Teaching 3-13 year old's who cant really speak English can be incredibly challenging - but not without its laughs and rewards. Sometimes when things are lost in translation - it makes for a pretty funny moment. Especially when it eventually dawns on you what the child is trying to tell you!

The 5th graders. They have matching "Love Nambu" t-shirts for sports day.

I have had countless instances of 'green lemon' actually meaning 'apple' or on one particularly confusing occasion when a 3rd grader meant for it to be 'a small lettuce head'. I still consider it one of my greatest achievements as an elementary school teacher that I managed to accurately deduce lettuce from 'green lemon'. I have also become an absolute ace at charades. You don't know what a 'cat' is? No problem Claire teacher will make paws, scratch her nose and make meowing noises at you till you understand. You don't even want to know how I described a sloth.

The photo I used to explain "Don't sleep late".

I laughed at a friend teacher, Barbara who recently told me it took her the whole 40 minute lesson to figure out what her student meant by "young water".  The 2nd grader had been trying to explain that her water was dirty and old and she wanted a new one. Needless to say the child spent most of the lesson insisting repeatedly on "Young water no old age water". My first clue would have been anti-ageing cream or vitamin water - I think she did really well.

To me this is the crux of ESL teaching. No sentence is fully complete, even when talking to some of the most qualified and esteemed professionals at your school. My principal, who has recently, and quite triumphantly I might add, mastered "How are you?" Although when I reply he doesn't  actually understand how I  am so its a bit of a deflated victory on his part. He surprised me the other day when he came marching over during lunch and shouted "Noodles!" at my tray and then promptly disappeared from the cafeteria.

Kids getting ready for sports day!

"Me go toi- let-uh now now?" is a phrase I hear almost daily when students ask to use the bathroom. As a fully assimilated school pack member of almost 2 years,  I now happily say "Lunch-ie ti-m-uh" at 12:10 everyday and skip off to my midday meal with the kids, finding no error in my speaking.

Because of this confusing mesh of words and sentences it can be quite daunting if your new to Korea and aren't practiced in the art of charades and miming. So, for any newbie teacher who is battling their way through Konglish (Korean English) here's a list of things some of my students say and how to interpret it. I hope it helps you!

Phrases and how to interpret them:

1. Fire  Friday - They don't mean there is literally a fire - more that it's great that it's finally Friday and they can party (although at 12 and under its unlikely to happen).

2. Tissue - I need the bathroom (and I have serious business to attend to in there if you know what I mean).

3. Green Lemon - Any type of fruit or vegetable known to man (possibly tennis or squash balls as well).

4. No Jam - My high schoolers used to say this,  normally meaning "This doesn't work for me thanks" (Example: T:" Open your books please"  S: " Teacher, no jam.")

5. Jooombi - They mean Zombie, the same applies to Loobaat (Robot).


Can anyone think of any others to add?
Happy guessing!

It's spring in Korea! Cherry Blossom time again.  During winter Korea can get pretty bare and grey, spring buds are always a very welcomed change from snow and below freezing temperatures! Here are some Cherry Blossom pics from around Korea:

Oktoberfest at this German village.

Not only did I get to go to Oktoberfest a few months ago, I got to do it on an island off the coast of South Korea at a reconstructed German Village. A German village in Korea? Huh??
 Yes, you read that correctly, I experienced my first ever Oktoberfest, in the middle of Asia with not a German person in sight. It was bizarre and hugely entertaining.

Luckily Namhae island is connected to the mainland by a bridge highway. The island is fairly easy to access by car or bus, as no ferry's are needed. 

Two teacher friends and I decided to take an organised tour group trip with Enjoy Korea. The tour group picked us up in the centre of  Daegu and took us all the way down the peninsula to Namhae island for a two night stay at a pension and a look around the island. In true form, the bus collected us at about 10am and everyone was drinking by 11. Hey, it was my long weekend and we were going to a beautiful island - wouldn't you do the same? Drinks were definitely  in order.  Especially, apparently for the girl a few seats behind me who dropped the contents of her soju and orange bottle all over herself and her seat.

I vaguely remember a guy by the name of Blessing shouting at the whole bus to pull over because he needed to "pee like a racehorse".  I felt a little sorry for the conservative couple in the corner who said they didn't drink (despite the fact that they were attending a beer festival). The girl next to me rolled her eyes and took a long and deliberate swig of her soju before whispering "haters gonna hate".

The beach opposite our pension. 

Round the corner from where we stayed.

Bre, Chi and I with our signature "I heart Oktoberfest" Tshirts, drinking German beer. 

The festival took place at a traditional German village on Namhae with some of the most scenic oceans view I have ever come across. The German village itself has been a tourist spot on the island for over 20 years. During the rapid economic downturn in the late 1960's, many Koreans chose to live overseas and earn foreign currency. The initiative to build the village came about when many foreign nationals came back to Korea. The aim of the village was to make returning citizens more comfortable in Korea and merge two very distinct cultures, thus all of the timber and  building materials used were originally imported from Germany. Today, the village is more of a tourist stop, as many of the houses are used as museums. I left the bustling city of Daegu with is PC bangs and Dunkin Donuts in the morning only to be brought to what felt like Hansel and Grettle's home town a few short hours later.

In amongst the German Village.

The Oktoberfest stage.

