I teach at two schools that operate on slightly different schedules. When I first arrived I taught at one school on Monday and Friday and the other school Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday. When the new school year started in March they changed it to Monday, Wednesday, Friday at Baeksunam and Tuesday and Thursday at Baeksusuh.
My contract calls for 22 teaching hours. I am just under that so I don't get any overtime or extra pay. Some of the classes are marked as extra below, but that means that I can teach whatever I want rather than following the standard curriculum.
Baeksunam Class Periods:
Period 01: 09:10 - 09:50
Period 02: 10:00 - 10:40
Period 03: 11:00 - 11:40
Period 04: 11:50 - 12:30
Lunch: 12:30 - 13:30
Period 05: 13:30 - 14:10
Period 06: 14:20 - 15:00
Period 07: 15:20 - 16:00
Baeksusuh Class Periods:
Period 01: 09:00 - 09:40
Period 02: 09:45 - 10:25
Period 03: 10:55 - 11:35
Period 04: 11:40 - 12:20
Lunch: 12:20 - 13:20
Period 05: 13:20 - 14:00
Period 06: 14:05 - 14:45
Period 07: 15:00 - 15:40
Period 08: 15:45 - 16:25
MONDAY (Baeksunam)
Period 01: 09:10 - 09:50
Period 02: 10:00 - 10:40
Period 03: 11:00 - 11:40
Period 04: 11:50 - 12:30
Lunch: 12:30 - 13:30
Period 05: 13:30 - 14:10
Period 06: 14:20 - 15:00
Period 07: 15:20 - 16:00 - 3rd & 4th grade extra class
TUESDAY (Baeksusuh)
Period 01: 09:00 - 09:40 - 4th & 5th grade
Period 02: 09:45 - 10:25 - 6th grade
Period 03: 10:55 - 11:35
Period 04: 11:40 - 12:20 - 3rd grade
Lunch: 12:20 - 13:20
Period 05: 13:20 - 14:00
Period 06: 14:05 - 14:45 - 1st & 2nd grade
Period 07: 15:00 - 15:40 - 3rd grade extra
Period 08: 15:45 - 16:25 - 6th grade extra
WEDNESDAY (Baeksunam)
Period 01: 09:10 - 09:50 - 3rd &4th grade
Period 02: 10:00 - 10:40 - 3rd &4th grade
Period 03: 11:00 - 11:40 - kindergarten for 20 minutes*
Period 04: 11:50 - 12:30
Lunch: 12:30 - 13:30
Period 05: 13:30 - 14:10
Period 06: 14:20 - 15:00 - 5th & 6th extra class
Period 07: 15:20 - 16:00
* I have the kindergarten from 11:30 - 11:50 on Wednesdays.
THURSDAY (Baeksusuh)
Period 01: 09:00 - 09:40 - 3rd grade
Period 02: 09:45 - 10:25 - 4th & 5th grade
Period 03: 10:55 - 11:35 - 6th grade
Period 04: 11:40 - 12:20
Lunch: 12:20 - 13:20
Period 05: 13:20 - 14:00 - kindergarten
Period 06: 14:05 - 14:45
Period 07: 15:00 - 15:40 - 1st & 2nd grade extra
Period 08: 15:45 - 16:25
FRIDAY (Baeksunam)
Period 01: 09:10 - 09:50 - 5th grade
Period 02: 10:00 - 10:40 - 5th grade
Period 03: 11:00 - 11:40 - 6th grade
Period 04: 11:50 - 12:30 - 6th grade
Lunch: 12:30 - 13:30
Period 05: 13:30 - 14:10
Period 06: 14:20 - 15:00
Period 07: 15:20 - 16:00 - 5th & 6th extra class
Friday, September 24, 2010
Wednesday, September 22, 2010
Tips on reading Hangeul
Canadian Connection send me an orientation booklet that had some notes on the Hangeul alphabet. I am not an expert on Hanguel but you can learn 90% of it by making flash cards of the characters you see below. The only real trick is learning to recognize the order of the characters within the character blocks (see the bottom picture).
You can double click the pictures to enlarge them. You'll notice Hangeul uses the same character for G and K, thus you'll see the city named spelled Gwangju and Kwangju when it is converted to English. The same is true for D & T, R & L, and B & P (thus Pusan and Busan). One thing my booklet didn't mention was how to use this character: ㅇ. When it appears at the front of a character block it is a silent placeholder. When it appears at the end of a character block is an 'ng' sound. Yeonggwang is an easy example of both uses.
The Hangul for Yeonggwang is 영광.
