School-Homed

I saw this stellar article on The Onion; frankly it could well have been printed in their Korean edition.

Increasing Number Of Parents Opting To Have Children School-Homed

This raises an interesting discussion. We're all aware of the stereotype that Asian students keep their nose to the grindstone for an inordinate amount of time. I recently saw an episode of The Simpsons in which Homer demanded extra homework for Bart and said "I want him to be Korean by the time he's done!" During the intensive class period, some of the kids spend more time with their English teachers than they do with their parents.

But why is this?

There are two answers that I've heard. The first is selfless; in a tiny country of nearly 50 million people, the competition for jobs is fierce, and every bit of extra education is a leg-up over future competitors. The second answer is selfish; in Confucian societies, the children are expected to take care of the parents, so when parents send their kids to school for 18 hours a day, they're actually looking out for themselves.

While I'm sure that in some cases this is true, I do not think it applies in all - or even in most - cases. Yes, there are some children who push themselves hard. But there are also average students, below-average students, and students who would spend 23 hours a day texting if they could. Some students still cheat, neglect homework, and/or fail tests. If parents were really concerned about their kids' futures, they'd whip everyone into shape. If they were purely motivated by future financial security, they'd do the same, or stop spending their wages on private education and invest that money.

It's hard to escape the idea that many parents are simply "school-homing" their kids because they don't want them hanging around. I've seen absolutely useless students attending extra morning classes, or even Saturday classes. I've asked the staff to inform parents that a kid is severely ADHD, only to be told that the parents don't care. A kid just walked into my classroom 40 minutes early, which wasn't allowed in my grade school.

Perhaps the American and Korean educational/babysitting systems aren't so different from each other after all.

Teaching: Machiavelli Style

Last week, our lesson centered around the Medici family of Renaissance Italy. Consequently we also spent some time discussing the great Niccolo Machiavelli and his book The Prince. I had a lot of fun with this lesson, as I studied The Prince in college and I also got to show the kids some of my pictures from Florence. The kids seemed to understand that Machiavelli's main philosophy was that a ruler must do whatever it takes to maintain power and ignore questions of right and wrong. However, they were confused by the assertion that "It may be answered that one should wish to be both [feared and loved], but, because it is difficult to unite them in one person, it is much safer to be feared than loved." Luckily, I had a chance to demonstrate the principle.

A girl dropped her pencil and started to crawl under the desk to pick it up. I asked her to please wait, as I was in the middle of explaining a project. She continued anyway.

"You have detention," I said.

She stopped.

I then explained to the students that when I asked nicely, the girl didn't listen to me. But when I appealed to her fear of detention, she did what I wanted. Ergo, it is better to be feared than loved.

P.S., I didn't really give her detention.

Return to Jeju Island: New Season, Same Team

Well, the new K-League season is in full effect, with typical results for Daejeon Citizen: 5-2 loss at home to FC Seoul, 3-0 home loss to Gyeongnam, 2-2 away draw with Gangwon (courtesy of horrible defending at both ends). Despite the poor start, Liam and I still crafted the foolhardy plan to fly to Jeju Island for one day to watch the away game against Jeju United F.C. Last season, we made a weekend of it (Part 1 / Part 2), but this year we flew in Sunday morning before the game.

I was flying out of Cheongju "International" Airport, a small airport about 45 minutes outside of Daejeon. As my flight was at 7:50, I was in a bit of a bind. The first bus would get me there at 7:35, which would be cutting it mighty close. A cab would cost a fortune. My only option was to catch the train at 5:50 in the morning, which got to the airport at 6:45 or so. The funny thing was that the stop was truly in the middle of nowhere. I couldn't even see the airport. I had to walk back across the tracks, up a hill, and then down the road about a kilometer.

We met around 9 A.M. on Jeju and found to our satisfaction that the airport convenience store sold Guinness. With that sorted, it was time to find a hotel. The lady at the information desk at the airport was very helpful, not only finding us a hotel with 30,000 won rooms but also arranging complimentary transportation. From there, we grabbed a couple more beers and headed to the bus station. We had to get to the south side of the island where the World Cup Stadium is, and we were also meeting a few friendly foreign Jeju fans at Gecko's. Gecko's was delightful, with good western food and good beer. We set out for the stadium.

