RANTING/VENTING MEGATHREAD 3.0

Actually, I really wish that they would pick up on the whole close the restroom to clean it thing.

I hope they don't. At my Friday school, the restroom is being "cleaned" usually for the entirety of the afternoon. Thankfully, there are double doors that both lock to the main teacher's crapper so I can get a little bit of privacy to drop a deuce.

If we had the double thing it may be okay. I just hate while I am trying to do the do in peace, and she comes in, makes tea, pushes stuff around, and then proceeds to "clean" the floor by sloshing water everywhere. She doesn't spend long in there, so for me at least, it would be nice if she would just wait a few *&%**&% minutes. I heard, or didn't hear(?) that there would be some kind of new law/something passed that would require the closing of restrooms to clean? Maybe I am just making things up...

What'd be really great is if they could - and this is going to sound crazy - do the cleaning after school hours. That way they're free to clean without interruption from students or faculty, and said students and faculty won't have to worry about needing to use the restroom only to find it closed for cleaning. I might just be misremembering, but I'm reasonably certain that's how most of the schools I attended did things.

Nah, I think you recall correctly.  I feel like most of the schools I went to had the main cleaning done at night. 

Here, I imagine they don't want to keep the schools open after regular hours, so maybe that's why cleaning is done during the day?  Or maybe they think ajummas should have evenings off for family or whatever. 

Side note, in elementary school there was a janitor named Kaspar.  He was German and the coolest. 

the cleaning ladies at my school seem to think the best time to clean the bathrooms is in the 10 minute break between classes - when everyone wants to use the restrooms.

i mean seriously, you've got 40 minutes while class is going on to clean the bathrooms and decide to do it during the break time?

and thus begin the bi-yearly cries of "kobayashi teacher, i don't think the materials you wanted for camp will arrive in time".

why ask me to submit the order form 3 weeks in advance if you're going to order everything two days before camp starts and just pray that it arrives?

good thing i'm used to this and basically plan all my camps as if there's no budget, and then just add things in on the off chance my materials actually arrive.

Just went to Daiso. Apparently they decided 11:30am on a thursday was the best time to completely rearrange the entire store. Several Daiso ajummas blocking every aisle putting stuff on the shelves, boxes lying around everywhere, those prong things you hang stuff on lying everywhere just waiting for people to step on them, just a complete mess. And of course the store is crowded with people shopping. WHY CAN'T THEY JUST LEARN HOW TO DO SPLIT-SHIFTS IN 2017 AND DO IT AT NIGHT WHEN THE STORE IS CLOSED? NO EVERYONE MUST DO THE SAME THING AT THE SAME TIME BECAUSE KOREA.

and thus begin the bi-yearly cries of "kobayashi teacher, i don't think the materials you wanted for camp will arrive in time".

why ask me to submit the order form 3 weeks in advance if you're going to order everything two days before camp starts and just pray that it arrives?

good thing i'm used to this and basically plan all my camps as if there's no budget, and then just add things in on the off chance my materials actually arrive.

I hope your materials come! I submitted  what I need, so the list is working its way up through the office administrator, the VP, and the principal. Once they all approve then they'll (hopefully) order everything.

How I feel lately:

  : It's a beautiful day! Man, I love living in Korea!

*is mildly inconvenienced*

 : Ugh, Korea is so weird. I can't wait to go home and get out of here.

Man, I need summer break to come just a tad faster. A break from the kids will do me some good.

How I feel lately:

  : It's a beautiful day! Man, I love living in Korea!

*is mildly inconvenienced*

 : Ugh, Korea is so weird. I can't wait to go home and get out of here.

Man, I need summer break to come just a tad faster. A break from the kids will do me some good.

At least you haven't switched to the grumpyface feeling all the time.

I'm leaning heavily towards not renewing next year, and now that I'm pretty sure I'm going home things are starting to irritate me more. The scary thing is I let myself be annoyed by little things. Since I'm not staying I don't have to pretend that things don't bother me, but that's such a horrible attitude to have. I have to convince myself to remain positive, because life here truly is pretty decent. I'm hoping the upcoming break (even if it is just a measly week) will cure me of grumpyface.

How I feel lately:

  : It's a beautiful day! Man, I love living in Korea!

*is mildly inconvenienced*

 : Ugh, Korea is so weird. I can't wait to go home and get out of here.

Man, I need summer break to come just a tad faster. A break from the kids will do me some good.

At least you haven't switched to the grumpyface feeling all the time.

I'm leaning heavily towards not renewing next year, and now that I'm pretty sure I'm going home things are starting to irritate me more. The scary thing is I let myself be annoyed by little things. Since I'm not staying I don't have to pretend that things don't bother me, but that's such a horrible attitude to have. I have to convince myself to remain positive, because life here truly is pretty decent. I'm hoping the upcoming break (even if it is just a measly week) will cure me of grumpyface.

