Number 4. Get my teaching degree

This one turned out to be a little more complicated... more due to the fact that I decided to move state once, move house twice, and then leave the country while still studying! What a year!

In January 2010 I attened the orientation at the university in Sydney, it was my frist real trip to Sydney and what I remmeber best about the trip is getting yelled at by a bus driver, nearly ending up in tears, and really really wanting to go home all within the first 4 hours of being there! Other than that the orientation was a bit of a blur, sitting through child protection seminars, having photo's take for student ID cards, and mingling with other people who were there to get their Grad Dip. It was a 1 year course called a Post Graduate Diploma of Education (secondary) which means you have to have a degree before you can study for this. The reason I had chosen that particular University was because it was the only one that offered the course fully online and within a year (apparently this has now changed...) and I didnt know how dificult the University staff were going to be when I signed up!

With the 3 day orientation finished it was back to Melbourne to start studying... and start sorting out which schools I wanted to go to for my first placement. It was about a week later I made the decision to move to Perth at the end of that month. It took me 26 days to pack everything I wanted to keep into boxes to go into storage, sell everything else and decide what was going to fit into my lancer for the drive across Australia. (See Number 3. Drive across the Nullarbor for more details of my trip!) The main reason I chose Perth was because mum had moved there a couple of years before and there is nothing like moving back home when you go back to Uni...this is just a warning if you are reading this mum - I may be back when I get stuck into a PhD...though it might be longer than 8 months for that one!

When I got to Perth it was then a frantic mission to find a school that would take me for placement in short notice, I still had a month but my university had apparently decidd I was too much work by that point so told me I had to arrange it myself, which I was actually happier doing since they were / are so completely useless. The first school I called accepted me (phew!) and I went in to meet my mentoring teacher the next day. The school was called "Perth Modern School" - Perth Mod for short - and my mentoring teacher's name was Sol. It was a truly incredible experience. I went in there completely terrified to begin with, having no idea what to expect, and not even really sure where to start. Perth Mod is a school for the gifted and academically advanced - and these kids really were geniuses! Sol was a bit of a genius too, and one of the most enthusiastic teachers I have ever met, he was truly passionate about teaching and I couldnt have asked for a better mentoring teacher at my first school.

I had so much fun preparing lessons for these kids and I really did feel like I was only just keeping one step ahead of them, especially when I ended up teaching geology to the year 8's, though fortunately there was a real authentic geologist teaching at the school who was happy to let me pick his brains...and pick through his resources! I did have a small breakdown after one of my classes crashed, they tell me there are always good and bad lessons and sometimes what works with one group will fall apart with another, well this lesson was a complete flop...a mess...the kids weren't engaged and it just didnt work. Then I had to go home and prepare lessons for the next day...so I went home and cried for about an hour before mum got me to get it together and reminded me that not all lessons were going to be like that (another benefit of living at home!) thanks mum! The whole prac went really well, aside from the one moment of panic, and I got a glowing report from my metoring teacher which is always really nice - it was so nice I cried again...though this time it was happy tears (I am such a girl...lol).

Then it was essay time - and based on not wanting to offend anyone if you really want to know what I think of the University, their course materials, and the innappropriate material they attempt to shove at you please feel free to ask - I wont be making that public! Got through all my essays...and did really well... except for barely scraping through in "bible studies" which was a compulsory unit - it wouldnt be the first time I have nearly flunked a religious education class...though I think the last time it had more to do with the fact that I upset the nuns.

For my second prac I decided to go somewhere completely different, I chose the 3rd worst school in Western Australia, a school known for behavious management problems - and with a teacher that was the head of the department and so had "the behavious management group" for her year 8 social studies class. Here I would like to take a moment to recognise that teacher, her name is Rosinda, and she was named teacher of the year in 2008. She has been referred to in the Perth papers as Saint Rosinda and she is truly an inspiration. Just like Sol she is enthusiatic and motivated, driven, and truly cares about her students - but where Sol was a relatively new teacher Rosinda is still that way after nearly 30 years of teaching. The world is a better place because of teachers like Rosinda and the hundreds of hours she puts into preparing and helping kids that don't always get a lot of support, if any. She pours all her energy, blood, sweat, tears and passion into her teaching. As for me - talk about lucky! 2 amazing teachers as my mentoring teachers during my prac!

This prac was completely different though, rather than keeping one step ahead of the students and having them suck me dry of information every class, the struggle with these students was to get them to engage at all. The behaviour management classes were definietly and eye opener - I saw behaviour from these kids that I would have been killed for at that age! The funniest thing though is that by the end of that prac I felt that I had formed a greater bond with these students, after only 5 weeks, I got notes from a few students, a gift from one of my favourites, and even the girls in the behaviour management class made a card for me (spelling errors and all!). It was not that it was a better or a worse experience than Perth Mod, just completely different, and in some ways more rewarding. A lot of these kids had little or no support at home, and to have someone show faith in them and believe that they could achieve things made a real difference in their lives. It also bacame a lot of un to come up with new ways to teach them things so that they would get involved with the classes.

I woul also like to make special mention of my two year 11 students; Declan and Heather. It was a strange class, due to lack of numbers the year 11 and year 12 (2nd to last and final year of school) history classes had been rolled into one - which was an absolute nightmare for the teacher because the year 12 students demand a lot of time and they are two completely different units / subjects. The year 12's were doing Soviet Russia and the Year 11's were doing Nazi Germany. It was a great opportunity for me as a prac teacher - I got to take the two year 11 students off to the library for what was really more like a tutoring session than a lesson. These students were incredibly intelligent, and engaged, and interesting as well as interested! These classes were so much fun, we would really just talk - we would go through original documents from the time (for the history geeks out there these are referred to as "primary sources") and then discuss what they meant, what impacts they had, and why people may have felt and acted the way that they did at the time. Wehn it came to "in class essay" time I had no concerns for these two - I knew they were going to do well - and I was allowed to mark them first before Rosinda hada look. I marked them and wrote a full page of comments for each - and I wasnt being biased when I gave them both A+'s...especially since Rosinda agreed! These are two students who are going to go a long way and I really do feel lucky that I was given the opportunity to be a part of their education, even if it was only for 5 weeks, they affected me as much as I hope I had an impact on them.

