tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-59636133663002446412024-03-13T14:07:17.742-04:00Travel, Teach, RepeatAnne Mhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14062316316772698617noreply@blogger.comBlogger101125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5963613366300244641.post-50907800132022775652012-09-23T23:54:00.003-04:002012-09-23T23:54:32.664-04:00How to Learn English - an ESL InfographicI'm bringing copies of this infographic by Kaplan into my TEFL class this week. There's some interesting information here about what elements of western pop culture attract ESL learners.<br />
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Bob Marley? Star Wars? This survey was definitely not done in Korea.<br />
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-cley0dXKrbI/UF_ZU_SmwrI/AAAAAAAAAh8/CXPXYhySuu0/s1600/how-to-learn-english.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-cley0dXKrbI/UF_ZU_SmwrI/AAAAAAAAAh8/CXPXYhySuu0/s1600/how-to-learn-english.jpeg" /></a></div>
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<a href="http://kaplaninternational.com/blog/how-to-learn-english/">How to learn English</a><a href="http://kaplaninternational.com/blog/how-to-learn-english/"> via Kaplan Blog</a>Anne Mhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14062316316772698617noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5963613366300244641.post-81552287086663662012012-09-12T01:39:00.001-04:002012-09-23T23:47:24.029-04:00Inside my Korean Makeup BagKorea is a tempting place for the product-obsessed. In every neighbourhood, you will find literally dozens of makeup and beauty shops, all of them cheap, all of them with cute packaging and just enough English on the box to get those buzzwords across: <i>mineral, satin, brightening, YOUTHFUL</i>. It's like a Vegas for the skin-conscious.<br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-xOdf1kgP8A8/UE7gY-dnYBI/AAAAAAAAAf0/zrBxeVJSM7c/s1600/img_0135.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-xOdf1kgP8A8/UE7gY-dnYBI/AAAAAAAAAf0/zrBxeVJSM7c/s200/img_0135.jpeg" width="141" /></a><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-dSj3HUcnCeo/UE7gbXLqxvI/AAAAAAAAAf8/aDQQbKERkIM/s1600/img_0143.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-dSj3HUcnCeo/UE7gbXLqxvI/AAAAAAAAAf8/aDQQbKERkIM/s200/img_0143.jpeg" width="133" /></a><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-79crnLAb4zg/UE7gcpVOFHI/AAAAAAAAAgE/OmRPlWcEtY8/s1600/photo155023.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-79crnLAb4zg/UE7gcpVOFHI/AAAAAAAAAgE/OmRPlWcEtY8/s200/photo155023.jpeg" width="145" /></a><br />
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Most western women that I've met in Korea have experimented gleefully with this country's beauty goodies. And yet, in all my online snooping, the only beauty blogs and product reviews of Korean cosmetics seem to be done by Asian women, speaking specifically to their skin tones and facial structure. So, I've gone in blind.<br />
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It's taken me a few years of trial and error to sample the gamut and figure out which products are best for my erratic western skin. My advice, for western women on the Korean beauty trail:<br />
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<b><span style="font-size: large;">Skin Food: <i>for the eyes</i></span></b><br />
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My first year in Korea, there was a Skin Food around the corner from my apartment. I hung around there a lot, reading the packages, telling myself I was practicing Korean phonics but actually just daydreaming about smooth, poreless Korean skin. Is that weird?<br />
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-z47v9FfBdsc/UFAVrUBi14I/AAAAAAAAAg8/80iiS_bkKxI/s1600/skinfood-black-bean-eye-liner-pencil-no4.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-z47v9FfBdsc/UFAVrUBi14I/AAAAAAAAAg8/80iiS_bkKxI/s200/skinfood-black-bean-eye-liner-pencil-no4.jpeg" width="200" /></a></div>
I became a big fan of their eye products. The <b>Black Bean Eye </b><b>Pencils</b> are soft and gentle, and last a long time if you set them with powder. Now, I have a rocky history with eyeliner. I spent many a teenage morning scraping my poor eyelid skin with those leaden-feeling liners from the <i>Wet n Wild </i>counter, thinking that's just how eyeliner is supposed to feel. They're pencils, after all.<br />
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Pained from the experience, or perhaps too lazy to buy an eyeliner pencil sharpener, I stopped using liner for a good five years. Skin Food got me back on the wagon. It's creamy and pain-free, even when you apply it on a jolting city bus. Just saying.<br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-lonMAWTzDzs/UFAVc_-6jiI/AAAAAAAAAgU/zBddjeX2XN4/s1600/BananaLongLashCurlMascaraNo1BananaBlack.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-lonMAWTzDzs/UFAVc_-6jiI/AAAAAAAAAgU/zBddjeX2XN4/s200/BananaLongLashCurlMascaraNo1BananaBlack.jpeg" width="200" /></a></div>
I've tried hundreds of mascaras and will loyally go back to Skin Food's <b>Banana Long Lash Curl Mascara</b> in black. It doesn't smudge or flake, even in the drippy-humid Korean summers. Also, with the wealth of megawatt-volumizing-lengthening mascaras on the market, I like a product that's more daytime-appropriate, less Kardashian. The lashes look good, but no one would think I'm wearing falsies.<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b>The Face Shop: <i>for BB Cream</i></b></span><br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-jhpZ3V0MIzI/UFAVmMW0zQI/AAAAAAAAAgs/EjmGBqZxMTM/s1600/images.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="149" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-jhpZ3V0MIzI/UFAVmMW0zQI/AAAAAAAAAgs/EjmGBqZxMTM/s200/images.jpeg" width="200" /></a></div>