The great thing about Jeju World Cup Stadium is that it's right next to an E-Mart (which is like Target or Wal-Mart). We were spared the indignity, therefore, of drinking cheap Korean beer from the stadium. As we walked into E-Mart we were greeted by the sight of the Holy Grail: 3,000 won cans of Guinness, already chilled. We grabbed a handful and headed to get our tickets.

Unlike the handy Guinness, the ticket process was a nightmare. We went to one stand, only to find that they didn't actually sell tickets. We had to stand in a long line at the main ticket window, consuming Guinness all the while. By the time we got our tickets, the game had kicked off. We hustled to the Daejeon section, only to find that they had sold us the wrong tickets. Luckily the force of our personality let us through, though we had to climb a 10 foot barricade to join the 20 or so fellow Citizen fans.

As for the game itself, I'd direct you to Liam's excellent recap on his blog. In short, we played terribly as always, lost 2-0, and had a man sent off. The crowd greeted the team with a less than complimentary response. Striker and captain Park Sung-ho looked like he was ready to leap into the crowd and kick some ass, though he was prevented by his team-mates and a 10-foot safety moat.

We decided to find the player bus to seek autographs and/or drinking buddies, but apparently they high-tailed it out of the stadium, as you'd expect after such an abject performance. On the plus side, we did get a picture with Mr. Kim Gwang-sik, the chairman of the club (see below photo link).

The rest of the day was a bit of a blur. Suffice it to say we returned to Gecko's for dinner and called it an early night after catching a ride back to Jeju City. I woke up at 7:30, ate some McBreakfast, bought some Jeju Orange Chocolate, and caught a plane back to Daejeon to start my work day.

Photos!

Unhealthier than America: Cheese Bap

One of our favored Korean meals is dak galbi, a delightful chicken dish with cabbage, sweet potato, rice cakes, and a spicy red sauce. Generally it's cooked in front of you on individual gas grills. If you're still hungry after you have finished off the main dish, you can request "bap:" a helping of rice that is mixed in with the remains of your dak galbi.

For some, that's not enough. You can also order "cheese bap," in which the rice is mixed with a big bowl of shredded mozzarella cheese. The lovely Laura models the gooey nature of the dish above. Below is a delightful closeup. This stuff will glue your insides together for a week.



Cheese Bap hits your stomach like a ton of bricks, and is definitely Unhealthier than America.

I'm Joey Greco. Welcome . . . to CHEATERS

Today I was proctoring a test and I noticed some suspicious behavior from two girls in the back. One was glancing furtively into her coat; the other kept checking her pencil case and then writing answers on her test. An examination revealed exactly what you would expect: cheat sheets.

As a teacher, this is a frustrating occurrence. It makes you feel like the students think you're a complete idiot, as their ruses are hardly brilliant. They still get detention, with the added bonus of a call home to Mom and a zero on the test. It also torpedoes your trust in them, and you feel like you have to watch them constantly for the rest of the term. And yet, they think it's worth it.

British Slang

Most of the teachers at our school are American or Canadian, so the English that the kids learn has a decidedly Western Hemisphere quality. However, in an essay I corrected today, one of my students used the word "git."

I wonder if Martin taught him before?

Please Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood

Years ago, I recall walking around University Bookstore and seeing a book called 'Scuse Me While I Kiss This Guy: And Other Misheard Lyrics. Obviously, Jimi was saying "kiss the sky," but you can see how it's open to interpretation. I thought of this again when I heard the recent K-Pop song "Bo Peep Bo Peep" by T-ara. Take a listen. They're saying "Bo Peep" over and over again, but see if you hear what we heard . . .

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9403-9CptH8

An Event Every Teacher Dreads

One of my students tried to add me on Facebook. I'm going to go ahead and decline. I really don't need her finding this list.