RANTING/VENTING MEGATHREAD 3.0

Best I can do right now is:

- Stay indoors during the bad days
- Litter my apartment with plants
- Stay well hydrated
- Eat lots of veggies
- Keep my air purifier going

Exactly what I'm doing. I need some plants, though.

Any plants that are good for filtering air specifically?

Spider Plants, they're cheap, low maintenance and common.
Boston Ferns like high humidity so I put them in my bathroom.

From various lists of air purifying plants I had to narrow down the lists to plants which aren't toxic to cats ( I have 2)
and see what's available in Korea. I bought quite a few off Coupang well, believe it or not. They're well packed and saved me the hassle of hunting specific plants down at different garden centres.

https://greatist.com/connect/houseplants-that-clean-air

As some of you might know, I'm a big fan of online shopping, and also saving money.

In the past, I've been a huge proponent of the Gmarket / Auction Smile Club premium membership. You used to get 1.5-2.5% cash back on literally every purchase. Plus extra coupons for even more savings. This was a very good deal, considering the registration fee was basically free.

This lasted for about a year and a half. Maybe two? Times were good.

Now, since the beginning of this month, they completely gutted all the benefits. Cash back is now down to 0.3%, which is the same as it is for regular members using Smile Pay. The coupons are reduced in quantity and discount percent. There is literally almost no reason to register for Smile Club anymore. I saved about 400,000 won last year thanks to Smile Club. It sucks losing those benefits. That's my rant. Guess I'll be switching to Coupang.

Just curious, is there an English version of the coupang website?
I tried to view it just now after reading your post, but it seems like it's only in Korean. :'(

I'm doing. I need some plants, though.

Do you enjoy saving money? Do you enjoy moonlight strolls through the park? Doesn't everybody?
Next time you go, bring a few small gardening implements and an opaque plastic bag!

Spider Plants, they're cheap, low maintenance and common.

They have the additional benefit of absorbing radon (a radioactive gas even more unhealthy, irritating, and carcinogenic than CO2 ). They're also really easy to propogate (free plants!).



   Also, Devil's Ivy is a really good plant for filtering dust etc. They're also nearly impossible to kill, are tolerant of idiots who forget to water them 3 weeks in a row because of vacation and lazy, and can basically meet their photosynthetic needs from a single stray photon that wanders their way every week or two.

Do you enjoy saving money? Do you enjoy moonlight strolls through the park? Doesn't everybody?
Next time you go, bring a few small gardening implements and an opaque plastic bag!

Has anyone seen Adaptation? That movie is a 10/10.

Just curious, is there an English version of the coupang website?
I tried to view it just now after reading your post, but it seems like it's only in Korean. :'(

There isn't one, unfortunately. However, I found a way around this.

Use google chrome (not the app) when searching for things, I will use the translate feature and so far it has worked well. I signed up to coupang, put in my address and all the information I need. Then downloaded the app and logged in through here (it would be easy to put the card information on the app, less hassle and it saves everything). I use the google to search for anything I need and add it to my account's basket. Then I will go to the app to pay since on the website you always to go through the dumb payment systems and add card details a gazillion times. I cannot be asked but it defo works with translate to English.

Can the Koreans I talk to stop saying that the "weather is bad" and "Oh, the dust."

It's not weather. It's pollution. A heavy rain on a Saturday is bad weather. This ain't that.

And it ain't dust. Dust gathers on your mantle and you gotta clean it off. This is pollution. POLLUTION.

It's like renaming a murder to something like.......... Life Taking. Call it what it is. It's pollution!

Even if the whole world says otherwise, I still maintain that Confucianism, with it's two favourite principles of saving face and shifting the blame are the reasons air pollution will maintain the euphemism of 'fine dust' and that diddly squat will be done about it.

The last few days I made the decision to renew this year, giving me time to finish my distance learning while earning an income and then move on. Im hoping this toxic poison wont have any long term effects if I leave within the next year or 2.

Can someone explain the phenomenon of dust coming from China and ruining the Korean air quality? (I am not being sarcastic, I would like someone to link me to a source which is reliable so I can research please).

I am always hearing bad stuff about China from Koreans and well I sometimes question things, when everything is blaming China...like wut?

