longer am doing it with just 40 students in an advanced class. I’m no longer the coordinator for the general English program. Now I teach in the actual English Language and Literature department. I teach only English majors. I still set my own curriculum, but the goal of the course is surprisingly broad while being somewhat specific. I have to prepare them for their future classes. They want them to be able to handle having all of their classes in English, to be able to read and discuss the literature in English. They have to be able to write critical essays in English. How I prepare them to do this is up to me. These classes are in addition to the other mandatory English classes that they take their freshmen year (the ones I had created the curriculum for).

What they will be doing is designed to complement the other class. As much as possible I am trying to make it almost like they are having a single 6-hour a week course instead of two totally separate courses. In the second semester, the other course is reading and writing. Hence the focus on extensive reading (as I know they’ll be doing more intensive reading in the other course) this semester.

The university library now lets them check out the graded readers, so they are actually reading them. I schlepped my own library (now occupying four big tote bags) to class last week to show them the variety of books out there, let them look through the levels, and do a timed reading to get a record of their reading speed at the start of the semester). I made it clear that I wouldn’t be bringing them all to class again. They can come to my office and check them out. That means that between my library and the university’s, there are over 500 books to choose from. I’ve got several copies of some books that are popular (8 copies of “Love Story,” for example. I am at a women’s university after all). Additionally, all the students are required to buy four of their own books, one of which is a title that I selected. We’ll all read the same first book. I have devoted some time periodically for book swapping. They’ll have to ‘sell’ the books to others in order to get something new.

With three books each to swap, there will be some more books to select for them. As they are reading over the next month, I’m going to use these graded readers when teaching literary terms and the like. I’m also going to have them write their own short stories like I did with the advanced classes. They’ll be keeping a writing journal noting a few things about each book. The main point is just to be a record of what they read. There is no way for me to really follow closely what they read. There will be small group discussions on their books. They will do a ‘character sketch’ in which they develop one of the characters more.

These are students that I taught last semester. I know them already and I have a pretty good idea of what they are capable of. After spending some class time looking at books, I have to say, they were actually pretty excited. How long has it been since you’ve seen university freshmen excited about studying?

I also told them that if they were to have two or three books with them over the Chuseok weekend, they could probably get a lot of reading done (and that their grandmothers would be so proud of them for doing their homework and reading novels in English). I had many come to borrow a book from me on Thursday and Friday before the long weekend.

Check out the Korean English Extensive Reading Association (KEERA). They have a facebook group as well. They have a really good pdf file that you can download that will help you start an ER program at your school.

The Extensive Reading Foundation website is also a good place to get ideas.

Some Thoughts

2011-08-22T01:20:00.000+09:00

Yes, it has certainly been a while since I've written here. My life has been going on. I've been busy. I've been lazy. I've traveled, I've spent time at home.

On the work front:
Last I wrote, my first semester in the new department had just gotten under way. Now I'm about to start my second. I was really quite happy with the first one, though there are some differences in how I'll do things next year. And yes, I have to admit that my own studies did have an influence on my teaching; sadly not for the better. I was not able to devote as much time and energy as I'd like. I'm also sorry to say that I fear the same will be true in the semester that is about to start. I also feel a lot of pressure to outdo myself this semester. I was really happy with the curriculum that I came up with before and I have been struggling a little to come up with something better. Here's what I'm toying with for the follow-up: an extensive reading program to start the semester (and continue on in the background for the duration), a research project based on culture, and a debate based on a controversial issue. It doesn't sound like much for a 15-week course, but I'm aiming for depth rather than breadth. The culture project will be quite in-depth, with different groups focusing on certain aspects of a culture, then teach them to others. The debate will require a lot of knowledge about the issue, and they will have to demonstrate to me that they have that knowledge before the debate can start.

For the last five years, I've had my own office. I just learned that a Political Science professor will be moving in with me. The guy was the department chair at the University of North Carolina, retired and came to Korea about 10 years ago. He's had his own office that whole time, but now he's moving in with me. I really am not looking forward to this. I've already filled all of the bookshelves and am pretty much taking up the whole office already. From what I remember, his office was quite full as well. Most of the foreign teachers share an office. None of the Korean ones do. I wonder if someone doesn't like us having our own office and are taking care of that. Maybe it is something else completely, like Mark (the poli-sci guy) is no longer going to be full-time and just needs a place for the two days a week he'll be coming in--and since my office used to belong to the political science department and they knew I moved in alone, they thought they could just stick him there with me. I actually thought he was leaving the university (and maybe even retiring again), so this scenario could be the case. Or he (or I) pissed off the wrong person. His wife used to work at the university (a Columbia U. PhD who taught in the business dept) and was asked to leave when the university president stepped down. She was a favorite of the president, but apparently the department chair did not like the fact that they were told to hire her. When the president left, so did Mark's wife. I've been expecting him to leave ever since, and I thought he was actually leaving this year. Dirty Politics.

My studies.
My first course was passed with no problems. It actually only took me about a week to write the paper, though I'd been doing a lot of reading for months and months leading up to that. The second course is another story. Let me put it this way: out of the 16 people who started in the cohort last summer, four quit, two passed outright, and 10 got a conditional pass on the research project--meaning they have changes to make and resubmit. You can guess where I am. I've got a few more weeks to get it done and submitted.

For most of us it was quite a shock. I was actually kind of expecting it. I planned to give a talk about it at the Busan Kotesol conference in June. I was in a minor taxi accident which made me miss my KTX to Busan. I was THAT guy who cancelled his presentation at the conference. I was really upset about it because it is just so unprofessional. The kind folks in the Seoul chapter let me do a July workshop instead. I took the 40-min talk and turned it into a 2-hour workshop. While I was preparing for the talk/workshop, I realized that there were some problems with my work. In late July when we got our work back, I was certainly not expecting to do as well as I had on the first one.

England
As alluded to above, I had courses this summer as part of my doctorate program. This summer, I started three courses. They each have a 7,000 word paper due at various times throughout the upcoming year. Once they are all completed (satisfactorily), I'll be able to start my thesis... dissertation... whatever it's called. Needless to say, this year will be busy. I really don't know how much posting I'll be doing.

One Month In

2011-04-11T08:43:00.002+09:00

Now that we're into the second week of April, I can say something about the first month in my new job.

As I mentioned in my last post (a whole month ago--where has all the time gone?), I changed departments at my university. I had been part of the General English Program (GEP); a department that had 30 foreign professors (teachers/lecturers, since only one of the 30 has a doctorate, and all are on year-to-year non-tenure track contracts). The GEP was a tight-knit mix of people who had been working there from one to ten years. They had a great network and a great administrative staff who was always there to help. The department taught almost every student in the university in their freshmen year in the English language requirement courses. They also offered a few other elective courses. The students are competitive and for the most part are pretty eager to learn English. Some majors are more eager and enthusiastic than others, of course. In the English Language and Literature department, there are three strands: literature, translation studies, and English education (plus a new one that started this semester: TESL). I think the professors are a little cliquish, but really I wouldn't know. I never see any of them. Their offices are spread out all over campus, so there is not much of a community regarding work space. I'm also the only one in the department who doesn't have a doctorate (though that will change once I finish my studies). I'm also the only foreign instructor. Though, they are actively seeking another foreign instructor to be a part of the new TESL strand, one who has a doctorate degree in TESOL. The administrative assistants are students (graduate students) who change every year. There is not a single full-time employee who stays more than a year, and they all change at the same time. As you can imagine, just when they are getting efficient, they leave. I cannot help but to compare them to the GEP assistants, who are great. They have a full time staff member and two students. The students work for one year as a work study program (they pay no tuition for the year) and have their tenure staggered so there isn't a 100% turnover. Even if the English office did that with its staff, it would be better. It would also keep them working hard all year instead of the first ten months (I noticed in February that the previous group were pretty much useless--at least for me. I was something new that they didn't know what to do with, so they did nothing--didn't order books at the bookstore, didn't get my office situated until the day before classes started, and had a general 'I don't want to acknowledge your existence' attitude whenever I walked into the office.)

I moved from the GEP to the English Language and Literature department. There are some obvious differences. First, I'll start with the job itself. I was hired to create two new required courses for English majors. The students now have to take two semesters with me: Integrated English and Intensive English--one semester each. I wrote about the integrated English course here. I teach the same number of hours, but have considerably more students. The GEP had their classes capped at 16, I was supposed to have 100 total students split into 5 classes, which means 20 in each class. However, that didn't quite work out. The university implemented a different intranet system that was filled with bugs and glitches. The cap at 22 was not imposed, and I ended up with students registering for whatever sections that fit their own schedules, leading to some sections having five students registered and other sections having 50. The system also didn't limit the registration to English majors, so there were a wide variety of students who had signed up for the course that didn't belong there. Non-freshmen and non-English majors alike, many of whom were former students of mine. The class-size problem was remedied a few days before classes started by automatically dropping students, which led to massive re-shuffling (and even a last-minute schedule change on my part). Classes were finally capped at 26 to allow for students schedule conflicts. What was not calculated was the number of exchange students. The exchange students are handled by another division in the university, and the English department actually had no idea that there were several exchange students admitted who were English majors. That pushed my numbers up by about 10 total. For the first time in many years, I've actually got guys in some of my classes. (Being a male exchange student in a women's university is quite a feat, if only I'd thought of that when I was a student!) The whole class-size thing should be worked out by next semester, and they should be stabilized and capped at 22 or 23. I'll keep my fingers crossed.

Long story short, I've got about 110 students total. One class has 32 students, which is twice as big as my GEP courses were. I've got one class of 17 or 18, and the rest are 20-something. The students really are different though. I am able to push them harder than I could the students in the general English classes. This is a required major class for them. The overall atmosphere is different. I cannot say that they are all there because they want to study English because they are not. For some, they chose that major because it is the major they were accepted into, not their first choice. However, they seem to have accepted the fact that this is their major, and in a year, they can join another department for a second major. In the GEP, there was never much of a problem of students doing their homework. They may not always understand what they were doing, but 90% of the students would do their work to the best of their ability. That number is pretty much the same now. However, what they turn in is just so much more, more... well, it is just more. I ask for a paragraph, and a third of them write a perfectly-formed five paragraph essay, a third write a two-paragraph short composition, and a third write a paragraph. Instead of a quarter of the students writing in Korean and then translating into English, I've got two students who are stuck doing this (both of whom surprised me with this, as they are both students who seem to have fairly high speaking abilities. It's made me think a lot about 'ear learners' versus 'eye learners.' If you want to know what that means, ask me, I'll blog about it.)

The relationship between me and the students is a little different as well. It is hard to explain, more of a feeling I have. I have more students emailing me and calling me with questions than I've ever had before. I don't know if this is because they have a slightly higher level of English, tend to be slightly more outgoing, or if it is because this is a major course and therefore more important to them. Regardless of the reasons, things are different. Also, since this course is being offered in addition to the GEP course, and was designed to parallel the GEP course in its content and build upon what they are doing in that other course, they seem to be progressing so much faster than I predicted. Essentially, they have doubled the number of hours in a skills-building course to now have six hours a week.

There will be more to come about the course I'm teaching. I had started out intending to write about the department in general, but have decided against it.

OT and MT and starting a semester

2011-03-03T20:55:00.000+09:00

On the Korean media lately, there has been a few stories about university orientations running amok. Apparently, one of them was pretty much unsupervised and all sorts of bad stuff went down in which senior students pretty much forced themselves onto the freshmen (literally). Here, see for yourself:

Source

Some of the students were obviously traumatized and lawsuits are being threatened, and I'm sure some heads will roll.

Last week, I went on my first Orientation Training at my university. Since I'm now a part of the English department properly, I am expected to attend such events. For starters, let me explain what an O.T. is. All of the freshmen at the university go to some resort area far away from campus. They are introduced to the campus culture by their senior students and do a lot of drinking. It is a bonding experience for them. Sometimes they are also introduced to their individual departments/divisions/colleges by the professors who will be teaching them.

