A CDI Halloween

Let's face it, Halloween in Korea is nothing like Halloween back at home in America. Kids don't dress up, there are no trick-or-treaters, nor are there carved pumpkins in front of homes.

In order to bring some of the Western culture to our students, some teachers decided to dress up. I guess it's almost become a tradition and a huge competition at my school, because there was even a prize for having the best costume: an extra hour of pay.

I dressed up two days in a row, one as a basketball player. Halloween is a perfect excuse to wear basketball shorts and a jersey to work. On another day, I dressed up as Waldo and none of my students recognized me. They guessed I was Santa.

The students also got to draw posters for Halloween. The prize was a big bag of candy and I've never seen my students work so diligently on a project.

The contest was held for the whole school and only three winners were chosen, my students being one of them. These girls were so creative and even came up with a 3D poster.

One downside to Halloween this year for the students was that it was held during the week of level up tests. As excited as they were to see their teachers dress up and receive candy, I'm sure the thought of having to take a big test disappointed them a bit.

As far as the Halloween culture for the rest of Korea, it's more popular amongst the younger crowd. Although the Korean youth don't go all out with their costumes, party promoters use the name to advertise for clubs.

If you do swing by Korea around this time of the year, check out Itaewon. This is where you'll see most of the foreigners hang out with their costumes on.

If you are trying to shop for costumes, check out Dongdaemun station exit #4. There are a few stores down a dark alleyway that sells a variety of costumes and party accessories.

Did you dress up this Halloween?

 

Summer Intensives

During every summer and winter break for students in Korea, academies of all types like to offer intensive classes. These classes are a way for the students to get ahead, catch up, or even to try out different academies without a long term commitment. As a foreigner, I sympathize for these kids since they are in academies literally all day everyday after school. Going to these academies double time during their vacation is probably the last thing they would ever want. However, as a post-grad trying to pay back loans, this is a great way for me to earn some extra cash for the month.

The downside of intensives is that most of the classes begin at 10:00AM. That may not sound bad to any one who works a regular job for a living, but it's horrible for someone who's pretty much a vampire. As a Chungdahm teacher, sometimes I feel like one. The only daylight I see is on my walk to school. Otherwise, I spend most of my waking hours indoors or at night. Going along with that, I remember my past three intensives waking up in the middle of the night because of nightmares of being late or missing intensives.

The upside to this is not only the extra pay, as mentioned above, but also that it only lasts a month. Since some intensive classes are up to three times a week, it's surprising how big the next paycheck comes out to be!

This summer, I'm teaching an extensive reading workshop for the lowest level. We read short stories together and check reading comprehension. Although it can be tough early in the morning, it's a more personal way to get to know and teach the students than a normal class. Since most of these intensive classes tend to be smaller than the regular 4PM to 10PM classes that last 13 weeks, I feel like I can connect with these students in a much more personal level in three hours a day for three times a week for a month.

Teaching intensives is not mandatory, but it's a great way for me to save some extra money for my last few months left in Korea.

What will you do this summer?

Chungdahm Debate Competition

A lot of people back at home are curious about what I teach in Korea. Some think I teach them basic ABC's, while others think I'm just correcting their pronunciation. What I really teach my students in Korea is much more than that. Chungdahm students, for the most part, know enough English to be able to communicate. My job as a teacher is to use that and incorporate it into more complex skills.

Once a term, Chungdahm holds a debate competition for students in the highest level, usually students who are fluent in English. The debate topics are related to today's issues, which gives students a chance to further research and familiarize themselves with what's going on in the world.

This term, the topics were related to the ongoing issue of Korean high schools getting rid of native English teachers and the Stand Your Ground law, which is related to the recent case of Trayvon Martin.

As a judge, it was surprising to see how much work these students have put into this competition. Sure, the prizes may have had something to do with it, but these students seemed genuinely excited to be able to compete with other students similar to them.

For some students and teachers, it was their first time competing. As you can see in the picture above, almost everyone was anxious and nervous. However, once these students were in their debate mode, they all put their game faces on and competed like professionals.

Congratulations to both the Bundang teams and other teams who have competed.