Ok, so, I was absent for a while, due to lack of internet connection. Then I got wired, managed a grand total of 3 posts, and went AWOL again.
I'm not going to say that I didn't have the time to blog. We all have 24 hrs per day, and how we spend those hours is up to us. Ouch. I'm not gonna dwell on that right now. I'll save that for post-blog.
Anyway, I definitely haven't been bored recently. Want to know what I have been up to?
Running - I've been running recently. I started running as a way to exercise without having to pay for a gym membership. I've always run on a treadmill because I am very goal-oriented. Knowing how far and how fast I am running and being able to measure my progress every time I exercise motivates me.
But there is a river just a few minutes walk from where I live, with a path running alongside it. The section that I run even has the kilometers marked out on the ground for you, and it is about 3.5k long.
Let me tell you, I don't think I could have asked for a more conducive atmosphere in which to run.
It is beautiful.
I usually run after work (around 10pm), so the sun has set, it's starting to cool off, and there are streetlights illuminating the path and the river. Even at 10 and 11 at night, there are generally quite a few people, young and old, out walking, biking, rollerblading, and running. The path features a basketball court at one point, and exercise machines at another. These are fully taken advantage of.
So, anyway, I discovered that I can run a whole lot farther than I thought I could. On the treadmill, I would never run below a certain speed and I was always very aware of how far I had run. Running by the river has allowed me to focus on running at a pace that is comfortable and distract myself with the scenery and my own personal soundtrack (read: iPod Cardio Mix). So now I'm planning to run a 10k (6.2miles) with a few friends in about 3 weeks. My personal goal for the race is 1 hr 5 min. I've only run 10k once so far, and it took me several minutes longer than that. But honestly, it still surprises me that I can even run for an hour without stopping. That's something I never thought I could do. So even if I don't make my goal, I'm happy.
Teaching - Duh, It's kind of my job. But at my institute, the terms run in 3 month sessions. My first term started the day after I got here and just ended last month. The next term started last week. And it has been quite a switch for me. I had 7 classes last term and 4 of them were practically the lowest level our school teaches. Each lesson has a story, and for this level the story went something like, "The frog is hot. He stands under a tree. He is still hot! He lays on the grass. He is still hot! He jumps in the pond. Now he is cool." The stories are a little longer, but you get the idea. This term, my classes are way more advanced. In fact, I am teaching a debate class. At this point you may be saying, "What? Debate? I thought you were teaching English. Do you even know how to teach debate?"
No. I don't. Never even took a debate class. Yet this week, my debate class and I are discussing the KORUS FTA. That's the free trade agreement between the US and South Korea. Thinking back on the weeks prior to my arrival in South Korea, it's funny that one of the questions I was asked the most was, "How will you teach them English if you don't speak Korean?"
Instinctively, people assume that if you are teaching a person English, that person doesn't speak English. Makes sense, right? The thing that people fail to consider is that there are levels of fluency and teaching English as a second language is not necessarily rudimentary. A few of the words that came up in my debate class last week were charlatan, proliferation, vitriolic, and sycophancy. I had to look up sycophancy. And I'm the teacher. Ahem.
Other things - There were some other things that I wanted to mention, but it's 3 am. So rather than rushing through them, I'm going to refer to them here as "other things" and hopefully elaborate tomorrow.