The ol' BB stuff is apparently making waves in the UK and North America, with brands like Clinique and Dior getting in on the act. I'm sure their formulas are lovely, albeit pricey, but I'll stick to the original East Asian stuff.<br />
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I have the cruel cosmetic dilemma of wanting a BB with SPF something <i>and</i> oil-control properties for my neurotic face-pores, which like to panic with any fluctuation of temperature, mood, or comfort. Some creams have SPF a million, but are designed for heavy duty moisturizing. Talc-y, powdery creams keep you desert-matte, but give no sun protection. Many claim to do both, but don't quite hit the mark..<br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-7qCk178hx7I/UFAZM4oNCBI/AAAAAAAAAhc/N7qvDE0S8G0/s1600/imgres.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-7qCk178hx7I/UFAZM4oNCBI/AAAAAAAAAhc/N7qvDE0S8G0/s1600/imgres.jpeg" /></a></div>
The only one I found that lives up to its promises on my face is The Face Shop's <b>Oil Cut BB Dual Emulsion SPF 20</b>. The cream is liquidy enough to blend easily and not look too mask-like. I haven't been burnt once with it. And, <i>AND</i>, there's a little pot of concealer and a mirror built into the lid. Aww, Face Shop, you shouldn't have.<br />
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<b><span style="font-size: large;">Innisfree:<i> for powders</i></span></b><br />
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The first Korean girlfriend I made, Eun-Yong, got me into Innisfree when she gave me a red wine body scrub for Christmas. She told me it was her favourite brand because of its natural ingredients and minimal chemical additives and dyes. Boom, an Innisfree fan was born. With me, it doesn't take much.<br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-t0IV0NyDzAs/UFAVfyN2MOI/AAAAAAAAAgc/Ef8wAAm0INY/s1600/1152-1210.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-t0IV0NyDzAs/UFAVfyN2MOI/AAAAAAAAAgc/Ef8wAAm0INY/s200/1152-1210.jpeg" width="200" /></a></div>
In the morning, once my BB cream is set, I pat on the <b>No Sebum Mineral Powder </b>(I swear I'm otherwise quite low-maintenance).<br />
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It's light and untinted, and just mattifies my face for the day. It doesn't feel heavy or starchy as some powders do. Though initially it looks a bit kabuki, with layered BB cream<i> and</i> powder, the makeup oxidizes and settles down after a few minutes.<br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-wCIhOBhCe7o/UFAViRopfBI/AAAAAAAAAgk/MPPlK0YNVYg/s1600/3242_l__68563_std.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-wCIhOBhCe7o/UFAViRopfBI/AAAAAAAAAgk/MPPlK0YNVYg/s200/3242_l__68563_std.jpeg" width="200" /></a></div>
I carry a <b>Mineral Powder Pact</b> in my purse for a little colour and de-shining throughout the day.<br />
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It's not too dusty-looking and the colour offsets my natural slightly-too-red complexion. It has an SPF of 25 too.<br />
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Innisfree, you know exactly how to get me.<br />
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<b><span style="font-size: large;">Tony Moly: <i>for non-ridiculous colour</i></span></b><br />
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-7PJGeS8cp2s/UFAVuXU25-I/AAAAAAAAAhE/UqPtEftkh0A/s1600/tony_moly_party_lover_tripple_dome_eye_shadow_04_purple_wine_65g_copy__62582_zoom.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-7PJGeS8cp2s/UFAVuXU25-I/AAAAAAAAAhE/UqPtEftkh0A/s200/tony_moly_party_lover_tripple_dome_eye_shadow_04_purple_wine_65g_copy__62582_zoom.jpeg" width="200" /></a></div>
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I usually wear Canadian drugstore eyeshadow, but when I ran out a few weeks ago, I hunted high and low through a dozen Korean beauty stores, getting frustrated.<br />
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All the eyeshadows were high-wattage sparkly, good for a big night out or the under-16 demographic, but not for me and my relatively mild routine of going to work, dinner, sometimes the pub. <br />
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-bslZZNxVIB4/UFAfTUDO7fI/AAAAAAAAAhs/evJZprl3VZ8/s1600/tonymolytint01.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="142" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-bslZZNxVIB4/UFAfTUDO7fI/AAAAAAAAAhs/evJZprl3VZ8/s200/tonymolytint01.jpeg" width="200" /></a></div>
I'd never set food in Tony Moly before, skeptical of their perpetual 70% off sales and particularly aggressive shopgirls standing outside in Sailor Moon outfits. But I was desperate, so I popped in, and did a little inner-cheer at the sight of simple matte <b>Crystal Mono Eyeshadow</b>. Don't be thrown by the name, it's mature, lady eyeshadow.<br />
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They also have a very pretty lip stain called <b>Tony Tint</b>, which comes in two colours and is a nice contrast to the other Korean beauty shops' pixie-shiny lip glosses. It's a close and credible knockoff of Benefit's <i>Benetint</i>, the lip product that holds my everlasting loyalty.<br />
