Hard to believe it’s already December. Pretty soon the semester will be ending, and then 2009 is upon all of us. I don’t know what to think of all of it.

Some days I think 9 more months in Korea is manageable…look how fast 3 months have gone by. And, then other days, I think I can’t get out of here quick enough.

Teaching went alright today. Normally I have 5 classes on Mondays, but since 1st and 2nd graders are having their final exams beginning on Saturday, some of my classes were cancelled. Luckily I only had 3 classes.

My final class is the brightest of the 5 on Mondays – they’re normally well-behaved, active, and very positive. But I had difficulty getting them to pay attention to today’s lesson since my coteacher didn’t come. She, like my other 5 coteachers, deal with the discplining. And the students have realized that. So, when coteachers don’t show up for my classes, it’s basically a free period for the students. They just gab. I literally spent 15 of the 45 minutes waiting for them to be quiet. From 3:05-3:20. I was very upset because this class is amazing when they want to be. Oh well. I guess I can’t blame the students. They’re clever enough to know that I won’t use corporal punishment.

Many students have reached the conclusion that my class is “pointless” since they aren’t receiving marks. Grades are usually pretty good motivators, so without them, I’ve been reduced to stimulating the kids with candy and small prizes.

I was really impressed with its effects on one student in particular. By far, 1-4 is my worst class. They’re unruly, undisciplined, and negative. There is one student who has the worst attitude out of all my 800 students. He habitually disrupts class and refuses to do any work at all. He says he only enjoys playing soccer – and I don’t blame the kid. Learning English, a language he’ll probably never use outside of class, wouldn’t exactly spark my interest. Especially if I’m not receiving a grade for it.

But on Wednesday, when motivated by a tiny piece of candy, he finished a worksheet and dialogue situation first out of a class of forty. Not only that, but he had amazing pronunciation. And, after he finished, he helped other students get through the dialogue, even correcting their pronunciations without me promp. It was incredible. I’d never seen anything out of him lije this before.

i want the students to be intrsinically moviated, for them to want to learn English on their own. But again, it’s difficult since I don’t have the power to give grades. So, what’s an Native English Teacher to do? Most lessons are taught through games anyway….

These days the kids at school are restless. Especially the 3rd graders, who have already taken their final exams for the year. So they’ve checked out. They have just one month before the end of the term, and then they graduate to high school. I wouldn’t blame them either. But, it does make trying to teach them English even more difficult. Although this week they’re learning about Thanksgiving.

All day the weather was kinda just gloomy. And cold. Miserable cold.

For some good news, I just downloaded Coldplay’s Prospekt’s March EP, and while some songs are hardly different from Viva la Vida, Lover’s in Japan, and some songs should not have been tampered with, Lost!, which now features Jay-Z, the EP is worth listening to because the band added lyrics to Life in Technicolor.

Another album I downloaded is by Meiko. I really like her somewhat folkish music. Nice to listen to on a rainy day, like today.

Other good news, tomorrow night I’m catching coffee with another English teacher I randomly met in the subway station. I’m excited since I haven’t met anyone who lives in the same area of the city as I do, so it’ll be nice knowing someone is just down the corner from me.

After a lazy start to the day, I met Jeff downtown for our usual study date on Sundays. We’re both prepping for the GREs. Yes, quite a bit in advanced, seeing as neither one of us will realistically be taking the test for at least 6 months (almost a year in my case), but we figured it’s best to get cracking now. Once we get back to the States, we pretty much need to be ready to conquer that exam.

We visit this restaurant each Sunday afternoon. They have the best belgian waffles that can be found in Daegu, or at least that we’ve found so far. The waffles are dripped with caramel and chocolate sauce, so we don’t even bother with the syrup anymore.

Anyway, the studying is going alright. Each Sunday, we learn 10 new words, and on Wednesdays we meet online again to review the words. It’s a good system. That I can tell at least.

Today was quite nice, it reached around 55 degrees, I believe. Lately, it’s been freezing! I’ve heard reports that other parts of Korea have already gotten snowed on! Incredulous!

Just five more weeks until winter vacation! Sweet!

Last night, a few of us went out to Club That to see some our friends perform in the first ever act of Daegu’s Theatre Troupe. It was part of a 24-hour marathon.

It began Friday night, with writers being given three props – a paintbrush, a red blanket, and a chair – they somehow had to incorporate in a script they would write that night. In the morning, they would meet with a director and a group of actors to hash out the play. And, before the end of 24 hours, each group would perform their skit.

It was actually quite fun even though the whole performance got started an hour late. And of course, it was great seeing our friends up on stage, getting their 15 minutes of fame!

As some of you may or may not have realized, this blog was originally about genetically modified foods, which was part of a final project for a science class. That was also over a 1.5 year ago.

I’ve since decided to start a blog chronicling my year teaching English in Korea.

So, here’s to a new beginning.