Movin' on up

I have decided to move my blog to WordPress. From now on, all ramblings, mediocre photography, and irrelevant youtube videos can be found here:

http://thesmellofpajamas.wordpress.com/

Keeping in touch with the Real World

I have made an important life choice recently. I decided to rekindle a former flame, the Real World. The only reason I know that the Real World is still on television is that I saw someone hyping the season premiere in her facebook status (wow, I'm lame). I thought to myself, "Hhmm, maybe I'll start watching the Real World again. Why not?"

The Real World was an important part of my adolescence, as I'm sure most people of my generation would say. In my preteen years, the Real World introduced me to homosexuality, HIV, and of course, blow jobs. Growing up in a conservative household, on Cape Cod no less, I had little sense of the world around me at the age of 11. The notion of homosexuality had probably never crossed my mind, unless I had happened to overhear someone mention it as a 'sin.' I probably read about HIV, but I had never seen or known anyone affected by it. To me, it was a disease far, far away from my daily life. I knew about sex. I knew that was where babies came from. That was about it. I didn't know that people were doing it all the time, with many different people, in many different ways. The Real World may not be 'reality,' but to a sheltered preteen, it was an introduction to the world beyond the Sagamore Bridge.

The last season I remember watching was San Diego, and I think that I only watched because I had a crush on some blond girl on the show. Hawaii was the last season that I truly enjoyed. Where have they been since? Philly, right? Hollywood? Didn't they go to Denver? That must have been a rough patch for the series. Who the hell cares about Denver?

When I saw that this new season was to take place in Brooklyn, I was very curious. Brooklyn seems like a good place to revive interest in the show. It's the hipster capitol of the country. All the cool kids live in Brooklyn these days, and to the people who have never been there, the show is like a glimpse into everything that will be really cool in four months. And by that point, everyone in Brooklyn will hate it!

So this morning, I sat down to watch the season premiere, and to my surprise, it was very promising. Not only are there eight cast members now, but there is a mormon, an Iraq vet, and a Tranny! Of course, there are the classic Real World staples. There is a virgin, a bi-girl, and at least two people with 'serious relationships' back home. The formula may be the same, but it still works. Who doesn't love seeing someone get drunk, cheat on their significant other, and then call them crying the next day because they know it's going to end up on TV anyway? I know I do. 

So let's do a brief rundown of the cast members:

JD - A gay man from Miami Beach, JD seems like a great guy so far. He comes from a troubled past, but he has overcome it to become a successful Dolphin Trainer at Sea World. JD will probably end up being one of the 'good guys,' and I can't really see him having beef with any of the cast members unless there's some homophobia going on.

Chet - Chet is one of two cast members from Salt Lake City (weird...) but the only mormon. He has already come out as a virgin, and there have been hints of closet homosexuality. 

Devyn - Devyn is a hot african-american girl from St. Louis. So far, she doesn't seem too interesting, and only really talks about her crush on Scott.

Scott - Scott is the house bro. He hails from Salem, New Hampshire, where he has worked at a gym since the age of 14. There really isn't much to Scott besides his rock-hard abs and his harsh New England accent, but he's the closest the house has to a Masshole, so I'm sure he'll be organizing a house beer pong tournament soon.

Baya - Baya is the other cast member from Salt Lake City. She also didn't really do anything interesting in the first episode. She seems like an attractive, slutty chick with a slight hippie vibe.

Katelynn - Katelynn is the tranny. She lives in Missoula, Montana with her d.bag boyfriend (featured shortly in the beginning). Katelynn used to be a man, but got a sex-change operation in Thailand. She came out to JD in an emotional scene towards the end, though all of the other cast members discussed her sexual identity behind her back. Obviously, her character's uniqueness is a promising feature for the show.

Sarah - Sarah is a bi-sexual from San Fransisco. She is currently dating a man for the first time (only chicas before that), and claims that she will not be getting any on the side. Sarah seems like the type of person I would be friends with, though she may not cause very much drama in the house.

Ryan - Ryan is the Iraq War Vet from Gettysburg, PA. After one episode, Ryan is easily my favorite character. He is definitely another bro, but has more depth than Scott. His character will undoubtably get into many confrontations during the season. He has a very aggressive personality, shows signs of homophobia and ignorance, and can't hold his alcohol. Ryan has a girlfriend at home, but I bet he hooks up with Baya. I also think that he will get in at least one physical fight with a cast member, probably Scott.

I plan on posting my thoughts as the season continues. If you also follow the show, I'd love to hear some comments. If not, feel free to ignore any and all Real World-related posts.

The Amazing Adventures of...

In my Elementary class this morning, I decided to have my students do a little creative writing. The premise of the activity was to write a story called "The Amazing Adventures of..." The student could basically do whatever they want from there. As soon as I began reading over some of the students' shoulders, I knew this was a good idea. A few of these stories are priceless, and I'd like to share some of them with you. The stories are copied exactly as they appear on the paper.

