Me&Daejeon

Write your very own Choose-You-Own-Adventure

Mon, 12 Nov 2012 04:12:00 -0800

Write your very own Choose-You-Own-Adventure:

So in the midst of planning for winter camp, I found this awesome website. I’m working on my Harry Potter camp and needed a new book. The book I used last year was too long and I needed something that was more appropriate leveled for my students. At first I was going to figure out a way to write my own or rewrite the one I have. That’s when I came upon this amazing site.

You can sign up for free with just your email and chosen password. This simple yet sophisticated allows you to create your own Choose-Your-Own-Adventure stories and save them on the account. It story has it’s own URL for sharing. Unfortunately, you can’t print the books out, but you can read it on the internet. There’s a lot of flexibility built into the website.

Definitely give it a try if you are thinking about writing your own CYOA.

Popular Daejeon Restaurants by The Harrington Times

Sun, 10 Jun 2012 19:18:41 -0700

Daejeon Eating and Drinking Guide

The following are some of the Harrington’s favorite spots for a drink of coffee or other beverages as well as favorite eateries in Daejeon. Click on the links for the original posts and more detailed directions and menu information! (Posts with out links are reviews currently in the works from THT).

International Foods:
Taco K - Mexican Cuisine, located in Gung-dong
Takorea - Mexican Cuisine, near Eunhaeng-dong (Old Downtown)
Proper Chinese - Chinese Cuisine, located in Gung-dong
Ali Baba’s Treasure - Mediterranean and Middle Eastern, located in Gung-dong
New Taj Mahal - Indian Cuisine, located in Gung-dong
Enerel - Mongolian Cuisine, located in Eunhaeng-dong
Naran - Mongolian Cuisine, located in Eunhaeng-dong
Oriental Spoon - Various Asian Cuisine, located in Say Department Store
Japanese Ramen - Japanese Ramen, located near Yeosung station
I’m Asia - Various Asian Cuisine, located near Daejeon Station

Hamburgers and Hot Dogs:
Hot Dog Lab - located in Gung-dong
House Grill - Daejeon’s best hamburger near Yongmun Station
Play Burger - All fresh produce and beef, various locations around Daejeon
Ms. Jin’s Hamburgers - Cheap and Delicious, located in Gung-dong

Korean Foods:
Dino-Meats Grill - Korean BBQ Buffet, located in Galma-dong and nearish bus terminal
Little Tomo - Korean Fusion, specialty in Donkatsu (Pork Cutlet), located in underground shopping area.
Machera Well Being - Korean Vegetarian Buffet, located outside of Banseok Station
Cheap Pork Village - Spicy Pork followed by Cheesy Rice, located in Gung-dong

Cafes:
Noriter and La Bodega del Arte - Cafe’s in Gung-dong
Oven Story and Cafe Aroma - located in Eunhaeng-dong
The Mill - Coffee and Fantastic Sandwiches, located next to Eunhaeng-dong
The OEC - Daejeon’s best Green Tea Latte, located in Galma-dong
The Chocolate - Daejeon’s best Hot Chocolate, located in Gung-dong
Joony Pie - Store roasted coffee and a variety of home-made pies, located in Dunsan-dong
Cafe Moru - Fantastic Brunch Menu, located in Dunsan-dong
Snow Spoon - Frozen yogurt by weight and coffee, located in Dunsan-dong

Bars:
Wiezenhaus - Steaks, Buffet and Micro-brews in Manyeong-dong
Daejeon Cantina - Foreigner Bar and Mexican Cuisine in Dunsan-dong
Howl at the Moon - Open Mic Nights, located in Gung-dong
Shisha House - best beer selection in Daejeon, located in Gung-dong

Online Foreigner-made:
Bit-of-Homemade - English Pasties, Curry and Sweets

http://theharringtontimes.blogspot.kr/p/daejeon-eating-and-drinking-guide.html

The great things about Korea that we take for granted.

Wed, 23 May 2012 22:20:30 -0700

The great things about Korea that we take for granted.:

Found this post to be very refreshing. There are many small reasons why Korea and its culture has been such a pleasant experience. Sometimes we forget about them….

Books for ESL

Tue, 22 May 2012 17:18:23 -0700

Books for ESL :

Found a great list of books that can be used in all aspects of ESL teaching. The owner of the blog also included pictures of the covers.

I might have to order some of these for next semester ^^.

Spotflux

Mon, 30 Apr 2012 20:04:00 -0700

Spotflux :

If you are like me and has missed access to pandora.com and my go to drama site dramafever.com then you are in luck. Spotflux claims to be 100% free and allows you free access to websites anywhere in the world that was originally restricted outside of the U.S.

