RANTING/VENTING MEGATHREAD 3.0

Hmm.  I live on the actual school grounds and utility bills get mailed to the school and are not even in my name.  So I'm not sure if an ATM or online transfer is possible? Or if that makes any difference??  I have no idea.  Not a huge inconvenience at all though, so not complaining about some extra exercise.

Do your utility bills have a boxed area where they show different bank names with different bank account numbers to which you can transfer the money for the bill? If so, you can pay those bills by transferring the money via an ATM (just choose which bank/bank account number you want to transfer your payment to). It shouldn't matter whether or not your utility bills are in your name (none of mine are in my name, either).

I think it's interesting that your bank actually lets people pay their utility bills by going up to the counter and having a bank teller do it for them. A long time ago, I tried to do that at a NongHyup near my then-school, and the bank teller insisted that I use the machine to pay the utility bill.

My KEB branch lets me pay at the teller if it isn't too busy, and if I am doing other transactions such as wire transfers.

3 carb lunch today.

Pasta salad (with corn of course), rice and seafood japchae noodles. Only kimchi as a vegetable. I'm so bloated this week that I look like a gd whale. I'd kill for a day full of meals with real vegetables.

I feel you.  Yesterday we had 'Mexican-Korean fusion'  There was rice (of course), some kind of udon noodle salad, french fries and a bulgogi burrito, which of course had rice in it too.  All of the teachers were complaining.  Who puts these lunches together?

This sounds better than 80% of lunches I've had.

I hear you. Today was seaweed soup, some kind of grass soaked in hot pepper sauce (probably the best part of the meal,) kimchi, the ubiquitous bowl o' rice, and two small, greasy chicken legs slathered in strawberry jam. BLech!

Waygook.org user Lurch, that was probably 부추. It's pretty common.

That lunch sounds great - minus the strawberry poison.

I don't think it was 부추. It was a different shape from what I'm used to.

I'm not sure what part of the meal is great - unless you like 미역국, which I do not, and it's something we're served almost weekly. Also, it's not so much the contents of the meal as the quality of the contents. My school tends to overcook the already-mushy sticky rice and put the absolute lowest quality of meat acceptable in their soups. It was a better lunch than the days we get noodles, rice and more noodles, but I wouldn't call it great. Not by a long shot.

Hmm.  I live on the actual school grounds and utility bills get mailed to the school and are not even in my name.  So I'm not sure if an ATM or online transfer is possible? Or if that makes any difference??  I have no idea.  Not a huge inconvenience at all though, so not complaining about some extra exercise.

Do your utility bills have a boxed area where they show different bank names with different bank account numbers to which you can transfer the money for the bill? If so, you can pay those bills by transferring the money via an ATM (just choose which bank/bank account number you want to transfer your payment to). It shouldn't matter whether or not your utility bills are in your name (none of mine are in my name, either).

I think it's interesting that your bank actually lets people pay their utility bills by going up to the counter and having a bank teller do it for them. A long time ago, I tried to do that at a NongHyup near my then-school, and the bank teller insisted that I use the machine to pay the utility bill.

Oh I see, I haven't really paid attention but next time I'll take a closer look!

And I think that my bank is probably accustomed to dealing with elderly folk who aren't that with it concerning technology, hahah.  Or maybe they're bored and don't mind the customer interaction.  Generally whenever I make it to the bank it's pretty dead.   

My food is okay. I enjoy Korean food and really the only place I'll get to try a variety is at school. Most things I probably won't eat again when I get back home though. I'm particularly a little bummed that I won't have the fishcake soup. For some reason, I'm super addicted to that, and I don't even like soup.

It's addictive because it's loaded with MSG. Which is what makes it so delicious.

More MSG then, please.

On another note, came to work and the speakers were working and I had a music game and video. Took my whole first period class for 2 teachers to fix it.

The edu office stepped in to my summer camp situation. They made it much better for me but now my main CT is calling to complain that they don't get to hog my entire camp time. Poor them, having to share. Please let the official signed plan stick! Please don't let her ruin this for me :'(

Why can't my students, after finishing lunch, simply shake the leftovers on their tray into the compost bin then place the tray in the sink. Why must they loudly bang the metal tray against the metal bin (several times over) to remove the leftovers, then toss it noisily into the metal sink?

Like so much other noise in Korea, it's so completely unnecessary.

I hate the people who leave wet tissue packs open.

Why can't my students, after finishing lunch, simply shake the leftovers on their tray into the compost bin then place the tray in the sink. Why must they loudly bang the metal tray against the metal bin (several times over) to remove the leftovers, then toss it noisily into the metal sink?

Like so much other noise in Korea, it's so completely unnecessary.

They do it to make you angry.

Never understood why the schools remain open for weeks after exams are finished.  Feels like a day care.