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<br />Anne Mhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14062316316772698617noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5963613366300244641.post-26431394343738009702012-08-23T10:57:00.002-04:002012-08-23T10:57:59.230-04:00Travel Time Capsule: February 2005<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-c485qQkhsro/UDZAtdTrErI/AAAAAAAAAfY/8grT19WfzGA/s1600/131652105_689c9ca18d_z.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-c485qQkhsro/UDZAtdTrErI/AAAAAAAAAfY/8grT19WfzGA/s400/131652105_689c9ca18d_z.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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Mark must have taken this photo.<br />
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I don't remember it, but I remember him on our walks through Lisbon, dropping away from the group. I'd see him from the corner of my eye, up a flight of stone steps or ten paces away in the plaza, his face behind a camera.<br />
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We travelled during reading week, Carolyn and I in our fourth year of university. Our peers were in Cancun and Fort Lauderdale. She had found the trip on a last minute booking site. This was before every person under 25 was an online booking pro, and our peers were skeptical. She'd camped outside my Literary Criticism class on a wet February afternoon. "It's for eight nights in the Algarve, flight, hotel, transit to the airport, right on the sea, do you want to do it?"<br />
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We'd cooked up a dozen travel dreams together, shared backpacking stories of Europe, eaten baguettes and cheese with wine on our shitty student balconies. Her boyfriend would come with us, and two friends of his. I met them for the first time at Pearson airport, boarding our charter flight with the other package tourists. Mark had a guitar case. Wilson had the same sunglasses as me. We were the youngest people on the plane.<br />
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We spent two nights in Lisbon, but I don't remember much.<br />
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Old men playing dominoes in the plazas. Cold wind. Carolyn's heels getting stuck in cobblestone. Expensive coffee. Drinking absinthe in the hostel common room with a pair of Americans and some quiet Spanish girls. Buying and losing cheap plastic umbrellas. One night on empty rain-slick streets, the city quiet as Portugal played Italy. The city solemn when Portugal lost.<br />
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I don't remember it, but in Mark's photos from Lisbon, I'm grinning wider than anyone else.<br />
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<br />Anne Mhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14062316316772698617noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5963613366300244641.post-5996717428169989402012-08-09T19:02:00.002-04:002012-08-09T19:02:40.186-04:00ESL students say the darndest things<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Xoe2pG8OVtk/UCRBWxD1zII/AAAAAAAAAfI/jILRodeft4A/s1600/steve-jobs-holding-iphone.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Xoe2pG8OVtk/UCRBWxD1zII/AAAAAAAAAfI/jILRodeft4A/s320/steve-jobs-holding-iphone.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div>
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ME:<br />
What is a stove? What is a stove's job?<br />
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STUDENT:<br />
I know I know I know!<br />
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ME:<br />Yes?<br />
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STUDENT:<br />
He is Steve Jobs' brother!<br />
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<br />Anne Mhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14062316316772698617noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5963613366300244641.post-88351988582822035472012-07-02T20:39:00.003-04:002012-07-02T20:39:48.951-04:00My Double Life<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-5Ax-qcUj7Tg/T_I-1HIwTBI/AAAAAAAAAeo/OrY7V2-Ukdg/s1600/View-trough-airplane-window-in-flight1654.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-5Ax-qcUj7Tg/T_I-1HIwTBI/AAAAAAAAAeo/OrY7V2-Ukdg/s320/View-trough-airplane-window-in-flight1654.jpeg" width="213" /></a></div>
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My job in Korea is generous with vacation. It's standard for university lecturing positions: 8 weeks off per year, at least. </div>
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When we signed contracts, I thought it would be perfect. I could visit Canada frequently, maintaining ties with family and old friends, keep homesickness at bay with biannual pilgrimages home. I would have my exotic Korean job and keep one foot where my roots lie. I'd have my cake and eat it too, for a few years at least, until it got too taxing.</div>
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Before, I would come gratefully back "home" after a year or more abroad. Then, my senses would take in Canada thirstily, greedily. I had staked my adult self as a traveler, a seeker of adventure. It almost felt guilty, traitorous, taking such pleasure in the familiar. </div>
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I would pause with gratitude a thousand times a day, for the smallest moments I didn't realize I missed. A full-sized oven, coffee with milk, big bookstores. I'd smile at shady oak trees, an overheard Gatineau accent, a pair of kids on bicycles, riding slowly up the wide, empty sidewalk. </div>