All you have to do is install the spotflux software and enable it when you want to visit these restricted websites.

I’m using it now and it works great. It also seems to bypass my schools brickwall as well. =D

Korean Subtitles!: http://cineast.co.kr/

Mon, 02 Apr 2012 20:10:00 -0700

Korean Subtitles!: http://cineast.co.kr/:

Very often you want to show a movie in the classroom because either you want to treat your students or you just need a break from teaching. Even though you want your students to practice their listening skills, you will find yourself with a great movie on but a room full of inattentive students. So as a treat you might want to find those Korean subtitles to keep everyone quiet.

Instructions:

Go to the Cineast website go to 자료실 at the top.

Then click on the first option 자막자료실.

And then search for the movie title and download.

Do Nots: Number 1: eat kimchi on an empty stomach.

Sun, 01 Apr 2012 21:08:00 -0700

Do not eat kimchi on an empty stomach. You might get unlucky with an very acidic one and then you are left feeling nauseated during the whole meal.

If you do happen to be in this situation. No worries jogiyo them for something carbonated, like cider. =)

Special Wednesdays - This week’s special is 3 meals in...

Tue, 27 Mar 2012 21:17:00 -0700

Special Wednesdays - This week’s special is 3 meals in one: Noodles, Rice, and Hamburger, with a side of kimchi and a banana

FYI: So what grades should I teach?

Mon, 26 Mar 2012 19:42:00 -0700

If you have decided to come to Korea to teach, I’m sure you have pondered about which grades you should write down on your application. Some people, I assume are completely sure about what grades they want, BUT are you really sure?

When I finally decided, I listed elementary school as my top choice. Boy, am I happy that I got middle school instead.

Before coming to Korea, I did not have much teaching experience. My confidence in managing a group of preteens or older was little to none. I figured that elementary would be a good place to start because the material taught should be simple and because the kids are still so small.

When I was assigned a middle school I almost had an anxiety attack. After entering the classrooms the first week, I realized how wrong I was. So if you are on the line about which level to teach here are some facts I’ve collected.

If you think ELEMENTARY SCHOOL is for you:

You don’t have much teaching experience but you enjoy playing and working with younger kids.

You have a great amount of patience. Because: #1 most students you work with will NOT understand English #2 with the faculty who from time to time don’t tell you about changes or expectations.

You are a creative presenter. Because: Majority of the students DO NOT understand you so you would have to work with animated gestures and tones to capture attention and getting meanings of words and phrases across.

You are great at PPT games. Because: You have 5 mins after each lesson to do something you like and games are usually what the kids will understand.

You don’t want too much lesson planning or don’t care for control of lesson topics. Because: You HAVE to teach from a book and plan lessons with coteachers.
Because: English levels are so low, you pretty much only reiterate the language and phrases from the book.

You are flexible and compromise well. Because: Coteachers come in different shapes and sizes and unfortunately different attitudes about you as a teacher. You will have to deal with each one differently. Whether they dictate your vocabulary in class or whether they allow you to present ideas for lessons.

If you want to experience Korea and don’t want too much on your plate for teaching or you don’t intend to continue teaching, then Elementary school is for you. I recommend aspiring teachers to try to be placed in middle schools or high schools.

If you think MIDDLE SCHOOL/HIGH SCHOOL is for you:

First of all middle school English level realistically is equivalent to elementary English level.

You don’t have teaching experience but you have done presentations and speaking in front of a class.

You have initiative and want to teach your own material. Because: Many middle schools DO NOT have an English textbook for your class. They have English grammer classes with another Korean teacher throughout the week so you are in charge of what you want to teach in class. It’s your choice whether you want to make your material from scratch or pick out your own textbooks. Note that there are some middle schools that will require you to teach from their book.

You have strong presentation/lecturing skills. Because: Depending on your teaching style, maybe the good old chalk board and lecturing is better for your lessons.

You can use media effectively. Because: Usually PPTs and videos or pictures can help you grab students attentions, get ideas across, and organize your lesson. If you have a good handle on any media aspect, this will help you in class.

You can lead the class as if you are there alone. Because: Coteachers MAY NOT take an active role in your class because they feel as though you are the main teacher. You should be able to ask them to deal with noise and behavior control and instruction translation if the students are having trouble.

You are patient. Because: Classes are MIXED with high, mid, and low leveled students. In some cases you can request for students to be seperated by level and taught at the same time as a coteacher.

You utilize resources well. Because: of the reasons above, you should use your coteacher, students, and school resources to aid you to effectively teach.

