RANTING/VENTING MEGATHREAD 3.0

So today I drilled 4 holes into the wall in my apartment to put up a shelf. 4 little holes. The entire thing took maybe 5 minutes and that wasn't all drilling. I could have done it during the weekend but I didn't want to bother the neighbors much, so I did it on a Monday at 3pm.
Just when I finished, the doorbell rings. It was the 경비 fella. He asked if I was drilling because some tenant complained about the noise. So I said yes, it was me, it was only 4 holes and it's all done. He told me that I should have told him earlier what I was planning to do. WTF? I can't drill for 5 minutes on a weekday afternoon without someone complaining? And what is this insane nonsense that I need to announce it in advance? That doesn't make the noise any less or the process faster. It was clearly drilling sound, not blasting music with heavy bass or having a karaoke party. I didn't drill because I enjoy the noise it creates. I did it because it had to be done and it can't be done quietly.
I just can't understand the logic in this. Probably because there is none.
It was 5 minutes for heaven's sake. Of course a more serious construction would be different. Still, there is nothing the neighbors can do about it. When we had all our windows changed a couple months ago, my wife went door to door to the surrounding apartments and apologized for the inconvenience and noise in advance. The building management was also notified. But that took an entire day and a whole lot more noise.
So I told the guy: "Okay, I just realized that I need to put up some pictures as well so I will be drilling some more. I announced it now, right? Great then, bye!" So I went on to drill some more...

People with dogs are less irritated by dogs barking.
People with kids tolerate crying babies more.
People with a satisfying sex life don’t mind the occasional thumping noise from their neighbors.

Doing DYI projects?  No wonder your neighbor was upset!

:)

any other people here married to koreans who don't really like chuseok?

listening to everyone trying to break the sound barrier just by chewing, being forced to sit around all day watching god-awful korean tv, getting moaned at for not having a baby yet, getting told by my wife to speak more with the in-laws despite them speaking korean like machine guns about topics i don't know anything about

ughhhhh

If you're American, you can take your wife to the states and show her American Thanksgiving where she can be forced to sit around all day watching a sport she doesn't understand or care about (football), getting moaned at by the cousin who just started her sophomore year and has decided she knows everything there is in the world or dealing with drunk offensive uncle, getting told by her spouse to speak more with the family even though they're speaking mile-a-minute about topics she knows nothing about or cares about. And odds are that if she speaks about anything that doesn't involve her country or "women's stuff", she'll likely not be taken seriously or respected (or even actively disrespected if the in-laws are the more ignorant kind). Same thing that goes on with us.

This sounds like an epsiode of 'All in the Family'.  Did you watch a lot of this in your time on the naughty step? 

Reminds me of this (whole channel is gold)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OKfFooy0QTY

How far did you get with Mrs Choi?   

How far did you get with Mrs Choi?   

I've gotten pretty far with Ms. Jeong.

How far did you get with Mrs Choi?   

I've gotten pretty far with Ms. Jeong.

 

Well, that narrows it down to a potential 2 407 601 by 2015 figures.   

So today I drilled 4 holes into the wall in my apartment to put up a shelf. 4 little holes. The entire thing took maybe 5 minutes and that wasn't all drilling. I could have done it during the weekend but I didn't want to bother the neighbors much, so I did it on a Monday at 3pm.
Just when I finished, the doorbell rings. It was the 경비 fella. He asked if I was drilling because some tenant complained about the noise. So I said yes, it was me, it was only 4 holes and it's all done. He told me that I should have told him earlier what I was planning to do. WTF? I can't drill for 5 minutes on a weekday afternoon without someone complaining? And what is this insane nonsense that I need to announce it in advance? That doesn't make the noise any less or the process faster. It was clearly drilling sound, not blasting music with heavy bass or having a karaoke party. I didn't drill because I enjoy the noise it creates. I did it because it had to be done and it can't be done quietly.
I just can't understand the logic in this. Probably because there is none.
It was 5 minutes for heaven's sake. Of course a more serious construction would be different. Still, there is nothing the neighbors can do about it. When we had all our windows changed a couple months ago, my wife went door to door to the surrounding apartments and apologized for the inconvenience and noise in advance. The building management was also notified. But that took an entire day and a whole lot more noise.
So I told the guy: "Okay, I just realized that I need to put up some pictures as well so I will be drilling some more. I announced it now, right? Great then, bye!" So I went on to drill some more...