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I'm in Canada now, the second visit in less than six months. The transition between cultures wasn't breathless or tiring or reflective. It was easy. I've met with friends, strolled my old neighbourhood, eaten family meals, barely thinking of Korea and my life there. I don't feel like a visitor here. I don't feel temporary or conditional. I certainly don't feel strange. Instead, I feel strange about how easy it's become to slip comfortably between my two lives, to immerse fully into one, barely thinking of the other at all, then switch, then back, then switch a few months later again. </div>
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Here, I read newspapers in the late morning on a sun porch, round mugs of tea in hand.</div>
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There, I watch CNN at night, usually while painting my toenails or laying out tomorrow's clothes. </div>
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Here, my meetings with friends start and end with strong, clapping hugs. </div>
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There, I see friends daily, and our goodbyes are brief and, we know, short-lasting.</div>
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Here, I chat with shopkeepers and baristas. Ten times a day, I say "how <i>are </i>you?" to strangers, and hear it back in turn.</div>
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There, I nod my head reverentially to cashiers when they praise my clunky, timid Korean. </div>
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Here, I eat Greek food, Italian food, maritime food, Mexican food; Montreal bagels and local berries, bought from French-speaking vendors at the market. </div>
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There, we get Indian as a treat, maybe fries at the pub on Fridays. We know the ladies who do rice rolls and tofu soup across the street. We still haven't found good pizza.</div>
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Here, I'm a daughter and sister, childhood friend, old classmate, old neighbour, sharer of the past.</div>
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There, I'm not anonymous but not rooted either. There's always change in the students, colleagues, friends coming and leaving.</div>
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Now, it's easy. Now, also, I know it can't last forever.</div>Anne Mhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14062316316772698617noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5963613366300244641.post-59011214536380089012012-05-12T02:20:00.000-04:002012-05-12T02:22:15.578-04:00How to Drink with your Students<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-62AuDPsXOyo/T63_YRUYkgI/AAAAAAAAAdQ/d-IX2TTk-7w/s1600/4791264.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="238" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-62AuDPsXOyo/T63_YRUYkgI/AAAAAAAAAdQ/d-IX2TTk-7w/s320/4791264.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Festival time is when campus goes from this...</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-us9opchdjRM/T64Ajjcu4vI/AAAAAAAAAdg/gUpbgnY0Jbc/s1600/DownloadedFile.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="212" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-us9opchdjRM/T64Ajjcu4vI/AAAAAAAAAdg/gUpbgnY0Jbc/s320/DownloadedFile.jpeg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">...to this.<br />
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For weeks, students talk about the festival.<br />
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Your assistant tells you at least three times not to cancel class.<br />
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"Students will ask," he says. "Probably, they will ask again and again."<br />
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For weeks, your coworkers tell you stories of past festivals. About all classes being cancelled on Friday after the big concert. About staying on campus all night, seeing the sky go from dark to blue to hazy dawn pink, beers in hand in plastic chairs. About trashed bathrooms, bonfires in the parking lot, deans downing shots with students, still wearing their pressed suits and silk ties.<br />
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Hand-painted banners line the main road through campus, slogans in careful Roman letters. "Go party then now!" "Fantastic, baby!" "Student nightclub building." The name of this year's festival, from what you can gather on posters and volunteer T-shirts, is "Feel Long Ketchup." You don't bother asking your English majors what it means.<br />
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On the first night, you will drink beer with the 60-year-old dean in the English Lit tent. Around you, your students wave hellos as they run the barbecue and wait tables. The dean grins hugely and takes your hand. "Thank you for showing solidarity to our department!" she says, as a deep-bowing student presents her a cocktail in a plastic cup.<br />
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You will walk around to other department booths, all serving the same canned beer, barbecued meat, and ramen bowls heated on campfire stoves. You will follow the sound of cheering to a gambling tent, where terrified mice race each other down a narrow wooden racetrack. You bet three times on #4, an unlucky number in Korea. No one else will.<br />
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You will be sold cheap glow sticks by a drunk kid in green lederhosen. He'll tell you with a nervous laugh that no, he's not a German major.<br />