When you breakdown the two character blocks for Yeonggwang they go in this order:
FIRST
ㅇ - silent
ㅕ - yeo
ㅇ - ng
SECOND
ㄱ - g
ㅘ - wa
ㅇ - ng
So if you write it out in English letters you get YEONG GWANG.
The only other thing you really need to be aware of is that the Koreans often write the characters so that they are touching. For example it almost always looks like the ㅇ and ㅕ characters at the beginning of Yeonggwang (영) are touching. This makes it a little harder to pick out the individual characters.
The Hangul for Gwangju is 광주.
Here's the breakdown for Gwangju:
FIRST
ㄱ - g
ㅘ - wa
ㅇ - ng
SECOND
ㅈ- j (jieut)
ㅜ - u
So if you write it out in English letters you get GWANG JU.
This is the introduction.
The first set of characters.
The second set of characters.
An explanation of the character blocks.
A close-up of the character blocks.
You can double click the pictures to enlarge them. You'll notice Hangeul uses the same character for G and K, thus you'll see the city named spelled Gwangju and Kwangju when it is converted to English. The same is true for D & T, R & L, and B & P (thus Pusan and Busan). One thing my booklet didn't mention was how to use this character: ㅇ. When it appears at the front of a character block it is a silent placeholder. When it appears at the end of a character block is an 'ng' sound. Yeonggwang is an easy example of both uses.
The Hangul for Yeonggwang is 영광.
When you breakdown the two character blocks for Yeonggwang they go in this order:
FIRST
ㅇ - silent
ㅕ - yeo
ㅇ - ng
SECOND
ㄱ - g
ㅘ - wa
ㅇ - ng
So if you write it out in English letters you get YEONG GWANG.
The only other thing you really need to be aware of is that the Koreans often write the characters so that they are touching. For example it almost always looks like the ㅇ and ㅕ characters at the beginning of Yeonggwang (영) are touching. This makes it a little harder to pick out the individual characters.
The Hangul for Gwangju is 광주.
Here's the breakdown for Gwangju:
FIRST
ㄱ - g
ㅘ - wa
ㅇ - ng
SECOND
ㅈ- j (jieut)
ㅜ - u
So if you write it out in English letters you get GWANG JU.
This is the introduction.
The first set of characters.
The second set of characters.
An explanation of the character blocks.
A close-up of the character blocks.
The Haeryong School
Haeryong is a private middle school and high school in Yeonggwang. They employ one English teacher in the middle school and one in the high school. Both teachers live in the boys dormitory.
A view of the academic buildings across the sand soccer field.
The boys dorm.
The girls dorm.
A view of the academic buildings across the sand soccer field.
The boys dorm.
The girls dorm.
Baeksu bus from the bus terminal
Here are some pointers if you catch the Baeksu bus from the bus terminal.
The Yeonggwang local bus terminal. It's behind the express bus terminal.
The Baeksu bus leaves from space on the far right just to the right of the bus in this picture.
This sign hangs outside in front of where the bus parks. The three vertical characters on the far left are for the Baeksu bus.
The same characters you see in the far left column above appear in the 4th card from the left in the bus window.
Here's how small the cards are from even a few feet away.
This is the schedule inside the bus terminal. You can see the same three characters written horizontally at the top of the far left column. The bus runs at 06:55 AM, 7:40 AM, 8:20 AM (the one I take), 09:10 AM.....
The Yeonggwang local bus terminal. It's behind the express bus terminal.
The Baeksu bus leaves from space on the far right just to the right of the bus in this picture.
This sign hangs outside in front of where the bus parks. The three vertical characters on the far left are for the Baeksu bus.
The same characters you see in the far left column above appear in the 4th card from the left in the bus window.
Here's how small the cards are from even a few feet away.
This is the schedule inside the bus terminal. You can see the same three characters written horizontally at the top of the far left column. The bus runs at 06:55 AM, 7:40 AM, 8:20 AM (the one I take), 09:10 AM.....
Places to avoid
Before I came to Korea a friend who had spent time here in the army sent me a note. He joked about "barber shops" and warned 'the more barber poles you see, the less hair they cut'. I didn't exactly have context for his comment but now I understand. A single barber pole is often used to denote a hair salon. Multiple barber poles on one storefront usually means "massage parlor". When the time comes to get a haircut just stick to the places you can see through the window from street level.
Places with lots of barber poles are easy to spot.
This place (on the second floor) has four barber poles out front.
Places with lots of barber poles are easy to spot.
This place (on the second floor) has four barber poles out front.