Why can't my students, after finishing lunch, simply shake the leftovers on their tray into the compost bin then place the tray in the sink. Why must they loudly bang the metal tray against the metal bin (several times over) to remove the leftovers, then toss it noisily into the metal sink?

Like so much other noise in Korea, it's so completely unnecessary.

At my schools there's generally always soup or something in a bowl so before putting our trays away we put all of the leftover food into the soup bowl then just dump the soup bowl contents into the compost bin. 

Otherwise, they could just use spoons to quickly scrape the leftovers down.  They probably just enjoy the noise or are not bothered by noise and don't think about it. 

Why can't my students, after finishing lunch, simply shake the leftovers on their tray into the compost bin then place the tray in the sink. Why must they loudly bang the metal tray against the metal bin (several times over) to remove the leftovers, then toss it noisily into the metal sink?

Like so much other noise in Korea, it's so completely unnecessary.

At my schools there's generally always soup or something in a bowl so before putting our trays away we put all of the leftover food into the soup bowl then just dump the soup bowl contents into the compost bin. 

Otherwise, they could just use spoons to quickly scrape the leftovers down.  They probably just enjoy the noise or are not bothered by noise and don't think about it.

 

Something that I got strong-armed into doing is finally coming around, and, even though I'd managed to negotiate a bit so that it wasn't a completely one-sided affair, it's still put me in a foul-ass mood today. I've been trying to hide it, but apparently I'm not doing a very good job of it because people are tip-toeing around or are outright trying to avoid me right now.

Which isn't to say that my day has been peaceful, because naw, a couple of individuals keep coming in to pester me about stuff that can wait until after vacation, even though I've made it pretty ****** clear that I'm legit busy with all of the extra work that got foisted on me by them.

I also keep getting approached by concerned teachers over students' speaking test scores, and I have to keep refusing to artificially raise them. The kids earned what they got, I was already super generous with my grading. One student insisted that she answered everything perfectly and that her grade must be a mistake because there's no way she shouldn't have gotten an 'A' -- **** no, I'm not just going to raise her grade from a 'C' to an 'A' just because she says so. But I concede to a degree and offer to re-test her. It's a 1-minute speaking test, not that hard, especially if she honestly believes that she deserves an 'A'... should be pretty ****** easy for her, if that's the case. She declines the re-test, of course. Teacher is surprised, lmfao. I don't know why some  teachers have such a hard time seeing through their students' bullshit.

Maybe I just need to make my own expectations a LOT more clear at the beginning of the semester, I don't know. You'd think these kids would learn over the time I've been here already and the fact that I've never changed my grading standards and that I don't play ****** favorites. Just because I like you doesn't mean I'm going to let you slide in my class or that I'm going to grant you "lovelovebonuspoints" during the speaking exam. That's not part of my rubric, sorry. I mean, ****, the only way I can make it any easier is if I gave them a ****** script to read back at me during the speaking test. They could LITERALLY ace the exam if they JUST spent an hour or so memorizing a few things on the day of the exam. It's that basic. And it's been drilled into them from day 1.

What_the_fuck_are_t hese_kids_doing?

I know this isn't anything new, but good GAWD is it annoying as **** today.

I teach at a middle school. Some of the grade 3 students are taller and broader than I am. These aren't kiddies, they're young adults. At some point they should be taught that excessive and unnecessary noise is something to be curbed.


 

Something that I got strong-armed into doing is finally coming around, and, even though I'd managed to negotiate a bit so that it wasn't a completely one-sided affair, it's still put me in a foul-ass mood today. I've been trying to hide it, but apparently I'm not doing a very good job of it because people are tip-toeing around or are outright trying to avoid me right now.

Which isn't to say that my day has been peaceful, because naw, a couple of individuals keep coming in to pester me about stuff that can wait until after vacation, even though I've made it pretty ****** clear that I'm legit busy with all of the extra work that got foisted on me by them.

I also keep getting approached by concerned teachers over students' speaking test scores, and I have to keep refusing to artificially raise them. The kids earned what they got, I was already super generous with my grading. One student insisted that she answered everything perfectly and that her grade must be a mistake because there's no way she shouldn't have gotten an 'A' -- **** no, I'm not just going to raise her grade from a 'C' to an 'A' just because she says so. But I concede to a degree and offer to re-test her. It's a 1-minute speaking test, not that hard, especially if she honestly believes that she deserves an 'A'... should be pretty ****** easy for her, if that's the case. She declines the re-test, of course. Teacher is surprised, lmfao. I don't know why some  teachers have such a hard time seeing through their students' bullshit.

