RANTING/VENTING MEGATHREAD 3.0

every night i leave a little bowl of food and water for the local street cat. it's very cute, never noisy. i think he's the only cat which knows about the food, so he waits for me to give food every night

anyway, i came down this morning and some cnut had purposely stubbed out their cigarette in the cat food, and knocked over the water bowl. like...who does that? why be such a colossal prick? if would cost literally no money and no effort to not do those things

What a truly magnificent POS you've discovered. Who does that? Weaklings who've learned that their mother and the law will protect them from any repercussions as a result of acting like a pathetic loser.

I'm not too sure on this, but I believe there's a law against harming animals, which carries a couple million won fine. Perhaps you could put the food and water bowl in view of your apartment's CCTV next time, along with a warning.

Either way, cats are resourceful little ninjas and I'm sure he got a nice meal somewhere else, plenty of neighbourhood ajjumas regularly feed strays and ferals where I live.

What a truly magnificent POS you've discovered. Who does that? Weaklings who've learned that their mother and the law will protect them from any repercussions as a result of acting like a pathetic loser.

I'm not too sure on this, but I believe there's a law against harming animals, which carries a couple million won fine. Perhaps you could put the food and water bowl in view of your apartment's CCTV next time, along with a warning.

Either way, cats are resourceful little ninjas and I'm sure he got a nice meal somewhere else, plenty of neighbourhood ajjumas regularly feed strays and ferals where I live.

I’m not a big fan of cats, but I prefer them to rats, so I also encourage them to be near my building.

What a truly magnificent POS you've discovered. Who does that? Weaklings who've learned that their mother and the law will protect them from any repercussions as a result of acting like a pathetic loser.

I'm not too sure on this, but I believe there's a law against harming animals, which carries a couple million won fine. Perhaps you could put the food and water bowl in view of your apartment's CCTV next time, along with a warning.

Either way, cats are resourceful little ninjas and I'm sure he got a nice meal somewhere else, plenty of neighbourhood ajjumas regularly feed strays and ferals where I live.

actually i think there's cctv around the corner near the bins. i might try and move the food around there if it happens again. nice idea.

Sounds like the work of Buzzy

Yeah, I agree, it could be as simple as him being super pampered and sheltered, but it could also be a phobia of loud noises or anything he fears might have loud noise. And it could just as easily be hidden trauma or something else undiagnosed.

For example, I knew a guy who was a very good student in school, maintained very high grades, was an all around nice guy, seemed very stable... but the minute he heard someone sing "Happy Birthday," it triggered physical tremors, sweating, chain-smoking, and quiet cursing. Then it would take him around 10-20 minutes to become functional and "normal" again. He never talked about why this triggered him and would never ever talk about his past at all, but he did tell me once that he has no family and that he has nothing to do with his parents at all, so it's not hard to assume there's a lot of childhood trauma there.

"Detergent" is what we use for laundry, lol... and for the powdered soap used for the dishwashing machine, but I'm not sure if the latter is universal across the States or just in my part.

Owning a dishwashing machine in NZ was pretty uncommon in the average household. Usually people with money would have one, so it was more common to wash by hand, using a liquid detergent / dish soap. :o
Times may have changed, but that was based on my experience.

had a sort of open class for student teachers in their 3rd year of college......one student said no less than 30 times during my class "Korean is number 1 Korea is best".....how do you deal with those situations when a coteach will not let you lead nor ask the student to stop?

this student is a 5th grade student by the way.....and the student-teachers were laughing the whole time.....did not make for a good lesson cause it was to the point that not only was it rude and I was very annoyed....it began to disrupt class time.

had a sort of open class for student teachers in their 3rd year of college......one student said no less than 30 times during my class "Korean is number 1 Korea is best".....how do you deal with those situations when a coteach will not let you lead nor ask the student to stop?

Funny you say that. Today I went to the 3rd grade homeroom saw a strange clay sculpture. A 3rd grade boy had made a sculpture of some Korean person being shot by some Japanese person, illustrating an incident that happened almost 100yrs ago.
The "Dokdo is Korea" paper-mâché sculpture made by a bunch of KINDERGARTEN kids is still on display in the school hallway.

I've found hyper nationalism to be at it's worst in the younger students. They're incredibly impressionable and parrot this BS from their fathers, uncles and grandfathers. By 6th grade, many stop giving a sh*t as they discover that playing with Nintendo Switches and watching Naruto is a lot more fun than shouting "No Japan" over and over. Still, a few slip through the cracks and  I'd say this rhetoric is a symptom of some kind of psychological issue or they have Tourette syndrome.

If they do have a psychological issue and they're at elementary school, you're kind of screwed. We have a kid who shouts uncontrollably and throws his desk over at least 3 times a lesson and my CT has to sit with him in the other class for the entire lesson when he starts to misbehave.