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You will see the shy kid in your conversation class, tumbling out of a bush with a groggy girl on his arm.<br />
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You will see the other shy kid in your conversation class, walking around by himself, saying a meek hello to a table of students. They ignore him.<br />
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You will hear shrill, booze-watered "Hi Teacher!!" again and again from your students. They will invite you to join them, offer you shots of soju. They will introduce you to their girlfriends, holding hands tightly in the thick crowd.<br />
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You will meet other foreign teachers from other departments, all young and rakish, or else older and married to Korean women. You will meet about 40 foreign men, and two women. That's just how it is, you're told, in universities here. You'll meet old profs who now work at different universities. "I came down from Seoul for this," they tell you. "This place has the best school festival, hands down."<br />
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Later, when a K-Pop star takes the stage, everyone will scream with a volume you never thought possible, coming from Korean students. They'll bounce out of tents holding friends hands to worm closer to the stage. You'll hear nothing but thumping music and screaming, nodding to the art professor beside you who is still talking, pretending to understand because no matter how close you lean, you'll never hear him.<br />
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Around you, you'll see facepainted students slumped sleeping in computer chairs on the sidewalk. You'll see girls crying into cellphones, arms hugged around their stomachs. You'll see an ESL teacher in sunglasses and an unbuttoned shirt, staggering through a thick crowd, his arm tight around a giggling, teetering girl. She must be under 20. She must be his student.<br />
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You'll hug your new friends and return your students' giddy waves. And, with a belly full of barbecued pork and beer, ears ringing, slip quietly out the gates and head home.Anne Mhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14062316316772698617noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5963613366300244641.post-16756518362779057452012-04-13T23:15:00.001-04:002012-04-13T23:15:20.155-04:00Your First All-inclusive Resort<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Four days in Havana, four at the beach. Sounds peachy, right? My father and I had packed a city guidebook and a stack of Martin Cruz Smith novels set in Havana. We'd culled tips from friends and acquaintances. We roamed that city, from the old town down the Malecon to the shells of American expat mansions.<br />
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We didn't plan much for the beach.<br />
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I mean, no restaurants to think about, no maps to decipher. We're a well-travelled father daughter team, if I may say so. Surely, four days of a package holiday wouldn't throw us any curveballs.<br />
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Not so.<br />
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Below, a few nuggets of info I wish I'd known.<br />
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<b>Stake out pool chairs</b></div>
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You know that stereotype about German tourists getting up at dawn to claim beach chairs? It's a real thing. It's not just for Germans. Our resort was mostly Canadians, and yet each morning by 10:30, poolgoers were out of luck if they wanted to sit someplace. </div>
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For two days, this pissed me right off. For two days, I daydreamed of hiding people's chairs, dropping their paperbacks into the kiddie pool, spilling beer on their towels. I thought about opening my own resort with a "no savesies" policy. I sat uncomfortably in aluminum bar chairs. </div>
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On the third day, I sucked it up, staked a chair, and felt horrible about it. But oh, it was commmmfy in the midday heat! I guess you gotta play the game.<br />
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<b>Bring a travel mug</b><br />
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Everybody does it! I imagine it feels gauche ordering delicate little <i>cafes con leche</i> in a Tim Horton's travel cup, but BYOM(ug) is part of resort culture.<br />
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Resorts don't seem to trust patrons with glass highballs under the unlimited drinks policy. Rightly so. Thus, booze is served in plastic cups, measuring about three modest ounces.<br />
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The resourceful drinker will bring a 1L travel mug to the bar, request his or her booze of choice, and migrate happily to the beach or pool, with enough liquid to last a good while. Package travel veterans seem to favour the 2L model the size of a small keg.<br />
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Forgetful travellers can hit the gift shop or tourist market for shabby bamboo mugs, often with portraits of Che painted crookedly on the side with nail polish.<br />
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<b>Don't study frantic Spanish</b><br />