Then it was essay time again...ugh. I had completed a substantial number of the essays before I went on prac which really turned out to be a blessing because in my first week of prac I made the decision to head overseas and teach - and after I sent a few applications I got a job in South Korea teaching English - and I was due to leave 2 weeks after my prac ended! As it was I completed the last couple of essays in South Korea and submitted them from where I am now. I waited and waited for my final grades and the day they went up it was time to celebrate - I passed everything with flying colours...it was official...I was a qualified teacher! Just had to wait for the actual degree to be conferred and posted to me so I could get a payrise... among other things!

So it's now February 2011 and I am just waiting for the degree to be posted to me - I may even hang it on the wall in my apartment here for a little while - after the drama's I had trying to prove my degree in Korea I am certainly not going to get it framed! I have been teaching here in Korea for 4 months now and I adore my students - its a little different teaching here because I have a co-teacher - and its not nearly as intellectually stimulating because the kids may be 15 or 16 years old but they have very limited english...but still a great experience!

In conclusion I would like to say thank you to everyone that helped and supported me along the way...special thanks to my mentoring teachers, and of course to mum who not only supported me but read every essay I wrote and was a marvellous spell check! Thanks1

Number 3. Drive Across The Nullarbor Desert

While the Nullarbor is affectionately known by many Australians as the "nullar-boring" this trip was incredible! Before I left every person that I spoke to about the trip that had done it before seemed to have a strong opinion on it - they either said it was amazing and they would do it again, or they said it was the most boring thing they had ever done. The name "Nullarbor" comes from the latin meaning "no trees", and while there are plenty of trees either side of the desert once you hit the Nullarbor plain the tallest natural feature are the salt bushes which only grow to a height of about 2 feet.

So, my trip began in Melbourne in Victoria, which is the state at the bottom coloured in blue, and ended in Perth which is on the otherside of the country coloured in pink. The trip is 3,600 kilometers through some of the most desolate country in the world. I did the trip over a few days, day 1 was Melbourne to Adelaide which I did on my own, I then spent a day in Adelaide with my half uncle and the next morning picked my mum up from the airport and continued on from there. I have broken the trip down into days to make it easier to keep track of...

Day 1 - Melbourne to Adelaide

I drove out at about 8am on Saturday morning, on the 27th of February 2010, knowing that the drive to Adelaide would take me about 8 hours and wanting to get to my half uncles place before he went out to dinner. There is something very exciting about taking a road trip, even though the first part was on my own, I cranked the music up and made sure I had plenty of coca-cola, water, and a bottle of V stashed under the seat where it would get hot. It was a gorgeous day and after a couple of hours I realised I needed to start with the sunscreen so I didnt end up burnt to a crisp - especially since the sun was only hitting one arm and my knee! I only stopped twice that day - to get a cold bottle of coke (my drink of choice...caffeine and sugar!) and have a bit of a walk around. I did think about stopping when I saw the "giant koala" on the side of the road. For those of you not from Australia there seems to be a bit of an obsession in this country with creating supersized animals and fruit out of fibreglass, from the giant pineapple and strawberry to the giant koala and kangaroo.

The second time I stopped was less of a planned stop and more of a necessity - I was coming down the massive hill into Adelaide when I felt something move under my leg - given I was wearing a miniskirt this concerned me. I though it might just have been a hair or something so I reached down to brush it away at which point I realised it was a bee. I swerved over to the side of the road, stopping more quickly than my bottle of coke appreciated and leapt from the car, arms flailing, and drawing quite a few confused glances from drivers passing by. After this I was definately awake which was proabably a good thing given I knew I was about to face city traffic and I was getting tired. Then again the most challenging thing about Adelaide is not the traffic but trying to get around the streets! I was definately greatful for the GPS on my phone and by the time I made it to my half uncles place I was hot and sticky and looking forward to sitting down and doing nothing.

I had a bit of a catch up with my half uncle and after he went out I wandered down the road, got myself a kebab / souvalaki / yiros (called different things in every state) and then promptly fell asleep.

Day 2 - Adelaide

I woke up to another absoluetly gorgeous day, made myself a cup of tea, and put my feet up in my half uncles backyard (pictured left). Had a very relaxing morning and when my half uncle and his lovely lady were organised we headed off to the South Australian food and wine festival that just happened to be on that weekend, not part of my planning but a very happy coincidence none-the-less! The food and wine festival was part of the Adelaide Arts festival which completely transformed the city. The streets had been cordoned off for the food and wine festival and there were people everywhere. It was around 30 degrees (celcius) and people were clustered underneath trees trying to make the most of the shade - Im sure the wine stands made a huge amount of money just because everyone was so hot and thirsty! They also had live music and you could smell the salt and pepper squid being cooked at little stalls on the side of the road. After a few hours of wandering around with two of the most popular people in Adelaide (I say this because we bumped into someone they knew every two steps!) we decided we were hot and hungry and headed home for dinner with my half uncles house mates and their extended families - it seemed to be the weekend for the whole house to have visitors!

After a lovely dinner we headed out into the city again to see an Art display by (if I am remembering correctly) a Swede - who takes photographs of old buildings and then puts the images onto a computer, paints them or colours them in, and then projects the coloured images back onto the buildings with massive light projectors. It was the second year this ahd been done in Adelaide, after it had been such a success in the first year and the buildings looked amazing. The pictures shown on the left are both of the same building with two different pictures being projected back onto it - the colours changed every few minutes and each building had about three or four different pictures. The buildings ran all the way along the street and you could spend a couple of hours just wandering up and down looking at the buildings and then the incredible colours.

