I have been in Korea now for a little over two months and I can't believe how fast time has gone by. I have seen a lot in my short time here but I and can't wait for all there is left to see and experience. And although the sights have been great and learning about the history of Korea has been educational, the most interesting part of living here has been learning about the culture and being immersed in their lifestyle. There is so much difference between here and home. Here are my top 3 so far:
1.) Appearance is very important. This I didn't expect. I wasn't really sure what I did expect when it came to appearance but I didn't expect it to mean so much. Face lifts and laser surgery are quite common among women. Anti-wrinkle creams, lotions, and face care are huge over here, and quite expensive! And it is more than just looks. Men will be at work early and work late hours just because it looks good. The parents at our school seem more concerned that their child is sitting nicely than if they can read or write because sitting nicely looks good.
2.) The "concern" about the kids safety. We have a wonderful big backyard with a jungle gym at school. Currently, half of the yard is fenced off because the grass "needs to grow" and the kids can't run on it while it is growing. But once the fence does come down, the kids have to "walk softly on the grass" so they won't get hurt. What?! Walk softly on the grass so you won't get hurt? I'm not even sure what that means. By the time we can finally send the kids outside, we have to spend 10 of the 20 minutes they have to play, putting sun screen on their face, arms, and legs. I guess they will get sun burned during those 10 minutes outside.
Now if it is raining, it's a different story. Apparently, Koreans think they will melt if they get wet. If it is raining when we send the kids home, we have to walk with each child with an umbrella to their bus so they don't get wet! I can understand doing this if it was down-pouring but they do this when it is sprinkling! It's a bit annoying.
They put so much emphasis on "safety" but yet they let their 7 and 8 year olds ride in the front seat of a car without a seat belt! I just don't get it!
3.) Work comes before everything! I don't experience this personally, our work is our work and we are done at 6 but if you are a male, your work comes first. It comes before family, significant others, you put work above yourself! Your boss is the most important person in your life. If your boss gets a raise, you buy him something, you go out and celebrate with him even if it means you have to miss your wife's birthday. If his wife is mad at him because he went out, you go how with your boss to try to make it better with is wife! But yet, you will see business men passed out in the alley on a Thursday morning because they drank too much Soju the night before. It's amazing!
I'm sure there will be more the longer I'm here but there are my "favorites" so far. Glad I'm not Korean!
Monday, April 26, 2010
Tuesday, April 20, 2010
Drama, drama, drama
After all the dust settled, Sheena decided to stay at the school.
Here's a summary of what happened:
Sheena, the other Korean teachers, and the administration were at school until about 9:30 last Thursday night working out the problem. The Korean teachers were upset because the administration was not supporting Sheena, Sheena was clearly because of "Matthew's" mother, and the administration was trying to please the customer while holding on to one of their most valued teachers. I'm not sure what exactly was said to who or by who but it was quite tense when we left work and we still didn't know what to expect Friday morning when we got to work. Would someone be fired, did people quit, would we loose one of our students?
It was eerily quite Friday morning when I got to work. Usually by the time we get there, there are at least 3 or 4 other Korean teachers there and many show up shortly after. Not this day. All the lights were off and no one was to be seen. It took about 10-15 minutes for teachers to start showing up, but no sign of Sheena. This was worry some for me because usually she is one of the first ones to work. 8:30 turned into 8:50 and then 9:15, still no Sheena. Finally, at about 9:20 she came!! I was overjoyed! I was so glad she stood her ground and didn't let the administration change the way she teaches.
"Matthew" on the other hand no longer goes to our school. His mother requested he switch classes but our administration decided it was either he stay in Bristol or he leave the school, they decided to leave the school. And good riddance to him!
Although this was a real problem and Sheena was blamed for things she never did, the whole thing was just a bunch of drama! I will never understand this culture.
Here's a summary of what happened:
Sheena, the other Korean teachers, and the administration were at school until about 9:30 last Thursday night working out the problem. The Korean teachers were upset because the administration was not supporting Sheena, Sheena was clearly because of "Matthew's" mother, and the administration was trying to please the customer while holding on to one of their most valued teachers. I'm not sure what exactly was said to who or by who but it was quite tense when we left work and we still didn't know what to expect Friday morning when we got to work. Would someone be fired, did people quit, would we loose one of our students?
