Speaking Tests (Round 2)

This week my students had their semester speaking tests. Instead of normal classes they would each come talk to me in my office for up to one minute. I would then ask them a question and give them a score.

Most of my students did very well and told me some interesting stories. However, some students didn't go so well. Here are some of the funny things that I was told this week:

Student: .....and that's why my brother is my role model.
Me: Good. How many brothers do you have? 
Student: 26
Me: (Big family)

Student: My favourite book is Harry Potter and the order of Penis. 

Student: My weakness is that I have small eyes. So I do eye exercises everyday to help make my eyes big and wide. 
(This was followed by the student performing a demonstration of this by looking all around the room)

Student: Hello Mr Parry. My name is Dum Bit Cher. 
(This was funny last speaking tests and was funny again this time.)

Student: Books are good and are very impotent. I like to read books because they are impotent. 

8:20 - Walking into school
Student: Teacher I have a speaking test today.
Me: Oh ok. Good luck.
Student: You are very handsome.
Me: (Smile)
Student: Do I get a 10 out of 10 now?

Student: My favourite movie is Narnia. I don't like that movie.
Me: (Make up your mind...)

Student walks into my office for the test
Student:  I'm sorry Mr. Parry but I do not speak English very well. 
(Note: This sentence was spoken in perfect English)
Me: So you didn't prepare anything?
Student: No, I am sorry. 
Me: Ok...thanks. 
Student leaves my office
(Unfortunately this happened maybe 2-5 times per class)

Student: My main worry in my life is my face.

Korean temperature Part 1 of 2

Summer has come and gone and I am beginning to feel winter's icy hand effecting the neighbourhood. The trees have all gone from green to orange and the mornings are now very chilly. In a few weeks my walk to school may require ice skates.

Put on your warmest clothes. Winter gets well below zero degrees in Korea.
It is funny, Korean people are always bragging about how they have "4 unique seasons". After asking, they will give you a big speal about Korea being special because they have Summer, Autumn (Fall), Winter and Spring. My reply to this is usually "Yeah, so what. So does half of the rest of the world". But this bragging is silly for more reasons than just that. In Korea the winters and summers are very long. It seems that Autumn and Spring only last for about a month each. Just as winter ends you will only get a good month of Spring before summer starts. This has got me thinking that maybe they should stop bragging until all seasons are similar lengths. At the moment it seems more like 2 seasons with a short "half time show" in between.

Some drinks on a hot summers night.

The little things

It is the little things that make teaching in Korea so great. The funny things the students say (like "shit down"), students yelling things (like "Oh, hi Loren Teacher. I love you") from across the road and the nice presents they give you. Here is just a couple of things that our students have given us since we have been here:

A letter one of my 3rd grade girls (Che Won) gave me today.
 Nuri is the name of the after school program  I teacher her in.

The second half of the letter, written by Kyung Jun

A present I got for Chuseok

A portrait Brenton's students drew for him.

A weekend in Taipei

I am too lazy this week to blog about my weekend trip to Tapei, so I am just going to link to Amy's instead! We had a wonderful 1 1/2 days in Taipei and it was totally worth the time spent getting there!

Good times. Great taste.

Soju Bombs

The highlight of Jeju-do (ok, maybe the low light)

We did a lot of fun stuff during our recent trip to Jeju Island. We saw waterfalls, hiked up a volcano, watched an acrobat performance, drank, ate, the list goes on. But by far the worst thing we did was visit the chocolate museum. The sign said it was in the top 10 chocolate museums in the world, after seeing it we concluded that there must only be 10 chocolate museums in the world. Even the free chocolate sample at the end didn't justify the 30 minutes we wasted in this place.

Amy was nice enough to put together this movie so you can really get a feel for the fun that is the chocolate museum:

Google translate fail

Couple's outfits

Korean fashion is a bit different to back home. Clothes have English slogans on them that range from slightly strange to down right hilarious (e.g. an old chubby grandma wearing a t-shirt that says "skinny bitch") or that just make no sense at all. The women wear gigantic heels everywhere (including hiking), mismatched is in style in a big way (cute spotted pink dress with a red stripy backpack), there is a lot of glitter and rhinestones, and men's outfits could often be mistaken for women's.

One of the biggest differences is couples outfits. You see them everywhere. They range from matching T-shirts/jumpers to an entire matching outfit (right down to the shoes, socks and underwear). Shops downtown sell matching watches, rings, glasses, underwear, shoes, jumpers, hats, bags. Basically anything you wear you can buy to match your partner. I cannot imagine Kate and Steve, Jac and Will, Taryn and Dale, Nikita and Matt, Fraser and Ange or any other couples I know rocking up in a matching outfit but here in Korea that is normal.

We have managed to snap a few photos of couples outfit while we have been here and I will add more to this post as we get them:

Just a t-shirt

colour coordination

Again another t-shirt

just the jumper

An entire matching family!

Brenton and I testing it out. Don't worry I wouldn't let Brenton buy it!