Day 3 - Adelaide to Port Augusta

I picked my mum up from the airport at about 10 or 11 am on the Monday morning and after stopping for a coffee we jumped straight in the car and began driving towards Port Augusta. We had discussed how far we would go the first day and it was either Port Augusta or continue on to Ceduna which was another 3-400kms further. Once we hit the open road we realised it was crazy to try and get to Ceduna as it meant we would be driving through Kanagroo country in the dark - not smart in my little, overly full, Lancer. While we didnt do a huge amount of driving the first day (roughly 600 kms) we certainyl did a lot of catching up! It had been 18 months since I had seen mum, and even though we talked on the phone almost every daym, its just different when you are catching up in person.

Day four - Port Augusta to Nullarbor Plain

This was the first of the "big days" of driving - roughly 796 kms - which seems a lot more when you travelled 600 kms the day before... a cycle which would only make the following days seem bigger and longer! We made it to Ceduna about mid-morning and stopped for a bite to eat and to stretch our legs. It was definately an interesting stop! We went and had a meat pie at one of the bakerys in town - an excellent meat pie actually! Then we wandered down and had a look at the visitors information centre and met the evil dragon lady on a power trip that was managing the visitor centre - when I say met I really mean observed her being rude to a tourist and decided not to buy anything! Went back to the car and realised the the bottle of coolent I had been badgered into bring had indeed (as I had predicted) exploded in the car and gone all over my laptops and the floor of the car. It was at this point I burst into tears and sat in the passenger seat feeling very sorry for myself - this was the only break down I had on the trip and I think maybe I just needed to get it out of my system! Mum went over to wash the mat out at the Holden dealership - kudos to the guys in there for beinf so nice! And, as only mum would, went to ask the two bikies on the side of the road if coolent would damage the laptops. The bikies assured her that they would be fine as long as we dried them and after frantically drying everything and wrapping the now saturated car mat in a bag we set out again.

Our next stop was a town called Kimba, which proudly boasts that it is halfway across Australia, not sure how accurate that is but it's their claim to fame so fair play to them! It also happens to be the site of the giant cockatoo.

Yet another giant fibreglass animal, don't worry it's not the last!

I was also fascinated to discover that at the little shop in Kimba they also sell rocks for 50 cents... the exact same rocks that you could pick up from the car park outside. Wonder how many tourists got sucked into that one?! Kimba's only other claim to fame is that they have some of the worst coffee in Australia...even the bikies were complaining about it!

After Kimba we drove on toward the Nullarbor plain, we were hoping to be able to stop in Yalata, but the town had been closed. Not exactly sure how one would go about closing a town but thats what the sign said and it looked pretty deserted but we drove on. The sun started to dip in the sky and mum and I are keeping our eyes peeled for Kangaroos...partly because they are dangerous when your travelling at those speeds and partly becuase we really wanted to see one. One of the things I had done before the trip was prepare a scavenger hunt list - a list of things we had to see between Ceduna and Kalgoorlie - it was a long trip and gave us something to do - was hysterically funny in the end...but more on that later!

Driving onto the Nullarbor plain was incredible - there was literaly nothing higher than about 2 feet as far as the eye could see - not one tree...not even one! It doesnt necessarily sound that impressive but its quite stunning when your there. We pulled up to the Nullarbor Roadhouse - the only place to stay for at least 600 kms in either direction - and noting the number of motorbikes parked outside we raced inside to ask for a room wondering what we were going to do if they said they didnt have any. Fortunately for us they did and the lovely guy behind the counter handed us the key as well as an invitation to the 'staff BBQ' that night when they finished around 10...and making sure that mum knew the invitation was for both of us! When we walked out from the reception and back to the car there was a wild dingo wandering around the carpark. The dingo came right up to us - at which point mum made a beeline for the car - and I pretended to be the dog whisperer (the little shush noise worked on the dingo for those of you who know what Im talking about!).

Once we had escaped the dingo (it really looked cute rather than vicious) we both headed to the bar...looking forward to a nice glass of wine and something to eat after a long day in the car! We sat at the bar and chatted to the bar-man, who told us that he really was serious about the staff BBQ, and we chatted to the bikies who explained to us they were having their anual general meeting down in the south of Western Australia, which was the reason there were so many of them on the road. We had a little snack and went back to the room for a rest before we headed out with the staff at 10pm... it had started to feel like a very long day! At 5 past 10 there was a knock on the door and we opened it to find two of the boys who had been working in the bar standing there and asking if we still wanted to come up for dinner. We rugged up as warmly as we could - it may have been summer and 30-40 degrees during the day but it dropped to 7 degrees that night and we were told it had something to do with winds from Antartica coming straight up across the Nullarbor as there was nothing in the way to stop it.

So there we were at half ten standing in the middle of the desert with a glass of my favourite wine by a roaring fire made from the wood of an old shack at the back of the staff house - while the chef cooked us the most spectacular meal using only one frying pan and a camping oven. We had morrocan prawns (a dozen each at least) for starters and then scotch fillet stakes for main course with a greek salad as a side. Really incredible for one frying pan and a little gas stove top!

Day 5 - Nullarbor Plain to Norseman

This day was the longest of our trip - roughly 1100 kms - the only reason we could do it in daylight was because we crossed the border and crossed timezones which gave us an extra 3 hours of daylight.

But before we could leave we had to get a couple of picci's of the Giant Whale... in the middle of the desert there is a giant whale... oh the irony!

Not to mention the sign that says to watch out for camels!

We also stopped briefly at the Great Australian Bight - it was the wrong time of year for us - but usually this is one of the best places to come and see the whales... yes, this is the real reason for the giant fibreglass whale! The next stop was border village...and you guessed it... a giant kangaroo!

This was the point where we crossed from South Australia into Western Australia and changed timezones. We saw there were a couple of trucks in the line to be inspected before crossing the border and mum was in desperate need of a coffee so we stopped in at the roadhouse and bumped into the same bikies that we had spoken to at the Nullarbor roadhouse - they were all going in the same direction so we saw them at almost every petrol stop after this and they started to look out for us - having a look at the tyre pressure on the car etc to make sure that everything was working as it should be and still safe. They were so lovely to us the whole trip - even when I harassed a big six foot lad in leather about wearing sunscreen...