If not, take charge of the class. Override your weak CT and tell him that if he says that sh*t one more time, you'll give him a piece of paper and he can write "Korea is number 1, Korea is best" 100X and/or until the end of the lesson.

UGH. Yeah, the hypernationalism is real. Even with people close to me.

  "What's the most popular car in Canada?"

  Probably the Civic.

  "What's that?"

  It's a sedan from Honda.

  "Honda? HONDA??"  lsdknfloadinian yasukuni oeihfeoibefoinwe comfort women liorgoinfwein tried to erase our language kjsdbfikbdfkbsdf


Like, honestly. Do you think a 24 year Canadian guy is going to think about Nanking and Dokdo when they're buying a 2019 Civic?

Spoiler! They're not.


 

hog wild?

Anyways, I'm not condoning Korean social culture, I too think it's archaic and BS, I'm just going to do my best to explain it.

Even if your CT said something hurtful, by telling her that what she said hurt your feelings, you've become the architect of a now awkward situation. According to Korean logic, you're now at fault. Furthermore, she considers herself your senior making it even more of a faux pas.

The Korean way is for you to ignore what she said, particularly if she's your senior. Even if someone is at fault, calling them out causes them to lose face and "breaks the harmony" thus, you are the one at fault. Things are changing in the sense that it seems more acceptable to call someone out for bad behaviour in public, however, social interactions seem to be more traditional.

It's absolutely ridiculous, I know. How would Ideal with it? Be more selective as to who you allow into your circle. If it's a work colleague, keep things professional, polite and cordial, but don't get too personal.

Alternatively, could you just be too sensitive? I'm just entertaining the possibility as I've never had a CT say anything nasty to me in years.

Sorry to reply so late...But no I wasn't being overly sensitive.  I simply have asked her on many accounts to stop telling me that I am a foreigner and that being so I can't relate to the students.  I told her this is not true and it hurts me when she says it.

This particular instance came to pass because we had a speech contest (through video) and about 85 percent of the students were reading from the screen and had copied a script of some sort.  I asked "Is this a reading contest"?  What am I judging?  (She hadn't told me she said the kids could sometimes "glance" at the screen).  So I mentioned most of the students haven't prepared for the contest at all.  (Which was true...most of them were either reading from a paper or on the screen)...
She then said that I don't understand Korean students or Korean culture.    And that's when I told her that her words hurt me cause that wasn't the case at all.  Then she proceeded to go "hog wild"......accusing me of not appreciating the students and NOT APPRECIATING KOREA!  (she has said this before when I have gone against her judgement).  She said and I quote "IF YOU GO AGAINST ME YOU GO AGAINST KOREA"....I left the room.

I have no idea how to deal with this woman...as I have said...this is the second time I told her she hurt me.

The first time is when she told me that all foreigners smell like cheese and all Koreans smell like fish and garlic.  I told her that wasn't the case and she told me that she travelled to Australia and the UK and it was true.  I asked her if I smelled like cheese and she said no because I had been living in Korea for many years. 

I told her that her findings were ridiculous and they are weird and then she said for the first time that if I go against her, I go against Korea.

Wow. Honestly, no idea what to say.

Right!!!!!!  If I tell her I am hurt by her words she flips it around on me.....making me feel like I am the one that is instigating something.....So I should just listen to her quack on? 

Sorry to reply so late...But no I wasn't being overly sensitive.  I simply have asked her on many accounts to stop telling me that I am a foreigner and that being so I can't relate to the students.  I told her this is not true and it hurts me when she says it.

This particular instance came to pass because we had a speech contest (through video) and about 85 percent of the students were reading from the screen and had copied a script of some sort.  I asked "Is this a reading contest"?  What am I judging?  (She hadn't told me she said the kids could sometimes "glance" at the screen).  So I mentioned most of the students haven't prepared for the contest at all.  (Which was true...most of them were either reading from a paper or on the screen)...
She then said that I don't understand Korean students or Korean culture.    And that's when I told her that her words hurt me cause that wasn't the case at all.  Then she proceeded to go "hog wild"......accusing me of not appreciating the students and NOT APPRECIATING KOREA!  (she has said this before when I have gone against her judgement).  She said and I quote "IF YOU GO AGAINST ME YOU GO AGAINST KOREA"....I left the room.

I have no idea how to deal with this woman...as I have said...this is the second time I told her she hurt me.

The first time is when she told me that all foreigners smell like cheese and all Koreans smell like fish and garlic.  I told her that wasn't the case and she told me that she travelled to Australia and the UK and it was true.  I asked her if I smelled like cheese and she said no because I had been living in Korea for many years. 