That is how it was with us. I have to admit, I really didn't know what to expect. I had heard stories of these things getting out of hand, but then I wasn't sure if they were the same as the membership trainings (usually called M.T.s, the M.T.s are put together by departments or individual colleges and include students of all ages). The professors all rode in buses together and checked in to the hotel at Phoenix Park before meeting all of the freshmen students in their department. In my case, all 120 incoming freshmen English majors met in one room. The professors walked in and the students all cheered (not a simple applause--but real cheers!) Then the head of the department spoke. The dean of the Liberal Arts College (who happens to be an English dept. prof.) spoke. Next, something was said about each strand (Eng. literature, translation, Eng. education, and TESL). After that, each professor introduced him or herself. Finally, each student introduced herself to the whole group. The whole thing actually went more quickly than one might imagine. Faculty and students went separate ways for dinner. Students went into different areas depending on their colleges and partied together. The senior students led them in songs and dances. While this was going on, the professors also were doing pretty much the same things. The professors of the college of liberal arts were all together in one room--all 78 of us. The beer, soju, wine, and whisky flowed while more food was served and everyone introduced themselves again. Once everyone was introduced and the liquid courage was built up, all of the newbies had to sing a song. I escaped because even though I was new to the department, I had actually been at the university for 5 1/2 years. It was made very clear that I would have to sing next year though. I have a year to learn a song, preferably a Korean one and sing it to the whole group.

Our department then went on to another round of drinking, by which point the students had all gone off to their rooms. They had student dorms which held about 20 students each but there was no expectation of sleep. I'll get to that in a moment. The professors all drank another couple of rounds as the outgoing administrative assistants (grad students working in the office) said their goodbyes and the new ones were grilled in a welcoming, light-hearted manner. I think the fact that many of the most senior people in the department, the college, and the university as a whole are women makes a big difference in such events. A lot of the shenanigans that often happen a group of Korean men get together and drink excessively simply were not happening. Then, at about 2:30 in the morning, the talk changed to going to visit the students.

What the hell?

This late-night visit to the students rooms turned out to be the most fascinating part of the whole trip. I really had no idea what to expect, but I figured it couldn't be too bad because the professors all broke into groups of four, each with men and women professors. Each group was assigned two rooms to visit. When we got to the rooms, we sat down and just talked with the students. We each gave them some advice about how to do well in school, asked what sorts of things they were nervous about, and what they were looking forward to. Keep in mind that the students had pretty much been drinking for hours, though they didn't seem out-of-their-minds drunk. They spoke freely about what they were nervous about, such as one girl who was from a very small village where she knew everyone and everyone knew her. Now she was in a huge city where she is anonymous and that scared her more than starting university. The whole thing was a very personal and caring exchange between the professors and students. Maternal, I'd even say. I saw them in a very different light than before. A light bulb moment for me. I had read about and heard about how the idea of teachers in Korea is so different than it is in the west. This was a moment that I saw first hand how the teachers take on the responsibility of caring for the students. (I know this isn't always the case--just this month a Seoul Nat'l professor was fired for being a tyrant--but I think that is the exception).

Then we all went back to our own rooms and slept for a few hours before getting on the bus and returning back to Seoul. The students stayed the rest of the day and returned later that night. Two very long days with a night without sleep for them. I have to tell you though that during the first days of classes, many of the students really had gotten to know each other, and I got to know some of my colleagues in one day much, much better than I had over the past five years of working at the university. I imagine they would open up even more if I were to have actually sang!

Do you know South Korea?

2011-03-03T19:37:00.003+09:00

Do You Know South Korea? from David Dutton on Vimeo.

This video is one of the best representations of why I love living here. It also highlights some of the things I don't like about it. Take the Autumn, for example. It is every bit as beautiful as this video shows. If you can get out and see the mountains, do it. At the same time, it is also every bit as crowded as this video shows it to be. I love getting out of the city and into the mountains to enjoy the fresh air. After almost a decade here, I'm still not used to sharing that 'peace and quiet' with thousands and thousand of people who are also there to enjoy nature.

I think what I liked most about this video is that it is Korea through the eyes of someone who is new to the country. It is so easy to forget how amazing of a place that this is. It is easy to notice the bad drivers, the drunks, and whatnot while ignoring the things that are truly incredible. (It is also easy to forget that there are dunks and asshole drivers all over the world.)

There is a scene from about 6:50 that shows some little back streets. It reminds me of something I had been thinking about earlier today for some strange reason. I was thinking about a neighborhood I remember getting lost in somewhere on the east coast. My in-laws and I were driving around and we took a wrong turn and ended up crossing this little one-lane bridge onto an island filled with a houses and little streets that looked very much like the ones in the video. The thing is, we were there about eight years ago when we were lost. This last summer, my wife and I were back in the same area. Not only is that little bridge gone, but the entire area is gone. It is no longer an island at all, but the surrounding area has all been filled in and developed into kind of a resort area. This is not unusual. Every once in a while when I'm walking around my Gu, I am struck by how much everything has changed. This shopping mall is new. That building is new. I remember when that was a great little noodle shop. That used to be a crumbling, condemned apartment complex; now it is a 45-story luxury apartment complex that has units starting at 700,000 (and going up six-fold from there). The country is changing so damned fast. I feel like a grandfather talking about how much things have changed in a lifetime, not the changes of a decade.

If anyone wants to come and visit, I plan to send them this video and ask them if there is anything here that they want to see. It is far better than anything put out by the KNTO (oh, sorry...Korea National Tourism Office).

Calzones in Korea

2011-02-20T12:00:00.000+09:00

About 12 years ago, I lived in the Boston area. While I was there, I discovered Calzones. I could not believe that I'd lived two and a half decades (or so) and had never knew they existed. A pizza folded in half, sure. But it is so much more than that. By discovering them in Boston, I was both blessed and cursed. I will forever hold any calzone I eat to the standards set in 1997 Boston.

There are a few things that must be done differently in order to make a good calzone, but none more important than getting the crust right. Most pizza places don't do them because they are hard to do right. If the restaurant makes their own crust, throws it in the air and all that, then they have a shot and making the crust just right. I'm not going to go into things too much about how the crust should be. That is not the point of this little bit of writing, for I am in Korea and don't want to think about what I cannot have.

I will; however, write about what is available here, and why you might as well just avoid them.

Background.
About once every couple of weeks, I like to grab an article to read, bring my hi-lighter and something to scribble notes on, and head to an Italian restaurant near my university. The prices are a little high, but generally, the food is good, the service is fine, and atmosphere is perfect for a bit of studying. I like to go at about 2:00 after the lunch rush has filtered out and order something like lasagna that takes a long time to make. I sit and read my journal article, and chill.

Thursday, I decided to have lunch there and noticed that they have calzones on the menu. A choice of mushroom or seafood. The picture actually looked pretty good. The crust looked as it should, and I thought what the heck, why not.

I sat and read and realized just how hungry I was as the food was delivered to the table next to me. Finally, the owner brought me the dish. It was white. The crust looked more like dough than a crust. Not a hint of color. Well, so much for that. What about the filling--hopefully it will compensate. It didn't. The sauce was just a standard red pasta sauce (which in this restaurant's case is not bad on pasta). Pasta sauce is not pizza sauce. It lacks the tomato paste to thicken it up making it too watery. This problem is made worse in a calzone that has not been given proper ventilation to let the steam out while cooking. Sadly, none of this really bothered me much because it is pretty much the norm here. Fancy-schmancy Italian restaurants rarely make good pizzas in Korea. Their crusts are not very good and they don't seem to use tomato paste. Calzones here can simply be pizza folded in half and served soggy, or something completely different. I've had it served with arugula, cherry tomatoes, and balsamic vinegar on top. I've had it with a white garlic sauce that really seems to have just been ground up raw garlic. None of that bothers me as much as the mistake made by the restaurant on Thursday. For a mushroom pizza, they used pengi mushrooms (팽이버섯 a.k.a. Enoki mushrooms in Japan). These mushrooms are ok.

In Korean food.

They have no place in an Italian restaurant.

Ever.

rough start to a day

2011-02-18T21:16:00.002+09:00

It is a strange feeling to wake up paralyzed in one's left arm. I felt like what I imagine an amputee must feel: nothing. I willed my arm to move and it wouldn't. I tried to move my fingers and they did not move at all. Not even a twitch. It wasn't that they were numb that bothered me, it was that I actually could not move my arm at all.

After a few moments of massaging my arm, trying to pull the blood back into the arteries, I started to get pins and needles. Then I could move my arm at the shoulder, and then slowly I regained control inch by inch until I could wriggle my little fingers.

That is how I started my day.
At 5:30 this morning.
Just try falling back to sleep after that.

I'm never experienced such a feeling, and hopefully, it doesn't happen again. I was not really worried, as I pretty much knew what had caused it--my own body weight. You see, I sleep on my side. I always have. But for some reason, I'd rolled over on my arm and must have cut off every bit of blood and pinched just the right nerves. I was not worried because earlier in the night, I'd awakened to numbness in my right arm as I had been sleeping on the other side and must have done something similar. Why was last night different from every other night of side-sleeping slumber? I have no idea.

I got up, made coffee, toasted a bagel and flipped on the news. It's funny, but one of my favorite parts of the day is the early morning. Breakfast alone watching the news. The funny thing is that I really can't understand most of what they are saying on the news. I mean, I can follow the stories in the macro level--some of the time. Sometimes I know exactly what they are talking about, while still there are those stories where I got nothing from it at all. No hints from the videos or pictures even. What is worse is when I think I know what the story is about, but really missed it all together. This morning was really no different. The weather, the traffic. Two teens kidnap a 12-year-old and try to sell her into prostitution.

Wait a minute. What? That caught my attention this morning as I watched the news. It made me open up the computer and see what I could find on line. The Joonang Ilbo (linked above) tells the story, and GI Korea has this to say:

Read the rest at the link, but there is just so much wrong with this entire crime besides what the two middle school drop outs did. How could nobody at Lotte World have noticed the kidnapping? How come the taxi driver didn’t do anything? Why didn’t the hotel operator question why these young girls were renting a room from them? Also the men that raped this 12 year old girl are just as bad as the perpetrators that kidnapped her.

I couldn't agree more. There is so much wrong with this story on every level. Not only should the girls be punished, but the guys should be castrated.

So now, looking ahead.
It is the last truly free weekend before the start of a new semester. Well... sort of. There is next weekend, but I never feel as though I can relax the weekend before a semester starts. This semester even more so as I'm actually starting a new job. I'll be teaching something I haven't really done before in a way that is a little different.

Other than a hair cut, I have nothing planned. I told my wife I was going to be very busy this weekend (and next) only because I knew she was planning on getting me to do something with our 18-year-old nephew whose parents have left him alone in Korea for three months. I am busy doing anything but entertaining him. What should I do?

If one has nothing to say...

2011-02-11T01:29:00.002+09:00

Post pictures!

This being the calm before the storm, I haven't really been doing much lately. Sure, I had a training session earlier in the week for something that I'm not supposed to talk about (and even had to sign something accordingly). This second week of February is really a nice relaxing week though. From next week, I'll be getting busy with a new semester. I'll have planning to do, meetings to attend, and even an orientation that is a two-day, overnight event.

(I didn't say I'd post recent photos!)

I just found it on my computer and noticed something interesting.

Every business on the first three floors of this building have failed and changed since this picture was taken in 2008. Some of them have changed hands two or three times since this was taken. The next time I walk there, I'll snap another picture. (to be honest, I don't even know why I took this picture in the first place. It looks as though I was driving, actually.)

This one isn't so new either. I just wanted to think about the spring.

I also couldn't help but wonder what the inline skating police officers do in the winter.

This is a recently opened temple facility near my house. It is kind of like a Buddhist hotel.

Stay and Pray.

Driving home one day:

Yeoeuido

a few days in my life

2011-02-09T00:59:00.002+09:00

Sue in the parking lot.

I almost bought one of these:

I'm glad I went with the Audi instead.

Parking lot 3

Where I work:

Looking the other direction:

The pond, frozen:

My home office:

Needs tidying.

The other direction:

The subway transfer:

This car looks full, but it wasn't. During rush hour, the could fit a few dozen more people in:

Inside the Korean Chamber of Commerce building:

E-learning Tools for Schools

2011-02-07T20:03:00.003+09:00

From the great Daniel Craig (not James Bond), I bring you a great mind map by Jesper Isaksson. The map is three layers deep. I reccomend you go to the actual mindomo page to view it full screen to see all three levels.