Once the trucks had all passed through and we had fresh coffees we went through the checkpoint - you have to stop and get out the car and open it all up so that they can make sure your not carrying any fresh fruit etc across the border - quarantine is a big deal is Aussie, even between the states. I swear the guy blanched when he saw my car pull up, loaded so full with everything I own that the suspension actually sat lower down. Fortunately I had read up on border village before we came so the only food I had was in a wicker basket in the boot - right at the top so it was easy to show him what I had - didnt take very long at all in the end.

We stopped more frquently on day five because we knew it was the biggest trip and we wanted to pace ourselves... and we couldnt resist when we saw another giant whale in Eucla...especially underneath the 'emu export' sign. Eucla was where the scavenger hunt really became funny as well - when mum and I ran up to a cop who was filling his 4WD police cruiser with petrol and asked him if we could have a photo with his car. He looked at us quite suspiciously at first and then we repeated we wanted the car in the photo, not him, and could he please take it - he finally cracked a smile at the two mad women in the little green car and took the picci for us. (Picture is not being put up out of defference to the fact that my mum may not want to be published on the world wide web...)

After Eucla there is a sign - see left and kudos to mum for taking this out the window - that says that it is the longest straight stretch of tarsealed road in the world - 146.6 kms of dead straight road... We stopped in a little town called Mundrabilla for something to eat and shortly after this is where we stopped again to take photo's walking down the middle of this ridiculously straight road. Not usually safe to stand in the middle of a hwy where everyone is doing around 120 kms per hour - but on a road this straight you can see for miles!

We stopped at every town for petrol as we were told to by the bikies - they mentioned that while 200 kms between petrol stations was manageable - the issues arose when the petrol stations ran out of petrol and you suddenly have to go 400 kms. Finally, after about 11 hours on the road, we pulled into Norseman where we found a motel and booked a room...we payed a whole $5 extra for a room with a spa bath and the second we were in we filled it full of cold water, cucked on our swimsuits, and climbed in. The room may have been horrible but I dont think anything could have prevented me from sleep that night!

Day 6 - Norseman to Perth

Another big day, but the last day so we were excited, actually I think we had gone a little crazy. At the end of every day we seemed to find everything hysterically funny and would laugh like lunatics in between singing at the top of our lungs with all the windows down. On this, the final day, we seemed to start out as lunatics and I don't think it wore off till we were unpacking the car at the other end! There is a tradition in the Nullarbor desert - it's called the Nullarbor wave - which just means you wave to everyone you pass because everyone you drive past is going all the way you have just driven. Mum and I took this to the next level - waving both hands in a frnatic fashion and grinning like idiots - the truck drivers were the most friendly, sometimes waving back but sometimes flashing their lights and hooting their horns as well as waving. It got to the point where mum and I were convinced they were warning each other on their radios to watch out for the nutters in the little green car.

The biggest challenge of the drive has to be trying to overtake the road trains - I had never seen anything like them before - these things are like thebiggest trucks you have ever seen with a second truck trailer the same size attached to the back. I get nervous overtaking trucks anyway, especially with that shimmer on the road that stops you from being able to see whats coming, but overtaking a road train is like asking for trouble. I managed on a few occaisions but on the final day I was too tired to handle the stress so mum and I pulled into a side road and jumped out for a bit of a walk...

All in all it was a great trip - filled with laughing and music - I think the only way you could think the Nullarbor trip was boring is if you have no imagination!

Number 1. Write a book

I completed this one about December last year. At the moment it only has a rough working title, but I have now sent it to an agent to see if I can get it published, so I am hoping that they can come up with something better!

 It began as writing a story. The idea of my main character had been in my head for a while and I had written the first few pages of the story a number of times, and then lost the copies along the way, it varied a little each time but the main idea stayed the same. Once I got through those first few pages I began to realise that I needed to come up with a rough plot – so that I knew where the story was going. I did a bit of research and found a few really good websites that gave me a lot of great ideas for creating my world. The world creation aspect was a lot of fun, working out a history of the people in my story, the climate, what they used in place of money, the types of buildings they lived in, and what sort of animals roamed the world with them.

 I also began to read “How to write Science Fiction and Fantasy” by Orson Scott Card, one of my favourite authors, and during the world creation side of my journey I kept his words in mind. He said; if it looks like a rabbit, moves like a rabbit, and tastes like a rabbit then you should call it a rabbit. A lot of the animals in my story are similar, or the same, as what we have here. It didn’t make sense in the story to create things that were completely different and give them different names, although on one or two occasions I have varied the spelling just a wee bit to fit in with the culture of the people using the words. Once the world was created my characters, or character at this point, then had a set of rules they had to operate within. It’s a science fantasy novel so the ‘magic’ they use also has rules.

The characters within the story could then be developed further by the world, we are all a product of our upbringing and the circumstances and manner in which we live, and it had to be the same for the characters if I wanted to make them feel real. I worked our roughly where the story was headed and began to weave the other characters into the world, trying to give them each an individuality that would make them easy to remember, and make them their own people. They each had ups and downs, and lessons to learn along the way which changed them, and I was right there with them experiencing everything they felt. In a lot of ways I didn’t feel like I was writing the characters but more like I was meeting them and getting to know these people that already existed in a world I was just discovering.

 The more I put down the more comfortable I became with the characters emotions, and with writing how I felt, or perhaps it’s better to say that I was becoming better at identifying how each emotion made me feel and putting it into words. When I was writing about fear I would begin to feel my stomach clench in knots and that moment where everything suddenly zooms into sharp focus as the adrenaline pumps around your body. It was the same with each emotion, I’m not sure whether it was writing about it that made me feel it, or if I was making myself feel it in order to better write about it. I remember sitting on the train writing a particularly hard bit, and working really hard not to cry as I did it, the other people on the train would have thought I was completely crazy!

 I learned a lot, about myself, and about the craft of writing, and I am certain that it is a learning journey that will never end. I am now putting into practice all the things I learned from writing the first book into writing a second – and I am sure the things I learn from the first to will be put into practice when I start the third! Now I just need to get it published! So that’s the first item off the list!