It was eerily quite Friday morning when I got to work. Usually by the time we get there, there are at least 3 or 4 other Korean teachers there and many show up shortly after. Not this day. All the lights were off and no one was to be seen. It took about 10-15 minutes for teachers to start showing up, but no sign of Sheena. This was worry some for me because usually she is one of the first ones to work. 8:30 turned into 8:50 and then 9:15, still no Sheena. Finally, at about 9:20 she came!! I was overjoyed! I was so glad she stood her ground and didn't let the administration change the way she teaches.
"Matthew" on the other hand no longer goes to our school. His mother requested he switch classes but our administration decided it was either he stay in Bristol or he leave the school, they decided to leave the school. And good riddance to him!
Although this was a real problem and Sheena was blamed for things she never did, the whole thing was just a bunch of drama! I will never understand this culture.
Thursday, April 15, 2010
To stay or go
Obviously I'm not the one making the decision to stay or go but my partner teacher may have to make that decision, and I don't blame her. The past few days have been quite emotional for her and she has lost a lot of sleep lately. Here's the situation:
(Let me preface this with saying Sheena is very strict when it comes to discipline.If you have been following my blog, you know how she dealt with Leeds when they teased the other class for not being as smart as them).
We have one child in class, we'll call him "Brian", that does not pay attention, he is often talking out of turn, doesn't like to follow directions, and is good for at least 2 emotional breakdowns a week. One day late last week, Sheena had been teaching class and Brian was not paying attention. She called his name 3 times and still he won't have anything to do with Sheena or the class. So Sheena told him that he can either participate in class or pack up his stuff and go home. Well another child, we'll call him "Matthew" heard Sheena say this and reported to his mother that, "Sheena teacher told Brian that she doesn't want him in class anymore and that she kicked him out." Clearly that is not what happened. But moms being the wonderful moms they are, gossiped and word got around that Sheena kicked Brian out of class and that Sheena doesn't want Brian in Brisol anymore. Sheena got phone calls from all of the mothers last week yelling at her for what she said to Brian. She said she didn't sleep at all this past weekend. And this was just the start of it!
As the week went on, Sheena was having a hard time with the situation. Brian's mom had called her and demanded her to apologize for what she said to Brian, even though it wasn't true. After Sheena was demanded to apologize to Brian's mom, I thought maybe the situation was under control and things would just blow over. But then, for some reason unknown to me, Matthew's mom called the school to complain to the administration about Sheena. She called our Director and Assistant Director to talk about Sheena. This made Sheena furious, and rightfully so. Matthew's mother never called Sheena to talk about the problem but went right to administration. I'm not sure what exactly was said or what Matthew's mother was saying to the higher ups but it was not good.
Today, Thursday, we had a field trip. It was supposed to be a fun day for not only the kids but for the teachers too. And after the field trip, the school was taking the foreign teachers out to dinner. Well plans were altered. Before we left for the field trip, Sheena informed me that Matthew's mother was demanding a meeting with the administration after the field trip. She was told nothing else but that Matthew's mother would be coming to the school. I felt so bad for her! After we got back from the field trip I went to drop something off for Sheena and she was in tears. She was so upset with Matthew's mother for not coming to her first. And she was also upset with the school because she knew the school would not support her, and that is what really upset me. The school would side with the mother and not support their own teachers.
The meeting did not go well. I didn't hear or see what happened but I was told Sheena needed to be held back from yelling or hitting someone! I then heard that Sheena said she would quit and leave the school because of the whole situation! Needless to say our school dinner got canceled. We left school at 5:00 and Sheena was still talking to the administration. I'm worried because she is my partner teacher and the effects of her leaving, if that is what she chooses to do, would be disastrous for me.
This country is quite different than home. Everything from what they value to how they communicate. I don't think it's something I will ever get used to during my time here. And quite honestly, I don't think I want to.
(Let me preface this with saying Sheena is very strict when it comes to discipline.If you have been following my blog, you know how she dealt with Leeds when they teased the other class for not being as smart as them).
