Oh English

I went to a university yesterday to help out three master's students of linguistics. They're doing research and needed native English speakers for test subjects. So I sat in a booth for an hour and a half reading and repeating sentences.

During one of our breaks, I was saying how Korean seems really hard because the grammar is so different from English - almost opposite. They laughed and said, "Now you know how we feel." Then one of the girls said, "English is the public enemy." I laughed; it was funny after all.

But now I'm starting to agree with here. For instance, how do you pronounce this word: banal. It was one of the words I had to read in the testing. Now, I pronounce is BAYnal. But then I was talking to my friend and she said it is pronounced buh-nal (buNALL). So I checked on the internet. Apparently there are three recognized pronunciations; the two above and also saying it like it rhymes with canal. And then I laughed out loud when I continued reading and saw this:
"Some Panelists admit to being so vexed by the problem that they tend to avoid the word in conversation." So there is your answer folks - avoidance.

Later that day at work one of the Korean teachers asked me a grammar question about using 'them' or 'themselves.' Do you know how hard that is to explain? Especially to a Korean whose English is not that great. He kept on asking why, until I wanted to scream "JUST BECAUSE." And honestly, sometimes that's the only answer I have. That's what they did to me in the MTC when I was learning Russian; "just because - now memorize it."

I have a love/hate relationship with English.

Warning: singing may cause injury

Saturday was Rebecca's farewell party. We had Korean BBQ and then went to the noraebang. We were at the noraebang for two hours, and I pretty much sang along to every song. There were classics like "Girls Just Want to Have Fun" and "Don't Stop Believing" and new ones like "Empire State of Mind." There were even some korean ones. My favorites that I picked out were "Can't Help Falling in Love" and "Piano Man."

It was such a blast, even if the noraebang room was 100 degrees. But the noraebang can be dangerous. Granted my throat wasn't feeling top notch before the two hours of singing, but afterward it was painful. The next day at church I was squeaking, literally, when I tried to sing the hymns or speak at a higher decibel. It was quite amusing, especially when I squeaked particularly loud at Jon and he laughed at me.

I had to say goodbye to Rebecca yesterday as well. It was very, very sad. We gave each other a big hug goodbye, and I may have cried a little. Goodbye Becca - you made Korea fun and I shall miss you, your dance moves, and your outrageously loud and boisterous laugh.

My date

One of my friends, Justin, from the branch here is leaving on Saturday, headed back to the USA. He called me up on Sunday and asked if I wanted to go on a date before he left. I said yes, but because of my work schedule (I work 2pm-10pm) we had to do a morning date.

We met up at 10:30 on Tuesday. We at breakfast/lunch, which was sweet potato pizza. It might sound really weird, but it was actually really good - if you like sweet potatoes that is. Koreans tend to put a lot of things on pizza that we would never think of, including corn. But it's not too shabby.

After food, we crossed the bridge over the Han River to go to the river park. It was so humid! We were roasting and dripping in sweat. As were were walking, Justin told me, "Here is the objective: we have to find something to give each other, but it can't be trash. I don't want trash." By the time we got to the park we decided to sit under some shade for a bit. Then Justin asked this middle aged woman sitting next to us to take our picture (he speaks Korean, he served his mission here). Anyway, it ended up being kind of funny, because she almost took a picture of herself instead of us. But it turned out okay.

Here's the result.

We took a stroll along the river, and I ended up giving Justin a flower that I'd picked, but he said it was a weed. Which really it was, but there wasn't much else to find out there. And we took some random pictures.

The flower/weed I gave to Justin. He loved it - can't you tell?

Us and the flower and a wall.

Under the bridge.

Justin ended up giving me a slab of rock, that perhaps may have been part of a counter top. We ended the date with some Baskin Robbins. All in all, probably the most random date I've ever been on, but we had a good time. Smile, life is good.