Winter Camp January 2011

Technically I had two weeks of Winter camp but the first week they designated as "extra conversation classes" whereas the second week was officially called winter camp. Winter camp is a bit of a misleading name as well, it really just means the kids come to school each morning to have extra lessons, its not like they get to go anywhere. I was very lucky in that I was given free reign to do whatever i wanted to do in terms of lessons and activities, they just asked for a rough plan of what I wanted a few weeks before, so they could work out a budget for resources etc. I have friends who were allocated up to 4 weeks of winter camp and were only allowed to work directly from the text on theory - Rosie I feel for you! Either way below is a brief description of the activities I ran for my "official" winter camp! Monday: I had a last minute change of plans for Monday's lesson - based largely on the fact that I bought a video camera on the weekend - and I could inally put into action something I had been thinking about for a while - provided that I had enough students! I had seen this thing on youtube where an English teacher over here had done the Daft Punk song "Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger" with his students by writing words and parts of words on sheets of cardboard and holding them up in time to the music. An absolutely brilliant idea...so in the spirit of sharing I decided to immitate (imitation being the highest form of flattery) and I ran the same activity with my class. I had two groups on the monday, so the first group made the cards and then we practiced for a bit and with the second group we just practiced and had a test run - with a few words missing. The next Day I asked all the students to come at the one time so that we could video it and get it right. Tuesday: All the students arrived early and we had a few practice runs and then video'd - twice to be on the safe side. I told the students I would take it home and edit it and then show them the finished product the next day. After that we ran what the Korean teachers referred to as a cooking class - which was really just making sandwhiches. I did teach them a bit of vocabualry before they started eating and they seemed to really enjoy the whole activity. I was stunned to discover that half of them had never had nutella! It is easily available at E-mart but some of the kids had never tried it! As a reward at the end of the class I let them watch a bit of a movie while they ate their sandwhiches - they bounced out of the class at the end seeming to have really enjoyed themselves. (I have included some footage in the video at the bottom of this post of this performance and below that you can also find the youtube link to the full performance) Wednesday: I ran a sewing class - I knew this would be more for the girls than the boys but I figured I was doing a sports day on the Thursday so I had to balance it out a little. I taught them basic backstitch and then printed pictures off the internet for them to trace onto the fabric so they could stitch them with pretty colours. The girls seemed to pick it up really quickly and I was surprised to see that even the boys were giving it a go and were really focused. They all achieved quite a lot within the class and by the end they were all stitching away happily - even the instructions hadnt seemed to hard to get across but I guess thats because it was really more "show" than "tell". It also happened to be Australia Day... so I wore a pink Kangaroo costume to school, wrote a whole lot of facts about Australia on the board and bombarded the kids with Australian music - everything from Slim Dusty's "Waltzing Mathilda" to the National Anthem to "We are Australian", "I still call Australia home", and "Land Down Under"...hehe - it was pretty fun actually! Thursday: Sports day - I taught the students how to play netball. For the American's among my friends Netball is kind of like basketball except that once the ball is in your possession you cannot move your feet - no stepping - if you want to bounce the ball you may only do so once and when you are passing to someone else - and there are defined areas that each player is allowed to go in. Similar concept though and the kids were all very familiar with basketball so they picked it up pretty quickly. Again they seemed so keen to learna nd get stuck into it. I ran a bit of a skills class in the morning that the girls really seemed to enjoy but when it came to actually playing a game (I had enough students) the girls werent too keen...possibly because the boys play hard! They had so much fun with the lesson it was obvious and at points they had me laughing till I was in tears. I was a bit concerned when one of the boys had his glasses broken when an errant ball hit him in the face - but he really didnt seem to concerned... and kept playing without the glasses! Friday: This was the final day so I had put together a video the night before which had clips of the things they had done and photo's that I had taken throughout the week which I intended to show them before they left. But the lesson I had planned was probably the best of the week - special mention goes to Meresa who gave me the idea after running it with her class! I checked with my co-teacher the day before that it would be alright if they left school grounds, which it was, the rules are a little different here in Korea! I sent them on a "photo scavenger hunt" the basic idea being that I gave them a list of things they had to find or do and they had to take photos. Each item on the list was allocated a certain number of points and the team with the most points when they came back at 11:30am won the game and got a prize. (I will attach the list below!) At 11:30am all the teams came back and were eagerly showing me their hilarious photos and working out how many points they had earned. I awarded prizes and then the vice-principal came in to give a little speech. I decided to show the students the video I had made so the vice-principal could see it too and gave them all a chocolate biscuit cake thing to munch on while they were watching it. The vice-principal seemed very impressed and after a very short speech he departed. My favourite co-teacher was still there to help out because I told her that I wanted to give the students a quick survey to do before they left for the week. It just had basic questions like what did you like, what didnt you like, what would you have liked to have done etc. But I wanted to students to be clear on what I was asking - or to write in Korean if they had something they really wanted to say. That done I asked them all to thank my co-teacher (in english) for all the hard work she had done behind the scenes of organising and getting the resources I needed etc. which made her smile! Then the two of us went through the survey responses - overall they seemed really happy with the camp (there were no names so they could say anything they wanted!) and about half of them, without talking to each other, said they would like summer camp to be 1 night and 2 days - they want to sleep at the school! I told my co-teacher I was happy with that instead of doing 5 mornings... It will exceed my teaching hours for the week I'm sure but I think it could make summer camp loads of fun! Over-all it was a great week - I had a lot of fun - the kids seemed to have a lot of fun - and the school was really happy with me...so happy they gave me an extra day and a half of as "self study time" at home over lunar new year! The Great Photo Scavenger Hunt Take a photo of:

A group photo (more than 3 people) A very relaxing place The biggest tree The funniest thing you can find Something that begins with the letter “M” Do exactly what the sign says (any sign can work) An unusual perspective -- could be everyone's shoes, or the just top of their heads Make yourselves appear really small Picture with an animal (the more unusual the better) Catalog pose Can you find us? Having fun on a Swing Set Harry Potter Imitate the Beatles crossing a crosswalk (I had a photo here) Jumping in the air (must be off ground) making fire by rubbing sticks together Footprint in the snow A pizza sign Teammate doing a limbo Teammate dancing A teacher (not Teacher Mia) The vice-principal You & the vice principal together Someone who works at McDonalds A bus Take a picture with a mannequin A bicycle A sports ball Someone younger than you An English sign (not at school) A taxi A mop Making an English word with your bodies Take a picture of another team’s member taking a picture of you Acting 3 different emotions Take a picture with one of the tester ladies at E-mart Take a picture of a Hagwon A high-school student A chocolate bar A phone An icicle Something pink Green grass Someone drinking coffee

If you would like to see the students full performance of the Daft Punk Song "Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger" please click here too be taken to the youtube video.