*I should note that there were certain key words that I gave to the students to try and elicit some ideas. This is why you may notice words such as airplane, racecar, or slippery placed randomly within some of the stories.

"The Amazing Adventures of Boxhead"

-by Hojin

There once a man call Boxhead. He was riding a airplane to Korea but the plane felled to a scary place called Zombie Land. He had only a gun. But the Zombies came to him. The only one way to escape. He grabed a rope on the ground and jumped to the sea and blocked the way with barrels but the water zombie there was an frezzer and frezzed zombie. When he turned the barrel was knocked down. He quickly rode on a Boat and shot them with the gun. When he looked down there were many kinds of guns and bombs. He throw it a army of zombie. They all died and with help other Boxheads helped him and killed all of them. So the Zombie Land became Boxhead Land.

"The Amazing Adventures of Tim"

-by Tim

I fight the sister every day. I talking to mom. My sister step in always. I'm very angry. I play every day. I'm very happy. I study every day. I'm very angry. The end.

"The Amazing Adventures of Ellie"

-by Ellie

When the Ellie and puppy go to the park. Ellie like slide. One day, my puppy and Ellie have bicycle. My puppy and Ellie in a bicycle in the play grownd. Ellie bicycle is red and pupple. Next time Ellie family go to airplane. Yesterday I go to racecar have it! It is snowing. Play in snow. Ellie runing home. But slippery. Ellie is happy. The end...

"The Amazing Adventures of Sophie"

-by Sophie

Ones upon there live Sophie. She have airplane, racecar, bicycle. But she really like airplane. She travel with airplane. Then race car, bicycle is angry. Sophie said "sorry." So Sophie on the on by one.

"The Amazing Adventures of Astraunot"

-by Steven

Astrounut went to the space. He went to the moon. He steped on the moon. Then the ailian came out from the creater. Then the ailian catch him and take him in to the creater. He was shocked because he met a ailian in the moon. They keep him to the creater and every day ailian did the experiment with him. Then one day astrounut ran away. But ailian catched him. The next day astrounut die. Because yesterday he tried to ran away. Then the astrounut's brother and his cusions are went to the moon and fight with ailian and they win the ailian and found astrounut's body. And the did the [Korean word] very well.

*I am going to attempt to copy this last one as close to the original as I can, though an exact replication is impossible.

"The Amazing Adventures of Me"

-by Justin

On day I got canada and I way kwithmae cow. do cow ran out and cow ran bak. THE END. 

My New Toy

Canon EF 28-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS USM

Korean kids hate New Wave

A few weeks ago, I began working on a powerpoint presentation on the history of rock music in order to use it in a lesson during the English Camp. It grew from five songs to eleven, as I kept thinking of songs or genres that just my students needed to experience. I was actually very excited this morning to finally be able to share some of this music with Korean students and hear their thoughts on Pink Floyd or Nirvana. 

My excitement quickly turned to aggravation during the first song, "Rock Around the Clock" by Bill Haley & His Comets. The speakers in our school's new $50,000 'English Only Classroom' were awful. The bass sounded like a muffled fart, and anytime I turned the volume up past 6 the speaker fell from the ceiling. I looked to my co-teacher for some help and his response was "maybe you can just talk about the music." Screw that. These kids needed some Pink Floyd in their lives. I was determined to make this lesson successful. 

While "Rock Around the Clock" played on, I taped the speaker to the wall and cranked the volume as loud as I could without the fear of blowing anything up. After the song ends, I ask the students if they had any thoughts. "..........." Nothing. Ok, "Rock Around the Clock" is kind of lame. Maybe they just need to hear something more interesting. 

Next up...the Beatles. "Has anyone heard of the Beatles?" I ask. Again, nothing. I play "Lady Madonna" and, like before, nobody has an opinion. Finally, I call someone out (which I hate doing) and essentially beg them to say something about this song. ANYTHING. What is the response? "I don't like it." Why doesn't she like it? "It's too old sounding." Great...

My co-teacher comes up with a great idea, right as I'm about to explode with frustration. He decides to hand out blank sheets of paper to the students so that they can record any thoughts or feelings about the music while listening to each song. This works to a certain extent. Some of the students write down one-word responses like "fast singing" or "fun" while others use the paper to doodle for the next hour. 

Here the list of songs we listened to today:

Bill Haley & His Comets - Rock Around the Clock

The Beatles - Lady Madonna

Grateful Dead - Friend of the Devil (my co-teacher was upset about the title...)

Pink Floyd - Speak to Me/Breathe/On the Run

Led Zeppelin - Black Dog

The Clash - Guns of Brixton

Tears For Fears - Everybody Wants to Rule the World

Poison - Nothin' But a Good Time

Nirvana - Come As You Are

Blind Melon - No Rain

Radiohead - Weird Fishes

Almost everybody hated Pink Floyd. I think they liked Breathe but I made the mistake of playing On the Run as well. Anyone who knows this song can understand why an unassuming Korean student who casually enjoys today's K-Pop hits, would utterly despise this song. One student actually liked it. He described the song as "making you feel like you're hallucinating." Others described it as "mysterious" or "scary." My co-teacher told me that it didn't even sound like music. Finally, we were getting some opinions.

