RANTING/VENTING MEGATHREAD 3.0

A van with a logo.  My first thought was hagwon.

my rant for today - i teach in the homerooms. i often need to write stuff on the board.

and there is always SO. MUCH. CRAP. stuck to the damn boards that there is barely any writing space.

do none of the homerooms need to write on the boards here? ever? i guess the just sit and chill out and click through the CD Rom.

Somewhat related to the van, a couple weeks ago I saw what seemed like some sort of roadside assistance vehicle. One of its back windows had a huge sticker across it. What was the sticker? Homer Simpson, flipping the bird with both hands.

I wish I had taken a picture now, but man, that was surreal...

I don't understand these really narrow roads that they allow cars to drive two ways on?

if there weren't cars illegally parked on both sides of the road there probably would be enough space for 2 cars to drive down.

I don't understand these really narrow roads that they allow cars to drive two ways on?

Where I come from, any road that isn't big enough to fit two cars gets labeled as a 1way road. People generally follow the rules, no traffic congestion, honking, no people basically trying to drive up the side of a building to get around other cars. It's so much easier than having to wait while a car drives down a road before you can go & hoping no one else tries to drive at the same time as you. It seems like common sense...

Preaching to the choir...

Thankfully, some districts are adopting conversions to one-way streets.

As I'm sure you can image, there is always a lot of pushback, but give it time ;)

I don't understand these really narrow roads that they allow cars to drive two ways on?

Where I come from, any road that isn't big enough to fit two cars gets labeled as a 1way road. People generally follow the rules, no traffic congestion, honking, no people basically trying to drive up the side of a building to get around other cars. It's so much easier than having to wait while a car drives down a road before you can go & hoping no one else tries to drive at the same time as you. It seems like common sense...

Preaching to the choir...

Thankfully, some districts are adopting conversions to one-way streets.

As I'm sure you can image, there is always a lot of pushback, but give it time ;)

I've never seen a one-way street that didn't have two-way traffic here.

I don't understand these really narrow roads that they allow cars to drive two ways on?

Where I come from, any road that isn't big enough to fit two cars gets labeled as a 1way road. People generally follow the rules, no traffic congestion, honking, no people basically trying to drive up the side of a building to get around other cars. It's so much easier than having to wait while a car drives down a road before you can go & hoping no one else tries to drive at the same time as you. It seems like common sense...

Preaching to the choir...

Thankfully, some districts are adopting conversions to one-way streets.

As I'm sure you can image, there is always a lot of pushback, but give it time ;)

I've never seen a one-way street that didn't have two-way traffic here.

Isn't that the truth...

They spend millions on installing signs and painting the roads, yet many people don't care to follow them.

Without police actively doing their duty, only the conscientious follow the rules.

My favorite are the new bike lane chevrons...I doubt most know what they mean, nor care.

I think it is mostly due to population density.

If the number of asshats is evenly distributed (like, say, 1 in 100 people is true asshat), you will encounter more of them per square-kilometre in a higher density city.

Why do I get these in my twitter feed?

I feel like Tobias Fünke.

I don't understand these really narrow roads that they allow cars to drive two ways on?

Where I come from, any road that isn't big enough to fit two cars gets labeled as a 1way road. People generally follow the rules, no traffic congestion, honking, no people basically trying to drive up the side of a building to get around other cars. It's so much easier than having to wait while a car drives down a road before you can go & hoping no one else tries to drive at the same time as you. It seems like common sense...

Driving through Gwangju is infuriating, because of the poorly planned roads you're constantly switching lanes. Let's say your destination is 3km straight (as the crow flies) and you're driving in the middle lane. After 500m, that middle lane becomes left turn only, then you switch to the left lane and 500m later the left lane becomes a right turn only! Every 500m, you're switching lanes, and this causes traffic and accidents!

What do the scholars of city planning do? Wider roads? Oh no, more lanes. More lanes equals less space on the road which equals slower driving which leads to... Traffic!

Japan has exactly the same issues with space, but of course, they've done thing cleverly.
Let's not mention the affinity for Koreans to buy massive 4X4s to drive around narrow roads.

Some days I feel like anything beyond teaching my kids in Korean is too hard for them. They're extremely low level. I have 6th graders that barely know the alphabet. Even the homeroom teachers (there are no KETs at the school) barely speak English. I never know what lesson we're on. Even the simplest lesson I can come up (I've gotten to the point of just drilling the vocab and "erase the alphabet" games) with is still met with blank stares and post-class comments from the homeroom teacher of "too hard for them". They don't know crap, and they aren't improving. The books are too hard for them, but I still have to follow them to a T. Except when I'm not, but I'm magically supposed to know when that is. The teachers insist on moving forward even though the kids aren't ready, which leads to even more confusion and frustration for everyone involved. I'm not allowed to speak Korean at school (incredibly limited as it is), and even saying the page number in Korean results simply in gasps and shocked looks from the students rather than actually turning to that page because "OMG Teacher is speaking Korean."