Friday, September 17, 2010
Trash & recycling
The Koreans do have a recycling program. It varies a little from building to building. I buy large 50-liter trash bags for my recycling materials. The actual trash bags are clear/frosted plastic. The bags specifically for recycling are pink. Here's one odd thing that I haven't been able to figure out. You can't buy the recycling bags, but they had you two of them when you but a bundle of ten trash bags. (insert your confused look here). Anyhow, I used both kinds for my recycled materials.
When I take the trash out I put the bag next to the other recycled materials. I figure that's a good faith effort, since they won't sell me the bags I'm supposed to use. Oh, if you're at the big market downtown, the trash bags are on a rack up by the checkout area. I kept looking for them near the tin foil, paper cups, food bags, etc.
This is the garbage area at KOPEC. I put household trash in the large black bin. I have no idea what the two tall bins on the left are for.
This is the recycling area. I place my full bags here where you see the two pink recycling bags.
When I take the trash out I put the bag next to the other recycled materials. I figure that's a good faith effort, since they won't sell me the bags I'm supposed to use. Oh, if you're at the big market downtown, the trash bags are on a rack up by the checkout area. I kept looking for them near the tin foil, paper cups, food bags, etc.
This is the garbage area at KOPEC. I put household trash in the large black bin. I have no idea what the two tall bins on the left are for.
This is the recycling area. I place my full bags here where you see the two pink recycling bags.
Wednesday, September 15, 2010
Finding PC rooms
When you first arrive in Korea your apartment won't have an internet connection. If you are super lucky one of your neighbors might have an unlocked wireless internet connection. If not, you have to wait until you have your Alien Resident Card (ARC) in order to get your internet account established. I had to wait 24 days.
The good news is that Korea is littered with PC rooms. Once you know how to look for them they are really easy to find. In Yeonggwang internet access is 1,000 Won per hour.
Most PC rooms are located on the 2nd floor (not the street level). Just look around for signs that say PC on them. Also, many are open 24-hours so that Korean teenagers can play their video games. Some PC rooms will give you a code to their wireless signal if you want to use your own laptop.
You don't need to speak any Korean to use a PC room. Just hand the desk clerk a 1,000 Won note. You can gesture that you need help logging in or write 'please help me' on a piece of paper. They know the drill and they will come help you log on.
Here's a PC room in Yeonggwang. Just look for PC on the signs.
If you start typing and you're getting Hongul characters just press the button immediately to the right of the space bar (between the space bar and the Alt button) to switch the keyboard to English characters.
The good news is that Korea is littered with PC rooms. Once you know how to look for them they are really easy to find. In Yeonggwang internet access is 1,000 Won per hour.
Most PC rooms are located on the 2nd floor (not the street level). Just look around for signs that say PC on them. Also, many are open 24-hours so that Korean teenagers can play their video games. Some PC rooms will give you a code to their wireless signal if you want to use your own laptop.
You don't need to speak any Korean to use a PC room. Just hand the desk clerk a 1,000 Won note. You can gesture that you need help logging in or write 'please help me' on a piece of paper. They know the drill and they will come help you log on.
Here's a PC room in Yeonggwang. Just look for PC on the signs.
If you start typing and you're getting Hongul characters just press the button immediately to the right of the space bar (between the space bar and the Alt button) to switch the keyboard to English characters.
Don't take the wrong bus
I'm at a disadvantage when it comes to catching my bus in the morning. The bus routes are denoted by cards in the bus windows and they aren't very easy to read from a distance. Therefore, the only way I can catch my bus is to start waving a the driver when it's about 80 yards away. This works well when the buses are running on time.
On two occasions (both when it was snowing) the 8:15 AM bus was running late. It came through the intersection around 8:25 AM which is when my bus normally shows up. So, I got on the wrong bus. If this happens to you, the bus will turn off the main road at the point you see below. Both times I immediately hit the button to be let off the bus. One time a teacher from my school picked me up, the other time I made it back to the main road in time to catch my normal bus.
This is where the bus turn (right) of the main road.
This is the store located where the bus turns. This is where you stand when you walk back to catch the regular bus.
The wrong bus turns down the road between the signs (left) and the woman you see standing by the store (right).
On two occasions (both when it was snowing) the 8:15 AM bus was running late. It came through the intersection around 8:25 AM which is when my bus normally shows up. So, I got on the wrong bus. If this happens to you, the bus will turn off the main road at the point you see below. Both times I immediately hit the button to be let off the bus. One time a teacher from my school picked me up, the other time I made it back to the main road in time to catch my normal bus.
This is where the bus turn (right) of the main road.