We have one child in class, we'll call him "Brian", that does not pay attention, he is often talking out of turn, doesn't like to follow directions, and is good for at least 2 emotional breakdowns a week. One day late last week, Sheena had been teaching class and Brian was not paying attention. She called his name 3 times and still he won't have anything to do with Sheena or the class. So Sheena told him that he can either participate in class or pack up his stuff and go home. Well another child, we'll call him "Matthew" heard Sheena say this and reported to his mother that, "Sheena teacher told Brian that she doesn't want him in class anymore and that she kicked him out." Clearly that is not what happened. But moms being the wonderful moms they are, gossiped and word got around that Sheena kicked Brian out of class and that Sheena doesn't want Brian in Brisol anymore. Sheena got phone calls from all of the mothers last week yelling at her for what she said to Brian. She said she didn't sleep at all this past weekend. And this was just the start of it!
As the week went on, Sheena was having a hard time with the situation. Brian's mom had called her and demanded her to apologize for what she said to Brian, even though it wasn't true. After Sheena was demanded to apologize to Brian's mom, I thought maybe the situation was under control and things would just blow over. But then, for some reason unknown to me, Matthew's mom called the school to complain to the administration about Sheena. She called our Director and Assistant Director to talk about Sheena. This made Sheena furious, and rightfully so. Matthew's mother never called Sheena to talk about the problem but went right to administration. I'm not sure what exactly was said or what Matthew's mother was saying to the higher ups but it was not good.
Today, Thursday, we had a field trip. It was supposed to be a fun day for not only the kids but for the teachers too. And after the field trip, the school was taking the foreign teachers out to dinner. Well plans were altered. Before we left for the field trip, Sheena informed me that Matthew's mother was demanding a meeting with the administration after the field trip. She was told nothing else but that Matthew's mother would be coming to the school. I felt so bad for her! After we got back from the field trip I went to drop something off for Sheena and she was in tears. She was so upset with Matthew's mother for not coming to her first. And she was also upset with the school because she knew the school would not support her, and that is what really upset me. The school would side with the mother and not support their own teachers.
The meeting did not go well. I didn't hear or see what happened but I was told Sheena needed to be held back from yelling or hitting someone! I then heard that Sheena said she would quit and leave the school because of the whole situation! Needless to say our school dinner got canceled. We left school at 5:00 and Sheena was still talking to the administration. I'm worried because she is my partner teacher and the effects of her leaving, if that is what she chooses to do, would be disastrous for me.
This country is quite different than home. Everything from what they value to how they communicate. I don't think it's something I will ever get used to during my time here. And quite honestly, I don't think I want to.
Tuesday, April 13, 2010
"Twins" games and Bungee Jumping
The weekends are precious here in Korea. We work long and hard during the week, we use our weekends to let loose and have a bit of fun. This past weekend we celebrated one of our teachers birthdays. We went to a baseball game on Saturday night, followed by a night of dancing at a foreigner bar and capped it off with bungee jumping on Sunday afternoon.
Let's start with the game Saturday night. I was very excited to be seeing any kind of baseball seeing as though I'm missing not only REAL baseball back home but the opening of the Twins stadium. We got to the game about an hour and a half early to get our tickets. There was a huge crowd there seeing as though it was a big game between archrivals the LG Twins and the Doosan Bears. The reason they are such rivals is because they share their home stadium! It's a bit odd but it's Korea so I didn't really expect anything more. The LG Twins are not too great, think the real Twins of the mid-90's, but the Doosan Bears have a chance to win it all this year. Naturaly, I will be a Twins fan while I'm here.
While we were waiting for our whole entourage to show up, I thought I would enjoy some pregame snacks-Korean style. Much like games at home, there are venders out selling food and drinks. But quite unlike home, those snacks are not hotdogs, burgers, and BBQ sandwhiches. My choices were hard boiled eggs, some kind of nut (it was not peanuts), sushi rools, or griled squid. I decided to try the grilled squid. Although it was quite chewy and a little bland since it didn't have any sauce, it was really good! Never would I have thought I would be eating grilled squid at a baseball game.
Once we got our tickets we found some seats in the outfield. The stadium holds between 35,000-40,000 and it was pretty much full by the time the game started. Since we were in the outfield we had a great view of the "cheering sections" each team had. To our right was the LG fans and to our left was the Doosan fans. It was incredible how much they cheered througout the game. When LG was batting, the fans had a cheer for every batter. They didn't sit down while LG was batting. And it was the same for Doosan. I felt like I was at a college football game! I was tired just watching them cheer. It was a pretty good game. LG ended up loosing 3-2 but at least it was close. I was expecting a blow out. It will be an interesting year of baseball that's for sure!