You are flexible and compromising. Because: Things will change at the very last minute and you will have to deal with not being told of these changes. Many times the lessons you have planned may be affected by these changes.

As a teacher in a middle school/high school you should have more freedom and opportunities to gain a genuine teaching experience as a teacher not just as a coteacher.

On a side note about coteachers, I’ve learned that most elemantary coteachers will try to hold your hand in class and do not fully trust your judgement. They are also less lenient about bending some rules for you because you are a foreign teacher, in other words more uptight about certain situations. In middle school, the coteachers will leave you to your own devices and trust you to teach whatever you have planned. If they have a problem, they will make suggestions to you afterwards. They are also more lenient and understanding about your situations.

This is only what I have observed from the account of other foreign teachers here in Korea so I am sure it is not the case for everyone.

Great Resource for Conversation Activities: The Internet TESL Journal

Mon, 19 Mar 2012 19:00:00 -0700

Great Resource for Conversation Activities: The Internet TESL Journal:

If you come to teach in Korea many times you will find that you will have to teach a few conversation classes after school or in between periods where you don’t have class. I’ve found that this website is a great resource for last minute conversation topics and activities ideas. It’s free and it has a endless list of great ideas for fillers or just casual conversation sessions.

overskylines: Korean Couple Holidays Happy White Day everyone!...

Thu, 15 Mar 2012 18:26:12 -0700

overskylines:

Korean Couple Holidays

Happy White Day everyone! I’m a day late, but basically this is another holiday for couples in Korea!

Yup… It just never ends in an economy powered by LOVE! LOL

For your amusement, here’s a list of Korean couple-y holidays… most of which occur on the 14th of each month. Pretty nuts. Sorta cute too, but whack as well.

Journal/Diary Day (Jan. 14th): Couples send each other diaries or journals filled with plans for the year. (Wooooww…)

Valentine’s Day (Feb. 14th): Girls buy gifts or chocolate for guys. Guys who choose to reciprocate can do so on the following holiday.

White Day (Mar. 14th): Guys buy chocolate for the girls, threefolds (apparently) if the girl was the one who gave the guy chocolate on Valentine’s Day. (Nice one…:P)

Black Day (April 14th): All singles get together to eat black bean noodles (jajangmyun). I’m told they also eat dark chocolate, drink black coffee, wear black, and so on, so forth. …lol.

Yellow/Rose Day (May 14th): Couples wear yellow, and give each other roses.

Kiss Day (June 14th): Couples celebrate by kissing aalll daaaaay looooooong. ;)

Silver Day (July 14th): Couples buy silvery gifts for each other.

Green Day (Aug. 14th): Couples go for a … walk in the woods(??) and wear green. Single people drink soju, because, ingeniously, the bottles are green.

Photo & Music Day (Sept. 14th): Couples camwhore together, take fobby pictures together, and then go sing karaoke (noraebang) together.

Wine Day (Oct. 14th): Couples drink wine together.

Movie Day (Nov. 14th): Couples watch a movie together. For some reason they also drink orange juice.

Hug day (Dec. 14th): Couples hug each other, whereas single people go out and offer free hugs. Apparently if you get a hug from another single person, you can swap contact information with him or her and start hanging out. lol.

…Yup, so, that wraps up the list. There’s also Peppero Day on November 11th, where loved ones send each other Peppero.

…Happy lovin’, everyone…

Hello. I'm planning to teach english in Korea. However, I don't have a bachelor degree yet. I was planning to finish my second year in Nursing and try and teach there for a year. See how I like it. Then maybe pursue bachelors in education. Do they look at your GPA when you apply? and do they prioritize people with degrees? Thanks :D

Mon, 12 Mar 2012 19:32:00 -0700

Unfortunately, I think you need to have a BA to be considered for hire to teach here. It doesn’t have to be a BA in education though, it could be anything. My BA was in Business Administration. I would advise to wait to apply until after you have completed your bachelors.

Michelle's Reward System

Mon, 12 Mar 2012 19:14:00 -0700

Here is another reward system idea that I have used last year and have some what revised for use this year as well. I’m comfortable with it and the students seem to like it.

For this semester I have implemented a Class points system, which grades the behavior of all the students in the class as a whole.

Class point system:

Each class day, the class is given 5 stars (I draw this on the chalk board)

Depending on behavior and participation, stars will be removed if they are not following directions or if they are being noisy.

At the end of class I keep track of how many stars each class has by writing them down.

The reward: if they collect 5 days of 5 stars I will reward the class with a movie day.