This is the store located where the bus turns. This is where you stand when you walk back to catch the regular bus.
The wrong bus turns down the road between the signs (left) and the woman you see standing by the store (right).
The bus back to KOPEC
Here's how you take the bus back to the KOPEC apartments. Below I have posted pictures of all four bus stops and a few landmarks. The Baeksunam Elementary stop is the furthest away from KOPEC, next comes the Baeksussuh Elementary stop the the Baeksu Middle School stop and then finally the other Baeksu elementary school.
BAEKSUNAM ELEMENTARY. Retrace your steps back to this bus stop.
BAEKSUSUH ELEMENTARY. When you exit the front of the school make a right and walk about 200 yards. The bus stop is in front of a small convenience store. It's a three minute walk to/from the school.
A picture between Baeksusuh Elementary and the Baeksu Middle School.
BAEKSU MIDDLE SCHOOL. This is directly across the street from the school.
Past the middle school head to the other elementary school.
Heading towards where the road splits. This time the bus goes to the left.
The point where the road splits. The NongHyup bank (not in the picture) is just to the left.
The other BAEKSU ELEMENTARY SCHOOL. The stop is in front of this convenience store, directly across from the wooden pagoda.
This is a picture of an agriculture office you pass on your left when you're about 3 kilometers from the KOPEC apartments.
A little further down the road. Just past the road sign a cement company has facilities on both sides of the road.
Another landmark. This building will be on your right.
This golf driving range is an easy reference point. It had not been built when I arrived but it's a great landmark for knowing that you're close to home.
Note the building with the large orange stripe.
This gas station shares a parking lot with the building with the orange stripe. The road sign shows route 22 that goes all the way to Gwangju.
Heading up the hill. At this point you're about 300 meters from the KOPEC intersection where you get off the bus. Note the utility poles with yellow and black stripes on them. I usually press the stop button on the bus when I pass the third pole.
When the bus passes this pole with the '1 km' marker on it I press the stop button and stand up at the rear door of the bus.
The bus usually lets me off underneath the road sign on the right where you see the I-15 logo and the arrow pointing to Beopseong.
BAEKSUNAM ELEMENTARY. Retrace your steps back to this bus stop.
BAEKSUSUH ELEMENTARY. When you exit the front of the school make a right and walk about 200 yards. The bus stop is in front of a small convenience store. It's a three minute walk to/from the school.
A picture between Baeksusuh Elementary and the Baeksu Middle School.
BAEKSU MIDDLE SCHOOL. This is directly across the street from the school.
Past the middle school head to the other elementary school.
Heading towards where the road splits. This time the bus goes to the left.
The point where the road splits. The NongHyup bank (not in the picture) is just to the left.
The other BAEKSU ELEMENTARY SCHOOL. The stop is in front of this convenience store, directly across from the wooden pagoda.
This is a picture of an agriculture office you pass on your left when you're about 3 kilometers from the KOPEC apartments.
A little further down the road. Just past the road sign a cement company has facilities on both sides of the road.
Another landmark. This building will be on your right.
This golf driving range is an easy reference point. It had not been built when I arrived but it's a great landmark for knowing that you're close to home.
Note the building with the large orange stripe.
This gas station shares a parking lot with the building with the orange stripe. The road sign shows route 22 that goes all the way to Gwangju.
Heading up the hill. At this point you're about 300 meters from the KOPEC intersection where you get off the bus. Note the utility poles with yellow and black stripes on them. I usually press the stop button on the bus when I pass the third pole.
When the bus passes this pole with the '1 km' marker on it I press the stop button and stand up at the rear door of the bus.
The bus usually lets me off underneath the road sign on the right where you see the I-15 logo and the arrow pointing to Beopseong.
Bus to Baeksunam Elementary School
Here's how you get from the KOPEC apartments to Baeksunam Elementary School. This entry shows catching the bus near the KOPEC apartment and then some landmarks starting about 200 yards past Baeksusuh Elementary School. To see the entire route check out the entries titled 'The bus to Baeksu Middle School & Elementary' and then 'Bus to Baeksusuh Elementary School'.
Leaving KOPEC heading to the street.
Turn right when you get to the street.
When you get to these banners, make a right and walk up hill.
Here's the view after you turn right.
I stand in front of the brown sign to wave down the bus. You really do need to wave or the driver will go right by you. I stand here, about 80 yards up from the light so that I'm in the driver's line of sight after he goes through the intersection.
Here's the view looking back as the bus comes through the intersection.
The Baeksu bus route is noted on the 4th card from the left in the bus window.