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I mean, if you're keen or restless, knock yourself out, but don't stress about being understood. I didn't meet a single member of staff who didn't speak basic English. Many were beautifully fluent. Of course, they were charmingly patient when I hit them with my bad Spanish, but it really wasn't needed to be understood.<br />
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One morning, at the crowded cafe, I ordered two cups of coffee in choppy Espanol. Beside me, a group of Nova Scotian women rolled their eyes so hugely, I could almost hear it. "Typical!" they spat. "Of course he serves the Spanish woman first."<br />
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(there is nothing remotely Hispanic or Mediterranean about my pink, pasty appearance)<br />
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I told them that I was Canadian. This seemed to make it worse. Could they sense my Ontario roots?<br />
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<b>Tip with pesos</b><br />
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We met a few waiters and drivers with pockets full of foreign coins. British pound coins, Canadian loonies and twoonies, Euros in change. Useless to them. Change offices trade paper money only, no matter how high the coin's denomination.<br />
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They can ask customers to trade the coins for bills. We got this question several times, from guys with about $50 or $60 in Canadian change weighing down their pockets. It's a pain in the ass for them, I'm sure. We witnessed more than a few tourists shaking their heads suspiciously when asked to change money.<br />
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Conclusion? Tip with pesos. Or be generous and tip with bills.<br />
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<b>Leave</b><br />
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Take a daytrip, or a half-day trip. Walk the beach until the resort fences disappear.<br />
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Go to the nearest town, even if it's tiny. Look around at local churches, at fruit vendors. Look at the roofing tiles and backyards of people's homes, and think about them. Look at what people wear when they don't wear resort uniforms.<br />
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I'm not against resorts. I think they're great for local economies. I get that not everyone is a backpacker and not everyone enjoys drinking mystery booze from a street vendor while eating fried scorpion. So be it, different strokes and all that.<br />
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Buuut, I do assert that resorts are artificial environments, and that beyond them lies a local culture that is worth exploring, even for just a few hours. The beach isn't going anywhere. Your staked out pool chair will wait. You're hydrated from the travel mug. Go.<br />
<br />Anne Mhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14062316316772698617noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5963613366300244641.post-53494487767218702832012-03-25T00:28:00.002-04:002012-03-25T09:09:29.607-04:00The five people you meet in EPIK<br />
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The same characters tend to pop up again and again in my Korea experiences. I see myself, or past shades of myself, in several of these. </div>
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<b>The Firm Hand</b><br />
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FH was a high school chemistry teacher for six years before switching gears and coming to work abroad. FH seeks to run their Korean classroom just like they would in their home country. Nope.<br />
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<u>Pros:</u> Thoughtful lesson plans, professional attitude, happy to talk methodology in the staff room with the teacher trainees.<br />
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<u>Cons:</u> The yelling. So much yelling. This teacher expects the students to be just as attentive and obedient to them as they are to native Korean teachers. When kids tune them out, stroll into class late, or get gabby with their deskmate during an exercise, The Firm Hand will scream. And punish. And work superduper hard to be taken just as seriously by the students as any other teacher on staff. </div>
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Despite the high-veg and low-cholesterol Korean diet, this teacher's blood pressure must be through the roof.<br />
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<b>The Kardashian Mom</b><br />
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KM didn't really like school that much, but got along great with those young cool teachers who high-fived students and looked the other way when everyone got drunk at semiformal. KM started the teaching contract with the vow to be "the Anthony Bourdain of ESL."<br />
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<u>Pros:</u> Great at facilitating conversations in English, even after class. Voted "coolest teacher" by students. Will be invited to do a sexy Rihanna dance with a group of 3rd graders in the annual talent show.<br />
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<u>Cons:</u> Colleagues feel hugely undermined when, in the midst of giving a punishment, KM saunters up and starts cracking jokes with the kids.</div>
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After being chummy with students for weeks of games, KM will have a Sisyphysian time getting them to crack a book once midterms loom near.<br />