Me half the time: GUH I'm so over teaching here, I can't believe they expect me to do blah blah blah while they won't even do blah blah that'sowed to me.

Me at school today: *Presses start on the microwave, brings the popcorn to the English room for the kids, sits for 3 hours watching movies*

Me probably tomorrow: OMG I hate doing these camps, I cant believe I planned it 3 weeks ago adn they waited tim now to tell me to change something.

Me probably in camp: Here's some clay kids, make an animal with it.

I get so tired of people giving tautological advice about Korea in response to simple observations and then acting like they're being helpful to the dumb foreigner or that they have "explained" something.

"There's no toilet paper in some toilet stalls. It's outside the stall."

"Yes. Here in Korea some toilet stalls don't have toilet paper, but it is outside the stall."

"People only drive black and white cars here."

"Yes. In Korea people drive black and white cars because Koreans prefer to buy a black or white car."

Okay.

I used to think that sort of "stupid explanation" was because of peoples limited English, and so I was happy to just pretend to accept it.

As I started picking up more Korean I realised that Korean explanations are similar. It explains so much about what is wrong with this place.

Here are two that annoy me

Me: Why are you learning English?
Student: I will go to Canada next month
Me: Why are you going to Canada?
Student: So I can improve my English

Me: What .......do most people...........or Do you think most people..............?
Student: It depends on the person......

Had a 5 minute walk to school today. By the time I made it to the teacher's office, I had to take a stop off at the bathroom and towel myself off. Sweat soaking through my shirt, dripping down my face. I thought I liked summer before coming to Korea. I've rethought that. Meanwhile, I saw a kid coming to school in black jeans and a thick black hoodie. The heat just doesn't affect them like it does me.   

To all the Gyeonggi teachers out there, how are you doing without Microsoft office? You're just using the presentation viewer. My Co-Teacher keeps saying that after summer vacation it won't work at all now (my school got a grace period for MS) and she says that everything has to be in Hanshow. Blech.

Any stories?

To all the Gyeonggi teachers out there, how are you doing without Microsoft office? You're just using the presentation viewer. My Co-Teacher keeps saying that after summer vacation it won't work at all now (my school got a grace period for MS) and she says that everything has to be in Hanshow. Blech.

Any stories?

1. Use your own lap top.

2. put a copied version of office on and every time they delete it, put it on again.

3. Use a USB with office on it https://www.howtogeek.com/98855/how-to-create-a-portable-usb-version-of-microsoft-office-starter-2010/

4.

Had a 5 minute walk to school today. By the time I made it to the teacher's office, I had to take a stop off at the bathroom and towel myself off. Sweat soaking through my shirt, dripping down my face. I thought I liked summer before coming to Korea. I've rethought that. Meanwhile, I saw a kid coming to school in black jeans and a thick black hoodie. The heat just doesn't affect them like it does me.   

I turn red if it's hot or humid, and so the kids have given me the nickname of "tomato face."  I walked in with my red, shiny face and my coteacher was so concerned, and asked if I had been crying. I am really upset about Chester dying, but I wasn't crying about it; I just don't handle the wet heat well.

 

"That's NOT good."

-Korean people

UGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH I sent a file to my Co-T and it was received and I said "Ta-da!"

  Don't say Ta-da.

  Uhhh, okay. (dafuq?)

Here are two that annoy me

1) Me: Why are you learning English?
Student: I will go to Canada next month
Me: Why are you going to Canada?
Student: So I can improve my English

2) Me: What .......do most people...........or Do you think most people..............?
Student: It depends on the person......

1) I wonder if it's not just considered rude to simply tell a person you just don't know the answer to something, hence all the giving-of-directions when the way is unknown. Or it's somehow face-saving to give an unhelpful answer rather than admit ignorance?

2) This is especially upsetting when it comes from a doctor:

-Before we proceed, what percentage of people develop complications from this procedure?

-It's really case by case basis. (Hard stop.)

"That's NOT good."

-Korean people

UGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH I sent a file to my Co-T and it was received and I said "Ta-da!"

  Don't say Ta-da.

  Uhhh, okay. (dafuq?)

I once had someone tell me to stop saying the words "Catholicism" and "Mormonism" because she didn't like the way the -ism part made them sound. 

"That's NOT good."

-Korean people

UGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH I sent a file to my Co-T and it was received and I said "Ta-da!"

  Don't say Ta-da.

  Uhhh, okay. (dafuq?)

I once had someone tell me to stop saying the words "Catholicism" and "Mormonism" because she didn't like the way the -ism part made them sound. 

Maybe you were pronouncing it like Catholojism?

"That's NOT good."

-Korean people

UGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH I sent a file to my Co-T and it was received and I said "Ta-da!"

  Don't say Ta-da.

  Uhhh, okay. (dafuq?)

Out of context, she might have thought you were speaking Korean slang. 타다 means "I want to ride you."