Crazy. Weather is very muggy and oppressive. Nice for a change, and fairly fresh outside, but very damp and hot indoors.
The director wouldn't let me teach with my girlfriend in the class with me. At a reputable institution this might make some sense, but where the idea is to entertain and teach a language, well, I'd say he shot himself in the foot. He probably thinks, in the privacy of the classroom, we're going to make out or something. He's a crazy guy, the director, and I have a few complaints to shoot back at him if he makes any more to me.
There is a 14 year old boy in one of my last classes, who doesn't even know how to anser a question like 'How are you?' or 'How old are you?' Basically he cannot read or speak virtually any English, so he basically exists in the classroom as I kind've extremely heavy drag. He plays with his cellphone, eats, comes in as late as possible, and who can blame him when he doesn't have a clue what's going on. It's not his fault he's at the school, it's the nutcase who signed this poor kid into a class where the other kids are a couple of leaps and bounds ahead (eg. they can already read, and know what 'Hello' means).
I notice the clock at reception is 2 minutes fast, and the clock in the teachers room is 2 minutes slow (meaning when we finish teaching it appears as though we need to go back in for more time.)
I'm going to be less flexible here than I was at Kang's. I'll do my job, exceed even his low standards in terms of actual teaching quality, but I'm not going to ask how high when he says jump, and since I'm also the only foreign teacher here, I'm not going to jump to his drum. I'm clearer than ever that this place is only see my shadow for another 5 months.
The same way you teach kids how to treat you, and you have to bring up your parents, the same goes, in a way for the boss. Especially, especially here, where they don;t know what they are doing, and don't seem to care. I like a casual approach, but I like what I do to have some meaning, some value, some contribution, otherwise the present existence and a future Tombstone can be summarised with this one word: Bullshitter. It's a fine line, as obviously I'd like to maintain my salary rolling in, and a respectful work atmosphere.
Must go, he is towering over me right now!
Hi Nick,
ReplyDeleteHow's it going?
As I was reading your blog I noticed that you failed to elaborate on one detail (unless I missed it somewhere)--you don't talk about your new girlfriend. What's up?
Hi Val. Interesting question. Yes it's the first time on this website that I've actually explicitly written about someone I was romantically involved with, even though I have had one or two girlfriends since October 2004 when I started writing this blog. The main purpose of this blog is not to post pictures of girlfriends and private stuff like that.
ReplyDeleteThe only reason I've devoted so much space here to her is because her family are far away and quite concerned about her, and obviously interested and curious about Korea. This is also her first time away from home. So it's more for their benefit, and peace of mind, than for any other reason that the content (and so much of it) is here at all.