After the game we went to a forgeiner bar to do a litte dancing. It is so strange to me to see a bunch of Americans hanging out at a bar in Korea, but it was fun to hear songs I knew and to have some fun like we do back home. It turned into a pretty late night but it was very fun and well worth being tired all week!
Sunday, after we had all recovered from the festivities Saturday night, we decided to go bungee jumping. There is a bungee jump park about 20 min from where we live so we all pilled into some cabs and made our way to jump. There were 7 of us and we decided Hayley should go first since it was her birthday. We got there, paid and had to wait a bit until it was our turn to go. We watched a few others jump and I started getting a little more nervous. The first four to jump were me, Diane, Hayley, and Jackie. We took the elevator up to the ledge and got instructed on how to jump correctly. Even though Hayley was supposed to go first, the man in charge pulled Diane out to the ledge to go first. She really didn't want to go first and got a little scared once she was standing on the ledge. She backed out, for the time being, and the man pulled Hayley out to the ledge to jump. Hayley also got a bit scared and backed out. Then he pulled me out to the ledge. So now I'm thinking, 'I really need to jump.' I was shaking, my heart was racing and I started sweating. But I knew I had to go so I just didn't look down, I let the man count for me and on the count of 5 I leaped off the ledge. It was such a rush!! I kind of wish it had been a longer free fall! I had so much fun and I would do it again in a heartbeat. It was a good end to a great weekend.
Work hard and play hard. Although this weekend will consist of Cherry Blossoms and sleeping in! I must be getting old!
Let's start with the game Saturday night. I was very excited to be seeing any kind of baseball seeing as though I'm missing not only REAL baseball back home but the opening of the Twins stadium. We got to the game about an hour and a half early to get our tickets. There was a huge crowd there seeing as though it was a big game between archrivals the LG Twins and the Doosan Bears. The reason they are such rivals is because they share their home stadium! It's a bit odd but it's Korea so I didn't really expect anything more. The LG Twins are not too great, think the real Twins of the mid-90's, but the Doosan Bears have a chance to win it all this year. Naturaly, I will be a Twins fan while I'm here.
While we were waiting for our whole entourage to show up, I thought I would enjoy some pregame snacks-Korean style. Much like games at home, there are venders out selling food and drinks. But quite unlike home, those snacks are not hotdogs, burgers, and BBQ sandwhiches. My choices were hard boiled eggs, some kind of nut (it was not peanuts), sushi rools, or griled squid. I decided to try the grilled squid. Although it was quite chewy and a little bland since it didn't have any sauce, it was really good! Never would I have thought I would be eating grilled squid at a baseball game.
Once we got our tickets we found some seats in the outfield. The stadium holds between 35,000-40,000 and it was pretty much full by the time the game started. Since we were in the outfield we had a great view of the "cheering sections" each team had. To our right was the LG fans and to our left was the Doosan fans. It was incredible how much they cheered througout the game. When LG was batting, the fans had a cheer for every batter. They didn't sit down while LG was batting. And it was the same for Doosan. I felt like I was at a college football game! I was tired just watching them cheer. It was a pretty good game. LG ended up loosing 3-2 but at least it was close. I was expecting a blow out. It will be an interesting year of baseball that's for sure!
After the game we went to a forgeiner bar to do a litte dancing. It is so strange to me to see a bunch of Americans hanging out at a bar in Korea, but it was fun to hear songs I knew and to have some fun like we do back home. It turned into a pretty late night but it was very fun and well worth being tired all week!