The map shows many of the great tools that can be used by schools, in the classrooms, by teachers, by students, or by... who else is left?

codebase= 'http://fpdownload.macromedia.com/get/flashplayer/current/swflash.cab' classid = 'clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000' width = '100%' height = '100%'>

You can still click through things on this page, but it is pretty small. Like I said above, go look at the full screen version at the mindomo page. I have used several of he sources listed... several... well maybe some of them. I have used blogs with classes, created networks on Ning, flickr, voice threads, YouTube (of course), and many more. I don't feel like listing the ones I've used since it makes me notice all the resources that I have not used. To any teacher who struggles with students who lack motivation, or find that there just aren't enough class hours in the week, or you just want to mix things up a little, check out the sources on the mind map. As we all know, every class is different and every situation is unique. There are so many things we can use for our classes that take a little work to get rolling, but end up making our classes more enjoyable for our students and easier for the teacher to facilitate. But they do take a little advanced planning.

Here's the course I'm creating now. It's a the first semester of a two-semester program for English majors at a Korean university. A Korean Women's university where I happen to work. If you know me, you know which one it is. It is meant to be an 'integrated English course.'

We'll start with autobiographies. (Actually to be fair, we'll start with introductions, getting to know each other activities, and other anxiety-reducing tasks--but that should be a given.)
The students will read an autobiography of someone that the students are all familiar with. We'll also be using some clips from Snow * to supplement, where they can hear people talking about events in their own lives in very autobiographical ways. You know... past tense narratives. Then of course, students will have to write their own autobiographies. This is good at the beginning of the semester because they are freshmen just starting out in university. Many are comfortable talking about their lives because they know about it. I have been teaching long enough to know that not everyone has had wonderful lives that they want to share. But everyone has had at least one experience that they want to share. It could be a weekend or even an afternoon. The only rule I have is that it happened to them. Not their brother or best friend, or in their imagination. Those stories will come out next semester. Most importantly for the theme of this blog post (using technology in the classroom) is the fact that I'm adding to my classroom hours by having them follow lectures outside of class. This helps with listening comprehension as well as with content of the course. I have picked some inspiring talks for them to listen to, so hopefully they will enjoy it.

The next part of the semester focuses on the present tense. The students will use magazines and newspapers for the reading component, will listen to stories on NPR and BBC outside of class, and will create a class newspaper. Things that are happening in and around campus. Things that are happening in society that the students are interested in. But don't forget that for this part of the course, they are to be listening to English radio (even TBS Efm will find its way in) to supplement their exposure to English. This is four weeks of the semester**.

And finally, there is the future. What are their dreams and hopes for the future. What do they want to do with their lives? How are they going to achieve their childhood dreams? These two questions will be explored in a book, Snow lectures, in class discussions, in an essay, and in a final presentation.

A few notes here. I'm being purposefully vague with reference to the books we'll be reading because I wouldn't want anyone to steal my idea exactly. Feel free to do something similar, but wouldn't want someone to do the exact same thing as me! Also, I happen to know what the students will be doing in their other English classes. Yes, that is right, my course is in addition to the mandatory English classes that all students take their first year. The first semester in that program is discussion and presentation. I can give them a presentation assignment in my class and not worry about assessing them on their presentation skills--that is being handled in their General English Program course. I can just focus on the content that they are delivering. I also don't have to worry about teaching good discussion skills because I know that they will be getting those in the other classes.

Four weeks spent on the past, four on the present, and four on the future. I'm so excited to be doing this course. AND to be integrating some non-traditional resources into the curriculum. Additionally, we'll be using some class network as well. Ning has just changed to a pay service, and though I used it last semester for one class (and paid), I don't expect to do it again for all of my classes. I'm currently shopping around to see which one will offer the right kind of support and framework for what I plan to do with the classes. Any suggestions?

* Snow is a website that has TED talks, lectures and speeches from top universities around the world, and other political speeches as well. It is a pet project of the university and when I gave my course proposal, it made them very happy that I was including it in the curriculum, which may have helped me get the new job.
** A 15-week semester is really only 12 weeks of 'real' classroom time. The first week is all about passing out syllabi, introducing the course, myself, each other, etc. Then there is midterm week, where there usually are no classes. Finally, there is... finals. (Sorry for the pun). Finals week is the same as midterm week--no regular classes

Ch-Ch-Changes

2011-02-06T23:33:00.001+09:00

I have made a few changes to the layout of the blog, as you may have noticed. Little tweaks here and there to help things line up better. I've rearranged some of the stuff on the side also.

Most importantly, I changed the blog links. I added some photography sites that I like, though I have to admit that I wasn't sure if I should put Paul Ajosshi or Hanpig2000 in the photography section of Korean Blog section. They both may move. Or not. If you have a favorite photography blog that you would like to recommend, please tell me in the comments. I'd love to check them out. The digital photography school site is on my google reader, so I get the updates daily. It is a great resource. I know that there are a lot more sources out there. I expect the link list to grow. If one is interested in taking pictures having regular pictures to look at is a great way to inspire yourself to take more pictures, try new techniques, as well as simply see the world a little differently. I also have some flickr feeds that I check out regularly (Urban Seoul, Korean Photo Club, and Korea Images for example). One of them actually meets regularly (Flickr in Seoul) for shooting trips. One of these days...

I also added a section dedicated to food. Fatmanseoul is not there, as the site was down. I don't know if it is a permanent thing or if it is just down for the time being. I'll check back in a few days and if it's up and running, I'll add it. Damn. I just checked it and it is up again. I'd better add it. I removed twelve Korean blogs because they had either moved on from Korea (and the focus has shifted), they have stopped blogging more than a year ago, or the link was no longer active. I've added plenty of new links to blogs that have popped up in the last few years that I've previously neglected. Cultural (in)Differences has a clever name and cartoons that kind of, sort of remind me of hyperboleandahalf, but not as ironic. They are relatively new to Korea and the blog content still has a little of that noobe feel (not meant to be an insult). Also in Korea since 2009 is the WaygookEffect which seems interesting as well, as it has a lot of pop culture-related posts. It has a korean blog list that is full of blogs that I am unfamiliar with that I look forward to perusing. I'll add to my link list as appropriate.

I have removed a few blogs that are somewhat popular blogs, but I just didn't enjoy them anymore. You know the ones... blogs that start off promising and then fail to meet expectations? Let me explain a little. I like reading blogs by people who have just come to Korea. They see everything as brand new and exciting. They make the same blunders that I made years ago. It is quite refreshing to read such blogs. They encourage me to get out and do more. The longer I remain in Korea, the more it all just becomes life. I fail to notice the truly strange and wonderful things that are happening around me. The new blogs (such as the ones I mentioned above) are great for that. However, some bloggers, and I suppose expats in general, seem to make the transition from seeing everything as new and exciting to seeing everything as different and wrong. Some end up staying just one year, others two. A few seem to stay far longer than they should, and they continue to write about how the world they live in is so ~~horrible~~ difficult.

(I also have to admit that I accidentally deleted the whole list, so when I rebuilt it, I may have left some off that I didn't actually mean to.)

Finally, I have kept the education-related blogs. In fact, I have culled a few dead links as well as added a few new ones to it. I'm sure that list will continue to grow just as the others will.

The Difference between the United Kingdom, Great Britain and England Exp...

2011-02-06T18:05:00.000+09:00

Those of us who teach English in Korea will undoubtedly be asked about the difference between the UK, Great Britain, and England at some point. Those of us that are Americans may be confused by this question, so here is a quick video to help.
(If you want the video complete with script, click here.)
<p>&amp;amp;amp;lt;br&amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;lt;br&amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;lt;div class="zemanta-pixie"&amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;lt;img src="http://img.zemanta.com/pixy.gif?x-id=1d91f7be-78b7-8158-a9c0-a5f7b90f1cd6" alt="" class="zemanta-pixie-img"&amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;lt;/div&amp;amp;amp;gt;</p>

Lunar New Year at the In-laws

2011-02-05T19:41:00.001+09:00

Traffic wasn't too bad this year for some reason. Perhaps we just missed the heavy times. We headed down to my mother-in-law's house for the holiday on Seolnal morning. Seoul to Pyeongtek an hour of stress-free driving. We got there and had some breakfast, though the rest of the gang had already eaten and the men-folk were at the ancestor's grave doing the ritual. We just ate.

Then I went into the other room and took a nap for a couple of hours. Any foreign husbands can back me up here, it is part of the holiday tradition and is usually encouraged. I took no pictures of the any of the ceremonies or the holiday food layout because frankly it is pretty much the same as it is every year and the family has long since grown sick of my taking pictures of such things. There were so many things I could have taken pictures of this trip, but couldn't be bothered. Because my in-laws live in a small farming village surrounded not just by rice paddies, but by beef, dairy, and chicken farms (which are fortunately all located just over the hills from the house so there isn't much of a smell), there were plenty of set-ups on the roads that spray disinfectants on the cars to help stem the spread of hoof and mouth disease. (As the son and grandson of Ag folks, I choose to use the proper term. Cows and swine don't have feet. they have hooves; therefore the correct term for the disease is hoof and mouth, not foot and mouth disease). That is another story.

I drove through these:

but didn't take any pictures. I stole the pic from that interweb thingie. Click on it to go to the original article.

I did take a few pictures of things that I found interesting. First was my nieces and nephew fascinated with the screen saver on my notebook. I guess they'd never seen 3D pipes before. I thought it was cute because they were all still in their hanboks laying there watching the screen for about 25 minutes before I went back to work (studying... trying to keep my 3-hour per day reading up during vacation).

Take a look at the little cuties:

They boy was old enough not to be as spellbound, but I think had nothing else to do. The little girls were amazed though.

Then in the evening, there was a barbecue. Someone had acquired a whole box of oysters and scallops. They were cooked over the fire while a table was set up in the greenhouse.
It is still winter afterall, and though the temperatures during the day were the first above freezing in a month, it still got quite chilly for a barbecue. We've done it before, but I still get a kick out of it.

Since a proper grill isn't such a great thing to have inside, we used the electric one to re-heat some jeon and cook some bulgogi. (Which I added a nice cup of red wine to when nobody was looking--now they're all hooked!)

My sister-in-law and and I hamming it up a little.

Pouring the soju right in. Who needs little paper cups?

Whoa.

Then there was chapchae added. Honestly, I love the stuff, but not the best thing for a barbecue.
But then

... someone added hot dogs, and that fixed everything.

Wine.
Makkoli.
Soju.

We all slept well that night.

Some more photography

2011-02-05T18:36:00.001+09:00

When you click on a picture, it takes you to my flickr page, where you can see many more pictures.

Here are a few more pictures from my trip to Hwaseong last month with Sean.
This is part of the wall on top of the hill.

Looking the other way:

Two Canons and a Sean.

It was cold; my skin was dry.

These are on the ceiling of the gate going into Hwaseong Fortress.

A blue dragon:

a black and blue dragon:

After a day in the cold taking pictures, Galbi.

Some photography

2011-02-04T11:55:00.001+09:00

My Return

2011-02-04T11:32:00.001+09:00

Happy Lunar New Year!
새해 복 많이 받으세요!

I thought that Facebook would be a suitable substitute for my blogging. That has proven not to be true. I find that I often have things to say that just don't fit with a little wall post on Facebook.

So I'm back. I foresee a few differences though. I won't be keeping up with the university working conditions any more. It really does take a lot to keep them updated (even if it is only twice a year that I update them). I was getting daily emails about university jobs, how to get them, inquiries about specific openings, or the like and I just sort of ran out of patience with them.

I foresee this blog reflecting more of my studies, whatever direction that ends up taking. At this point, I've been focusing my research on EFL writing, collaborative writing, and affective filters as they apply to writing (instead of speaking as they are usually associated). I have to admit that doesn't sound like it will make for interesting blog posting. Keeping up with a blog does keep my writing. If I am writing regularly, it is easier to get into the right mindset to do the writing that I have to do for my studies.

I've been getting back into photography, so I'll post pictures regularly.

I'll be starting a new job this semester, so I'm sure I'll be writing about that. I'm still at the same university, but have been offered a job in the English Language and Literature department (before I was the curriculum coordnator and a teachcer in the General English Program which taught the required English courses to all university students. Now, I'll be teaching only English majors.) It is not only a new position for me, but it is also a new position for the department. As with anything new, there will undoubtedly be bumps in the road, and I'm sure I'll have things to share.

I'm working on the new National English Proficiency Test. I can't talk about it though, so don't expect any inside information.