Here's how small the cards are from even a few feet away. Basically you need to know the bus schedule and be on time because you can't read these cards from a distance.
This is just after you pass Baeksusuh Elementary School.
A little further down the road.
You'll see this factory on the righthand side near the sign you see above.
At the top of the hill you'll pass this restaurant on your left.
A bus stop you pass on your left about 400 yards before the canal.
About 15 minutes after you get on the bus near KOPEC you'll come to this irrigation canal. There is a stop here, just over the bridge. You get off two stops after this one.
A picture of the buildings on your right after you cross the irrigation canal.
The bus stop by the irrigation canal. From here it's about a 20-minute walk to school.
This is the next bus stop you come to after the irrigation canal. This one is on the left hand side. You can see it to the far right of the house.
The same bus stop as above. Notice the old shade tree behind the stone monument. When you pass this stop you should get your money ready and start moving to the front of the bus.
The road when you're about 250 yards from the stop you want.
The bus makes a left here towards Yeomsan. I press the stop button when I can see this sign.
The stop buttons are positions all over the bus including some on the ceiling.
As you approach the sign pictured above you can see the bus stop off to the left.
This was taken standing in front of the bus stop looking back toward the main road.
The bus turns left here and stops near the white pick-up truck.
Looking back at the bus stop from the point where I step off the bus. When you head home after school you stand where this man is standing.
Looking down the road towards school from in front of the bus stop (as if the man in the picture above turned to his left).
A picture a little further down the road.
A picture a little further down the road.
A picture a little further down the road.
The school is down the small road you see on the left.
A little further down the road.
Keeping walking.
Keeping walking.
Keeping walking. To the right of this pick-up truck is a small convenience store.
This is a small NongHyup bank across from the convenience store. Make sure the school gets you a NongHyup account because this ATM here is very convenient and all of their ATMs have an English menu.
The school is just past the small white van (to the left).
The cinder block structure to the left is actually the garage where the principal parks his car. He lives in a small house just off the school grounds.
The garage is on the left, the school is in the distance through the gate.
Leaving KOPEC heading to the street.
Turn right when you get to the street.
When you get to these banners, make a right and walk up hill.
Here's the view after you turn right.
I stand in front of the brown sign to wave down the bus. You really do need to wave or the driver will go right by you. I stand here, about 80 yards up from the light so that I'm in the driver's line of sight after he goes through the intersection.
Here's the view looking back as the bus comes through the intersection.
The Baeksu bus route is noted on the 4th card from the left in the bus window.
Here's how small the cards are from even a few feet away. Basically you need to know the bus schedule and be on time because you can't read these cards from a distance.
This is just after you pass Baeksusuh Elementary School.
A little further down the road.
You'll see this factory on the righthand side near the sign you see above.
At the top of the hill you'll pass this restaurant on your left.
A bus stop you pass on your left about 400 yards before the canal.
About 15 minutes after you get on the bus near KOPEC you'll come to this irrigation canal. There is a stop here, just over the bridge. You get off two stops after this one.
A picture of the buildings on your right after you cross the irrigation canal.
The bus stop by the irrigation canal. From here it's about a 20-minute walk to school.
This is the next bus stop you come to after the irrigation canal. This one is on the left hand side. You can see it to the far right of the house.
The same bus stop as above. Notice the old shade tree behind the stone monument. When you pass this stop you should get your money ready and start moving to the front of the bus.
The road when you're about 250 yards from the stop you want.
The bus makes a left here towards Yeomsan. I press the stop button when I can see this sign.
The stop buttons are positions all over the bus including some on the ceiling.
As you approach the sign pictured above you can see the bus stop off to the left.
This was taken standing in front of the bus stop looking back toward the main road.
The bus turns left here and stops near the white pick-up truck.
Looking back at the bus stop from the point where I step off the bus. When you head home after school you stand where this man is standing.
Looking down the road towards school from in front of the bus stop (as if the man in the picture above turned to his left).
A picture a little further down the road.
A picture a little further down the road.
A picture a little further down the road.
The school is down the small road you see on the left.
A little further down the road.
Keeping walking.
Keeping walking.
Keeping walking. To the right of this pick-up truck is a small convenience store.
This is a small NongHyup bank across from the convenience store. Make sure the school gets you a NongHyup account because this ATM here is very convenient and all of their ATMs have an English menu.
The school is just past the small white van (to the left).
The cinder block structure to the left is actually the garage where the principal parks his car. He lives in a small house just off the school grounds.
The garage is on the left, the school is in the distance through the gate.
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