Sunday, after we had all recovered from the festivities Saturday night, we decided to go bungee jumping. There is a bungee jump park about 20 min from where we live so we all pilled into some cabs and made our way to jump. There were 7 of us and we decided Hayley should go first since it was her birthday. We got there, paid and had to wait a bit until it was our turn to go. We watched a few others jump and I started getting a little more nervous. The first four to jump were me, Diane, Hayley, and Jackie. We took the elevator up to the ledge and got instructed on how to jump correctly. Even though Hayley was supposed to go first, the man in charge pulled Diane out to the ledge to go first. She really didn't want to go first and got a little scared once she was standing on the ledge. She backed out, for the time being, and the man pulled Hayley out to the ledge to jump. Hayley also got a bit scared and backed out. Then he pulled me out to the ledge. So now I'm thinking, 'I really need to jump.' I was shaking, my heart was racing and I started sweating. But I knew I had to go so I just didn't look down, I let the man count for me and on the count of 5 I leaped off the ledge. It was such a rush!! I kind of wish it had been a longer free fall! I had so much fun and I would do it again in a heartbeat. It was a good end to a great weekend.
Work hard and play hard. Although this weekend will consist of Cherry Blossoms and sleeping in! I must be getting old!
Monday, April 12, 2010
The Truth Hurts
One of our duties as teachers at Helen Doron is to write weekly comments. This is something we write online on the schools website and the parents all have access to view only their students comments. As teachers, we are supposed to be writing about the students behavior, the progress they are making academically, and any other important details. The point of the comments, or so I thought the point of comments, is to let the parents know if their child is misbehaving or if the student is having trouble with any certain subject. As it turns out, the real point of comments is to tell every parent their child is a perfect angel and there is no room for improvement because their child is that wonderful. Therefore, even if the student is constantly talking, never listens to the teacher, has to be reminded 13 times in a 2 minute span to pay attention to what we are doing, the parents (well really the mom's) want to hear, "Ian is a wonderful student. He is always on task and never talks out of turn. He never needs reminders to stay in his seat or to stay focused on what we are doing." It makes for a very frustrating duty.
Some of the mom's don't make a big deal out of the comments. But there are 3 or 4 mom's that make my job very stressful. They put all the blame on Sheena and I for their child misbehaving. They either don't believe their child is acting out or they think it is our fault they are acting out. One of the mom's seems to think it is our fault her child has emotional melt downs every other day and bursts out in tears because he spelt move "mave" and had to use his eraser. I can see how that is my fault! She also doesn't believe in discipline. She completely flipped out when Sheena disciplined him. He was misbehaving and not listening to Sheena so she told him he has to listen or he will have to go out in the hall until he can focus. Well his mother thought this was completely out of line and called Sheena and yelled at her. Now, we can no longer scold or discipline Brian nor can we write anything resembling the truth in his weekly comments.
Another aspect of the weekly comments Sheena and I have to deal with is the teachers the kids had last year. The teacher who taught our students last year didn't write truthful comments. They would tell the moms how wonderful and perfect each student behaved even if it was far from the truth. Since the mom's all thought their child was acting perfect last year, it is a shock to them to hear something completely different. And once again, Sheena and I get blamed for their child misbehaving! Yes, it is my fault I am trying to teach your child while he is running around the room and playing "short track speed skating" during our Language Exercise! Seriously!!
Thankfully "weekly comments" has been changed to bi-weekly comments and I won't have to deal with it as much as I do now. But when we get told by parents to not disciple their child, what are we supposed to do? How do we control and teach a classroom of 8 kids when 2 of them are either climbing on the table, staring off into space, have their finger up their nose, or are annoying the other students so much the other kids are telling them to be quiet and pay attention?
I would love to see these few "special" kids in two years once they are out of the cushy private schools and in elementary school. They don't cater to bad behavior in the real world.
Some of the mom's don't make a big deal out of the comments. But there are 3 or 4 mom's that make my job very stressful. They put all the blame on Sheena and I for their child misbehaving. They either don't believe their child is acting out or they think it is our fault they are acting out. One of the mom's seems to think it is our fault her child has emotional melt downs every other day and bursts out in tears because he spelt move "mave" and had to use his eraser. I can see how that is my fault! She also doesn't believe in discipline. She completely flipped out when Sheena disciplined him. He was misbehaving and not listening to Sheena so she told him he has to listen or he will have to go out in the hall until he can focus. Well his mother thought this was completely out of line and called Sheena and yelled at her. Now, we can no longer scold or discipline Brian nor can we write anything resembling the truth in his weekly comments.