I'll be updating my sidebar links to other Korean Blogs. It is incredibly out of date. Several of the bloggers have returned to the US/Canada/wherever. In the past few years, there are several others that have popped up that are worthy of a link.

The end is not quite the end.

2010-08-10T12:10:00.004+09:00

As you no doubt have realized, this blog is in its downward slope, almost ready for retirement. I'm not going to kill it off; I will probably continue to update the University Working Conditions list (Thanks to those that have sent in updates, I know the info hasn't all been posted yet).

There are a few reasons for my lack of Blogging. First is time. Some of you who know me personally know that I've started a doctoral program. It is not an on-line program, but instead it is part time and requires trips between Korea and England regularly. If you think about how much work you had to do as an undergraduate, double it for a Master's degree (in half the amount of time). For a doctorate, double that again, but then stretch it out again to four years. You can imagine that blogging about a trip to the market is not quite as high on my priority list as it used to be. Don't get me wrong, I still love going to markets, but I jut don't feel like blogging about it anymore.

Second, I'm not really doing as much interesting stuff as I was. The first two years in a foreign land are exciting. Everything is new; everything is an adventure. By the ninth year, life in Korea is just life. Seeing that cool temple is nice, but after a few dozen temples, the 'value' of the next one has certainly 'diminished.' (can you tell I used to teach economics?) I do plan to take a bit of a vacation next week and head out of the city for six days, and I will certainly post pictures on my flickr page, but I really doubt I'll blog about it.

Finally, and this is probably the most important reason for my lack of blogging over the past year or so, is the fact that I've got so many social networks that I'm a part of, I don't feel the need to blog as much. My original purpose of the blog was to give my friends and family back home a regular update on my life. That is how my posts were tailored until about 8 months into it, I realized that nobody back home--particularly my family--ever read the thing. I was upset and didn't post for a while. Then serendipitously, a colleague mentioned that he stumbled across my blog and found it interesting. That gave the blog new life and made me realize that I could have a different focus. And so it went. But now, things have changed. I've got a facebook account that serves the original purpose of my blog. Even my mother is on facebook! Also, a good number of people I've met through KOTESOL friends are now facebook friends. It is serving the need that this blog used to fill.

I'll leave you with a post from 10 magazine that shows the growth of the number of foreigners in Korea. Seeing these numbers actually explains a lot of the differences in life here. Differences in how people respond to seeing someone different (I don't remember the last time I had a kid point to me and say "Ooh, waegook saram: " When was the last time an old man stopped in his tracks to stare at me as I passed? I don't remember. The availability of international foods, whether in restaurants or supermarkets has also grown exponentially. Here, take a look

I got here in 2001. The number has doubled since then, or more than doubled, actually. Here's another interesting image:

I wonder if the US Military is counted in that statistic. There are something like 30,000 US military personnel who live here (Might be 35k, I don't remember off the top of my head). Does anyone know if they are factored in this statistic?

The asterisk next to the Chinese number is to indicate that the number shown does not include the 376,563 Korean Chinese that live here. Interesting stuff.

Finally, I will continue to blog, but it is going to be a very different sort of blog. As I mentioned above, I've got to be reading a lot these days. Not pleasure reading either. I plan to keep a reading diary of the journal articles that I read. When I get that set up, I'll add a link here.

Maybe.

Beijing China What one girl does when it's hard to find parking

2010-06-30T19:01:00.000+09:00

2010-06-22T18:39:00.003+09:00

To commemorate the anniversary of the Korean War, here is a gallery of images on Naver taken at the start of the war (and during).

Our Empathetic Evolution

2010-06-22T16:27:00.002+09:00

This video is great for two reason. First is the information itself. Second is the way in which it is presented.

Tell me if you agree or not.

Lovely beast

2010-06-04T19:27:00.001+09:00

here's a picture for the day. (taken from here)

OK, you are right. It has nothing to do with Korea.

Warning

2010-05-31T16:31:00.002+09:00

My wife and I were watching the evening news last night and they had a warning.

If you eat ice cream too quickly, it could give you a headache.

Seriously.

(I have to admit, since my wife doesn't really eat ice cream, it was actually news to her. )

1000 awesome things

2010-05-31T16:12:00.001+09:00

This is the most awesome site out there.

Enjoy it.

Enjoy it regularly.

2010 Guide to working conditions in Korean Universities

2010-05-06T00:50:00.002+09:00

Here is the update to the working conditions for universities in Korea. I'm putting the 2010 updates first, then I'll simply cut and paste the 2009 list below. I'll update this list over the next few weeks as the universities post their ads on Dave's, Work and Play, and other places.
Once the hiring season is over and I'm confident there will be no more postings, I'll integrate the 2010 info into the older list. Not a lot has changed, actually. A little more money here, a little less teaching hours there, but all in all, there isn't as much change as I'd hoped.

Here is what the information I tried to include for each entry:
University Name (city)
Minimum number of hours per week to teach
salary per month
Degree required (I have noticed that more and more universities are requiring an MA)
Vacation period: how many weeks per year. Some of these are a little unclear in the ads.
Housing: does the university provide free housing? a stipend? key money?

Anyang University (Foreign Language Education Center)
15 hours/wk plus English cafe, 2.3 BA/2.4 MA + 500k housing allowance, vacation: 16 weeks (camps optional), 2-year term limit

The Catholic University of Korea (Bucheon)
International Language Education Center
15 hrs/wk; 2.85mil per month BA or MA; Housing: may be available (for a fee)
Note: must teach one course during summer or winter

Chinju National University of Education (Jinju)
16 hrs/wk, 2.3 MA/2.0 BA, vacation: 12 weeks; housing: provided—furnished

Chonnam National University Language Education Center (Gwangju)
20 teaching hours/week; 2,071,000 to 2,256,000won depending on BA, MA and experience; Housing: single housing provided, Vacation: 8-10 weeks paid

Chonnam National University (Yeosu) Language Center
20 hrs/wk, 2,371,000 ~ 2,556,000, housing: provided, vacation: 8-10 weeks, Note: you’ll be teaching kids and uni students, Up to 1 million won air fare reimbursement

Chung Ang University Foreign Language Academy (Seoul)
Full time—“teaching hours and schedules can be decided upon negotiation” 2,830,000/month for BA or above, Housing: unspecified, vacation: unspecified

Daegu University
12 hrs/wk plus 4 hours of overtime; 2mil for BA+ 3years or 2.16 mil for MA +1year teaching exp; vacation: 16 weeks; housing: furnished on-campus or 300,000 stipend

Dong-A University (Busan)
12 hours per week, 2.3mil per month; MA only, Housing: 350,000 won stipend; Vacation: 4 months

Dongduk Women’s University (Seoul)
15 hrs/wk, 2.0-3.0 MA (depending on experience), housing: furnished provided (but NO housing stipend), Must teach during the summer or winter vacation, must hold a weekly 1-hour small group study session
Note: In the past, the ads said “must be bilingual” but this year, it states that applicants must be bilingual or native English-speaking, so I'm not sure what to make of it.)

Doowon Technical University (Ansong City and Paju)
16 hours/week; MA required; 2.75 mil won per month; housing: unspecified; Vacation: 6-8 weeks per year

Hansung University (Seoul)-
Institute of Language Education (univ. hogwon)
English Department
English Cafe
15 hrs/wk, 2.5 MA/2.4 BA, housing: university housing/300k stipend, vacation: 2 months

Hongik University (Seoul or Jochiwon)
12 hrs/wk, 3.2 mil for Seoul/ 3.6mil for Jochiwon, vacation: summer/winter Note: Class size: 15 students. Two year contracts offered, housing may be available, but charged 400,000 per month

Hongik University College of Business Administration (Seoul)
12 hrs/wk, 3.2 mil; MA required with a business major, vacation: summer/winter

Inha University School of Medicine (Incheon)
9 hours/week teaching and/or editing research work; MA or above education-related with a BS that is science-related; 3.01-3.12 mil/month; housing: not specified; vacation: fully paid

Juseong University (Cheong Ju) university credit, noncredit, adult, and TESOL classes
25 hours/week; 2,300,000won/month, MA preferred; Housing: Single provided; Vacation: 2 weeks in summer and 2 weeks in winter

Konkuk University Language Institute (Seoul)
18 hrs/wk in the credit program plus 4 hrs/wk in non-credit classes; Salary: unspecified; MA + 2years exp. teaching in Asia required; housing: 20mil key money provided

Korea University(Seoul) Enrichment Program (Teaching children and adults)
18 contact hours/week, 2,834,000 won/month with BA, Housing:450,000 won/month

Korea Aerospace University (Goyang)
15 hrs/wk; 2.75 mil per month with a BA; Housing: not specified; Vacation: 4 months

Korea Cyber University (Seoul)
Hours: ? MA or PhD (and no on-line degrees—which is odd coming from a cyber university) pay: 5,000,000 for developing a new course, 3,000,000 for a course that is re-used.

Kookmin University (Seoul)
12 hrs/wk (plus 10 office hours) Salary: 2.9 mil, BA + 5 years or MA +2.5 years experience; Vacation: unspecified Note: contract renewable up to three times, preference for Canadians; “There is 13 hours of overtime per week during the semester.”

KyungHee University (Seoul)
12 hrs/wk, 3.01 mil per month, MA mandatory; vacation: 8 weeks; housing: basic furnished

Kyungnam University (Masan)
15 hours/week; 2.05 with BA, 2.15 with MA; Housing: provided on-campus or300k stipend; Vacation: “Faculty members can be asked to teach a minimum of eight weeks during vacation periods per contract year. All vacation work is paid extra at the overtime rate.” Note: airfare is subsidized.

Pusan University of Foreign Studies TESOL department
15 classes per week (but they are 75-min classes); 2.7-3.0, MA or higher in TESOL; housing: provided—furnished, vacation: 50 days

Seoul Women's University
English Language and Literature Department/TESOL
12 hours/week, two semesters per year; MA in TESOL or English Literature; 30,381,000 won per year; housing: provided or 500,000 won monthly stipend

Seoul Women's University
SWELL (language center)
16 hours/week in two 12-week semesters and two 6-week semesters; MA or BA plus 3 year's university teaching experience; 30,381,000won per year; housing: provided or 500,000 won monthly stipend

Sogang University (Seoul)
15 hours/week; 2.5-2.9 mil/month with MA; Housing: 10 mil won key money provided for off campus housing; Vacation: 2 months in winter, 2 in summer

Sookmyung Women’s University (Seoul)
General English Program
15 hrs/wk, 2.74 MA, 2.64 BA+3yrs Uni experience, housing: stipend is included in the quoted salary, units are available in the university international faculty dorms, vacation: 12 weeks

Note: Class size capped at 16 for freshmen courses, 25 for others, some winter/summer “committee” work is expected, but doesn't have to be done in Korea—so the vacation period is closer to 20 weeks with the expectation that during the vacation period, teachers will prepare for the upcoming semester. I know this because this is where I teach, am the curriculum coordinator, and am on the hiring committee.

Soongsil University (Seoul) Baird University College at Soongsil University
15 hrs/wk; Must have MA; 3,083,000 won per month; Housing: unspecified; vacation: 16 weeks (8 weeks in summer & 8 weeks in winter) Class size: average 40

Ulsan University of Science and Technology
18 hrs/wk, 2.7-3.0 mil won per month; Vacation: 8 weeks; housing provided or 300,000 stipend

University of Incheon
16 hrs/wk, 2.5 for MA or higher, housing: 300k, vacation: summer/winter, but must work 2 weeks during one of them.

And Here is the 2009 list.