I've had it with this school and I've got 9 more months on my contract. I dread going to school. I feel completely incompetent. The lack of communication from the school, the lack of ability to communicate with the other teachers, the expectation that the kids will just magically "know" English when they get 40 minutes a week with a NET they can't understand and 40-80 minutes with a crappy CD played by a homeroom teacher who can't speak English, is ridiculous.

These are probably fairly common complaints, but Jesus, it's driving me up a wall.

It's 2 AM and I can't sleep for the third night in a row despite being exhausted as all hell.

Tomorrow is gonna be a slog, ugh.

on one hand, extratorrent has just been killed
on the other hand, just found another awesome site

I'm not allowed to speak Korean at school (incredibly limited as it is), and even saying the page number in Korean results simply in gasps and shocked looks from the students rather than actually turning to that page because "OMG Teacher is speaking Korean."

I've had it with this school and I've got 9 more months on my contract. I dread going to school. I feel completely incompetent. The lack of communication from the school, the lack of ability to communicate with the other teachers, the expectation that the kids will just magically "know" English when they get 40 minutes a week with a NET they can't understand and 40-80 minutes with a crappy CD played by a homeroom teacher who can't speak English, is ridiculous.

You're right. It's ridiculous. They're not going to learn through immersion if they're only being 'immersed' in the language for 40 minutes a week, so you might as well use Korean so that you can actually communicate with them. 'No Korean' rules are incredibly stupid.

You can be 10 mins early for 3 months and if you're 2 mins late, "You are late."

Yeah, I know, don't be late, but cut me some frigging slack.

xxxxxxxf[.t xxfup;g ,u gpj fuoblty hyp, ujt ;zzzzz;omr gtormfd frss;u/ zzzzzzzzzzzzomrrf yp di[rth;ir yjr, fpem/

That was brought to you by someone trying to "multitask" but is also too tired to notice that she doesn't have her fingers in the right positions over the keyboard.

In other news, someone stole the Frodo sticker from one of my posters. Whoever it was very carefully and meticulously peeled it off so that, I guess, it could be re-used. On the upside, though, they did no damage to the poster as a result. Mysteriously, Ryan and Neo remain untouched.

I'm going to superglue the replacement down.

xxxxxxxf[.t xxfup;g ,u gpj fuoblty hyp, ujt ;zzzzz;omr gtormfd frss;u/ zzzzzzzzzzzzomrrf yp di[rth;ir yjr, fpem/

That was brought to you by someone trying to "multitask" but is also too tired to notice that she doesn't have her fingers in the right positions over the keyboard.

In other news, someone stole the Frodo sticker from one of my posters. Whoever it was very carefully and meticulously peeled it off so that, I guess, it could be re-used. On the upside, though, they did no damage to the poster as a result. Mysteriously, Ryan and Neo remain untouched.

I'm going to superglue the replacement down.

You can be 10 mins early for 3 months and if you're 2 mins late, "You are late."

Yeah, I know, don't be late, but cut me some frigging slack.

Hah, I am either 20 minutes early or 1 minute late each and every week. It has to do with how inconsistent the buses and traffic tend to be around here. Not my fault, and I'm not going to get to school an hour early just to avoid being 1 minute late.

They never say anything to me, thankfully, but I still get thrown looks from certain people from time to time. Nevermind the fact that I periodically walk in with other teachers who are also 1 minute late. But I'm the only one who gets the looks. Yeah, **** you very much.

Halloween costume idea: Frodo cosplaying Frodo, with a partner dressed as Neo cosplaying Sam. NO ONE STEAL THAT, IT'S MINE

You can be 10 mins early for 3 months and if you're 2 mins late, "You are late."

Yeah, I know, don't be late, but cut me some frigging slack.

I got this from my country school that was a 45 minute drive away. Literally two minutes late after being five-ten early for months and the principal was all over me. Thankfully that principal has moved on. The new one seems completely unconcerned with my arrival time.

You can be 10 mins early for 3 months and if you're 2 mins late, "You are late."

Yeah, I know, don't be late, but cut me some frigging slack.

I got this from my country school that was a 45 minute drive away. Literally two minutes late after being five-ten early for months and the principal was all over me. Thankfully that principal has moved on. The new one seems completely unconcerned with my arrival time.

I had this at a former employer in Canada.  They treated their professional staff the same way they treated unionised labourers - poorly.