Another aspect of the weekly comments Sheena and I have to deal with is the teachers the kids had last year. The teacher who taught our students last year didn't write truthful comments. They would tell the moms how wonderful and perfect each student behaved even if it was far from the truth. Since the mom's all thought their child was acting perfect last year, it is a shock to them to hear something completely different. And once again, Sheena and I get blamed for their child misbehaving! Yes, it is my fault I am trying to teach your child while he is running around the room and playing "short track speed skating" during our Language Exercise! Seriously!!
Thankfully "weekly comments" has been changed to bi-weekly comments and I won't have to deal with it as much as I do now. But when we get told by parents to not disciple their child, what are we supposed to do? How do we control and teach a classroom of 8 kids when 2 of them are either climbing on the table, staring off into space, have their finger up their nose, or are annoying the other students so much the other kids are telling them to be quiet and pay attention?
I would love to see these few "special" kids in two years once they are out of the cushy private schools and in elementary school. They don't cater to bad behavior in the real world.
Monday, April 5, 2010
Bucket List
I can now cross an item off my bucket list. I have won a marathon! Well, I was the first female finisher so I didn't win the whole thing but good enough. This past Sunday I ran my second marathon in two weeks. I did the Seoul International Marathon, which was very big and this past weekend I did the Korea Open Marathon, which wasn't as big. It had a 10K and half marathon along with it and three of the other teachers I work with ran the 10K.
The marathon wasn't very big but it is very well known in Korea. They have a lot big name sponsors and get a lot of press. As I was getting lined up to run, I took a look around the start corral and noticed there weren't that many female runners and thought, "hey, I could place in this marathon." But since I had just ran one two weeks before, I didn't know how my legs would hold up. I started out at a very comfortable pace and just wanted to enjoy the run and run my own race. I noticed I was one of four women near the front. I thought a fourth place finish wouldn't be too bad. But then I started keeping pace with the lead female and the competitive edge in me really came out. I knew I had the ability to beat her and I wasn't going to let the opportunity to win a marathon slip by. We stayed very close to each other through the half way point and then I started picking up the pace a bit. I didn't want to kick it in too soon so I slowed my pace back down to hers. But after about 2 miles I said screw it and I picked up my pace and she couldn't stay with me.
There were three turn arounds on the course. We did one turn around at 12k, one at 28k, and the last one at 35k. By the turn around at the 28thk I knew I had a gap on her but I didn't want to slow down because I didn't know what kind of a kick she had in her. I hit the 32k mark and knew I had a 10k left. I knew I could start picking up the pace even more. My legs were killing me but my breathing was good so I knew I had it in me. The last 10k were killer! By the last turn around at the 35thk I started feeling like I was going to throw up but at this point I knew I widened my gap on her. But I still didn't want to let up at all. I kicked it in a bit more when I saw the 41K marker and didn't let up. As I turned the corner to Olympic Stadium I could see behind me and saw there was no woman in sight. I knew I had it won and all I could think about was breaking the tape at the end! As I made the final stretch to the finish line I saw my friends waiting for me! They were cheering so loud and ran to the finish line as I broke the tape and my own PR. I ran a 3:08.04, an 11second Personal Best!
I have no idea how I did it but it felt great!! My friends ran over to hug me and congratulate me! It was so great. There were cameras everywhere and people speaking to me in Korean! One woman started talking to me in the little English she knew and interviewed me for some Korean TV station. It was awesome! But the best part was the award ceremony. They gave awards for the top 5 men and top 5 women. Every other winner was Korean and much older than me. The four other women winners were anything but friendly and I thought the second place woman was going to start swinging at me any minute! But it's not my fault she doesn't run faster! I got a trophy and a $500 gift card to KSwiss, which was one of the sponsors, and two other running type stores they have here. I would have liked cash much more but I'll take it!
The only thing that would have made this experience any better would have been if my family could have been there. But my "Korean" family was there. They are more than just my co-workers, they are my family!
The marathon wasn't very big but it is very well known in Korea. They have a lot big name sponsors and get a lot of press. As I was getting lined up to run, I took a look around the start corral and noticed there weren't that many female runners and thought, "hey, I could place in this marathon." But since I had just ran one two weeks before, I didn't know how my legs would hold up. I started out at a very comfortable pace and just wanted to enjoy the run and run my own race. I noticed I was one of four women near the front. I thought a fourth place finish wouldn't be too bad. But then I started keeping pace with the lead female and the competitive edge in me really came out. I knew I had the ability to beat her and I wasn't going to let the opportunity to win a marathon slip by. We stayed very close to each other through the half way point and then I started picking up the pace a bit. I didn't want to kick it in too soon so I slowed my pace back down to hers. But after about 2 miles I said screw it and I picked up my pace and she couldn't stay with me.