The most interesting thing about the lesson was the fact that the songs I expected people to really like were duds. I assumed that 'No Rain,' 'Lady Madonna,' and 'Black Dog' would be really popular. Most students thought they were "boring" or "too normal." The big shocker was the fact that these two prissy girls (who sit in the corner giggling all day with cell phones permanently attached to their hands) were digging the Clash. They said, "It has good rhythm. I want to dance." This comment alone made the whole mess of a lesson worth my time. Radiohead was a failure; "too sleepy" or "too sad" were the general responses. My co-teacher, a conservative Catholic, absolutely loved Nirvana. He told me that "the singer was obviously sending a positive message to his fans." I didn't have the heart to tell him that Kurt Cobain actually blew his own head off with a shotgun. 

As expected, Poison was a big hit. I showed the video for "Nothin' But a Good Thing," and if you haven't ever seen it, do yourself a favor and click on the link. The students really didn't know how to respond to Hair Metal. I think they were disturbed, yet strangely aroused. I guess that is similar to my feelings regarding K-Pop.

So another day of English Camps under my belt. I really can't do anything but count down the days until this is all over and I can fly to Tokyo, spread Sashimi all over my body, and drink inappropriate amounts of Saki.

English Camps

The school terms in Korea are set up differently than we Americans are used to. The school year coincides with the calender year and begins in March. As in America, there is a summer break before the second term, but the winter break is the big one over here. Right now, Korean school children are on winter break. I hesitate to say 'enjoying' their break, because they probably aren't. I was having lunch at my co-teacher's apartment on Friday and asked his 13-year old daughter what she was doing on vacation. "Homework," she replied. I thought perhaps that she was just saying that because her father was in the room, so I asked her what else she was doing, besides homework. "Umm, practicing piano," she said, after straining to come up with a reply. 

If you ever want to feel bad about yourself, have a conversation with a Korean student. They will make you feel like a complete waste of space. Whenever I found myself on school vacation, I couldn't wait to sit around and do as little as possible. As a kid, that meant playing video games and eating chips all day. In the past few years I have matured to a level where my interests include reading, watching movies, and drinking beer all day. Either way, studying is the last thing on my mind.

Since Korean students are on vacation until March, you might be wondering, "Cooper, does that mean you're on vacation for two months too?!" Well...no. SMOE (read: the Man) decided to establish what is commonly referred to as "English Camps." This is a two-three week voluntary English class for students, provided by us native english teachers, during the winter and summer vacations. Most students eagerly sign up for the classes as it gives them more opportunity to practice their Englishee. Other students (like the ones at my High School) must be forced into it by parents who don't want to see their children lying around the house playing Starcraft for two months.

Today marked the beginning of a two week English Camp at my school. I teach two 90-minute classes in the morning, one for elementary-aged kids and one for middle/high school students. This morning I was excited to get a chance to interact with the elementary students, seeing as how my teaching experience has been with only degenerate high schoolers. At 9:00 am, they started to file in, holding their mom's hand and looking at me as if I was an alien. I had a bad feeling that these little 1st and 2nd graders were going to be hard shells to crack. Oh, how wrong I was...

I started the class with a little 'about me' powerpoint, full of goofy pictures and self-deprecating humor. To my surprise, this was the perfect way to get the kids to open up. They laughed at my jokes, asked me questions about Cape Cod, and made it perfectly clear that I used to have a terrible haircut. Oddly enough (to me at least) their English ability was eons above my high school students, and the class was easy and fun. 

By the time class ended, I had little boys jumping on my back and kids running around tables for no reason. Maybe it was the candy I gave them. Koreans aren't used to sugar.

After a quick rest, the next group of students came in. After the 15 little balls of energy that had just left, the middle/high school group was quite a downer. I showed the same 'about me' powerpoint, told the same lame jokes, and got nothing but blank stares and crossed arms. Only three out of the twelve students seemed to be able to speak in complete sentences. They showed no interest in me, the class, or English in general. All in all, it seemed like a disaster. Luckily, they warmed up to me pretty quickly when they realized I was willing to dish out some candy. We spent the class doing simple and fun activities and, though it wasn't nearly as enjoyable as the elementary school class, I made it out alive.

So, two more weeks of this and then I'm freelancing for a week at some Middle School in the western part of Seoul (gotta make that $$). Tomorrow, we will be discussing the history of Rock & Roll and listening to the likes of Led Zeppelin, The Clash, Radiohead, Poison, and Pink Floyd. My middle/high school class will leave Seoul Robotics High School having had their minds blown.

'80's Korean Robocop Fried Chicken Commercial

I'd like to think that this blog is a gateway into the finer points of Korean culture. Here is yet another glimpse into this strange and wonderful country.