And what happened next? :O

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ELm1TgH8-nY

The best one...

The best one...

Mr. Kim...............

Mr. Kim...............

Mr. Kim................

Which Mr. Kim?

How far did you get with Mrs Choi?   

I've gotten pretty far with Ms. Jeong.

 

Well, that narrows it down to a potential 2 407 601 by 2015 figures.   

But why narrow it down?
I mean, this *is* CO2 we're talking about!

But why narrow it down?
I mean, this *is* CO2 we're talking about!

Is this a "CO2 bangs lots of chicks" joke or a "CO2 has a small willy" joke?

Or neither? hahahahaha

But why narrow it down?
I mean, this *is* CO2 we're talking about!

Is this a "CO2 bangs lots of chicks" joke or a "CO2 has a small willy" joke?
Or neither? hahahahaha

The former, of course. I would never make wee willy jokes!  It depends. Which joke is funnier?

How far did you get with Mrs Choi?   

I've gotten pretty far with Ms. Jeong.

 

Well, that narrows it down to a potential 2 407 601 by 2015 figures.   

But why narrow it down?
I mean, this *is* CO2 we're talking about!

I think we all know how 'far' he's been with his missus. 

We've all been 'rambling in the Yeosu mountains', if you know what I'm saying.  *wink*

Major difference being that Thanksgiving is, at most, a day affair... in some cases, nothing longer than a meal.
Chuseok extends to 4 days, where you'll all sleep in a tiny apartment, there isn't enough privacy to take a dump without every one of your relatives noticing.

That's true. 8 hours of torture vs. 48 hours is a whole nother ballgame. Nonetheless, the same things often apply to immigrant spouses.

We should keep this all in mind when it's time for our spouses to do Thanksgiving or Christmas back home. Since we understand the tediousness we have endured, we can try and mitigate it for our spouses.

One of the 5th grade boys at my Tuesday school is a real POS. I'm human and have the right to not like a student and I sure as hell don't like him. This doesn't mean I'll pick on him or favour other students, I discipline solely based on the infraction at the time, not past experiences or personal feelings.

Since 3rd grade I, every one of my CTs (including the current one who is never in class) and the HR teachers (according to them) have tried to teach this kid his ABCs or how to count up to 10. I've even offered to give him extra tuition after lunch, when I finish teaching. He puts in zero effort, is incredibly rude and arrogant to anyone who tries to help him and always disrupts the class.

At the start of the 2nd term, I'd had enough.
For or the past few weeks, I start the class by seating him away from the other boys whom he CONSTANTLY distracts during the lesson. I also don't bother asking him questions (he's never answered one in 3yrs anyway) and basically ignore him. It seems as if no longer being the centre of attention is upsetting him and unsurprisingly, he's gone to squeal to his ridiculously pathetic HR teacher about the big-bad foreigner treating him unfairly.

The CT, who I've never seen in weeks, suddenly rocks up to discuss the situation.

Him - "X" student told his HR teacher that you're treating him unfairly.
Me - Really? How?
Him - uhhh, you make him sit alone.
Me - Sitting with your friends, during a lesson, is a privilege, he lost that privilege a long time ago. If he wants to sit next to his friends he has to earn the privilege back.
Him - I know X student is disruptive in all the classes, including mine, but we need to be fair with him.
Me - I discipline a student when they do something wrong. He gets in trouble a lot because he's the only one who causes trouble. If he stops causing trouble, I'll stop disciplining him. How is that unfair?
Him - ... but we're worried that he will complain to his parents.
Me - If his HR teacher can teach me what a more fair discipline strategy is, she's more than welcome to. I'm not responsible for what he decides to tell his parents.
(this went back an forth for a while till the conversation ended in much the same way as it started)

Now, I can certainly read between the lines. He's essentially asking me to let the little f*cktard get away with just enough crap so that he doesn't go running to his mom's teat.

Thing is, I don't dance like that and will continue to discipline my way. I'm hopping that a few weeks of alone time and watching all the other students eagerly engage in my lessons and have fun will encourage him to join in and take up my offer of learning the alphabet, my door's always open.

It's a crappy little rural school, which I'm not too fond of and the new VP (who I think hasn't been made aware of the situation), has quite a liking for me. We often have conversations and he's sat in a few of my classes and told me that the school is lucky to have an English teacher like me. Absolute worst case scenario, which I doubt will happen, I get transferred. Should that happen, I'll gladly oblige.