World Cup Madness

Koreans are mad for the World Cup - really they're mad for anything that involves Korea and will bring them honor. On Saturday I, with some friends, joined the masses at City Hall in downtown Seoul to watch the soccer game on big screen TVs between Korea and Greece. Of course it decided to rain that day, so we bought some cheap rain slickers and joined in on all the chanting and fun. There were so many people there. We got pushed and shoved, until we finally moved back to the street so Christina could actually see the game (she was too short to see over everyone's heads - I don't have that problem).

We ended up standing in front of a bus load of riot police, with whom Jessica flirted. She's great at flirting through glass but not so much in person. About half way through the game a guy with a TV camera saw us, so his assistant turned a huge spotlight on us and they filmed us cheering. Then a little later some random guy gave us free Cokes. Oh, to be a foreigner in Korea - sometimes it's good. And towards the end of the game I may have gone up to a stranger that was cheering really loudly and cheered back at him. At first he gave me an odd look, but then he seemed cool with it, so we cheered together for a bit. And Korea WON! The night ended with us dancing in a victory circle.

Masses of Korean fans waiting for the game to start.

This is what we looked like the whole night. The soccer fans are called the Red Devils, hence the devil horns.

Korean fans in the flesh.

Jess and I with are matching Korean shirts. We are so cool!

The power of candy

I teach middle school kids. Some of them are out of control and constantly talking, some of them are so shy and quiet it's like wrestling a bear trying to get them to talk, some of them fall asleep in class (I have one student who seriously falls asleep in every class - I think he may lack iron).

But there is one thing that gets them worked up about playing a game or participating in class. That is candy. The power of candy is amazing. Even one measly little piece gets them so excited. My teaching skills are nothing compared to the temptation of candy.

Oh sweet candy, you do wonders.

Pondering

I learned recently that a guy that I went to junior high and high school with, Scott Snider, died of cancer. Scott and I were never great friends, but he was a good person. He was funny, and talented, and cute, and generally liked. When I heard about his death it made me sad, especially for those that were close to him. Out of curiosity, I looked at his Facebook page yesterday and saw how people are still writing to him, how they still want to talk to him because he had touched their lives in some way. I found it a rather bitter sweet thing.

This event got me pondering certain things. I live in a city of 11 million people, and even though I stick out I still feel insignificant sometimes. It can be crazy and chaotic here. There is pushing and shoving (they do that a lot here). It can also feel monotonous, especially at my job like I am a drone along with the other millions of workers. I wonder sometimes if I'm really doing any good - am I really helping these kids or teaching them anything? But after reading things that people had written to Scott, I realize that it doesn't much matter if you do something extraordinary with your life as long as you live it to the fullest and are kind to the people around you. Sometimes kindness is hard (especially in a city of 11 million people and when you work with junior high kids ;), but it is important.

Also, I try to take time to appreciate the little happinesses around me. I can get overwhelmed with all the tall buildings, mass amounts of people, and lessons I have to plan so looking for the little things keeps me grounded. Like seeing little kids hold hands or the 70-year-old man playing a game on his cell phone on the metro. Note: old dogs CAN learn new tricks. Like giving my students high fives and hearing them oh and ah over videos of volcanoes that I show them. Like hearing one of my students tell me to stay a long time because I'm a cool teacher. Like appreciating the green trees and flowers that I see. These things bring a smile to my face. Thanks Scott...

All American Pastime

Baseball! In Korea... That's right folks, baseball is pretty popular here. There are two stadiums in Seoul, and about eight professional teams across Korea. We went to Mok-Dong Stadium to watch the Nexen Heroes and the LG Twins. The stadium wasn't that big, but it was a lot of fun. The game was exciting - it even went into extra innings because the Heroes tied it up in the bottom of the ninth. We were rooting for the Heroes because they were the home team, but they eventually lost. I'm starting to see a pattern, that who I root for ends up losing. It happened with professional volleyball and now baseball. Poor guys.

Up at bat

On first base

Korean fans. They all have these blow-up noise makers and they can get really loud. But that was part of the fun.

Famous Korean girl - her name is UEE. She's in a singing group and is an actress too. I found out her dad is the coach for the Heroes so she's the spokesperson for them.