Best I can do right now is:

- Stay indoors during the bad days
- Litter my apartment with plants
- Stay well hydrated
- Eat lots of veggies
- Keep my air purifier going

Exactly what I'm doing. I need some plants, though.

Any plants that are good for filtering air specifically?

스페인 이끼 - spanish moss
아이비 - common ivy
백량금 - coral berry
스킨답서스 - scindapsus
관음죽 - bamboo palmo

Can the Koreans I talk to stop saying that the "weather is bad" and "Oh, the dust."

It's not weather. It's pollution. A heavy rain on a Saturday is bad weather. This ain't that.

And it ain't dust. Dust gathers on your mantle and you gotta clean it off. This is pollution. POLLUTION.

It's like renaming a murder to something like.......... Life Taking. Call it what it is. It's pollution!

Even if the whole world says otherwise, I still maintain that Confucianism, with it's two favourite principles of saving face and shifting the blame are the reasons air pollution will maintain the euphemism of 'fine dust' and that diddly squat will be done about it.

The last few days I made the decision to renew this year, giving me time to finish my distance learning while earning an income and then move on. Im hoping this toxic poison wont have any long term effects if I leave within the next year or 2.

Can someone explain the phenomenon of dust coming from China and ruining the Korean air quality? (I am not being sarcastic, I would like someone to link me to a source which is reliable so I can research please).

I am always hearing bad stuff about China from Koreans and well I sometimes question things, when everything is blaming China...like wut?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oovykql-f3o&t=735s
The 2nd part of the video is an interview with Professor Chang, the director of Korea's National Institute of Environmental Research, he explains how the whole thing works and why blaming China is the knee-jerk response.

Some of my students told me that they're taught, in one of the classes that 99% of all air pollution in Korea comes from China.

Watch the video and make up your own mind, should you believe a few contrarian ESL teachers? Nationalistic fervor?
Or, a bona-fide expert with 20yrs experience, in charge of his field and having just completed a study on air pollution in collaboration with NASA?

Just curious, is there an English version of the coupang website?
I tried to view it just now after reading your post, but it seems like it's only in Korean. :'(

There isn't one, unfortunately. However, I found a way around this.

Use google chrome (not the app) when searching for things, I will use the translate feature and so far it has worked well. I signed up to coupang, put in my address and all the information I need. Then downloaded the app and logged in through here (it would be easy to put the card information on the app, less hassle and it saves everything). I use the google to search for anything I need and add it to my account's basket. Then I will go to the app to pay since on the website you always to go through the dumb payment systems and add card details a gazillion times. I cannot be asked but it defo works with translate to English.

Ahh, that's what I done too.
I don't need to buy anything, I just had never used coupang before, so decided to have a look, as I have nothing to do today haha.

I'll probably stick to gmarket, since I have it all set up, and it has an English version :p

Just curious, is there an English version of the coupang website?
I tried to view it just now after reading your post, but it seems like it's only in Korean. :'(

There isn't one, unfortunately. However, I found a way around this.

Use google chrome (not the app) when searching for things, I will use the translate feature and so far it has worked well. I signed up to coupang, put in my address and all the information I need. Then downloaded the app and logged in through here (it would be easy to put the card information on the app, less hassle and it saves everything). I use the google to search for anything I need and add it to my account's basket. Then I will go to the app to pay since on the website you always to go through the dumb payment systems and add card details a gazillion times. I cannot be asked but it defo works with translate to English.

Ahh, that's what I done too.
I don't need to buy anything, I just had never used coupang before, so decided to have a look, as I have nothing to do today haha.

I'll probably stick to gmarket, since I have it all set up, and it has an English version :p

Yikes. Don't do that. The English version of Gmarket is garbage. Never, ever use the English version.

Just curious, is there an English version of the coupang website?
I tried to view it just now after reading your post, but it seems like it's only in Korean. :'(

There isn't one, unfortunately. However, I found a way around this.

Use google chrome (not the app) when searching for things, I will use the translate feature and so far it has worked well. I signed up to coupang, put in my address and all the information I need. Then downloaded the app and logged in through here (it would be easy to put the card information on the app, less hassle and it saves everything). I use the google to search for anything I need and add it to my account's basket. Then I will go to the app to pay since on the website you always to go through the dumb payment systems and add card details a gazillion times. I cannot be asked but it defo works with translate to English.

