Update 6
Annyong haseyo!
Another week has come and flown by here. I finally pushed myself to get to downtown Cheonan-city last weekend and ended up with just about everything I could have hoped for. I picked up a friend that I met during training at the train station and then met a co-worker to take a bus to Yarri (downtown) which took about 20 minutes and cost 1,100. A cab would have cost about 7,000. I wanted to take more pictures of the area, but we were running late to meet others and were rushed to get to our first bar. A guy who has been here for a while was having his last night on the town before moving back home.
The theme of the night was "hand-cuff barcrawl." The basic premise of this was that you were forced to tape yourself to a partner (selected by random drawing) and then you were with that person for the rest of the night. When they got another drink, you had to get another one. When they went to the restroom, you had to go with them, etc. I had never done something like that before and it led to some funny moments as you might imagine. The theme didn't last the entire night, which is probably a good thing. Most gave up after the first two or three bars. I changed partners at each bar, taking my restroom breaks in between new tapings. I also decided to just drink at my own pace after the third bar. The barcrawl started at 10 PM and I got in a cab to head home at 6 AM. Needless to say, it was a long night. It was like a full day of tailgating without a three hour break to go in and watch the game (and sadly of course without cookie shots). You can probably guess how I felt the next morning/afternoon when I woke up.
I hope to go downtown again tonight to get more pictures and have a more relaxed evening out.
Currently, it's Saturday afternoon and I'm at work. We have some extra courses that are offered to students. We go over full novels instead of the abridged versions that we have during the week. Depending on the level, the options are Robin Hood, Peter Pan, Harry Potter, The Golden Compass, Call of the Wild, and Lord of the Flies. I'm at the Harry Potter/Golden Compass level and have read the Harry Potter series, so it would be fun to teach it. That said, I am lucky enough to be the standby instructor today, meaning I get to go home after an hour if not enough kids show up for more than one class. In the meantime, I get paid time and a half to sit on the computer and e-mail you all! I don't think there were more than a handful of kids in the class that started at 1, so it looks like I'll be safe to go home here in a half hour.
I'm planning to run some errands and possibly get a haircut this afternoon. It's strange to cut my hair before it's even long enough to curl as in college I fell into the habit of cutting my hair short and then letting it grow until it was in my eyes or even longer on some occasions. I think my whole family noticed and hated it as I didn't chop anything off for 2.5 years. I even once went to a family reunion and the only people there that recognized me were my grandmother and one cousin!e I sometimes think about the longer hair when I see some of my kids in class with the long, shaggy hair.
This week had some good and bad elements to it. It was good in that it was probably my best overall week of teaching. I get more comfortable each week realizing what I need to be doing in order to help the kids out. I notice them trusting me more and more and in some cases respecting my authority more and more...not that I'm trying to go on a power-trip or anything because I'm probably the 'easiest' teacher in the building. I mean that because I probably let more slide (in discipline) than other teachers and I probably also give out more CDI points. That girl I mentioned from last week came up to double-check with me before leaving class on Thursday that the Illini had a game coming up soon!
It was also good in that my listening classes went better than usual. This week was practice level up tests so the first two hours of the class were consumed by taking it and then reviewing it. The last hour was really easy in doing two different listening activities which can easily last 30 minutes without much effort. My Par listening class is a bit of a struggle because there are only 3 students in the class now. I think one kid dropped from CDI and the other transferred to another class, leaving me with three. It can be hard to hold their attention because one the girls, Wendy, is just a non-stop giggler. She's one of those people that you hate to raise your voice to because she's just always in a great mood, laughing, smiling, etc...but sometimes I have to when she begins to distract me or the other two students.
This week was also good because I got a lot better in my weakest aspect of the memory classes, which is the topic dicussion review that happens during the week's second class. The first class, the first half hour is taken up by a review test from the previous week's material. The second day, we have an activity where I play an mp3 of a student's mobile-learning summary (they have to call in once a week with a prepared script and talk about a certain topic..like their favorite food) and give a couple of reasons as to why. I play that, the class takes notes, then we review their listening skills/note-taking ability. It sounds simple, but I was having some problems making it last a full 20 minutes. I did a much better job of that this week.