Shopping in Yongsan

Shopping in Yongsan is a Korean experience that should not be missed! There are 9 floors and I would have to guess that the whole complex would be the size of half a dozen football fields. It's so big that the sides are referred to as the "South side" or the "East side"...I briefly entertained the idea of locating the sign that said "West side" just because I thought it would be amusing. My point is...think of the biggest shopping center you have ever seen - this is bigger. The area is known for electronics, even outside there are other shopping areas, both indoor and out, all of which are dedicated entirely to electronics - and everything is ridiculously cheap! To give you an example, last month I visited with the intention of getting a new phone (not on contract) and a PS3, I ended up buying the PS3, an HD cable, an extra controller, the new COD black ops, and the new Grand Turismo, and the whole lot cost me about $400 Australian. For those of you who don't know your games... $45 is fairly cheap for a brand new game that would cost about $120 in Australia. Ok...so it's huge, its dedicated to electronics and everything is really cheap. The biggest issues are trying to limit yourself (to not buy ridiculous amounts), trying to find the right area's for things, and trying to avoid pushy Korean camera sales men. The last one might sound easy but it's actually the most difficult. Even when you avoid eye contact they still talk to you, and their English is generally excellent so there is no way out by saying you just don't understand, and they are super keen! This weekend I went to get a new camera (my camera was 7 years old and has been held together with a band-aid since august 2009) and possibly a video camera. We shopped around for a while - I new I wanted the updated model of my current camera because it was so reliable - and in my opinion for a little point and shoot digital camera you really can't go wrong with a canon. I didn't realise at the time that there would be 5 or 6 models to choose from all of varying price! Of ourse you also have to take into consideration that the entire floor was just for cameras and video cameras... we are talking hundreds of little shops all selling cameras. There is a serious amount of choice! Eventually I decided on the model, and the place I wanted to buy it, the guy I bought it from seemed to be really honest and up front. I asked his opinion when I was choosing between the touch screen and another model and even though the touch screen would have made him more money he recommended the other model because there is less risk of the screen breaking - so he earned my trust! He discounted it substantially then I mentioned I was after a video camera too...this is where the bargaining really began - I ended up with a super fancy little canon cam corder, the new camera (which is also fancy) a video camera bag, a waterproof camera case and a regular camera case, a 16G memory card for the video camera, and a 4G memory card for the camera and the whole lot cost me about $600 Australian... I was so proud of my bargaining - he knocked about 350,000 won off the price! After my crucial purchases were made we decided to have a wander around (and visit the pet shop to look at toys for my pooch... I promise I will write up a blog about my puppy soon!) and generally just see what else was in the building. I was amazed when we discovered the entire top floor was dedicated to mobile phones, which are called hand phones here, I mean there were like 60 dealers in the one place...there just cant be that many different phones and plans etc...how do they ever make any money?!

In any case...if you are visiting Korea Yongsan is a must see!

Korean Apartments

When teaching in Korea (public or private schools) the contract will most likely include accommodation which is often referred to as single furnished housing. What you get depends a lot on your employer. Generally what is provided is a studio apartment, they vary greatly in size, and in condition. My apartment, for example, could charitably be referred to as a shoebox with a bathroom. It is so small that I cannot even fit a couch or a double bed, yet at the same time it also has almost everything I need, there is a bed, a desk and chair, a large fridge (my fridge is fairly impressive compared to others I have seen), a cupboard, a very small kitchen, and a very small bathroom. Notable exceptions are the lack of oven and lack of a proper shower. It is very difficult to get used to not having an oven, especially if you like to cook, though I am told you can pick up a toaster over relatively cheaply. I am completely confused by the fact that there are no power points in my kitchen... I have to put my toaster on my computer desk... The lack of a proper shower is harder to deal with, quite a few of the other teachers I know here managed to score an apartment with a proper shower, but my bathroom is a lot more like what you would find in the average Korean apartment. When I say proper shower what I mean is a shower with a shower curtain at least, or a shower that is separate from the rest f the bathroom. What you get in Korea is a shower-head that hangs over the basin, the entire bathroom gets wet, in most apartments the toilet also get soaked, and I even have some friends who have to cover the toilet roll every time they take a shower. It is probably the biggest downside of Korean apartments! On the other hand I have an exceedingly efficient Air conditioner, and all apartments in Korea have in floor heating, which could possibly be the best invention of all time - especially when it is -20 degrees Celsius outside! There are little things that you learn to remember after you have been here for a while in regard to heating etc. For example, you have to turn the heating on so you have hot water every time you want to have a shower or do the dishes. Some apartments also have a switch that you have to turn on to get the gas working on the gas hobs in the kitchen...I am lazy and use mine a few times a day so I tend to just leave it on now. I have also heard that what is in your apartment varies depending on your school and who was living in the apartment before hand. In my apartment I had a few bits and bobs in terms of plates and cutlery, my co-teacher had bought me a small frying pan, a large frying pan and two new pots, as well as a new duvet, sheets and a pillow. There were two plastic cups (which I detest so I bought glasses the first day) and a brand new toaster and microwave. The teacher who had been in the apartment before me had left behind some computer speakers, a phone charger, some bits from a camera and bike lock...most of which is in a bag in the cupboard because I figure they will get passed on again after I leave and they may find it useful! I have spent a fair bit decorating and adding to my apartment since I got here but again it will all be useful to me when I move on, or it will get left for the next person, its a sharing and caring kind of thing. So the apartment itself is included in your contract...you are, however, responsible for all the bills, apartment maintenance fee and a bond (also called key money) of 900,000 won which is take out of your first 3 months salary. The maintenance fee is not huge, I pay 50,000 on per month, and the bills vary a little from apartment to apartment but they are monthly and shouldn't average over about 100,000 won. Given that the lowest salary offered through GEPIK is 2 million won, it is more than manageable! The bond you get back at the end of the contract provided that there has been no damage done to the apartment. The location is generally pretty good, within 5 or 10 minutes walk from your school, though there are a few people here I know who have decided to live further away from their school so that they are not in such remote areas or closer to convenient things such as E-mart and Lotte-mart. While I have heard / seen pictures of the occasional horror story, the apartments I have seen here are pretty decent and the schools seem to be reasonably keen to keep you happy and so a fairly flexible - the key seems to be that if you aren't happy - tell them!