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<b>One Foot out the Door</b></div>
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OFOTD isn't actually a teacher. This gig is more like an extended travel experience to save a bit of money, recharge the batteries after a supergruelling Ivy League undergrad degree, and plan out grad school applications to, you know, get back to the<i> real</i> world.</div>
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<u>Pros</u>: Holds students to a very high standard. Knows the best sushi place in the neighbourhood. Sets out to master the Korean language in two months' time.</div>
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<u>Cons</u>: Accidentally (?) offends anyone who is serious about education as a career field. After two months, will pronounce that learning Korean is "not really practical with the way things are going, globally."</div>
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If it's not clear already, I can't stand this person.</div>
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<b>The Do-Gooder</b><br />
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DG organizes weekend hikes and outings to the kimchi festival for anyone interested. Thanksgiving is an open house potluck. Christmas Day is an outing to the local orphanage. </div>
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DG is out at the pubs every weekend, usually running a toy drive for the children's hospital or a fundraising 80s Night for landmine victims. </div>
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Though DG's career goals aren't in language teaching, they will spend hours of each day researching methodology. It's only fair to the students that their teacher commits to the work 110%.<br />
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<u>Pros:</u> A heart as big as all outdoors.<br />
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<u>Cons:</u> Makes you feel lazy by comparison. </div>
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DG is always promoting causes, so bear in mind when you pal up on Facebook that you'll be getting invitations to sixty events per month.</div>
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<b>The Floater</b></div>
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Floater finished university a few months ago and didn't quite know what to do with that new arts degree. Teaching seemed fun, though Floater doesn't know if that's what (s)he wants to do as a career. Always says the word "career" in a burdened, almost sarcastic voice, the way a fierce liberal would say "small government." </div>
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<u>Pros:</u> Open-minded, adventurous, hesitates to complain because they don't want to rule things out without giving them a fair chance. Will meet at least 50 fellow Floaters during EPIK orientation.</div>
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<u>Cons:</u> Might stay in Korea for years, growing tired of the students and culture, simply because they can't choose between an apprenticeship in New Zealand or NGO work in Angola.</div>
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Floater will spend five months entertaining the idea of being a professional travel blogger. Their monetized teacher blog will yield about $2.85 per month, and they will get jaded after writing a 6-piece series for a TESL recruiter's site, which goes bankrupt and never pays them. </div>Anne Mhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14062316316772698617noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5963613366300244641.post-26152657132053485122012-02-18T17:14:00.000-05:002012-02-18T17:14:22.157-05:00Notes on packing with my father<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-_uHGatYVGDc/T0AiPk_3vII/AAAAAAAAAco/ubd1OCyu62Q/s1600/luggage.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240px" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-_uHGatYVGDc/T0AiPk_3vII/AAAAAAAAAco/ubd1OCyu62Q/s320/luggage.jpg" width="320px" yda="true" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Clearly not our luggage. We're expert packers. <br />
Photo: <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/shanghaidaddy/">Shanghai Daddy</a></td></tr>
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We pack nine books between us. Also, a Havana guidebook, two magazines, a notebook, and <em>Killer Sudoku</em>. There are five pens in my purse.<br />
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For days, we strategize the sunscreen situation. He comes home with 100ml travel containers from the dollar store. I spread newspaper on the living room floor and siphon SPF 45 into airline-friendly bottles. We watch <em>Downton Abbey</em>.<br />
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He sets a pair of Birkenstocks by the door. <br />
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He digs up a Spanish phrasebook, textbook, and laminated grammar chart. On weekdays, he reads them over bowls of cereal before going to work.<br />
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I download a Spanish phrasebook app. I read it once. <br />
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He finds two canvas gym bags in the basement. "I'm sure they're carry-on size," he says, and he flies enough to know these things. I lean down to unzip a pocket and the zipper head snaps in two. "It's fine," he says, "we needs something that can get bashed around."<br />