Andong National University (Language Center)
18 hrs/wk, 2.0 MA/1.9 BA, housing: provided, vacation: 8 weeks

The Catholic University of Korea (Bucheon)
15 hrs/wk, 3.5 MA or higher, housing: may be provided, vacation: 4 months

The Catholic University Institute of Foreign Language Education
15 hrs/wk, 2.685/month, housing: ‘may be available,’ vacation: unspecified, but teachers
must work one 48-hour summer or winter camp

The Catholic University of Korea English Language and Literature Department
15 hrs/wk, 2.92/month (MA or PhD only), housing: ‘may be available,’ vacation: 8 weeks)

Catholic University of Daegu
18 hrs/week, 1.9-2.0/month, housing: two bedroom apartment, vacation: ‘during school vacation’

Changwon National University Language Center
18 hrs/wk, 2.1, housing: included, vacation: not specified (but teachers required to teach 12 hrs/week during vacation)

Cheju National University (English department)
12 hrs/wk, 2.1, housing: 300k allowance, vacation: summer/winter

Cheju National University (Language Center)
20 hrs/wk, 2.1, housing: on-campus, vacation: 4 weeks

Chinju National University of Education
16 hrs/wk, 2.3 MA/2.0 BA, housing: provided—furnished, vacation: paid summer/winter

Chonnam National University (Gwangju) Language Center
20 hrs/wk, 2.1-2.25, housing: provided, vacation: 8-10 weeks

Chonnam National University (Yeosu) Language Center
20 hrs/wk, 2,371,000 ~ 2,556,000, housing: provided, vacation: 8-10 weeks, severance and airfare reimbursement provided. Note: you’ll be teaching kids and uni students, Up to 1 million won air fare reimbursement

Chonbuk Nat’l Univ (Jeonju)
26 hrs/wk, 2.1 MA /2.0 BA, housing: furnished on campus, vacation: 10 weeks

Chungbuk Nat’l Univ (Cheong-ju)
20 hrs/wk, 2.0-2.2 plus settlement fee, housing: unspecified, vacation: 8 weeks
Note: classes are non-credit courses

Chuncheon National University of Education
16 hrs/wk, 2.2 MA /2.1 BA, housing: provided—furnished, vacation: 8 weeks
Chungnam National University (Daejeon)
20 hrs/wk, 2.5 MA / 2.1 BA, housing: on-campus housing provided, vacation: unspecified

Daegu National University of Education
16 hrs/wk, 2.2 MA/2.0 BA, housing: unspecified, vacation: unspecified

Dong guk University, Gyeongju
12 hrs/wk (usually with 2-4 hrs of OT in freshmen English classes, plus a mandatory 4 hours a week of hogwon classes which rotate amongst teachers), 2.5 starting, vacation: unclear. There are a lot of mandatory classes to be taught during the ‘vacations.’

Dongduk Women’s University (Seouol)
15 hrs/wk, 2.0-3.3 MA (depending on experience), housing: furnished provided (but NO housing stipend), Note: must be bilingual

Duksung Women's University
18 hrs/wk, 2.0-2.1 housing: provided, furnished, vacation: 9 weeks

Ewha Womens University (Seoul)
12 hrs/wk, 3.3 MA, housing: not provided, no allowance, vacation:12 weeks, but must work one month during one vacation.

Gwangju Institute of Science and Technology (GIST)
15 hrs/week, 2.6-2.7, MA/PhD only, housing: on-campus provided, no allowance for off-campus, vacation: 9 weeks (there is one summer/winter session that must be worked)

Gwangju National University of Education (GNUE)
12 hrs/wk; 2.4+; housing allowance or key money (20 mill) offered, 10-12 weeks vacation, though teachers may have teacher training during summer/winter vacation.

Gyeongsang National University, (Jinju)
372 hours in 6 months (18-27 hrs/wk), 2.0-2.1, housing: on-campus furnished, vacation: 6 weeks (but summer or winter will be split one week + two weeks) (There is an additional ad for only one semester at 30k per hour)

Handong Global University (Pohang)
16 hrs/wk, 2.78 MA +1.5 yrs exp/1.8 BA+4.5yrs exp, housing: provided, Vacation: 12 weeks
Note: Faculty must attend a retreat appx 2 weeks prior to the start of the semester, I assume this isn’t factored into the 12 weeks per year of vacation. Also, there is a 3-week intensive session that teachers must teach “if called upon to do so”

Hankuk University of Foreign Studies
Graduate School of Education-TESOL dept.(MA or above only, TESOL)
12 hrs/wk (including Sat.), 2.5, housing: not provided, vacation: unspecified

Hankuk University of Foreign Studies (Yongin) Academy for Global Education
20 hrs/wk, 2.3/month, housing: provided (first year) and stipend offered from second year,
vacation: 8 weeks

Hansei University (Gunpo)- after school program
20-22 hrs/wk, 2.2 MA/2.0 BA, housing: provided—furnished, vacation: 6 weeks
(Mostly responsible for children, but may have uni classes too)

Hanseo University (Seosan)
20 hrs/wk, 2.5, housing: studio offered, vacation: 8 weeks

Hansung University (Seoul)-Institute of Language Education
15 hrs/wk, 2.5 MA/2.4 BA, housing: university housing/300k stipend, vacation: 2 months

Hanyang University (Seoul) Freshmen English Department
12 hrs/wk, 2.4, housing: dorm or allowance (200k), vacation: 20 weeks

Honam University (Gwangju)
20 hrs/week, 2.3, housing: on campus, vacation: 4 weeks (compared to last year, the salary is 300k/month more, but the teaching hours went up, too.)

Hongik University (Seoul)
12 hrs/wk (but can be 3 or 4 days/week), 2.8, housing: none provided, vacation: summer/winter (and max of 15 students per class)

International TESOL College (Busan)
12 hrs/wk, 3.0 MA/PhD, housing: provided, vacation: unspecified

Jeonju University
17 hrs/week, 1.6-2.5, housing: provided or 300k stipend, vacation: 20 weeks; 2-year contract (renewable up-to six years)

Kangwon National University (Chun Cheon)
18 hrs/week, 1.8 BA, housing: partially furnished, vacation: 4 weeks

Konkuk University (Seoul) Language Institute
18 hrs/wk credit classes +4 hrs non-credit classes , MA 2.75 mil + 30,000/hr for non-credit classes; housing: 20 mil key money provided, Vacation: unspecified. Note: Ad states it is a 14 month period of employment with two contracts. July-August contract and then September 1-August 31 contract. This would be a red flag for me.

Kongju National University
18 hrs/week, 2.5-2.8 (depending on overtime), housing: provided, vacation: 10 weeks

Institute of Int’l Language Education
25 hrs/wk, salary: 2.0-2.2 BA(depending on overtime), housing: one bedroom dormitory provided, vacation: 10 weeks; airfare provided

Kookmin University (Seoul)
15 hrs/wk (including office hrs) Salary: unspecified, Vacation: unspecified
Note: contract renewable up to three times

Korea University (Seoul) Institute of Foreign Language Studies (IFLS)
18 hrs/week, 3.26/mo for first year(3.44/mo from second year), housing: available ‘at market price,’ vacation: two months

Korea University (Seoul) Enrichment program (non-credit classes)
28 contact hours/week (split between adult and children classes), 2,3/month, housing: 360k,
vacation: 4 weeks

Korea National University of Education (Cheongwon, Chungbuk)
18 hrs/wk minimum, 2.7/2.5/2.3 (depending on edu and experience), housing: provided on-campus, vacation: 30 days (15 days in summer, 15 days in winter)

Korea Polytechnic University (Siheung)
18 hrs/wk, 2.0-2.3, housing: provided, vacation: 2 weeks
Kunsan National University Language Center
30 hrs/wk minimum, 2.0, housing: provided, vacation: 10 weeks (teaching kids, adults, and non-credit uni classes)

Kwandong University (Gangneung, Gangwon do)
16 hrs/wk, 2.3 (MA preferred), housing: provided or allowance, vacation: summer/winter, but one must be worked

Kwangju Women’s University (Gwangju)
15 hrs/week, 1.7-1.9, housing: furnished dormitory provided, vacation: 6 weeks
Kyung Hee University (Seoul)
15 hrs/week, 2.6 mil (MA holders only), housing: 300k or studio, vacation: 16 weeks

Kyungnam University (Masan)
15 hr/wk,1.75 to 1.95 mil, housing: provided or 300k stipend, vacation: 12 weeks

Kyungpook National University (Daegu)
21 hrs/week, 2.1/2.0, housing: provided, vacation: 8 weeks

Namseoul University (Cheonan)
15 hrs/week, 2.0 MA/1.5 BA, housing: furnished, vacation: 5 months

Myongji University (Yongin)
16 hrs/wk, 2.25-2.4 MA or BA+3yrs uni experience; housing: furnished provided; vacation: not stated

Pai Chai University (Daejeon)
9 hrs/week, 2.09 MA, housing: furnished one room university housing or 300k subsidy, vacation: 2 months (ad suggested that 3 hours a week of overtime was expected at a rate of 204k/mo)

POSTECH (Pohang University of Science and Technology)
12 hrs uni classes + 6-9 hours language center, 2.58 plus 35,000/hr for language center classes, housing: provided, vacation: after completing first two years, ‘you are eligible for a paid break during summer or winter.' whatever that means.

Pusan University of Foreign Studies
15 hrs/wk, 2.7-3.0, housing: provided—furnished, vacation: 8 weeks (TESOL department—MA or PhD in TESOL required)

Sangmyung University of Education
20-30 hrs/week, 2.4, housing provided, vacation: unspecified

Seoul National University of Education
14 hrs/wk, 2.1-2.3/0.0, housing: 600k allowance, vacation: ‘paid summer and winter vacation’
Seoul National University of Education (TESOL dept.)
18 hrs/wk, 3.0 MA/PhD, housing: 500k stipend, vacation: 10 weeks paid (one month each summer/winter, one week in mid-October/May)

Seoul National University Medical School (Seoul) non-credit classes in language institute
hrs/wk not stated, 2.67 MA/2.47 BA, housing: 5-700k stipend, vacation: not stated

Seoul National University (Seoul) College English Program
12 hrs/wk, 2.48 MA, housing: provided or at least 600k stipend, vacation: 20 weeks

Seoul Women's University
20 hrs/week, salary: low, housing: off campus or allowance, vacation: guaranteed 5 weeks, but actually 10-12 (Information provided by user)

Sogang University (Seoul)
15 hrs/week, 2.9 MA, housing assistance: 10 mil key money or on-campus, vacation: paid winter and summer vacation with no teaching requirements

Sookmyung Women’s University (Seoul)
General English Program
15 hrs/wk, 2.74 MA, 2.64 BA+3yrs Uni experience, housing: stipend is included in the quoted salary, units are available in the university international faculty dorms, vacation: 12 weeks

Lingua Express (at Sookmyung)
18 hrs/wk (shorter semesters have seen longer weekly hours), 2.1, housing: 300k/month allowance, vacation: two months

Soongsil University (Seoul) Language Center
18 hrs/wk, BA or MA 1.9-2.3, housing: 350k/month or studio, vacation: 10 weeks

Soonchunhyang University (Asan) School of Global Education and Exchange
20 hrs/wk, 2.1, housing: provided, vacation: 10 weeks (includes teaching children in public schools)

Sungkyunkwan University (Seoul)
12.5 hrs/week, 2.7-2.8, Housing: None, no allowance, vacation: ~5 months

Tamna University (Jeju)
15 hrs/wk, $38,000/year, housing: provided on-campus, vacation: 8 weeks

University of Incheon
16 hrs/wk, 2.5 for MA or higher, housing: 300k, vacation: summer/winter, but must work 2 weeks during one of them.

Young Jin University (Daegu)
18 hrs/wk, 2,8 for MA, 3.0 for ABD , 3.5for Ph.D., housing: provided, furnished, vacation: 6 weeks (airfare is also provided)

Yonsei University International Education Center (Wonju)
24 hrs/wk, 2.2, housing: faculty housing, vacation: 12 weeks (Mixture of credit and non-credit adult classes)

Yonsei ELP (Wonju)
26 hrs/wk, 2.3-2.4 (BA required), housing: provided—furnished, vacation: 4 weeks (This is a language center program, for kids)

I hope this helps in your job search!

2010 Korean University Working Conditions update is in the works

2010-04-28T22:28:00.001+09:00

I'm currently in the process of updating my university working conditions list.
to see what I'm talking about, check out these: 2009 list and 2008 list)

If you are currently working in a Korean university, I'd like to know:

The name of the university, and the department, and the city in which it is located
number of hours you are contracted to work
monthly salary
housing - is it provided? what is the stipend offered?
vacation - how many weeks per year are you given off?
average class size
any notes that would be important to know, like whether or not teachers are expected to teach children, or if overtime is expected.

I do not want to know your name, stories about crazy directors, that the whole department has just fled. These might be useful to know, but I want to stick with the information that they would post in a job advertisement. I would hate to be the subject of a defamation lawsuit.