I told her that her findings were ridiculous and they are weird and then she said for the first time that if I go against her, I go against Korea.

This woman is clearly a nutcase and nothing you say is going to change her. Just let what she says be like water off a ducks back. Don't get upset or hurt by her, she is clearly deranged. Just do your best and ignore her if at all possible. Don't say anything like, you hurt my feelings, she will feed off that like a parasite.

Sorry to reply so late...But no I wasn't being overly sensitive.  I simply have asked her on many accounts to stop telling me that I am a foreigner and that being so I can't relate to the students.  I told her this is not true and it hurts me when she says it.

Yeah, as Confused said, she's a loony.

What would I do? I'd troll the sh*t out of her. If there's a speech contest, score each student's speech 40 out of 10, for being so amazing and having better English than even native speakers. Badger her repeatedly by insisting she tell you how amazing Korea is. Repeatedly insist she make lessons explaining how amazing Korea is to the students and how Korea is better in every possible way to every other nation.

Alternatively, as Confused said, NEVER let her know she's getting to you. Whenever she says something ridiculous, don't say anything hostile in response just smile and use your facial expression to communicate that you religiously believe that everything that comes out her mouth is the purest BS. Be dismissive of her presence and don't act angry or upset, just give her the impression that to you, her existence and presence is next to meaningless and requires only the bare minimum of your attention. 

You are absolutely right!  I'm letting it get to me when I should be mocking it.  That is some great advice and reading it actually makes me feel a little empowered to view her as a potential source of entertainment. 

It is true that if I change my perception of these infuriating events, I won't feel so "hurt" and most of all angry and helpless if that makes sense. 

It's just that and her nonsense and attitude has worn me down over time.  Hearing that I need to try harder to understand Korea and Koreans gets under my skin....also the whole "saving face"  bs.  Some people SHOULD and DESERVE to lose face.  Not everything can be rainbows and puppies all the time......some people should be dragged!

Anyhow...Thanks Confused and Aristocrat.    Your advice is sound, and it makes a whole helluvalot more sense than the way I've been handling it, which isn't working for me.   

You are absolutely right!  I'm letting it get to me when I should be mocking it.  That is some great advice and reading it actually makes me feel a little empowered to view her as a potential source of entertainment. 

It is true that if I change my perception of these infuriating events, I won't feel so "hurt" and most of all angry and helpless if that makes sense. 

It's just that and her nonsense and attitude has worn me down over time.  Hearing that I need to try harder to understand Korea and Koreans gets under my skin....also the whole "saving face"  bs.  Some people SHOULD and DESERVE to lose face.  Not everything can be rainbows and puppies all the time......some people should be dragged!

Anyhow...Thanks Confused and Aristocrat.    Your advice is sound, and it makes a whole helluvalot more sense than the way I've been handling it, which isn't working for me.   

    I deal with most of my life's problems by making fun of it, so obviously I agree that it's the way to go, *BUT*...
   ... make sure you mock it gently. The last thing you want to do is antagonize your coworkers further, as they hold a lot of sway over your professional life at the moment. Also, other people will quickly figure out who is the victim in a long running dispute, and if you're regularly making whatshername the butt of your jokes (or whatever), they'll pick up on that. Mock quietly!

Also, it's amazing how satisfying the moral high-ground feels. Unless you're a well practised hypocrite like myself and know how to properly nurture cognitive dissonance, cutting somebody down and giving them what-for and *also* feeling like a martyr doesn't really work. 

I love how we all come together to agree that someone is just ****** nuts, lmao.

Sorry that you have to deal with someone like that, dippedinblush, but yeah, there's not a lot you can do with someone like that. She's clearly got some serious psychological issues, and she's trying to use nationalism to deflect blame and avoid accountability. She's not going to be reasoned with, at least not by you.

I'm with the others, just ignore her to the best of your ability, and, I'm specifically with Kyndo on this, be subtle with your fun or else it can really backfire on you. Doesn't matter if she's got a reputation or whatever, people have a nasty habit of herding around "their own" no matter how wrong he or she is, so you don't need to give them any reasons to do so should things escalate.

I'd start recording your interactions with her, though, just in case. Always watch your own back, even when you think others are helping you.

I'm not really sure whether to put this in the Rant or the Rave thread, but...

     In my Friday school, I have 2 grade 6 classes that are fairly small (15 students each). They're not especially high level English speakers, but they're both examples of those rare classes where nearly all the students are engaged, feel free to experiment linguistically, and have a very positive and pleasant group dynamic.