There were three turn arounds on the course. We did one turn around at 12k, one at 28k, and the last one at 35k. By the turn around at the 28thk I knew I had a gap on her but I didn't want to slow down because I didn't know what kind of a kick she had in her. I hit the 32k mark and knew I had a 10k left. I knew I could start picking up the pace even more. My legs were killing me but my breathing was good so I knew I had it in me. The last 10k were killer! By the last turn around at the 35thk I started feeling like I was going to throw up but at this point I knew I widened my gap on her. But I still didn't want to let up at all. I kicked it in a bit more when I saw the 41K marker and didn't let up. As I turned the corner to Olympic Stadium I could see behind me and saw there was no woman in sight. I knew I had it won and all I could think about was breaking the tape at the end! As I made the final stretch to the finish line I saw my friends waiting for me! They were cheering so loud and ran to the finish line as I broke the tape and my own PR. I ran a 3:08.04, an 11second Personal Best!
I have no idea how I did it but it felt great!! My friends ran over to hug me and congratulate me! It was so great. There were cameras everywhere and people speaking to me in Korean! One woman started talking to me in the little English she knew and interviewed me for some Korean TV station. It was awesome! But the best part was the award ceremony. They gave awards for the top 5 men and top 5 women. Every other winner was Korean and much older than me. The four other women winners were anything but friendly and I thought the second place woman was going to start swinging at me any minute! But it's not my fault she doesn't run faster! I got a trophy and a $500 gift card to KSwiss, which was one of the sponsors, and two other running type stores they have here. I would have liked cash much more but I'll take it!
The only thing that would have made this experience any better would have been if my family could have been there. But my "Korean" family was there. They are more than just my co-workers, they are my family!
Thursday, April 1, 2010
April Fool's Day
Every morning at school, I start the day the same way in class. I start by saying good morning to my students and then we go over the day's date and the day's weather. On Monday, I told the kids about April Fool's Day. My kids had heard of April Fool's Day last year and they remembered it is a day that you trick people. Every day this week I would remind them about April Fool's day and told them to be careful, that Katie Teacher might trick them.
I had a few ideas in mind but once Thursday morning came, I didn't have much planned. I was thinking of just skipping it and not fooling the kids but once I got to class in the morning, all the kids were asking about being fooled. I had two lessons with my Leeds class in the morning, then I had a break for about 40 min until I had them for one more lesson in Math. I decided to trick them. I talked to my partner teacher and she conspired with me.
This was our plan:
Leeds was at art class and they were there unitl 11:40. At 11:40 Sheena, my partner teacher, picked them up and brought them back to class. She then told them that Katie Teacher would no longer be their teacher and that her twin sister "Greta" would be her replacement. Greta was from Germany and Sheena told them not to make fun of her accent. Sheena would introduce me before Math class and leave the room. Then I would teach for about 5 minutes and then Sheena would rush back in the room and say there was a family emergency and I had to take a phone call. Then I would run out of the room, into the bathroom and change back into myself. I would then run back in the room and explain to the kids there was never a Greta and it was all an April Fool's Joke.
As Sheena was telling Leeds about Katie teacher no longer teaching them, I was upstairs "disguising" myself as Greta. I put on a pair of fake glasses, changed my shirt and put my hair in a ponytail. As I was changing and getting ready to head back downstairs for Math class Sheena came running up the stairs to find me. She told me that when she told the kids about Katie Teacher leaving and Greta Teacher taking over, all the kids started crying!!! We both felt so bad! I never thought they would cry because I was gone. And even though I did feel bad that we had made them cry, I was very touched that they were in tears that I was leaving. I have only been teaching these kids for about a month and at the news of me leaving, they were all in tears.