Individual Point System:

Students are required to raise their hands when answering questions. If they answer correctly in English, I will give them a point for participation. When they have collected 10 points, I present them with a prize: Famous Amos Chocolate Cookies that I brought from Costco.

Reward Scheme Idea

Mon, 12 Mar 2012 19:00:35 -0700

Funny that I should read this right after I come back from one of my 2nd grade classes, who all, except a handful, did not pay attention. This is not what I use for my class, but this is a great alternative, I think, for a reward system.

Posted by Gregory Wan in the Daejeon - EPIK facebook group

So: the tip. It’s a reward scheme. I’m certain that other people have thought of this before and I’m not the first to suggest it, but I’m using a lottery.

Good behaviour gets tickets. I emphasize to students that good behaviour isn’t “correct” English. It’s participation. Trying to speak. This makes sure that the higher level students don’t just stack up on the winnings. After all, participation is what we’re aiming for.

I give out tickets during class, tell students to name them, and hang on to them. End of classes, I just get a box, collect the tickets, and draw two or four or so. Try getting students to draw from the box so they know it isn’t rigged and get some excitement going.

It’s working because everyone has a chance: even a person with one ticket might win one of the class prizes; this is an important part of it. It gets rid of the “I can’t win anything anyway, no point trying” mentality.

Also, it allows you to prepare a set amount of prizes per class. I used to have a small budget per class, and when a class does amazingly well I used to feel bad about not having anything to give to good students after I’d run out of rewards.

I’ve been giving out Tim Tams from Australia, just some unique foreign charm, and might move on to Australian coins in the future.

This is what my timetable looks like this semester. I teach 2...

Mon, 12 Mar 2012 02:07:33 -0700

This is what my timetable looks like this semester. I teach 2 grades, about 10 per grade, and I see them once a week. I also teach a Non English Teacher’s class and a English Teacher’s class and 4 after school periods each week.

New Year: New everything?

Thu, 08 Mar 2012 22:57:40 -0800

So it’s been a week since the new school year has officially started. Back in the states the new year started in September after a long summer break. Here in Korea, 3 weeks ago you were in elementary school, but now BAM! you are a middle schooler. YHAY! .. Well, not really.

Meeting the 1st graders for the first time is really great. They still have those little elementary school mentalities and faces (super cute). Also because they are now the youngest in the school, no longer the upper classmens, they are extremely well behaved. When I asked them if they liked being in middle school, many replied with “No, teacher.” Middle school is when your rights for self expression no longer exists, at least while you are in school. You suddenly have to wear a uniform everyday, cut off that long permed hair you had (if you were a girl), or cut normal that kpop boy band dyed haircut you sported all of 6th grade year. This is when Korea starts to pound that unity mentality into their little growing minds. One country united. Daehanminguk!

Anyways, I sort of expected most things to be the same as before, aside from my favorite teachers leaving. I thought for some reason that this year would just continue from last year. Day one of being back showed me otherwise. The teacher’s room had 2 desk taken out and 2 new teachers had moved in. The 3rd grader classrooms switched with the 1st grader classrooms, which is now on the 4th floor. All my coteacher’s had changed. I even teach with a male teacher now. Lastly, the class schedule changed drastically. The first period no longer starts at 9:25 but at 8:50 am. And we have to teach 4 class periods before lunch time, which has been pushed back to 12:20. The worst part is … I now have to teach a 7th period even though it seems as though my day should end earlier, it does not.

Everything will take some getting use to (again) but I think it will be okay. =)

Option for sending money home from Korea

Wed, 08 Feb 2012 22:40:00 -0800

Posted by Xavier Hernandez in the Daejeon - EPIK facebook group

For those from the US that have to send money home (thanks student loans!), I’ve been doing something that is not very well known and ends up costing me 500 Won total.

You can open up a US Citibank account online (takes 10 minutes to do) and then go to a Citibank branch in Korea and open an account. Citibank allows you to send money between global Citibank accounts up to 10 times a month for free. Make sure to let them know you’re going to send money to a US account and roughly how much you want to send home at a time so they fill out the proper paperwork and set up internet banking.

The only time I pay a fee is when I transfer money from my NH account to my Korean Citibank account, 500 Won. The one, and only time, I sent money home through NH, they charged me 45,000 Won. Finally, the money is instantly available in my account back home and, the best part, Citibank Korea has a dedicated English line that, in my experience, doesn’t have a wait of more than a few minutes.

Hopefully other teachers from the US find this helpful. I’m not sure if the same applies to Citibank accounts in other countries but I can’t imagine there isn’t something similar.

tl;dr: Open up a Citibank US and Korea account to send money home for almost no cost.