One of the 5th grade boys at my Tuesday school is a real POS. I'm human and have the right to not like a student and I sure as hell don't like him. This doesn't mean I'll pick on him or favour other students, I discipline solely based on the infraction at the time, not past experiences or personal feelings.

Since 3rd grade I, every one of my CTs (including the current one who is never in class) and the HR teachers (according to them) have tried to teach this kid his ABCs or how to count up to 10. I've even offered to give him extra tuition after lunch, when I finish teaching. He puts in zero effort, is incredibly rude and arrogant to anyone who tries to help him and always disrupts the class.

At the start of the 2nd term, I'd had enough.
For or the past few weeks, I start the class by seating him away from the other boys whom he CONSTANTLY distracts during the lesson. I also don't bother asking him questions (he's never answered one in 3yrs anyway) and basically ignore him. It seems as if no longer being the centre of attention is upsetting him and unsurprisingly, he's gone to squeal to his ridiculously pathetic HR teacher about the big-bad foreigner treating him unfairly.

The CT, who I've never seen in weeks, suddenly rocks up to discuss the situation.

Him - "X" student told his HR teacher that you're treating him unfairly.
Me - Really? How?
Him - uhhh, you make him sit alone.
Me - Sitting with your friends, during a lesson, is a privilege, he lost that privilege a long time ago. If he wants to sit next to his friends he has to earn the privilege back.
Him - I know X student is disruptive in all the classes, including mine, but we need to be fair with him.
Me - I discipline a student when they do something wrong. He gets in trouble a lot because he's the only one who causes trouble. If he stops causing trouble, I'll stop disciplining him. How is that unfair?
Him - ... but we're worried that he will complain to his parents.
Me - If his HR teacher can teach me what a more fair discipline strategy is, she's more than welcome to. I'm not responsible for what he decides to tell his parents.
(this went back an forth for a while till the conversation ended in much the same way as it started)

Now, I can certainly read between the lines. He's essentially asking me to let the little f*cktard get away with just enough crap so that he doesn't go running to his mom's teat.

Thing is, I don't dance like that and will continue to discipline my way. I'm hopping that a few weeks of alone time and watching all the other students eagerly engage in my lessons and have fun will encourage him to join in and take up my offer of learning the alphabet, my door's always open.

It's a crappy little rural school, which I'm not too fond of and the new VP (who I think hasn't been made aware of the situation), has quite a liking for me. We often have conversations and he's sat in a few of my classes and told me that the school is lucky to have an English teacher like me. Absolute worst case scenario, which I doubt will happen, I get transferred. Should that happen, I'll gladly oblige.

Respect.

One of the 5th grade boys at my Tuesday school is a real POS. I'm human and have the right to not like a student and I sure as hell don't like him. This doesn't mean I'll pick on him or favour other students, I discipline solely based on the infraction at the time, not past experiences or personal feelings.

Since 3rd grade I, every one of my CTs (including the current one who is never in class) and the HR teachers (according to them) have tried to teach this kid his ABCs or how to count up to 10. I've even offered to give him extra tuition after lunch, when I finish teaching. He puts in zero effort, is incredibly rude and arrogant to anyone who tries to help him and always disrupts the class.

At the start of the 2nd term, I'd had enough.
For or the past few weeks, I start the class by seating him away from the other boys whom he CONSTANTLY distracts during the lesson. I also don't bother asking him questions (he's never answered one in 3yrs anyway) and basically ignore him. It seems as if no longer being the centre of attention is upsetting him and unsurprisingly, he's gone to squeal to his ridiculously pathetic HR teacher about the big-bad foreigner treating him unfairly.

The CT, who I've never seen in weeks, suddenly rocks up to discuss the situation.

Him - "X" student told his HR teacher that you're treating him unfairly.
Me - Really? How?
Him - uhhh, you make him sit alone.
Me - Sitting with your friends, during a lesson, is a privilege, he lost that privilege a long time ago. If he wants to sit next to his friends he has to earn the privilege back.
Him - I know X student is disruptive in all the classes, including mine, but we need to be fair with him.
Me - I discipline a student when they do something wrong. He gets in trouble a lot because he's the only one who causes trouble. If he stops causing trouble, I'll stop disciplining him. How is that unfair?
Him - ... but we're worried that he will complain to his parents.
Me - If his HR teacher can teach me what a more fair discipline strategy is, she's more than welcome to. I'm not responsible for what he decides to tell his parents.
(this went back an forth for a while till the conversation ended in much the same way as it started)

Now, I can certainly read between the lines. He's essentially asking me to let the little f*cktard get away with just enough crap so that he doesn't go running to his mom's teat.