GEPIK Traditional Korean Music Class

Monday: Samul Nori Samul Nori is a type of traditional Korean percussion music. There were about 10 foreign teachers that arrived at Byeonjeom Middle School, which was a challenge in itself because there were no signs anywhere to tell us where in the school we were supposed to go, and like most Korean middle schools the building was huge and a little like a rabbit warren! I asked a lady who came out of the main office in halting Korean and she directed me to the second floor where I got lost again and accidentally found the library where I asked again. Pretty sure my answer came out as "odiya" GEPIK "aki" class. Which basically means where is GEPIK instrument class...obviously I need to learn how to say class and most likely work on my sentence structure! Either way it got the message across and they were very helpful! After locating the right room all the foreign teachers stood around and got involved in a self directed little getting to know you session which tends to happen a lot when you put a bunch of foreigners together. We waited for people to arrive and then eventually got started. The two Koreans teaching us had so little English that it was difficult to get started - just like when we are teaching it is hard for them to give instructions when we don't speak the same language - although probably more intimidating because we are adults. Either way before long we were sitting with drums in front of us, hourglass shaped drums called Janggu, and ready with the drumsticks in our hands in the correct position. One of the drumsticks is shaped like a long pointy chopstick, flat on one side and slightly rounded on the other, and the other is a long thin stick with a heavy bit of round rubber on one end. They started on some basic drumming, very slowly, trying to teach us how we were supposed to strike them and hand position etc. By the end of the class we had three different types of drum rolls down pat and we were picking up speed, we did 8 counts of each and then a finishing beat. It was actually loads of fun and sounded really cool. So...a bit more about Samul Nori.... it basically means "four instruments", kwaengwari (a small flat gong which produces a high-pitched metallic tone), jing (a large gong made from brass), janggu (hourglass shaped drum with two heads that produce different sounds at each end - when played together they are believed to represent the harmony of man and woman), and buk (shallow barrel shaped drum with a round wooden body), and it is a type of music that has evolved from Buddhist farming music. It was originally used by rice farmers in celebrations that were held to ensure a good crop. Tuesday: More of the same... we learned a different sequence and then practiced putting the two together. The second sequence was much more challenging than the first even though the first is much longer. Each day we also do a solo, we go around the group and every body practices doing it by themselves, though the teacher drums at the same time so we don't get lost! Wednesday: We practiced the previous 2 sequences that we learned, and then they also taught us a third, telling us that we had learned more quickly than they had anticipated. When we arrive each day we sign in, basically to establish that we were at the lesson, which I think is for GEPIK rather than for the teachers. Some of the people attending are on holiday, while others, like myself, are on work time...so it's important they know that i am not just taking the afternoon off! When we signed in the head teacher gave us each a necklace with a large wooden symbol on it. The message on the symbol had been burned in, I am not entirely sure what it says, the teachers English wasn't good enough to explain! We are all having a great time with this class, it's challenging enough to keep it interesting, and it's good to be "doing" something! Our only complaint is that the room we are learning in is freezing! The temperature here has been averaging between minus 7 and minus 19 degrees Celsius for the last week and it really feels like this room has no heating! It doesn't help that we are sitting on basically a concrete floor with a thin sheet of silver shiny stuff over it. By the end of the classes we are all frozen to the bone and my only thought has been to get warm as quickly as possible! Turns out I don't really cope so well with it being this cold! Thursday: This was the final day of our Samul Nori music lessons, we had to practice everything we had learned and then perform it to the actual Samul Nori performers (all of whom teach it for a living), then they performed for us. It was a little intimidating when they all came in with their costumes on, looking all professional, and they had just informed our "leader" that she had to keep count of the music. We decided to work together as a team...I kept count and nodded at her when it was time to change the rhythm, which worked really well till I messed up the second change and had to figure out where I was too...oops! We still made it in the end...and through all my messing up I managed to keep count and keep our leader on track. I think we pulled it off pretty well in the end! Then the professionals performed for us...I was so glad we had gone first because trying to follow their act would have been next to impossible! They were incredible - they moved so fast and they were so passionate about it - not to mention how difficult and complex the sequences were! After spending 3 days learning it I had a whole new appreciation for the musicians! I took a video so I will attempt to upload it this weekend. After the class had finished we all decided to go and have dinner, just the foreign teachers, not the musicians - though I suspect that they may have joined us had we asked them! We wandered down the road to the "all-you-can-eat" Galbi place and sat and ate different meats for about an hour. I always leave that restaurant feeling like I am going to explode! The middle school where we were having the classes was conveniently close to all my favourite restaurants... and I just happen to be a regular at the Galbi place we went too. All-in-all it was a great week and we all had a lot of fun - talk about an experience you wouldn't get anywhere else in the world!

Desk Warming

What is Desk Warming?

To put it simply it means that when the students are away on school holiday, and the school is closed, many native English teachers are still required to come to school and sit at their desks. You are generally required to be there for the same number of hours that would be at school normally, for some that is 9-5, for others that is 8:30-4:30.

On the positive side you have access to a computer and the internet but there are no students to teach and there is only so much preparation that you can do. Many teachers like to sit and watch movies or streamed television and facebook becomes your best friend! Some people alos use this time to study - online courses are a great idea - and there is plenty of down-time the rest of the year so you will never feel under pressure!