Ahh, that's what I done too.
I don't need to buy anything, I just had never used coupang before, so decided to have a look, as I have nothing to do today haha.

I'll probably stick to gmarket, since I have it all set up, and it has an English version :p

Yikes. Don't do that. The English version of Gmarket is garbage. Never, ever use the English version.

I only use the English version, and I haven't had any problems :o
For camps, I use it to show the school things I want for camp, but the office lady uses the korean version, and calls the company to get it sent quickly :p

Just curious, is there an English version of the coupang website?
I tried to view it just now after reading your post, but it seems like it's only in Korean. :'(

There isn't one, unfortunately. However, I found a way around this.

Use google chrome (not the app) when searching for things, I will use the translate feature and so far it has worked well. I signed up to coupang, put in my address and all the information I need. Then downloaded the app and logged in through here (it would be easy to put the card information on the app, less hassle and it saves everything). I use the google to search for anything I need and add it to my account's basket. Then I will go to the app to pay since on the website you always to go through the dumb payment systems and add card details a gazillion times. I cannot be asked but it defo works with translate to English.

Ahh, that's what I done too.
I don't need to buy anything, I just had never used coupang before, so decided to have a look, as I have nothing to do today haha.

I'll probably stick to gmarket, since I have it all set up, and it has an English version :p

Yikes. Don't do that. The English version of Gmarket is garbage. Never, ever use the English version.

I only use the English version, and I haven't had any problems :o
For camps, I use it to show the school things I want for camp, but the office lady uses the korean version, and calls the company to get it sent quickly :p

Huh? I don't get the thing about calling the company to get it shipped quickly. Things usually arrive in one, or max two days. Can't get much quicker than that.

Also, it might've changed, but you can't even use Smile Pay on the English version. You have to pay by bank transfer, usually. Which is ridiculous.

But yeah - things you're giving up by using the English version:
- the majority of the sales
- a lot of special promotion coupons
- ability to search for really specific stuff
- access to a large portion of the sellers

Plus, it's really hard to find specific brand names of stuff, since it prioritizes things that translate directly to English. And also it prioritizes things that are available for international shipping. So if you're in Korea, it's prioritizing something that's totally useless to you. There's literally like, no benefit to using English Gmarket.

Just curious, is there an English version of the coupang website?
I tried to view it just now after reading your post, but it seems like it's only in Korean. :'(

There isn't one, unfortunately. However, I found a way around this.

Use google chrome (not the app) when searching for things, I will use the translate feature and so far it has worked well. I signed up to coupang, put in my address and all the information I need. Then downloaded the app and logged in through here (it would be easy to put the card information on the app, less hassle and it saves everything). I use the google to search for anything I need and add it to my account's basket. Then I will go to the app to pay since on the website you always to go through the dumb payment systems and add card details a gazillion times. I cannot be asked but it defo works with translate to English.

Ahh, that's what I done too.
I don't need to buy anything, I just had never used coupang before, so decided to have a look, as I have nothing to do today haha.

I'll probably stick to gmarket, since I have it all set up, and it has an English version :p

Yikes. Don't do that. The English version of Gmarket is garbage. Never, ever use the English version.

I only use the English version, and I haven't had any problems :o
For camps, I use it to show the school things I want for camp, but the office lady uses the korean version, and calls the company to get it sent quickly :p

Huh? I don't get the thing about calling the company to get it shipped quickly. Things usually arrive in one, or max two days. Can't get much quicker than that.

Also, it might've changed, but you can't even use Smile Pay on the English version. You have to pay by bank transfer, usually. Which is ridiculous.

But yeah - things you're giving up by using the English version:
- the majority of the sales
- a lot of special promotion coupons
- ability to search for really specific stuff
- access to a large portion of the sellers

Plus, it's really hard to find specific brand names of stuff, since it prioritizes things that translate directly to English. And also it prioritizes things that are available for international shipping. So if you're in Korea, it's prioritizing something that's totally useless to you. There's literally like, no benefit to using English Gmarket.

Not everyone's Korean skills are up to the level of navigating a Korean website so I'd say using the English version of the site in that situation is hugely beneficial.

So like many people in my MOE, I now have a 3rd school, where I teach once a week on Mondays.

After several hours trying to track down my co teacher, I learn I wont have one and i'm teaching in the homeroom.