The reason I keep such a list is to help the expat in Korea know what is out there. It isn't that most departments actually have the power to grant a raise, but at least you know what is out there. There are also a number of people out there who are interested in making the switch from public school jobs to universities. If this is you, here are some other stories that you may be interested in:

finding a job
advice for those seeking jobs in Korean universities
more advice for applicants
about teaching in Korean universities

Any information you might have, please post in the comments or send me an email at joeseoulman(at)hotmail.com

Thanks

Typo Shmypo

2010-04-20T08:12:00.003+09:00

We all make typos, but this one is a doozie. (source here)

SYDNEY - An Australian publisher is reprinting 7,000 cookbooks over a recipe for
pasta with "salt and freshly ground black people."

That people obviously should have been pepper. Was that a case of MS Word autocorrecting or the spell check being done without really looking at the suggested word and the context? Who knows. This is the sort of thing that I see fairly regularly in my students' work and it always makes me chuckle a little. I have yet to discover a typo like this in a published book.

The article says that they are reprinting the book, but the books already on the shelves won't be recalled. I wonder if those first editions will be worth even more now.

Rock, Paper, Scissors

2010-04-09T08:10:00.003+09:00

In the land where Rock, Paper, Scissors is the ultimate decision maker, I saw this on someone's facebook and thought I'd post it here.

corned beef and cabbage

2010-04-05T19:50:00.002+09:00

Today I made corned beef and cabbage for dinner.
I must admit that I didn't do the corning (preserving) of the beef; that was done by a colleague. She made the brine and marinated it for about ten days before vacuum sealing it and freezing. Then she brought it to work for me!

(If you are used to pink corned beef, that is due to nitrates they put in to preserve the meat even more. This as Au Natural, hence the dark color.)

All in all, it was pretty good. I'm sorry to say that it was a bit salty. I followed an online recipe, but the corning process was undoubtedly different from what was used on this piece of meat. I still didn't add as much salt as the recipe called for, but still... too salty. It isn't as good as my mother's, of course. Though I must say, it has been more than 20 years since I've had it, and this is the first time I actually cooked the stuff.

Moment of Zen

2010-04-02T14:08:00.003+09:00

A "Moment of Zen" from The Daily show.

This from the late, great LBJ.

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart

Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c

Moment of Zen - Lyndon Johnson Orders Pants>

www.thedailyshow.com

Daily Show Full Episodes

Political Humor

Health Care Reform

Thesaurus to check out

2010-03-31T09:42:00.000+09:00

This is the best thesaurus in the (cyber)world.

http://www.lexipedia.com

Brewery in Ilsan

2010-03-28T22:51:00.001+09:00

A month or so back, Sue and I visited a nice little brew pub in Ilsan, right in La Festa shopping area. To be honest, this was not our first time here. It's been around for three or four years, and we've been there a half dozen times or so. This was just the first time I managed to take pictures. Though they were taken with my cell phone, they still turned out ok.

Their hardware was quite nice. A lot of copper here.

The beer itself was...

Well, it was just ok by Portland standards.

But compared to Hite, Cass, OB, etc, it was quite refreshing.

B-boys and Sookmyung gayageum players

2010-03-28T22:17:00.004+09:00

In my cyber-wanderings today, I stumbled across this video. It is Sookmyung Gayageum players, beatbox artist Eunjoon, DJ Lee Jangwe, and b-boys Last4One. A very interesting collaboration.
[Or at least that is who I think they all are. The Romanized spellings could be off, due to poor image quality as they showed the credits at the end.]

Enjoy

To be honest, I like the combination of the DJ, beatbox, and the Gayageum as much as I did the dancing.

The Devil's Car

2010-03-22T21:30:00.001+09:00

I couldn't help but wonder if he's driving a $90,000+ car, has he sold his soul to the Devil? Perhaps his number plate tells all.

(note, there were really only three 6s, not four. I changed the last number, just to protect myself from repercussions.)

old commercials

2010-03-16T19:17:00.002+09:00

Try to watch these without laughing.

gotta keep reading

2010-03-13T00:00:00.003+09:00

As an educator, especially one that teaches reading, I just love this:

Below is the inspiration behind this video. Absolutely amazing.

It is great watching Oprah's reaction as the flash mob grows from one person dancing to a small group, and gets bigger and bigger until the whole audience is part of it.

The middle school kids are cute, too. Imagine going to a school where something like that is put together. The teachers who organized it must be amazing, and the administration that supported them would be good to work for. I would assume that many of the kids would actually like going to school there--which would be amazing in and of itself.

Maybe I could say amazing just one more time.

The Continuing Saga

2010-03-09T21:16:00.001+09:00

Here's a little tale of my woes with trying to continue my education.

A year and a half ago, I applied for a doctoral program in the UK. Then I waited.

And waited.

I heard nothing back from them for four months. Finally, I inquired as to the status of my application. Apparently, they did not receive one of my recommendation letters. Had I not inquired, I never would have known. I learned my lesson. I have to follow up to make sure everyone sends the letters they should (which is a little awkward). They checked with the people in the program and told me that upon receipt of a positive letter, I am accepted. Woohoo! They received a very positive letter from a professor who is now lecturing in the UK herself.

They sent me the document that I needed to apply for a visa. It is a part time program; one which will see me traveling there twice a year for two years for taught modules and then again after my research is finished to defend my thesis/dissertation. Because it is part time, I would need only a visiting student visa. I asked them if I'd need to reapply for this visa every time I came. Then they said that I needed what is called a tier four student visa. You know--the type of visa that full time students need. I thought that was fine. It was more paperwork, but it gave me the opportunity to stay and work there if I wanted. I like having options (though the reality is that I really do need to stay here and work--and be a loving husband).

A side note--the UK changed their immigration and visa process in March 2009. This is right in the middle of my application. This little fact is key to the story.

I filled out the lengthy paperwork and took it to the UK visa processing center, which isn't actually part of the UK government. It is subcontracted by a Korean company. I submitted the form that I'd filled out online, but because I used Firefox, the forms didn't "look right" when printed, and I had to come back with them reprinted according to how the "should look."

Fine. I did that. I'd hate for the visa to be turned down because the application didn't look right. It should flow as smoothly through the hands of the person with the big rubber stamp as possible.

I returned the next day. New paperwork, new passport sized picture, the 400,000 won fee, and bank statements (translated into English) showing that I actually have enough money to support myself for the duration of the program. It turns out my passport didn't have an extra blank page. My fault, I should have checked. Though, it should be pointed out that on the previous day when my things were being reviewed, the very polite woman at the counter did not notice either.

I went to the US embassy. It was some holiday and they were closed.
I returned the next day and waited in line at opening time, and got extra pages added in no time at all. I went to work and taught a couple of classes, then returned to the processing center to submit my application that looked just right and my passport that had extra pages added. Plus my nice new photo and the four hundred bucks, naturally. The nice lady looked at my papers--they looked good. She looked at my passport, and smiled. She looked at the paperwork from the university and I heard the intake breath and the clicking of the tongue. Something was wrong. Something else.

What now, I wondered.

She showed me the checklist of everything that I needed and asked me to make sure everything was correct. I had spent hours looking at this checklist. I showed her my copy with everything literally checked off. She told me that I could submit my paperwork if I really wanted, but because of the changes with the UK Border Agency, they may take up to 60 working days. There was still something wrong with my paperwork, but she could not tell me exactly what it was, due to the fact that she was not actually part of the UK Border agency, only a subcontractor. Finally, she pointed to what was missing. My nationality was not printed on the document from the university, something that was one line of the 40-page instruction manual that went along with the application. I was told again that it might be accepted but it also might not. 60 working days (maybe, but maybe shorter). That is three months.

Crap. Classes started in three and a half months.

I came home and started a long email exchange with the university. Finally, I came to the point where I still didn't have the document, and it was too close to the start of classes for me to be able to continue. I postponed my studies.

I stewed. I got over it and accepted it as a blessing, as it provided me with time to go home for the holidays, time to completely revamp the curriculum at my university, and time to get things in order.

Jump ahead a year. In January, I started my correspondence again. I wanted to give myself plenty of time to jump through the various hoops that are dangled in front of me. I looked up the pdf document that stated that their visa letter must have my nationality printed on it. Found it. Check. I found the website where I'd downloaded it so I could put it in my email. I checked the online version of the same form I had at home. That clause was gone.

As of October of last year, the document from the university offering me a place of study does not need to have the nationality of the applicant.

Fuck me.
The whole problem that turned my hair one more shade closer to gray was now completely moot.
My visa letter was a year old though, so I still needed another one.

I contacted the people I'd exchanged so many emails with before. We're old friends now. I asked about the kids, the dog, and their holiday in Spain. The people in the office were doing fine and that they wouldd send my query to the appropriate people.

I heard nothing.

I waited a week and asked again. I got an apology and then a note saying that the immigration policy had changed again--that very day--and they were sorting things out to see how to proceed.

I waited another week and heard nothing.

Then I got a letter in my mail; a new visa letter. This one stated that I do not need a full time student visa, only a student visitor visa. I then got an email confirming that I only need a student visitor visa because I'll be staying less than six months per visit (one month in July, then 10 days in February/July/February)

OK, what do I have to do for a student visitor visa? Nothing. As an American citizen, I am not what is considered a 'visa national,' so I can enter the country and be issued a visitor visa upon my arrival. People who are visa nationals have to apply for a visa.

I'm elated, for sure. But to be honest, it is all a little anti-climactic. Why couldn't I have started last year? There was a point where I just wanted to say, screw it. I'm going and I'll sort it all out when I get there. Use a loud voice and be obnoxious. You know--be a stereotypical American traveler, right? Two things stopped me. First, I could not register unless I provided my visa info. Second, I'm not that sort of obnoxious person who would do that.

I hope this is food for thought for those who complain about the Korean immigration process. I now realize just how much it has improved over the years, how streamlined it really has become. Sure, we have to jump through hoops, but dealing with them has never really been like the UK Border Agency. (Or the US Immigration Service, from what I hear)

A new week, a new attitude

2010-03-09T07:52:00.003+09:00

The first week of the spring semester has officially come to pass. I'm happy to report that my classes seem quite wonderful, so far anyway. Class sizes were reduced, though not to the promised 16 due to the fact that there just weren't enough teachers to cover it (with reduced class sizes and a reduction in teaching load from five classes per week to four, it is no wonder). One extra student is not really a big deal, but that 17th student certainly groupings more difficult. Is it wrong for me to wish for one student to drop out of each class?

I'm always in a good mood at the start of a semester, and this one is no different. The eagerness that the students display is contagious. It is especially true in the spring semester as they are just starting university.

On another note, this morning is really quite chilly. I arrived this morning at 7:25 to a freezing office (don't ask why I was there so early). I thought that they usually turn on the heat at 7, so I was a little surprised. My office is in the northeast corner of the building with a concrete wall that seems to have not insulation. It gets quite cold in here. I spend the next 25 minutes grumbling to myself about how they must have turned off the heat for the season already.

Then I walked over to the heater and realized that I'd turned it off yesterday afternoon.

Which makes me think of an important philosophy for all expats to keep in mind. Sometimes it isn't the city, the culture, or the whole Korean world that is fighting against you. Sometimes it is just little misunderstandings or small f*ck-ups on an institutional scale that ruin ones day, week, or entire stay in this country. I have found that those that are the most successful and stay the longest in a seemingly everlasting cheerful mood are those that just sort of roll with the punches and not let the small things get to them.

Of course this is coming after a few months of seemingly everlasting sourness on my part. Maybe I just needed to remind myself to not get pissed off at the world for forgetting to leave the heat on and to just enjoy my day.

no need to stay clean, H1N1 isn't spreading much any more.

2010-03-05T20:43:00.001+09:00

I am sorry to say that my predictions were right. Once the swine flu worries die down, people will forget about the simple hygiene practices that went into effect in order to stop the spread of influenza. Over the past month or so, I have noticed more and more of the hand sanitizers that popped up last year are now empty. The sprays that one used to be able to clean off the shopping cart handles are now gone.
I guess since, according to this Yonhap news article, "Flu alert level lowered amid slowing spread of H1N1 virus," although the article does go on to say:

The ministry said that citizens are still required to keep up their personal hygiene to protect themselves from infection and to report to medical institutes immediately if they feel symptoms such as fever, coughing or sore throat.