This is not a formal policy so at some schools they will allow the teachers to have the time at home but for other teachers, like myself, we are required to be at school for every minute of our contracted hours.

Most of the Korean teachers get most or all of this time off, which is fair when you think about the hours that they put in during the rest of the year, and how hard they are working all the time. Really when you think about it desk warming is just getting paid to sit and do whatever you want for 8 hours a day... but I would still rather be at school where they keep paying me and let me spend the time "working" from home!

How Long Do You have to Desk Warm For?

Again this really depends on your school. Winter holidays are the longest running from the end of December through until February. Some schools will run a "winter camp" during this time, which is really just extra classes still held at school, but I believe those are voluntary and the parent have to pay extra for that so sometimes class numbers can be low.

Of the teachers I know the winter camp length seems to vary from 1 week right up to 4 weeks and the numbers of hours taught per day vary as well. The other variable is your annual leave time. You get 20 days of holiday per 12 month contract and you can divide that between Summer and Winter Holidays. The days where you are not teaching winter camp and where you are not on annual leave will be desk Warming days.

My schedule this year is a good example of this. The students left school on the 28th of December and I warmed my desk on the 29th and 30th. I then had 5 days of annual leave. After that a week of desk warming, followed by 2 weeks of winter camp and then another week of desk warming. Then I am fairly certain we have Chinese New Year holidays (3 days of public holiday plus weekend) and soon after that 2 weeks of spring vacation which I am assuming I will be desk warming during as well.

Can't complain too much though...I am amusing myself and the money is really good!

Korean Food

In my blog I have talked a lot about food and the different things I have eaten since I got here but I thought it might be time for a list of a few of the different dishes… This is by no means a comprehensive list and in no particular order.



  Budae Jjigae

Budae Jjigae is also known as "Army Stew". It orginated during / after the Korean war in the 50's. Meat was scarce and the people were hungry, so they used to take the left over meat from the American Army bases, but it made them sick because the meat was old so they began to take the meat and boil it, adding chilli and vegetables to the mix. Now it has become a favourite dish, though obviously the meat is fresh, and they sometimes add noodles and cheese and ground beef into the mix.




  Galbi 
Galbi is a type of Korean BBQ, usually referring to Beef or Pork short ribs cooked over a BBQ grill in the centre of the table at a restaurant. The meat is marinated and while there are a few different types of marinade the most traditional is a marinade made from Korean Soy Sauce, garlic and sugar. When you go to eat this sort of meal you are also given a range of different side dishes. The side dishes vary depending on which restaurant you go to but Kimchi is a standard. The meat is brought out on a metal plate and then cooked on the grill, as the customer you take over from there, you are given tongs and a pair of scissors so that when the meat is cooked you can cut it into smaller portions that are easy to eat with chopsticks. It is also generally eaten with an onion and vinegar based salad.


  Samgyeopsal
Samgyeopsal is a similar concept to Galbi but with thick fatty slices of pork belly meat - it looks like and has a similar taste to thick slices of bacon - and it is delicious. Like Galbi it is cooked over a grill in the centre of the table and a number of side dishes are served with the meat.







  Dukbokki
Dukbokki is a dish which is usually bought from street vendors, though there are a number of shops, usually with windows facing the street where it can be purchased as well. It is a dish of sliced rice cake, sometimes with a little meat or fish cake, in a very spicy sauce made from chilli peppers. It is ridiculously cheap, costing between 2 and 3 thousand won for a large serve, which converts to around $2 US or a little less. If it is served for school lunches then the Korean teachers will warn you again and again that it is really spicy, and if you can eat it, or better yet actually enjoy it they are amazed!



  Kimchi 
Kimch is a traditional Korean dish, usually made from cabbage, though they often use other vegetables as well, mixed with varied seasonings and then left to ferment. Some o the oldest historical references to Kimchi are from approximately 3000 years ago though the name has varied slightly over time. The Kimchi Museum in Seoul has documented approximately 187 historical and current variations of Kimchi, meaning that depending on where you go to eat it will decide what the ingredients are in the Kimchi you are eating. Different types of Kimchi are made at diferent times of the year depending on which ingredients are readily available at the time. It is served as a side dish with almost every meal in Korea.



Jajangmyeon

Jajangmyeon is a dish made from thick wheat noodles with a thick, black, soybean paste sauce, also mixed with diced vegetables and meat. The dish originated in Incheon and may have been brought by the Chinese that migrated to the area in the 19th century. The dish has also been incorporated into the South Korean "Black Day" which is celebrated April 14th and is the single person's version of Valentines day - where people eat the back noodles together to bemoan their single"ness" and hope to find their soul mate over the bowl.



Ramyeon
 
Instant noodles with packet flavouring! 2-minute noodles Korean style.











Bibimbap
 
Bibimbap is a dish of rice served with various mixed ingredients like; meat, vegetables, a raw egg and chilli pepper paste. When the dish is served the ingredients are neatly arranged on top of the rice but are mixed into the rice before eating. This dish seems to be very popular with foreigners for some reason (I don't particularly like it because I think it is pretty borig compared to some of the other amazing Korean foods.) Bibimbap is first recorded in an anonymous cookbook fromt he late 19th cenutry and is now a common food served in Korean houses due to the ease of preparation and ability to use many different ingredients.



Gimbap
Gimbap appears to be the Korean equivalent to sushi, it is made from steamed rice and various other ingredients, rolled in a sheet of dried seaweed and served in bite-size sections.







Mandu
Mandu are Dumplings! There are two schools of thought as to how dumplings were brought to Korea, the first says that they were originally brough to Korea by the mongols, when they invaded in the 14th century. The second suggests that they came to Korea much earlier, by way of the silk road, from the middle east. There are many different types of Mandu in Korea, as well as different ways of cooking and serving the various types. Some are steamed or fried while others are served in a thick soup called Manduguk. However they are served...they are delicious! You can get them frozen if you would like to cook them at home or you can also get them from many of the street vendors.

  For a more complete list (and recipies) please click here.