Maybe I just need to make my own expectations a LOT more clear at the beginning of the semester, I don't know. You'd think these kids would learn over the time I've been here already and the fact that I've never changed my grading standards and that I don't play ****** favorites. Just because I like you doesn't mean I'm going to let you slide in my class or that I'm going to grant you "lovelovebonuspoints" during the speaking exam. That's not part of my rubric, sorry. I mean, ****, the only way I can make it any easier is if I gave them a ****** script to read back at me during the speaking test. They could LITERALLY ace the exam if they JUST spent an hour or so memorizing a few things on the day of the exam. It's that basic. And it's been drilled into them from day 1.

What_the_fuck_are_t hese_kids_doing?

I know this isn't anything new, but good GAWD is it annoying as **** today.

It blows my mind that I was thrown into French at the age of 5 and never complained once. I'm fluent.

These kids learn 2 sentence points every 2 weeks. And some just can't f'in get it. The speaking tests are a joke here. It's 4 sentences that are all basically the same sentence.

Go straight 1/2 blocks and turn left/right. It's nexto/between x and/or Y.

90% of my kids get perfect. Which sounds great, but shouldn't it me MORE challenging at that point?

Something that I got strong-armed into doing is finally coming around, and, even though I'd managed to negotiate a bit so that it wasn't a completely one-sided affair, it's still put me in a foul-ass mood today. I've been trying to hide it, but apparently I'm not doing a very good job of it because people are tip-toeing around or are outright trying to avoid me right now.

Which isn't to say that my day has been peaceful, because naw, a couple of individuals keep coming in to pester me about stuff that can wait until after vacation, even though I've made it pretty ****** clear that I'm legit busy with all of the extra work that got foisted on me by them.

I also keep getting approached by concerned teachers over students' speaking test scores, and I have to keep refusing to artificially raise them. The kids earned what they got, I was already super generous with my grading. One student insisted that she answered everything perfectly and that her grade must be a mistake because there's no way she shouldn't have gotten an 'A' -- **** no, I'm not just going to raise her grade from a 'C' to an 'A' just because she says so. But I concede to a degree and offer to re-test her. It's a 1-minute speaking test, not that hard, especially if she honestly believes that she deserves an 'A'... should be pretty ****** easy for her, if that's the case. She declines the re-test, of course. Teacher is surprised, lmfao. I don't know why some  teachers have such a hard time seeing through their students' bullshit.

Maybe I just need to make my own expectations a LOT more clear at the beginning of the semester, I don't know. You'd think these kids would learn over the time I've been here already and the fact that I've never changed my grading standards and that I don't play ****** favorites. Just because I like you doesn't mean I'm going to let you slide in my class or that I'm going to grant you "lovelovebonuspoints" during the speaking exam. That's not part of my rubric, sorry. I mean, ****, the only way I can make it any easier is if I gave them a ****** script to read back at me during the speaking test. They could LITERALLY ace the exam if they JUST spent an hour or so memorizing a few things on the day of the exam. It's that basic. And it's been drilled into them from day 1.

What_the_fuck_are_t hese_kids_doing?

I know this isn't anything new, but good GAWD is it annoying as **** today.

I understand where you're coming from.  That's why I record the speaking tests.  When a student or teacher asks why they got a low score on the speaking test, I can just play the file and explain why.

Something that I got strong-armed into doing is finally coming around, and, even though I'd managed to negotiate a bit so that it wasn't a completely one-sided affair, it's still put me in a foul-ass mood today. I've been trying to hide it, but apparently I'm not doing a very good job of it because people are tip-toeing around or are outright trying to avoid me right now.

Which isn't to say that my day has been peaceful, because naw, a couple of individuals keep coming in to pester me about stuff that can wait until after vacation, even though I've made it pretty ****** clear that I'm legit busy with all of the extra work that got foisted on me by them.

I also keep getting approached by concerned teachers over students' speaking test scores, and I have to keep refusing to artificially raise them. The kids earned what they got, I was already super generous with my grading. One student insisted that she answered everything perfectly and that her grade must be a mistake because there's no way she shouldn't have gotten an 'A' -- **** no, I'm not just going to raise her grade from a 'C' to an 'A' just because she says so. But I concede to a degree and offer to re-test her. It's a 1-minute speaking test, not that hard, especially if she honestly believes that she deserves an 'A'... should be pretty ****** easy for her, if that's the case. She declines the re-test, of course. Teacher is surprised, lmfao. I don't know why some  teachers have such a hard time seeing through their students' bullshit.

Maybe I just need to make my own expectations a LOT more clear at the beginning of the semester, I don't know. You'd think these kids would learn over the time I've been here already and the fact that I've never changed my grading standards and that I don't play ****** favorites. Just because I like you doesn't mean I'm going to let you slide in my class or that I'm going to grant you "lovelovebonuspoints" during the speaking exam. That's not part of my rubric, sorry. I mean, ****, the only way I can make it any easier is if I gave them a ****** script to read back at me during the speaking test. They could LITERALLY ace the exam if they JUST spent an hour or so memorizing a few things on the day of the exam. It's that basic. And it's been drilled into them from day 1.