But it is tough to do if there is no soap in most public facilities. These actions indicate that people are actually free to return to being walking cesspools of germs. OK, I exaggerate a little.

Quick classroom management techniques

2010-03-05T13:17:00.004+09:00

Here is a New York times video piece on great teaching techniques for classroom management.

Some good class management techniques: reading aloud, setting high expectations, calling on students, correcting behavior with and signals, and mixing joy and structure.

If you really want to incorporate such techniques, I recommend digging a little deeper in order to understand why they work, how they can be adapted to different age groups, and adapted for the EFL context (if necessary). Two of the clips show the importance knowing the students names, something that--admittedly--is my Achilles heel.

(HT to Dan for the link)

My mojo

2010-03-03T09:24:00.003+09:00

Eureka!

Start of a new semester

2010-03-03T09:08:00.000+09:00

Yesterday was the first day of a new semester. I love this time of year; the excited tension mixed with nervous energy of the students is electrifying. It is contagious. The new hairstyles and brand new clothes are proudly displayed while they look at their schedules and decipher building maps trying to find their classes. The shining sun seems to help the mood as well. When the first days of spring semester truly feel like spring, one cannot help but feel optimistic.

Yesterday, I was fortunate to teach a group of students for their very first university class. I take such responsibility greatly. I think it is my job to welcome them, yet scare them just a little. I have to show them that they are where they are supposed to be, starting a new chapter in their lives. They are no longer in high school and will not be coddled and pampered; their whole lives will not be scheduled for t hem by parents who are eager to ensure their success. They have more responsibilities now, yet at the same time, more freedom. It is an amazing time, and I feel fortunate to be part of that.

Sounds a little corny, I know—but it is the way I feel. Perhaps it is because I'm getting closer to that big 4-0, but I have to admit that the longer I teach, the more paternalistic I feel in my job as a teacher. I want them to succeed. When they try hard and do well, I feel proud. When they don't, I feel let down and disappointed.

Now, for day two. This is still a first day of classes as I'm about to meet two new groups. I'll go through my spiel about the semester, myself, expectations, the textbook, and all that fun. With a 50-minute class, there isn't enough time to start getting to know the students or to do any sort of ice-breaking activities that allow them to get to know each other. That will have to wait until their second day.

Stupid Americans

2010-02-23T11:18:00.002+09:00

Food for thought from Bill Maher.

Stupid vs. ignorant, there is a difference. The problem is that many don't know that they're ignorant, and others celebrate their ignorance, which is just plain stupid.

However, since the level of ignorance is getting to the point where it affects the whole world, things are getting frightening.

google toilet

2010-02-22T10:24:00.000+09:00

SNOW- Korean text for global lectures and TED presentations

2010-02-16T06:44:00.001+09:00

About three years ago, I stumbled across TED. There are so many great speeches there that are inspiring, informative, and just plain cool. As many of you know, there are also some ways that many of these can be used in our classes.

I made a discovery today while doing some editing work for a brochure. Apparently, my university is in the process of putting together a Korean language website that has all of the TED videos (and others). It is meant to expand students knowledge base, but also is meant to be a sort of community/public service project. The interpreting is done by students as part of an interpretation project. Because it is meant to help the community, it is open to all, not just students. Not only does it have the TED videos, but it also is linked to universities around the world, so you can see some other great lectures.

It's called SNOW. Currently it is in Beta, but it will be officially launched in March. I believe that they are working on actually providing a Korean translation of the videos, too. However, I'm not sure of when that will happen.

Take a look. Figure out how it could be useful to you.

Book you can read for free

2010-02-15T20:58:00.001+09:00

Now that the winter vacation is drawing to an end, I'll let you in on a little secret. I like reading. I love the fact that I have a job that allows me to read a lot, some of it for pleasure, some of it for work, but I actually like reading most of the education-related stuff I come across. I also like history. Perhaps because I work at a women's university, or maybe just because I'm a bit of a girl, I am also interested in gender studies.

For all of you with an interest in Kroean history and gender studies, I just found a book that is available on line as a pdf.

It's proving to be a good read.

Title: Gender and Mission Encounters in Korea: New Women, Old Ways
Author: Choi Haeweol
You can it in its entirety as a pdf document here: http://escholarship.org/uc/item/0q65z7q9

statue molesting

2010-02-15T12:08:00.002+09:00

Last week, we had some friends visiting from Australia. She's an old friend of my wife; together with her husband and two daughters have become pretty good friends with me as well. When they visit, we tend to spend a lot of time together.

After an evening out, we were walking back to their apartment (her sister's new apartment in a huge, mostly-unoccupied complex) and we came across this ugly piece of art.

Sorry for the poor quality photo, but it was taken at a distance with the camera in my phone.
It should be noted that every large building is required to install some sort of art. Here I am enjoying such a piece of art. A bronze statue of a woman holding up her child; her dog sitting on the bench. It wasn't until I was writing this post that I realized what made it so bad. The statue wouldn't be fine if she wasn't painted. Purple boots, pink dress, and the kid in blue. If they just kept them all bronze, it'd be a nice statue. At least the dog wasn't wearing a pink sweater.

By the way, the statue felt like an a cup.

padded what?

2010-02-12T22:31:00.001+09:00

I've been living here in Korea for eight and a half years. Occasionally, I see something that makes me think WTF? As time has gone by, I've sort of become more and more immune, though I still tend to chuckle on the inside.

Tonight, was one of those moments where I actually said, "No way," out loud.

Take a look at these.

Yes, those are padded underwear for men. They give the wearer a little extra volume.

I guess it is better than a sock.

I think.

I wouldn't actually know.

Rant

2010-01-22T01:48:00.001+09:00

Know what I hate?

I hate it when you find a restaurant that you like and then it changes ownership. It doesn't close, no. It stays there and taunts you every time you walk by.

Because when new people take over a restaurant in Korea, they fuck it up. Either they raise the price, change the menu, or keep the same menu items but change the ingredients. New management never means the place has gotten better.

A few years ago, there was the best sandwich shop in Korea right at the gates of my university. The owner had had a shop in NY and knew how to make a quality sandwich. Then someone else took it over and raised the prices, made the portions smaller, and used crap ingredients. The trifecta of crappiness.

Another sandwich shop opened last semester selling great panini. This week I went in, and it had a new owner who knew shite about customer service and raised the price for the same sandwich. Same with a noodle shop near my house. And a chicken restaurant.

I think what may happen is people are really good at marketing and opening shops. They open up a place and with their charm, personality, and hard work and build it into quite a little business. They know what little things to do in order to get the customer coming back. Then when things are hot, they sell to someone else. The new owner doesn't have the charm, or personality, but they have the money to take over a successful restaurant. They think they can be successful. They hire inept part time staff and don't understand customer service. (For a good write up on service in Korea, see Gord Sellar's great post on consumerism)

The other trend, at least near my work, is to close and reopen as a coffee or waffle shop. There are now 37 coffee shops and 16 waffle places on the street in front of the university. And only 3 good restaurants. Maybe 4.

Ok. I feel better now.

winter woes

2010-01-20T14:51:00.002+09:00

This is to celebrate the thaw that we've seen over the last two days.

Don't worry. It'll freeze up again tomorrow.

Math

2010-01-20T13:33:00.001+09:00

If I tried something like this, I'd get the formula wrong and end up paying $400,000.

Catching up

2010-01-19T12:29:00.003+09:00

Hi.

I'm Joe. Remember me?

Ok, so it's been a little over a month since my last post. In that time, I managed a trip to the US, where I saw a lot of my hometown (Cottonwood, CA) which is small enough to see in a day, but spend a week and a half there. I also drove up to my adopted hometown (Portland, Oregon) where I really didn't actually do much of anything other than spend about $2000 on clothes. You see, I'm a little bigger than the average Korean, so I don't really buy a lot of clothes here. I have dress shirts made for me (my arms are too long for the biggest size off the rack). I wear size 13, or 310mm in Korean size. The largest I can find here is about 295, which is about an 11. I could spend a fortune at the "Big Shoe" store in Itaewon or buy shoes on line and hope they fit, but prefer to wait until I go home and buy three or four pairs. Included in the two grand I spent was things like two years worth of pseudoephed, Nyquil, vitamins, deodorant, and other things that are tough to get in Korea. It wasn't all on clothes for me.

I really do regret how I planned my trip. We went for two weeks, with Christmas right in the middle. Since we went home for Christmas, we naturally had to be in Cottonwood for that time. Additionally, I had a 20-year high school holiday get-together that was the day after Christmas. Many of us couldn't make the 'real' reunion, so we had another one. (nice to see people after so many years.)

That means a trip to Portland would have to be short. Either before the holiday weekend or after. It turned out to be only three nights. One day driving up, one day driving down led to only two days there. Our first full day was spent at the Evergreen Aviation museum where we got to see the Spruce Goose and other aviation marvels. Then we headed down to Eugene to visit with a second cousin and show the UofO campus to my nephew who was traveling with us. We were treated to a Ducks basketball game Thanks Marty!. It was especially nice since this is the last season in Mac Court--the oldest NCAA--before they tear it down. That took one whole day of our Oregon trip. The next day, we drove about 30 miles south of the city to do a bit of shopping (for those in the know--Woodburn). While we were there, it snowed about 8 inches. It took us five hours to drive back the 30 miles, eating up the whole day. The weather caught everyone off guard, so the roads were full of idiots who did things like abandon their cars in the center lane or slide all over the road with non-winter or worn tires. That was half a day wasted. Then we left the next morning, swinging by the Oregon coast for a very brief visit with my aunt in Newport. It ended up being a very long drive back down to California.

While we were in Oregon, we stayed with a friend who lives in Beaverton, which is a suburb west of Portland. We didn't even make it into the city at all. It was actually very nice staying with Tim and Susan and their entertaining and adorable kids. I kind of wish we'd spent a week and a half in the area and only three days in Cottonwood instead of the other way around (sorry Mom and Dad, but such a small town is charming for only so long). Next time, we'll plan a trip-within-a-trip holiday. We go home, then the whole family can visit with each other somewhere else.

It had been two and a half years since I last went home, and it'll be maybe three or four before I'm able to go back again.

We got back to Korea and were immediately hit with about a foot of snow followed by two weeks of sub-freezing weather. Yesterday was the first day it was above freezing. The snow is finally melting and things are getting back to normal.

Now I'm working on a textbook that should have been to the editors last week. (The tickets home were non-refundable and purchased just a day before we learned that we had to write a new book for next semester--otherwise I would have planned the trip for February after the deadline to the publishers. Many of the teachers were also in the same boat, leading to a lot of last-minute submissions that need a lot of work.) I've been working on that, though not as hard as I should have been. Now I've got a few days to get everything together and give it to a team of teachers to read through for copy editing. Then I'll have a day or so to put it all together in pdf files and sent to the publisher to be printed. Our department is undergoing a huge change right now. When I started, there were 12 or 13 teachers. next semester, we'll have 27, and we'll be up to 30 the following. We're going from teaching 5 courses a week (15 hours of teaching) with classes of 20 students each to having four courses of 16 students plus overseeing a club that meets two hours. The main freshmen courses themselves are changing from one semester of writing/presentation and one of reading/discussion to a presentation/discussion course and reading/writing class. Hence the new textbook. I'll admit this--the first edition will be a little shoddy. A rough draft, so to speak. With the changes to the department, I'm actually hoping to get a textbook team who is paid to do the work instead of having it be mandatory work required of teachers over the summer/winter vacation periods. Anyone interested in such work, we'll be hiring five teachers for next fall (two are heading back to the states and three additional faculty members). Personally, I like people who have just finished their MA in TESOL or are just about to finish because they're full of ideas and creative energy. Combine that with some teachers who have more experience and you've got a great team. That's what I'm looking to create.

About teaching in Korean Universities

2009-12-15T13:56:00.002+09:00

Recently I got a few questions in the comments on the university working conditions post that echos many personal emails I get from people. Since the questions he asks are common and pertinent to anyone thinking of working in Korea or specifically working in a Korean university, I'll try to answer them here as a post.

Questions from Dan:

1. Are university jobs typically superior (i know it's relative but i think money, motivated students, treatment, and vacation are important to everyone) to other ESL jobs in Korea? Especially after you consider that airfare is not always paid and that salaries are similar to thosepaid by public schools...