The festival was great - but not without its Korean anomalies. After standing in line for a German Bratwurst with Sauerkraut, I was served a hot dog and spam slices with Kimchi inside. Close...but not exactly what I had had in mind. The Oktoberfest stage, made to look like a German fantasy castle had an array of Korean Kpop singers and rappers entertaining the crowd. It was such a confusing mesh of Korean and German, There were even a few Hymonies (Korean Grandma's) dressed in German corsets and Dirndl's - not quite what I'm used to seeing from the conservative ladies in Yeongju. The rest of the evening was spent watching beer downing contests, dancing to Kpop/German music and partying on the beach. It was a great time!

For better or worse, it was a great way to spend a long weekend. Namhae island is gorgeous and I would recommend it as a stop for anyone during the summer months. Here is a look at a few pics from our weekend on Namhae.

A photo with a Ginat German beer maid character.

Bre and Chi posing with the beer kegs.

Partying at the Beer Festival on Namhae. 

<a href="http://www.bloglovin.com/blog/10392679/?claim=mhe94ctbk6x">Follow my blog with Bloglovin</a>

A  few month ago three of us went down to Jinju to see the lantern festival. It was beautiful! Although pre-warning- it was packed! If your hoping for a toilet stop - even in a portable lavatory - you will need to put aside about an hour and a half. We ended up going to E-mart a few blocks down to relieve ourselves and split a pizza (anything to get away from the masses of people). The festival itself takes place along the river side in Jinju and lasts a fortnight- there is no entry price. The lantern installations can be found along the banks of the river and  and floating in the water along with a fireworks show later on in the evening.

 The whole experience was so beautiful especially as evening fell and the lanterns became more visible. Everywhere there were women dressed in traditional Hanbok and people beating the Janggu (Korean traditional drums).  It was great to watch the floating lanterns along the river.

One of my favorite lantern installations was of a man taking a dump while simultaneously chasing a pig away. I'm not sure what the artist was thinking, but it was pretty funny. The man's dump lit up and everything. I feel like this is something found quite often in Korea. To the right there was a kids eating a chicken stick - totally un-phased by the whole set up.

Add caption

It was a great time and I would recommend it  to anyone looking to see Korean culture. Jinju can easily be accessed by taking a bus from the main terminal in Daegu. Although, beware of the crowds as I spent a great deal of my day pushing past people and feeling like a sardine in a tin.

 Here are some lanterns pics from the evening:

Food in Korea is always quite different, especially if your served it at school everyday. A year in a half later, I still find myself confused by the somewhat 'unique' combinations served up on our trays. Ever tried apple and strawberry salad covered in mayo? I have.

 Although the meals seem foreign to me, they are a far cry from the unhealthy fries and burgers I was so often served in my university cafeteria. The students and teachers always receive a balanced and mostly fresh meal at lunch time made with healthy local ingredients. In a number of provinces, meals are served to the students for free. 

Monday:

Manngchi – spicy cabbage and tofu soup

Potatoes in  Gochujang red chilli paste

Korean spinach and Kimchi

fried chicken

and purple rice

Despite its nutritious value, I still often find lunch strange and out of my comfort zone. You can only call yourself  fully assimilated into the Korean school cafeteria when you learn to look forward to things you can barely pronounce like Dduk Guk and Sollongtang. The top of the mountain is when you have come to terms with Kimchi and recite the various health benefits of it - or at least many coteachers have told you. 

Tuesday: 

Spicy cabbage soup

Sweet and sour pork

Seaweed, soy sauce and sesame seeds

Korean cabbage and rice with Yangnyeomjang sauce

Recently, I agreed to take some pictures of lunch at my school to send home to a teacher friend in South Africa. She wanted to show her students that not everyone had sandwiches and an apple brought from home for lunch. I spent a week in the cafeteria photographing everything I ate off my tray. The lunch lady still looks at me suspiciously - or maybe just more suspiciously than before. I rarely eat all of the rice she serves and frankly this leaves her at odds with my true character. 

Wednesday:

Maeun-tang (fish broth soup)

Dwaejibulgogi (Spicy pork and vegetables)

lettuce and cucumber

rice and kimhchi

small anchovies and peanuts

After showing the South African kids my weekly menu, they apparently had a lot to say. The grade 4's (11 year olds) were particularly surprised by the metal chopsticks I ate with everyday, as South Africa only has wooden ones that you can get at sushi takeaways. It took a while to explain that just like we have metal knives and forks that we use again and again, so do other people have chopsticks. They also seemed confused as to why Korean children had to eat soup every single day and were they not allowed any peanut butter?

A child wrote down on her worksheet that she couldn't understand why there was "spicy stuff on the cabbage because cabbage is already so gross". Another boy said that it was "soooo unfair" that the government makes Korean children drink a small milk carton every morning. They finally came to embrace the idea when they were told that school lunch was free for all elementary school students who didn't have the money to pay for it. "Free food? Cool!"

Thursday:

(Kongnamulguk)  Soybean sprout soup

Jjimdak (chicken, potato and glass noodles in a sweet sauce)

Cucumber and red pepper paste

A green chili and Gochujang (soybean paste)

Korean rice and a yoghurt

Friday:

Udon noodles in seafood broth

Spicy mini sauces in a red pepper paste

Kimchi

Fried crab sticks

Rice and seaweed with a side of spicy pepper sauce.

So for better or for worse, here is a week of meals at elementary school in Korea. My advice is to see things in a 40/60 ratio. If you like 40 percent of you meal - that's good enough and you will be fine until dinner time. Like on Friday when I ate the batter around the crab sticks but not the actual crab. Seeing things half full is key. Hey you could always ask for more rice right?