Confused, I speak to the 6th grade (Korean) English teacher that still has the students the other 2 days a week when I'm at my other schools.

Turns out they want me starting from lesson 5 in the textbook and teaching every period from the lessons on my own and they do a completely different lesson on the other 2 days with the Korean teacher.

I just needed to vent because this seems so impractical to me! There is no chance the students are going to remember what I teach first thing on a Monday when they spend the rest of the week learning completely different expressions!

Happy Monday y'all!

So like many people in my MOE, I now have a 3rd school, where I teach once a week on Mondays.

After several hours trying to track down my co teacher, I learn I wont have one and i'm teaching in the homeroom.

Confused, I speak to the 6th grade (Korean) English teacher that still has the students the other 2 days a week when I'm at my other schools.

Turns out they want me starting from lesson 5 in the textbook and teaching every period from the lessons on my own and they do a completely different lesson on the other 2 days with the Korean teacher.

I just needed to vent because this seems so impractical to me! There is no chance the students are going to remember what I teach first thing on a Monday when they spend the rest of the week learning completely different expressions!

Happy Monday y'all!

     Both of my elementary schools have me doing this, and I feel that it works out pretty well.
As I teach completely different chapters, I never have to worry about coordinating lessons with "coteachers" who I never actually see. I know what I'm teaching for the entire year right from the beginning and can plan out my lessons well ahead of time.
  Also, most schools only offer English classes to students three times a week, so while you might have less face-time with your kids than whoever is teaching them English for the other 2 classes, the difference isn't too substantial. Maybe it's because I make all my lessons so fantastically memorable, but the kids don't seem particularly forgetful of the material i teach. 

   I get that it's frustrating, but I think you'll get used to it pretty quickly, and will end up appreciating the autonomy it gives you!

Just curious, is there an English version of the coupang website?
I tried to view it just now after reading your post, but it seems like it's only in Korean. :'(

There isn't one, unfortunately. However, I found a way around this.

Use google chrome (not the app) when searching for things, I will use the translate feature and so far it has worked well. I signed up to coupang, put in my address and all the information I need. Then downloaded the app and logged in through here (it would be easy to put the card information on the app, less hassle and it saves everything). I use the google to search for anything I need and add it to my account's basket. Then I will go to the app to pay since on the website you always to go through the dumb payment systems and add card details a gazillion times. I cannot be asked but it defo works with translate to English.

Ahh, that's what I done too.
I don't need to buy anything, I just had never used coupang before, so decided to have a look, as I have nothing to do today haha.

I'll probably stick to gmarket, since I have it all set up, and it has an English version :p

Yikes. Don't do that. The English version of Gmarket is garbage. Never, ever use the English version.

I only use the English version, and I haven't had any problems :o
For camps, I use it to show the school things I want for camp, but the office lady uses the korean version, and calls the company to get it sent quickly :p

Huh? I don't get the thing about calling the company to get it shipped quickly. Things usually arrive in one, or max two days. Can't get much quicker than that.

Also, it might've changed, but you can't even use Smile Pay on the English version. You have to pay by bank transfer, usually. Which is ridiculous.

But yeah - things you're giving up by using the English version:
- the majority of the sales
- a lot of special promotion coupons
- ability to search for really specific stuff
- access to a large portion of the sellers

Plus, it's really hard to find specific brand names of stuff, since it prioritizes things that translate directly to English. And also it prioritizes things that are available for international shipping. So if you're in Korea, it's prioritizing something that's totally useless to you. There's literally like, no benefit to using English Gmarket.

Not everyone's Korean skills are up to the level of navigating a Korean website so I'd say using the English version of the site in that situation is hugely beneficial.

But you don't need to be able to speak Korean or anything - the layout is almost identical, and if you have any issues, you can just use Google Translate - or even Chrome auto-translate, and then you're still getting basically the same iffy translation as the English Gmarket, but all the benefits of using the full Korean site.

So like many people in my MOE, I now have a 3rd school, where I teach once a week on Mondays.

After several hours trying to track down my co teacher, I learn I wont have one and i'm teaching in the homeroom.

Confused, I speak to the 6th grade (Korean) English teacher that still has the students the other 2 days a week when I'm at my other schools.

Turns out they want me starting from lesson 5 in the textbook and teaching every period from the lessons on my own and they do a completely different lesson on the other 2 days with the Korean teacher.