It is hard to say what is superior. There are so many factors to consider. Let's also keep in mind that not all university jobs are the same.
Money: Nationwide, salaries range from 2.0 to 3.5 million per month depending on the job, your education, housing, location, etc. This is about the same range as what people working in public schools make, as well as being close to the hogwon industry standard. Housing may or may not be included in the university pay. The working hours is much less though. Contracts range from 12 to 18 teaching hours per week. If you have more than this, then you are talking about a university language center, which is basically a hogwon for university students. There are more opportunities for extra income while working at a university as well. Teaching extra classes in other departments, doing editing work, teaching vacation-time intensive classes, or offering seminars to other professors are often available to faculty. Sure, they don't pay for airfare, but come on--12 hours a week? If you compare the teaching loads, the salary per hour taught is much higher than any public school (12 hours a week for two 15-week semesters is not a lot of time in the class. Nor is 15 hours per week).
The agreement I have with my wife is that I have to bring in an average of 5 mil per month. How I do that is up to me, but it is certainly possible working at a university without killing myself.

Motivation: This also varies considerably. Some majors are very motivated, others are not. It also depends on what sort of teaching you are doing. If you are in a English Language and Literature department where you are teaching almost all English Lit majors, your students will be more motivated than if you were in a general English program in which you teach all majors. From my experience, I've found the following majors to be more motivated: English, law, management, culture & tourism, economics, political science, and pharmacy. If the students see high English levels as being beneficial to their future careers, then they are more motivated. Students in the arts, physical education, health & human welfare, and other similar departments are less motivated. Performing arts majors can be motivated, but not always. Some of the students are incredibly motivated, but also competitive. The competitive nature of the classes is a mixed blessing.

How does this compare to the motivation of teaching in a high school? In a hogwon? Hugely different. High school students are motivated to study for their suneung. If they don't think you are teaching them something that will help them on the test, they may not be so motivated. Hogwon (of elementary-aged kids) are motivated by having fun. If they are not having fun, they are not motivated. Middle schoolers are a different whole breed of monster. I have no idea what motivates them.

Treatment. I'm not sure if you mean treatment by university administration, colleagues, or students. I'll address each based on my own experience and from what I've gathered from talking to teachers, reading blogs, and just living here for eight years. First, I'm going to sound a bit like a broken record here, but it varies. In some places, you are treated very well and made to feel welcomed by other professors and the administration. I other places you are viewed with suspicion on every level. When I started working at my current university, I took a 700,000 won pay cut from my previous place of employment; which is huge. (In the four years that I've been here, that gap has disappeared). However, within one month of starting, I knew I had made the right choice. I felt welcomed--as much by the Korean faculty as the general English department. People would introduce themselves to me on the elevators and actually say welcome to Sookmyung. Most of the students treated me better than in the past. I had lunch with the president of the university and she said that when she learned how much (or how little) we were making, she authorized a very considerable pay raise. It was a great feeling.

I think some of the welcoming feeling comes from the percentage of faculty that has studied overseas. They know what it is like to be in a different culture, they know what it is like to be away from home, and are therefore more understanding and welcoming. Those that have not ever studied or worked abroad tend to look at the 'otherness' as a barrier that must be overcome; the foreign staff must conform. They may even question the need for us to be there at all.

The issue of qualifications may also be affecting how people are treated. If teachers have a BA only, then their qualifications for teaching in a university may be questioned. Should someone with an MA be considered a professor? Personally, I think don't really think so. Usually, I don't refer to myself as a professor. Teacher is fine. But that is just me.

Vacation. This is the biggest benefit of a university job. Nowhere else does one get nearly five months off per year. At some places, five months is offered with no expectation of research or curriculum work at all. Other places expect teachers to teach interim classes either summer or winter breaks, and others expect teachers to teach both. Usually, these classes are overtime. Sometimes they are optional, but with the chance to make an extra two or three million won in just three weeks, the classes get snatched up right away.

2. With an MA in TESOL, is Korea
really worth your time? It seems that although there are plenty of
positions available here, the benefits pale in comparison to those
offered in other countries (Japan, Taiwan, Hong Kong, etc).

The pay in Japan is not that much more, and the cost of living is higher. (see this ad on dave's for example: 275,000 yen per month plus housing stipend) Here is a table with salaries in Japan based on experience (with one particular recruiting agency).
In China, we all know the cost of living is lower. The expat experience is much more like it was in Korea a decade ago, but from what I hear, that is changing. Here is a quote from an ad on Dave's for a Guangzhou university:

Public university positions in Xinghu, Zhaoqing city and Tianhe, Guangzhou city, China, starting on March 1st,2010, to teach 16 hours a week Monday to Friday for: Salary 7000RMB, free single fully furnished apartment on the campus, 8000RMB airfare allowance, 5000RMB yearly bonus, accidental and medical insurance, 2/3 free medical treatment, paid public holidays, work visa sponsored and guaranteed.

7000 Chinese Yuan is $1025 per month.
Shijiazhuang University pays half that.

Jobs in Hong Kong pay a lot more, but the requirements for getting a job are much higher (and so is the cost of living).

3. It seems to me that Korea is a good place to work towards an online
degree, but probably not a great place to parlay your degree into an
attractive job. Is that accurate?

I suppose it it a good place to work towards an online degree. What does an online degree get you? An EFL job in Korea, Vietnam, China. Are they recognized in Japan? Europe? Personally, I had a degree before coming to Korea and am now working on a part-time doctorate in the UK. Part-time is not online, and will be recognized elsewhere.

I don't know what you want to "parlay" your job into. I guess I'm not sure what you mean by this. Why would you want to get an MA in TESOL if you don't want to teach in a foreign country? Do you want to go somewhere else to teach? Do you think that your time spent teaching in Korea will be looked at unfavorably? Will simply getting that online degree be the key that opens the doors that have somehow been locked to you in the past? I don't know the answer to these questions, but it is true that it is easy to get your online degree while working here in Korea--especially if you work in a university (though more and more universities require that degree first).

Any readers want to add to this or correct my misconceptions, feel free.

youth in asia

2009-12-14T18:39:00.001+09:00

Keep those Asians away from my Grandma!
Oh, wait. She's already dead. Thankfully her death had nothing to do with Asian youth (or euthanasia).

Since I live in Asia and work with youth, I got an especially big kick out of this:

It's from a list of the funniest protest signs of '09.

That time of year

2009-12-12T21:16:00.001+09:00

The semester is over. It is time to enter grades. Unfortunately, I'm not quite at that point yet, as I've got a few pretty tall stacks of journals and essays to grade first. But it isn't too late to get those appeals from students. If you don't know what I'm talking about take a read:

My name is ***, your advanced reading and writing student. First I apologize of my absent in this semester. When Flu get worse and worse, I was afraid to go out. So I decide to drop this course. My memory said that I drop this class but when you sent a sms [text message] to me and I find out that I didn't drop it. It's all my false. I must had check it twice to make sure but I didn't. I know this is my fault. But I beg you.

This student stopped coming after the second week, but didn't actually drop the class. Now that she's at the end of the semester, she realizes that she didn't actually drop it and wants me to give her a passing grade because she made a mistake.
Then she goes on to tell me that if she fails this course, she'll be kicked out of the university.

If I get f in this course then I'll be send down from school. If I have known this earlier I'll never absent from class like this. So I beg you, from all my heart. I'll do anything to get grade- whatever I may cost-. So if I have a chance to getover my fault give me one another chance. Please do not kick me out of this school in my last semester.

Apparently, in her eyes, it will be my fault that she is kicked out of school her last semester of her senior year of college (and thus ruining her entire future).

Hmm. What should I do? If I were to have her make it up, what can she do to make up writing a 10-page autobiography, a 20-page piece of fiction, and a whole section of a newspaper (the non-fiction writing assignment for the class). She said she'll do anything. If I didn't have my own set of morals, I could demand something really bad.

But as cold as it is, she will get an F.

Phone shopping?

2009-12-09T14:43:00.001+09:00

It's a great time to buy a phone in Korea as the Korean phone makers are slashing prices to try to entice people away from the newly-released i-phones. My wife picked up an LG (that she already hates) for free with a one-year basic service contract, and I got a Nokia 5800 XpressMusic for about 50 bucks with the basic contract.

Nokia, in Korea? Surprising, but true. There were probably only ten sold this year, and my bro-in-law and I account for two of them.

Thank you i-phone.

cheesecake

2009-12-08T14:33:00.001+09:00

Yesterday, I was eyeing a piece of cheesecake in the cafe at the front of the campus. It really looked good all covered in berries as it was. Today, I had end-of-semester interviews. One of the students gave me a thank-you card and a box.

Inside the box was the very cheesecake I had been eyeing.

Tiger Woods reenactment

2009-12-04T15:12:00.001+09:00

Just in case you were wondering what happened to Tiger Woods over the Thanksgiving weekend (and really--who on this planet does not seem to know), I give you the Chinese CGI reenactment.

The Impotence of Proofreading

2009-11-30T08:36:00.002+09:00

I have to say thanks to Paul Ajosshi for this one.

There are so many times that I laugh out loud when I am reading a student's paper because a mistake has completely changed the meaning of the sentence.

Photography

2009-11-23T18:56:00.001+09:00

You may have noticed that I've been posting more pictures lately. I've been getting back into the hobby considerably, and I want to share my pictures with someone. My wife could care less about photography, and many of my friends just don't seem to understand why I'd want to take fifteen pictures of something that they just snapped a photo of with their point-and-shoot.

I found an interesting website to help beginners (as well as those who have moved beyond the beginner stage) It is called Digital Photography School.

If you are interested in photography and living in Korea, check out Michael Hurt's series:
Photography in Korea, Part 1: Buying a Real Camera (a DSLR)
Photography in Korea, Part 2: Basic Photo Knowledge
Photography in Korea, Part 3: The Photo Essay
Photography in Korea, Part 4: Film or Digital

I have to admit though, most of his advice is not just good for those in Korea. There is a lot of useful info for anyone. However, he does write about specifics of the Korean photography market and environment. If you are in the market for any photographic equipment, check out Digital Photography Revie w before you buy. This will help you get an idea of the product and pricing before you head to Namdaemun, Yongsan, or navigate your way through the Korean online markets.

Early Thanksgiving at Sookmyung

2009-11-23T12:21:00.002+09:00

My department had an early thanksgiving dinner last week. Food from the Dragon Hill Lodge, and potluck of course. It was excellent, as always. Pictures can be found here.

A walk around Hongdae

2009-11-15T22:42:00.002+09:00

Sue and I walked around the Hongik University area today. I had won a 50,000won gift certificate for Quiznos, so went there for lunch. I brought my camera and snapped a few pics. Enjoy.

I've pretty much moved beyond taking pictures of bad English, but these are names of stores that I actually love.
I've walked past that Absolute Disco in the window so many times, but today I had my camera. I think it turned out pretty well. I also like the reflections in the crystal ball sitting atop the skull.

a day

2009-11-11T12:29:00.001+09:00

I live 11.6km from my work. That's a little over 6 miles. On Friday, it took me an hour and 10 minutes to drive that 11.6km. It was Friday, so the classes I was teaching were repeats of what I had taught the day before. Thankfully, the lesson was something I didn't need anything from my office for, so I was able to walk into the classroom straight from the parking lot. It turned out to be a great four hours of classes. The frustrations of sitting in traffic and the stress of watching the clock getting closer and closer to 9:00 was forgotten.

Then I went into the cafeteria and started piling up the food on the tray. As I walked to the window where the woman served the soup, she ladled in an extra serving of soup into a bowl for me. Man, that really made my day.

Bad joke, unrelated to Korea

2009-11-11T12:20:00.001+09:00

Indian Chief 'Two Eagles' was asked by a white U.S. government official,

You have observed the white man for 90 years.

You've seen his wars and his technological advances.

You've seen his progress, and the damage he's done.

The Chief nodded in
agreement...

The official continued, considering all these
events, in your opinion, where did the white man go wrong?

The Chief stared at the government official for over a minute and then
calmly replied,

When white man find land, Indians running it, no taxes, no debt, plenty
buffalo, plenty beaver, clean water. Women did all the work, Medicine man
free. Indian man spend all day hunting and fishing; all night having sex.

Then the Chief
leaned back and smiled,

Only white man dumb enough to think he could improve system like that.