This week was not so good because I've been battling a cold. It started last Friday and undoubtedly got worse with my late night on Saturday. Monday was pretty miserable...talk for 30 seconds, cough for 5-10 seconds, repeat for 3 hours while also blowing my nose every 10 minutes or so. Tuesday I felt a little better, but it was more of the same. By Wednesday, things had started to clear up some and then it got even better on Thursday and more so on Friday. On Friday, I didn't cough at all during classes, but had some in the morning and evening. Still having a runny nose, but not quite as bad. The cough syrup I bought tastes just about like actual syrup...I've had worse, but certainly had better.
I'll conclude this week's update with some Illini notes...
Congrats to the women's volleyball team on their Sweet 16 run in Coach Hardin's final season. They ran into a more experienced, talented California team and went down in straight sets. They exceeded expectations this season because they were so young. Next season, they should be even better as they return all of their young talent while losing only a couple of role-playing seniors and replace them with another good recruiting class next season. They should be amongst the top 10-15 teams in the country next season.
Also, men's basketball returns to action on Saturday against Detroit at the Assembly Hall. All eyes will be on Alex Legion, playing in his first game since his transfer from Kentucky last winter. He was a top 30 recruit a season ago and just didn't fit in well with Kentucky's Coach Gillispie (a former Illinois assistant under Bill Self, for those that don't remember). Legion is known for his scoring and the Illini could use some more firepower. It should free up more looks for guys like Trent Meacham. He'll be brought along slowly to not disrupt the chemistry developed by the team in their 9-1 start. The Illini also added to the future talent in the program by securing a verbal commitment from the top PG in the state for the class of 2011, Tracy Abrams. He's one of the key pieces to what looks like the best class of Illinois talent since 1979 (Isiah Thomas, etc). He'll be one of the top 30-40 players in the country by his senior year of high school.
Finally, the annual Braggin' Rights game against Missouri is next week and it should be a great game. The games are usually very close with a number of upsets over the years and this is the most even the squads have been since the early Quin Snyder years at Mizzou. Illinois has won the last 8 games in the series, equaling their 8-game win-streak from 1983-1990. The Illini have won 19 of the 27 contests between the two schools. This will be the first time I have not been in attendance for the Braggin' Rights game since my first game in 2003. I hope those of you going cheer extra loud and have an extra drink at Houlihans for me!
Hope everyone has a sung tan chuk ha,
Josep
Another week has come and flown by here. I finally pushed myself to get to downtown Cheonan-city last weekend and ended up with just about everything I could have hoped for. I picked up a friend that I met during training at the train station and then met a co-worker to take a bus to Yarri (downtown) which took about 20 minutes and cost 1,100. A cab would have cost about 7,000. I wanted to take more pictures of the area, but we were running late to meet others and were rushed to get to our first bar. A guy who has been here for a while was having his last night on the town before moving back home.
The theme of the night was "hand-cuff barcrawl." The basic premise of this was that you were forced to tape yourself to a partner (selected by random drawing) and then you were with that person for the rest of the night. When they got another drink, you had to get another one. When they went to the restroom, you had to go with them, etc. I had never done something like that before and it led to some funny moments as you might imagine. The theme didn't last the entire night, which is probably a good thing. Most gave up after the first two or three bars. I changed partners at each bar, taking my restroom breaks in between new tapings. I also decided to just drink at my own pace after the third bar. The barcrawl started at 10 PM and I got in a cab to head home at 6 AM. Needless to say, it was a long night. It was like a full day of tailgating without a three hour break to go in and watch the game (and sadly of course without cookie shots). You can probably guess how I felt the next morning/afternoon when I woke up.
I hope to go downtown again tonight to get more pictures and have a more relaxed evening out.
Currently, it's Saturday afternoon and I'm at work. We have some extra courses that are offered to students. We go over full novels instead of the abridged versions that we have during the week. Depending on the level, the options are Robin Hood, Peter Pan, Harry Potter, The Golden Compass, Call of the Wild, and Lord of the Flies. I'm at the Harry Potter/Golden Compass level and have read the Harry Potter series, so it would be fun to teach it. That said, I am lucky enough to be the standby instructor today, meaning I get to go home after an hour if not enough kids show up for more than one class. In the meantime, I get paid time and a half to sit on the computer and e-mail you all! I don't think there were more than a handful of kids in the class that started at 1, so it looks like I'll be safe to go home here in a half hour.