Thing is, I don't dance like that and will continue to discipline my way. I'm hopping that a few weeks of alone time and watching all the other students eagerly engage in my lessons and have fun will encourage him to join in and take up my offer of learning the alphabet, my door's always open.

It's a crappy little rural school, which I'm not too fond of and the new VP (who I think hasn't been made aware of the situation), has quite a liking for me. We often have conversations and he's sat in a few of my classes and told me that the school is lucky to have an English teacher like me. Absolute worst case scenario, which I doubt will happen, I get transferred. Should that happen, I'll gladly oblige.

Parent: My son says you're treating him unfairly.

School: Your son does absolutely nothing in class and we do our best to accommodate him and then when he misbehaves we punish him accordingly. He is the sole student with this problem in the class.

Parent: He says that you.............

School: No. No, no, no.

Parent: But he can do no wro................ ..

SCHOOL: NO.

Why is this so hard for schools? We rely on money from the vast network of tax dollars, we're not bound to the whims of one mother. It's so absurd.

it's the principals. in the west, you get promoted to principal on merit. in korea, it's based on age. principals are near the end of their careers in korea. they want a nice, easy, relaxing time before retirement. if they get complaints from a parent, then they will blame the teacher. principals also hold all of the cards: they can literally do whatever they want without repercussion. they are, as an old co-worker once said, "god".

principals are usually men. every single one i've had in every single public school i've worked in has been lazy, spiteful, and rude. the other teachers all agreed, and were afraid of upsetting him (even talking to him). sigh

I suspect that my coTs don't know exactly how much work I have to juggle this year. I teach at more than one school, I have to create a unique lesson for each grade at each school every week, and I also have after school classes to worry about. I have zero free time at work, so if I need to do anything additional outside of what I'm already doing, I can only do it after hours.

So, whenever they come up to me asking me the same questions about whatever lesson over and over and over again, and nitpicking at my lessons because they don't really understand what's going on, and then refusing to sit down with me so that I can finally SHOW them the process instead of explaining it for a ****** 10th time, I'm going to have a hard time hiding my frustration.

And I feel so bad about that because I know they mean well and aren't trying to be difficult. But it's too late for indecisive misgivings now, and I just don't have the time. Gawd, I wish this semester would ****** end already.

I suspect that my coTs don't know exactly how much work I have to juggle this year. I teach at more than one school, I have to create a unique lesson for each grade at each school every week, and I also have after school classes to worry about. I have zero free time at work, so if I need to do anything additional outside of what I'm already doing, I can only do it after hours.

So, whenever they come up to me asking me the same questions about whatever lesson over and over and over again, and nitpicking at my lessons because they don't really understand what's going on, and then refusing to sit down with me so that I can finally SHOW them the process instead of explaining it for a ****** 10th time, I'm going to have a hard time hiding my frustration.

And I feel so bad about that because I know they mean well and aren't trying to be difficult. But it's too late for indecisive misgivings now, and I just don't have the time. Gawd, I wish this semester would ****** end already.

Totally get it. I have 14 LPs a week to see to, so if one of MY 14 UNIQUE WORKSHEETS HAS A SPELLING ERROR, THEN DEAL WITH IT!!!! 

Ha! Who am I kidding.
My coworkers never see any of my stuff.
In so far as they know, me and my little 'uns could be watching anime and learning how to more effectively cheat at Poker each and every class. 

...
 learning how to more effectively cheat at Poker each and every class. 

Every year i teach cards once per class. At my last job i had one remarkable class for 7 straight years (kindy thru 1st year middle school five students - advanced level), so they went from Go Fish and Crazy Eights, through Black Widow, Spades, Hearts, rummy, robber rummy, cribbage, canasta, 5-card stud, 3-draw poker and Texas Hold'em.

The LEARNING of new games entirely through the target language (allow zero Korean explanations) sharpens attention and stimulates excitement.

I teach new games once. I don't keep playing them in class because the learning component is gone.

"Game Day" is really ideally not about playing but learning.

I think elementary school P.E. teachers are negligent in playing dodgeball for the friggin' hundredth time rather than introduce new challenges to master.

Same goes for the ESLer who puts in a popular video and just tells the students to enjoy (no viewing task, no post-video exercise).