I just needed to vent because this seems so impractical to me! There is no chance the students are going to remember what I teach first thing on a Monday when they spend the rest of the week learning completely different expressions!

Happy Monday y'all!

That is DUMBBBBBBBBB.

First, the lessons in the book are arranged so that voca from the previous lessons is incorporated into the later lessons. This reinforces stuff they've already learnt. If you're forced to teach later lessons, they're a) going to be unnecessarily difficult and confusing for the students, since they'll contain voca that they don't know, which the book is assuming they've already learned, and b) there are limits to how much students are able to absorb. If they're trying to memorize and learn two different lessons at the same time, they're going to end up learning nothing.

I'm super annoyed on your behalf. Good luck!

I go back and forth between the English and Korean gmarkets. If I can't find it on the English version, I search in the Korean version. If the prices are ridiculous on the English version, I price compare on the Korean version. I've found enough gaps and discrepancies between the two versions to warrant checking them both.

I like being able to navigate without a translator, but it's true, you don't have as many options on the English version, and there are more sellers on the English version who price gouge.

I usually opt for coupang first before using gmarket, though, because, for me, coupang has been more reliable. I use gmarket for things that I can't find on coupang or that are really overpriced on coupang but are more fairly priced on gmarket.

I go back and forth between the English and Korean gmarkets. If I can't find it on the English version, I search in the Korean version. If the prices are ridiculous on the English version, I price compare on the Korean version. I've found enough gaps and discrepancies between the two versions to warrant checking them both.

I like being able to navigate without a translator, but it's true, you don't have as many options on the English version, and there are more sellers on the English version who price gouge.

I usually opt for coupang first before using gmarket, though, because, for me, coupang has been more reliable. I use gmarket for things that I can't find on coupang or that are really overpriced on coupang but are more fairly priced on gmarket.

Yeah. Overall, I feel like Coupang is definitely more expensive than Gmarket or Auction. They do have a lot of good perks, but you definitely end up paying for them over the long run. I only use Coupang for the odd rare thing of hot sauce or like, some random foreign item that I can't get anywhere else. But now that Gmarket and Auction pretty much killed the SmileClub benefits, I'm seriously considering shifting to Coupang for most things, just on principle.

Also, if you've used the English Gmarket for any length of time, you can use the Korean one. They're laid out the same, and everything works basically the same. So it's not really that unintuitive.

Just curious, is there an English version of the coupang website?
I tried to view it just now after reading your post, but it seems like it's only in Korean. :'(

There isn't one, unfortunately. However, I found a way around this.

Use google chrome (not the app) when searching for things, I will use the translate feature and so far it has worked well. I signed up to coupang, put in my address and all the information I need. Then downloaded the app and logged in through here (it would be easy to put the card information on the app, less hassle and it saves everything). I use the google to search for anything I need and add it to my account's basket. Then I will go to the app to pay since on the website you always to go through the dumb payment systems and add card details a gazillion times. I cannot be asked but it defo works with translate to English.

Ahh, that's what I done too.
I don't need to buy anything, I just had never used coupang before, so decided to have a look, as I have nothing to do today haha.

I'll probably stick to gmarket, since I have it all set up, and it has an English version :p

Yikes. Don't do that. The English version of Gmarket is garbage. Never, ever use the English version.

I only use the English version, and I haven't had any problems :o
For camps, I use it to show the school things I want for camp, but the office lady uses the korean version, and calls the company to get it sent quickly :p

Huh? I don't get the thing about calling the company to get it shipped quickly. Things usually arrive in one, or max two days. Can't get much quicker than that.

Also, it might've changed, but you can't even use Smile Pay on the English version. You have to pay by bank transfer, usually. Which is ridiculous.

But yeah - things you're giving up by using the English version:
- the majority of the sales
- a lot of special promotion coupons
- ability to search for really specific stuff
- access to a large portion of the sellers

Plus, it's really hard to find specific brand names of stuff, since it prioritizes things that translate directly to English. And also it prioritizes things that are available for international shipping. So if you're in Korea, it's prioritizing something that's totally useless to you. There's literally like, no benefit to using English Gmarket.

Payment: I used my (local) credit card with the English version last week. You need to verify it with a phone app or some other authentication.