I'm planning to run some errands and possibly get a haircut this afternoon. It's strange to cut my hair before it's even long enough to curl as in college I fell into the habit of cutting my hair short and then letting it grow until it was in my eyes or even longer on some occasions. I think my whole family noticed and hated it as I didn't chop anything off for 2.5 years. I even once went to a family reunion and the only people there that recognized me were my grandmother and one cousin!e I sometimes think about the longer hair when I see some of my kids in class with the long, shaggy hair.
This week had some good and bad elements to it. It was good in that it was probably my best overall week of teaching. I get more comfortable each week realizing what I need to be doing in order to help the kids out. I notice them trusting me more and more and in some cases respecting my authority more and more...not that I'm trying to go on a power-trip or anything because I'm probably the 'easiest' teacher in the building. I mean that because I probably let more slide (in discipline) than other teachers and I probably also give out more CDI points. That girl I mentioned from last week came up to double-check with me before leaving class on Thursday that the Illini had a game coming up soon!
It was also good in that my listening classes went better than usual. This week was practice level up tests so the first two hours of the class were consumed by taking it and then reviewing it. The last hour was really easy in doing two different listening activities which can easily last 30 minutes without much effort. My Par listening class is a bit of a struggle because there are only 3 students in the class now. I think one kid dropped from CDI and the other transferred to another class, leaving me with three. It can be hard to hold their attention because one the girls, Wendy, is just a non-stop giggler. She's one of those people that you hate to raise your voice to because she's just always in a great mood, laughing, smiling, etc...but sometimes I have to when she begins to distract me or the other two students.
This week was also good because I got a lot better in my weakest aspect of the memory classes, which is the topic dicussion review that happens during the week's second class. The first class, the first half hour is taken up by a review test from the previous week's material. The second day, we have an activity where I play an mp3 of a student's mobile-learning summary (they have to call in once a week with a prepared script and talk about a certain topic..like their favorite food) and give a couple of reasons as to why. I play that, the class takes notes, then we review their listening skills/note-taking ability. It sounds simple, but I was having some problems making it last a full 20 minutes. I did a much better job of that this week.
This week was not so good because I've been battling a cold. It started last Friday and undoubtedly got worse with my late night on Saturday. Monday was pretty miserable...talk for 30 seconds, cough for 5-10 seconds, repeat for 3 hours while also blowing my nose every 10 minutes or so. Tuesday I felt a little better, but it was more of the same. By Wednesday, things had started to clear up some and then it got even better on Thursday and more so on Friday. On Friday, I didn't cough at all during classes, but had some in the morning and evening. Still having a runny nose, but not quite as bad. The cough syrup I bought tastes just about like actual syrup...I've had worse, but certainly had better.
I'll conclude this week's update with some Illini notes...
Congrats to the women's volleyball team on their Sweet 16 run in Coach Hardin's final season. They ran into a more experienced, talented California team and went down in straight sets. They exceeded expectations this season because they were so young. Next season, they should be even better as they return all of their young talent while losing only a couple of role-playing seniors and replace them with another good recruiting class next season. They should be amongst the top 10-15 teams in the country next season.
Also, men's basketball returns to action on Saturday against Detroit at the Assembly Hall. All eyes will be on Alex Legion, playing in his first game since his transfer from Kentucky last winter. He was a top 30 recruit a season ago and just didn't fit in well with Kentucky's Coach Gillispie (a former Illinois assistant under Bill Self, for those that don't remember). Legion is known for his scoring and the Illini could use some more firepower. It should free up more looks for guys like Trent Meacham. He'll be brought along slowly to not disrupt the chemistry developed by the team in their 9-1 start. The Illini also added to the future talent in the program by securing a verbal commitment from the top PG in the state for the class of 2011, Tracy Abrams. He's one of the key pieces to what looks like the best class of Illinois talent since 1979 (Isiah Thomas, etc). He'll be one of the top 30-40 players in the country by his senior year of high school.
Finally, the annual Braggin' Rights game against Missouri is next week and it should be a great game. The games are usually very close with a number of upsets over the years and this is the most even the squads have been since the early Quin Snyder years at Mizzou. Illinois has won the last 8 games in the series, equaling their 8-game win-streak from 1983-1990. The Illini have won 19 of the 27 contests between the two schools. This will be the first time I have not been in attendance for the Braggin' Rights game since my first game in 2003. I hope those of you going cheer extra loud and have an extra drink at Houlihans for me!
Hope everyone has a sung tan chuk ha,
Josep
posted by JayD at 1:23 AM
.jpg){kind=small}
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home