So, I like to do warm-ups before the lesson, and one that I enjoys finding  photoshopped images of 2 animals mashed together in a hybrid. I get the students to tell me what the two animals are, and then to invent interesting names for the hybrid (ie, caterpillar / chicken = chatterpillar). All the elementary kids love it, and it gets the English creative juices flowing.
   I mixed it up a bit today, and decided that I would get *real* animal hybrids rather than photoshopped ones. I started with the standard Ligers and tigons, went on to the less standard zonkeys and camas, and finally ended it with my personal favourite, the Leaf-sheep.

The leaf-sheep is a sea-slug that eats algae, but also manages to incorporate the chloroplasts of its food into its own body tissues so that it can supplement its diet with photosynthesis (and help it literally glow in the dark). Over the eons, it's also managed to incorporate some algae DNA into its own.

   Anyway, the kiddos were absolutely fascinated by this, and had me go through a series of google searches for pictures of snails --> slugs --> sea slugs --> different algae --> different types of leaf-sheep.
   I was then coerced to give a 10 minute long impromptu lecture on exactly how  the process of hybridizing algae and sea-slugs would play out, and why a sea-slug would want to photosynthesize. All with me sweating about how this stuff can be explained using words containing fewer than 6 letters...
   So basically English class turned into science class. Fortunately the chapter I was supposed to teach was all about adjectives, and I managed to squeeze a bit of that into our discussion...


   Oh, and here's the beastie responsible for it all:

I'm not really sure whether to put this in the Rant or the Rave thread, but...

     In my Friday school, I have 2 grade 6 classes that are fairly small (15 students each). They're not especially high level English speakers, but they're both examples of those rare classes where nearly all the students are engaged, feel free to experiment linguistically, and have a very positive and pleasant group dynamic.

So, I like to do warm-ups before the lesson, and one that I enjoys finding  photoshopped images of 2 animals mashed together in a hybrid. I get the students to tell me what the two animals are, and then to invent interesting names for the hybrid (ie, caterpillar / chicken = chatterpillar). All the elementary kids love it, and it gets the English creative juices flowing.
   I mixed it up a bit today, and decided that I would get *real* animal hybrids rather than photoshopped ones. I started with the standard Ligers and tigons, went on to the less standard zonkeys and camas, and finally ended it with my personal favourite, the Leaf-sheep.

The leaf-sheep is a sea-slug that eats algae, but also manages to incorporate the chloroplasts of its food into its own body tissues so that it can supplement its diet with photosynthesis (and help it literally glow in the dark). Over the eons, it's also managed to incorporate some algae DNA into its own.

   Anyway, the kiddos were absolutely fascinated by this, and had me go through a series of google searches for pictures of snails --> slugs --> sea slugs --> different algae --> different types of leaf-sheep.
   I was then coerced to give a 10 minute long impromptu lecture on exactly how  the process of hybridizing algae and sea-slugs would play out, and why a sea-slug would want to photosynthesize. All with me sweating about how this stuff can be explained using words containing fewer than 6 letters...
   So basically English class turned into science class. Fortunately the chapter I was supposed to teach was all about adjectives, and I managed to squeeze a bit of that into our discussion...


   Oh, and here's the beastie responsible for it all:

That's all very interesting, however you're not allowed to be teaching science.  I'm reporting you for the substantial reward. 

I'm not really sure whether to put this in the Rant or the Rave thread, but...

Those impromptu lessons are some of my favourites that I do with my smaller and more enthusiastic 6th grade classes. At one of my schools, I don't have a CT, but the HR teacher is completely on point when it comes to educating the students. She really cares about teaching them about different cultures.

At the beginning of class, one of the students laughed at a picture of a black person. Instead of getting angry, it became an impromptu lesson on the racial history in South Africa and the USA and why race is such a sensitive subject where we're from.

I went into segregation (showed them some famous photographs, including a beach sign which said "Whites only, dogs must be on a leash"), I spoke about the Group Areas Act (non-whites where evicted from their homes and placed in the ghettos) and the Bantu Education Act (Afrikaans as the main language medium in schools) and the Sharpeville Massacre.

The students were absolutely fascinated, horrified and particularly shocked when they asked if, being fair-skinned, Koreans would be classified as white and I said, no, you'd have to be white of European descent. They didn't seem to understand how something so trivial as skin colour could have such ramifications.

It wasn't my intention and I'm a bit on the fence about this debate, but it was a thing of beauty to see a student's mind go into action as she made the "aha" connection by asking if this was the reason why foreigners got so upset about the Korean blackface controversy.

That's all very interesting, however you're not allowed to be teaching science.  I'm reporting you for the substantial reward. 

We had a conversation in English about science!
And I promise I was fulfilling my end of the conversation totally as a teacher's assistant!

...also, if you get me deported, who's gonna delete all your horrendously embarrassing gaffes here on Waygook before the rest of us see them?
 Do you honestly want them to know what you're *really* like?