7/28/09
This past Friday was the last day of the the Nokyang Elementary school semester, which, among other things, meant a lot of unapologetic playing of movies in classrooms by teachers. What healthy twelve-year-old can think straight on the last day of class anyway? Candy and I also partook in this video showing with a couple of Spongebob Squarepants episodes in the place of what would normally have been a rigorous learning marathon of English nouns, verbs, adjectives, and articles, Articles, ARTICLES! But we're still a little mean, so we had them write down any words they recognized while listening to the episode. Ah, when they're older they'll thank me.
Starting yesterday and ending July 13th is Summer English Camp, which contrary to the name, does not involve bonfires, rustic cabins, or even a simple game involving students throwing watermelons or something at each other. It actually takes place in a school, in a classroom, with a teacher suspiciously similar to the very same teacher who was teaching during the regular semester - me. However, there are some significant differences about summer camp. For one, there is no co-teacher. Only me and my shoddy knowledge of Korean to keep order. (Thankfully the students have been very well behaved so far). The classes are very small. About 8 students per class which is great. Class A: 9:00 - 10:30. Class B: 10:50 - 12:20. Among top teaching priorities: Ordinal numbers! These are difficult! Have you ever wondered why 1st 2nd and 3rd are all different, but 4th through 10th all consistently have a "th" after them? And why is it "fifth" instead of "fiveth"? These questions never plagued me until now. But if things go according to plan, by the end of two weeks there will be roughly 30 new members of the Society of Emblematic Characters and Ordinal Number Department. Get it?
I had a lot of time during the semester to plan for summer camp, but now, having just completed the second day of classes, I have found that I prepared way too much. It's not as bad as all that, since this overpreparation gives me the enviable prerogative of choosing the best content and tossing some of the meaningless drivel I had planned on teaching. I'm spending a good chunk of time playing games such as Pictionary, or Apples to Apples, which the students have enjoyed a lot, but which are also challenging enough to result (it is my hope) in some good learning. I'll keep you posted on the progress of English Camp.
7/26/09
Excerpt from this morning's Bible study in Romans 2:12-16
Jesus Christ is the end and the fulfillment of the law. The purpose of the law was to show people that they could not be good. The purpose of the law was to show people that they needed God. But the sinful nature of mankind made the law powerless, so God sent his Son to do what the law could not do. God sent Jesus to show the world what it looked like for someone to actually obey every part of God's word, perfectly, every day, in human flesh, on earth, for a whole lifetime. This is why Jesus is also the end of the law. Jesus is better than the law. With his perfect life, and his perfect obedience to God the Father, Jesus Christ causes sinful men and women to be confronted with knowledge that they are not able to live the perfect life which Jesus lived. Because of this, they know that they are incapable of producing righteousness themselves. Jesus Christ is shocking to human pride. Jesus Christ is humiliating to anyone who thinks they are "good enough". God will judge men's secrets through Jesus Christ . Some people are under the law, some people are apart from the law, but there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved other than the name of Jesus Christ. It is not those who hear the law who will be declared righteous in God's sight but those who obey the law, the fulfillment of the law, and the end of the law - those who are in Christ.
7/25/09
This morning my tour guide-esque friend, Mr. Lee from church took me to Surak Mountain to see the mountain ridge which was the site of a long row of cannons during the Korean War used to defend South Korea from North Korea. In the middle of the 90 minute trek up there happens to be a big Buddhist temple called Mangwolsa.
"Frog Rock" at the bottom of the mountain.
The generally used word for "bathroom" in Korean is "Hwajangsil" which paraphrased by me, means "room to look in the mirror and make sure you look good, as good as you possibly can". But there is a special designated word for a bathroom at a Buddhist temple and that word literally means: "Relieve agony place".
Facing South Korea
View facing North Korea. Mr. Lee told me that Kim Jong Il happens to be quite a big NBA fan and enjoys watching games with his son. Apparently he has graced all NBA teams with his own personal names such as "tank", "missle", "rifle", etc. Any NBA fans are free to guess at which team has been named with which military weapon.
Following the journey to and from the mountain top, I went to Korean class where we learned an old Korean song as our lesson and afterwards went out for "CheeTatoDalKalbi" which is a little play on words for "Cheese/Potato Grilled Chicken"
7/06/09
National Folk Museum of Korea
printing press
Book of Starvation Tips.
In the past many Korean children did not live past their first year. In some cases I've heard that they were actually not given names until after 100 days. A feast was given on a child's first birthday to celebrate the safe first year of life. The highlight of the celebration was a ritual for seeing the future of the child. For the ritual, a special table was prepared with a variety of objects. The object picked first by the child was believed to foretell it's future: money or grain meant a millionaire; a book or a writing brush, a scholar-official; and an arrow or a bow, a general. When a girl picked up a spool or scissors, it was believed that she would be good at needlework.
This very honest historical mannequin replica of a traditional Korean wedding does not hide the feelings of boredom and heat exhaustion on the part of the groomsmen.
see fan death
Geneaology record. Family names are kept through the mother. A few of the the most common family names: Lee, Kim, Park.
