South Korea 4 - 1 United Arab Emirates

Cara and I were able to go to South Korea's World Cup qualifying match against United Arab Emirates last night.  It was really exciting, although the game was very much a one sided game with Korea dominating, which allowed for 5 goals that for the most part were all nice goals. Going the World Cup qualifying match was a quick change of pace from the Modern Dance performance we went to just the night before. We went with Cara's co-teacher who is good friends with one of the dancers and she wanted us to go with her, after she took us out for some great Moroccan food.

We had great seats right in the 3rd row next to the corner flag. Which was great in the second half but during the first half all the action was at the other end of the field.

GOOOOOOAAAAAALLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL!!!   (Watch Out for the Eyes)

This was South Korea's third goal, to make it 3-1, headed in by Kyun-ho Lee off a corner kick. The second video is of a great shot from Korea that the UAE Keeper did a great job to save. 

Jangchung Sports Day

Due to my schools big 70th Anniversary, this week has been a breeze as I have had no responsibilities other to than be at school from 8:30 until 4:30.  So Thursday was my school's version of our field day at home. 

This video is fairly long, so don't feel like you need to watch the whole thing, as it is much of the same, but for some reason this video reminds me of communist China.  It is my Principle leading the students in their "stretching" or warm-up exercises before the big races. The music that they are playing sounds like something you would here on a Nazi Germany or Communist China Documentary and the mans voice counting or what ever he is saying only solidifies my feelings towards the event. Not to mention the single file lines that the students are in, and just before they did their stretches my Principle gave a loud speech while all the students remained in saluting position. 

The video on the left is Koreas version of a Mexican Pinata, without the candy or surprise falling out when it breaks, only a school banner that says "70th anniversary," which is slightly disappointing.  Yes, its him, my favorite 1st grader, but don't be fooled, he really can fly. 

If you want to view more pictures of JANGCHUNG SPORTS DAY you can: CLICK HERE

Pictures finally!!

Go here to my picasa page to see some pics:  CLICK HERE

You're Welcome.

We hate Korea day!

So, Toby and I are definitely having a "I hate everything about Korea and this place really blows" day.  We are both getting over really bad colds and are getting really annoyed at our schools.

My school decided they wanted (read: MADE) me to do an after school program.  If it were at my school and with my kids I would probably be ok with it, but nothing in Korea makes sense, so its obviously not.  SMOE, the school system that Toby and I work for, can make some teachers do after school programs if they don't teach enough hours.  However, I teach 22 hours which is the max (if you teach more than this then you get overtime pay) and I teach a 1 and 1/2 hour teachers class to help them practice their English.  I should get paid overtime but supposedly the school doesn't have enough money, so, I don't.  Therefore I really shouldn't have to teach anything else.  I'm not sure why my school volunteered me for this, maybe it makes them look better or something.  Anyways, I had to go on Monday to the school where I will be teaching.  Beforehand I asked my coteacher if I will have to make the lesson plans for the after school program and she said "Oh no".  Well, surprise, surprise!!  I do.  Not only that, I am teaching a debating class to kids who can hardly speak English!  And its for 2 days a week for 3 hours a day.  Also, my coteacher just informed me that I will also need have an outline for all the lesson plans I will be doing until December, oh yeah, and they need them ready by Friday.  Needless to say, I am a bit frustrated.

Things were just starting to seem that they were too good to be true at my school and I guess they were.

On a good note...the won (korean currency) just dropped to an all time low in years!  YAY!  So Toby and I are basically making less money then we were back home.  

I promise I'm not that bitter...sometimes it just helps to let it all out.

I promise next time everything I say will be positive.

70th Anniversary at JangChung

So this week is my schools, Jangchung Elementary, 70th Anniversary meaning I don't have to teach the entire week. This, as you would expect, is very nice because Cara and I both have Korea's worst cold.  So I asked my co-teacher why the school was putting on such a huge production, thinking that in Korea the 70th anniversary was special or culturally important for some reason.  She didn't really know why either, she said that the 100th anniversary is really what is important.  You should know that I have missed 1/4 of all my classes for the past 2 weeks, due to preparations, on top of not having any classes at all this week.  I will say that enjoyed the first day of the festival, watching the students run around in some amazing outfits and or costumes, jump-roping to Korean Pop music, playing traditional Korean drums while dancing, and playing instruments.   

                                                 

I love this kid, not to mention the costume.  I don't know his name, partly because my school didn't want me to give English names and Korean names, other than Park and Kim, are impossible to pronounce, but he is one of my favorite 1st graders.

Sorry for the poor quality, but I thought these videos might give you an idea of what the performances were like.  The voices you here at the end of the "I Love You" video belong to my co-teachers.