Anyway, at 12:00 Sheena and I headed back down stairs for math class. Sheena introduced me as Greta and left the room. I started talking to the kids with all the German words I knew. It was really hard to not laugh. They all looked at me like I was crazy, they kept telling me they couldn't understand anything I was saying. But they definitely believed I was Katie Teacher's twin sister. After 5 minutes of being Greta, Sheena broke in and said I had my family emergency and had to take a phone call. I then ran into the bathroom and transformed back into Katie Teacher. I raced back in the room and asked the kids about my "crazy twin sister Great." They said she was really weird and talked funny. Then I stood in front of the class and said, "April Fools!!!" Sheena was still in there and her started laughing and told them it was all just a joke. Two kids started to cry again!! But after a few minutes, when they started to realize I wasn't leaving the school, they started to laugh. It took them a good 20 minutes to realize that Katie and Greta were the same person and that I really don't have a twin sister in Germany.
Needless to say, we didn't learn any math during math class. They kept asking about Greta and needed reassuring that Katie Teacher was not leaving and that she would be there the whole school year. It was very touching to know how effected they were when they thought I would be gone for the year. Once Math was ending and we were getting ready for lunch, one of my boys said something that really meant a lot to me. He is a tough kid and is one of the last kids I would of imagined would say something like this. He leaned over the table and said, "I wouldn't come back to Helen Doron if you weren't here." It was so sweet.
Even though it was a day of jokes, I felt so much love from my students.
I had a few ideas in mind but once Thursday morning came, I didn't have much planned. I was thinking of just skipping it and not fooling the kids but once I got to class in the morning, all the kids were asking about being fooled. I had two lessons with my Leeds class in the morning, then I had a break for about 40 min until I had them for one more lesson in Math. I decided to trick them. I talked to my partner teacher and she conspired with me.
This was our plan:
Leeds was at art class and they were there unitl 11:40. At 11:40 Sheena, my partner teacher, picked them up and brought them back to class. She then told them that Katie Teacher would no longer be their teacher and that her twin sister "Greta" would be her replacement. Greta was from Germany and Sheena told them not to make fun of her accent. Sheena would introduce me before Math class and leave the room. Then I would teach for about 5 minutes and then Sheena would rush back in the room and say there was a family emergency and I had to take a phone call. Then I would run out of the room, into the bathroom and change back into myself. I would then run back in the room and explain to the kids there was never a Greta and it was all an April Fool's Joke.
As Sheena was telling Leeds about Katie teacher no longer teaching them, I was upstairs "disguising" myself as Greta. I put on a pair of fake glasses, changed my shirt and put my hair in a ponytail. As I was changing and getting ready to head back downstairs for Math class Sheena came running up the stairs to find me. She told me that when she told the kids about Katie Teacher leaving and Greta Teacher taking over, all the kids started crying!!! We both felt so bad! I never thought they would cry because I was gone. And even though I did feel bad that we had made them cry, I was very touched that they were in tears that I was leaving. I have only been teaching these kids for about a month and at the news of me leaving, they were all in tears.
Anyway, at 12:00 Sheena and I headed back down stairs for math class. Sheena introduced me as Greta and left the room. I started talking to the kids with all the German words I knew. It was really hard to not laugh. They all looked at me like I was crazy, they kept telling me they couldn't understand anything I was saying. But they definitely believed I was Katie Teacher's twin sister. After 5 minutes of being Greta, Sheena broke in and said I had my family emergency and had to take a phone call. I then ran into the bathroom and transformed back into Katie Teacher. I raced back in the room and asked the kids about my "crazy twin sister Great." They said she was really weird and talked funny. Then I stood in front of the class and said, "April Fools!!!" Sheena was still in there and her started laughing and told them it was all just a joke. Two kids started to cry again!! But after a few minutes, when they started to realize I wasn't leaving the school, they started to laugh. It took them a good 20 minutes to realize that Katie and Greta were the same person and that I really don't have a twin sister in Germany.
Needless to say, we didn't learn any math during math class. They kept asking about Greta and needed reassuring that Katie Teacher was not leaving and that she would be there the whole school year. It was very touching to know how effected they were when they thought I would be gone for the year. Once Math was ending and we were getting ready for lunch, one of my boys said something that really meant a lot to me. He is a tough kid and is one of the last kids I would of imagined would say something like this. He leaned over the table and said, "I wouldn't come back to Helen Doron if you weren't here." It was so sweet.
Even though it was a day of jokes, I felt so much love from my students.
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