Last week of class and as I come back from lunch I find a little...

Mon, 06 Feb 2012 22:51:00 -0800

Last week of class and as I come back from lunch I find a little envelope with my name on it. Great little surprise. I will miss you 한나!!

Hello! I was wondering if I could ask you about your experience in Daejeon? I recently received notice from EPIK that I will be placed in Daejeon next year. I'm from LA as well :) Do you like living in Daejeon? What are some pros and cons about the city? I'm a bit nervous about moving there as I had hoped I would have been placed in Seoul. I appreciate any information you have about living there :) Thank you!!!

Mon, 06 Feb 2012 21:31:32 -0800

Hi! I’ll try my best to answer your question ><.

I’m sure you did your research on Daejeon (most likely how far is it from Seoul ^^). It’s a way smaller and more quieter city than Seoul is. So it depends if you are a big city person or not. At first I was a bit disappointed about my schools location because I was placed in the south west part of Daejeon, at the very bottom. I am far from the subway and the downtown areas but later I learned that I am but a 25-45 minute bus ride to all these places.

Pros: Smaller and less people.
The pacing of the people here is slower and they are more chill.
Because this city is smaller, the Metropolitan Office or Immigration office is not overcrowded to the point where you have to wait 2hrs to get your Alien Card done (Something you would have to do when you get here).
The weather here is not as extreme as Seoul, meaning not as hot or as cold.
Fresh air, less pollution.
1 subway line (Could be a bad thing in my case)
Central hub of the KTX (You can get anywhere, travel on the weekends slightly cheaper than Seoulites taking the KTX)
Nice hiking trails to climb =)

Cons: Not many tourists areas to explore.
Stores or restaurants may have inconsistent business hours.
Not as easy to find foreign ingredients or products (Homeplus does carry a lot of things)

Honestly, I love living in Daejeon. It feels like home. Suburbish. I also love that I never really have to leave my area because there are plenty of restaurants and entertainment around me. I have also spent quite a few weekends in Seoul and its not a big deal to take the 50 minute KTX (speed train) or 2.5 hour slow train there. When it’s warmer you can also take the KTX down to Busan and hangout at the beach.

You’ll do fine here. =). Plenty of people speak English and I’ve heard that people are generally a bit more nice here compared to Seoul. Daejeon has all the big chain stores and also a Costco. New restaurants and shopping areas are sprouting out in Daejeon all the time. You might get placed somewhere pretty central.

It's been a year already?! $#!*&!!

Mon, 06 Feb 2012 20:52:04 -0800

It’s already the last week of the semester and the 3rd graders (9th graders) will graduate this Thursday. This means that my little 1st graders (7th graders) will become 2nd graders (8th graders) when we all come back in March to start the new school year.

Seeing that I have failed on my commitment to keep the blog updated, I will at least blog my last thoughts and findings of this year. =D (Good news for me is that I have already signed a second year with my school, so that means I have this next year to redeem myself.)

First of all, as I look back on these past 11 months, teaching Middle School in Korea is not at all that difficult, it turns out, but it DOES require lots of focused planning time and countless hours on Google looking for the perfect images. -___-“ (Good thing Korea has amazing coffee shops with WIFI to accommodate us foreign teachers)

Overall, with the little experience that I had packed with me from America, I was able to plan some good lessons for the year, teach an after school class 2 times a week, and successfully finished 2 English camps. And no matter how doubtful I felt about my lessons that week, it’s satisfying enough when the class still waves/ says “goodbye” to me when that bell rings.

I used to take things pretty personally. That maybe the students misbehaved or respond unmotivated because I had failed somewhere. It turns out that most of the teachers here face the same problems. I’ve found that not every lesson will yield the same results especially since I have to teach 20 classes of students, each with very different characteristics. As a teacher, I’ve learned not to linger on bad classes, but to stay positive and keep reaching out to the students. I read somewhere that in planning for these ESL students, we must lower our expectations by 30% when we are actually teaching. This way we keep things in perspective and stay realistic. That is really important, staying realistic.

Anyways, for this next year I have a better picture of what kind of teacher I should be in terms of my school. Since the students attend another regular English class throughout the week and I don’t get to teach out of that book, I have been confused with the types of lessons I should plan and what the students should be getting out of my classes. This year I will set some learning goals for my students and I hope to plan and work towards these goals.

This job can be so laid back but I think it depends on where you see yourself as a teacher. I’m pretty determined to walk away from Korea knowing that I’ve at least fortified their basic English skills and to motivate the enthusiasm to learn back into their blank-kpop-corrupted minds. (These kids lack creativity and curiosity, it kills me)