What_the_fuck_are_t hese_kids_doing?

I know this isn't anything new, but good GAWD is it annoying as **** today.

It blows my mind that I was thrown into French at the age of 5 and never complained once. I'm fluent.

These kids learn 2 sentence points every 2 weeks. And some just can't f'in get it. The speaking tests are a joke here. It's 4 sentences that are all basically the same sentence.

Go straight 1/2 blocks and turn left/right. It's nexto/between x and/or Y.

90% of my kids get perfect. Which sounds great, but shouldn't it me MORE challenging at that point?

I agree with you that the speaking parts go painfully slow. But I think what holds them back from writing more is how they have to learn an entirely new writing system. At least with French you don't have to learn a new writing system (other than the accents). And they start the kids pretty late here. I was in Canada when they started us in grade 1 but I think it's grade 3 or 4 they start now? If you're having a mandatory second language the earlier the better. My 1s last year picked up stuff 10000000 times faster than my 3s are now. My 2s last year could sight read fairly well. The kids starting in 3rd grade at my billion schools this year struggle with painfully easy 3 word sentences.

It blows my mind that I was thrown into French at the age of 5 and never complained once. I'm fluent.

Sure, but where in Canada are you from? I bet you're either from Ontario, Quebec, New Brunswick or possibly Nova Scotia. Your average Albertan or British Columbian didn't become fluent from their French education because they never use the language outside of school, much like Koreans with English.

Today my main coteacher gave me a survey about my satisfaction with the school and my relationship with my coteachers. I have to give the survey back to her when I'm finished (not confidential). She asked me to complete the survey honestly. 

I remember that.

My personal favorite was when an inspector came and sat down with me, my CT and the VP.

She point blank asked me how my relationship was with the school and my CT.... admittedly I liked both my CT, VP and school so it wasn't an issue but lol come on really?

Something that I got strong-armed into doing is finally coming around, and, even though I'd managed to negotiate a bit so that it wasn't a completely one-sided affair, it's still put me in a foul-ass mood today. I've been trying to hide it, but apparently I'm not doing a very good job of it because people are tip-toeing around or are outright trying to avoid me right now.

Which isn't to say that my day has been peaceful, because naw, a couple of individuals keep coming in to pester me about stuff that can wait until after vacation, even though I've made it pretty ****** clear that I'm legit busy with all of the extra work that got foisted on me by them.

I also keep getting approached by concerned teachers over students' speaking test scores, and I have to keep refusing to artificially raise them. The kids earned what they got, I was already super generous with my grading. One student insisted that she answered everything perfectly and that her grade must be a mistake because there's no way she shouldn't have gotten an 'A' -- **** no, I'm not just going to raise her grade from a 'C' to an 'A' just because she says so. But I concede to a degree and offer to re-test her. It's a 1-minute speaking test, not that hard, especially if she honestly believes that she deserves an 'A'... should be pretty ****** easy for her, if that's the case. She declines the re-test, of course. Teacher is surprised, lmfao. I don't know why some  teachers have such a hard time seeing through their students' bullshit.

Maybe I just need to make my own expectations a LOT more clear at the beginning of the semester, I don't know. You'd think these kids would learn over the time I've been here already and the fact that I've never changed my grading standards and that I don't play ****** favorites. Just because I like you doesn't mean I'm going to let you slide in my class or that I'm going to grant you "lovelovebonuspoints" during the speaking exam. That's not part of my rubric, sorry. I mean, ****, the only way I can make it any easier is if I gave them a ****** script to read back at me during the speaking test. They could LITERALLY ace the exam if they JUST spent an hour or so memorizing a few things on the day of the exam. It's that basic. And it's been drilled into them from day 1.

What_the_fuck_are_t hese_kids_doing?

I know this isn't anything new, but good GAWD is it annoying as **** today.

It blows my mind that I was thrown into French at the age of 5 and never complained once. I'm fluent.

These kids learn 2 sentence points every 2 weeks. And some just can't f'in get it. The speaking tests are a joke here. It's 4 sentences that are all basically the same sentence.

Go straight 1/2 blocks and turn left/right. It's nexto/between x and/or Y.

90% of my kids get perfect. Which sounds great, but shouldn't it me MORE challenging at that point?

Me too man, many decades ago.

My classes are learning pop songs this week.  Last Friday I printed out and laminated the lyrics on strips for an activity.  I took them home and cut them out.  I forgot them this morning.  It's pouring down rain, so I won't walk back to my apt. to get them.

I hate it when I do stupid things like this. 

I guess it's plan B for today.