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The night before our flight, he hands me two fat rolls of toilet paper. "You never know what they have, what they're lacking." He went to Russia in the 90s, and all week he recounts scenes from that trip. "I hope Cuba isn't like that, but it could be."<br />
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In my bag, I make room for the toilet paper rolls. Before bed, I set my Birkenstocks by the door, next to his.Anne Mhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14062316316772698617noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5963613366300244641.post-29329399722112771032012-02-05T14:37:00.001-05:002012-02-05T14:37:35.828-05:00Heck yeah, Havana!I could plod on about the glories in what Havana <i>doesn't</i> have. No billboards (except thee odd party slogan), no Coca-cola or McDonalds, very very few cellphones. Then, I'd probably use the eye-rolling traveller's term, "unspoilt." Then, I'd regret typing that over-used and condescending term.<br />
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Instead, let's talk about what Havana has. Friendly, beautiful people! Parcades and plazas! Statues! Cobblestone! Grand, high-ceilinged architecture, bright tropical paint jobs salt-beaten by sea air.<br />
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My father and I spent four days there, during which I jittered around on <i>cafe con leche</i>, saw Cuba's muscly national dance company, and almost wore out my Birkenstocks (no easy feat). Then, there was the beach. More on that later. For now, Havana!<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-SEJocQsKHQU/Ty7VP8GZa8I/AAAAAAAAAbI/M3xSDJhZsow/s1600/DSCN4766.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-SEJocQsKHQU/Ty7VP8GZa8I/AAAAAAAAAbI/M3xSDJhZsow/s400/DSCN4766.JPG" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Old Havana.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-6js8tEeBZkA/Ty7VojYyesI/AAAAAAAAAbQ/_lZbcMhLufc/s1600/DSCN4778.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-6js8tEeBZkA/Ty7VojYyesI/AAAAAAAAAbQ/_lZbcMhLufc/s400/DSCN4778.JPG" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Statue of a Spanish dancer, surveying the square.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Cj1q5zSGXZc/Ty7WE8JtC1I/AAAAAAAAAbY/ZlhjFGjzj08/s1600/DSCN4803.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Cj1q5zSGXZc/Ty7WE8JtC1I/AAAAAAAAAbY/ZlhjFGjzj08/s400/DSCN4803.JPG" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Shopping mall, Soviet-style.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-nr62Q9yEgsE/Ty7WaEsWmeI/AAAAAAAAAbg/yGGEoChSbuA/s1600/DSCN4806.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-nr62Q9yEgsE/Ty7WaEsWmeI/AAAAAAAAAbg/yGGEoChSbuA/s400/DSCN4806.JPG" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Pedicab.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-rJbEg15jOsI/Ty7WxLGFk8I/AAAAAAAAAbo/nuQTxQIW5Cw/s1600/DSCN4813.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-rJbEg15jOsI/Ty7WxLGFk8I/AAAAAAAAAbo/nuQTxQIW5Cw/s400/DSCN4813.JPG" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A damn good <i>cafe con leche</i>.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-f-mlfFh48Z4/Ty7XBkp-UfI/AAAAAAAAAbw/MieeQ9ijUNY/s1600/DSCN4845.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-f-mlfFh48Z4/Ty7XBkp-UfI/AAAAAAAAAbw/MieeQ9ijUNY/s400/DSCN4845.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Flea market in the old town.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-LpS99D1N_7s/Ty7XR-q95CI/AAAAAAAAAb4/UJ1ByQUgYn4/s1600/DSCN4859.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-LpS99D1N_7s/Ty7XR-q95CI/AAAAAAAAAb4/UJ1ByQUgYn4/s400/DSCN4859.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My father, hanging around the fort.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-8LNguzIQjkQ/Ty7XeeJZHGI/AAAAAAAAAcA/LsgpIa9Ly_c/s1600/DSCN4882.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-8LNguzIQjkQ/Ty7XeeJZHGI/AAAAAAAAAcA/LsgpIa9Ly_c/s400/DSCN4882.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Malecon.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-N8QrSNAb1R4/Ty7X2C7Q8MI/AAAAAAAAAcI/PRwFuv5RP0I/s1600/DSCN4910.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-N8QrSNAb1R4/Ty7X2C7Q8MI/AAAAAAAAAcI/PRwFuv5RP0I/s400/DSCN4910.JPG" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Chocolate museum.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Gb9rDiNnjag/Ty7YTQdqCaI/AAAAAAAAAcQ/Hy5NKO4tpwM/s1600/DSCN4933.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Gb9rDiNnjag/Ty7YTQdqCaI/AAAAAAAAAcQ/Hy5NKO4tpwM/s400/DSCN4933.JPG" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The theatre bar, before a show by the National Dance Company.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-tBukvM037nE/Ty7YpqRnUgI/AAAAAAAAAcY/CQ4kx_bpWRs/s1600/DSCN4756.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-tBukvM037nE/Ty7YpqRnUgI/AAAAAAAAAcY/CQ4kx_bpWRs/s400/DSCN4756.JPG" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Our hotel, once frequented by Al Capone.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />Anne Mhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14062316316772698617noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5963613366300244641.post-11637889757747347072011-12-25T23:44:00.002-05:002011-12-26T00:12:09.394-05:00On landing a university job in Korea<br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-kMaCaO6uWNc/Tvf7U4tVmPI/AAAAAAAAAaU/2lcfvOY3v88/s1600/cat+job.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="308" rea="true" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-kMaCaO6uWNc/Tvf7U4tVmPI/AAAAAAAAAaU/2lcfvOY3v88/s320/cat+job.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
This was my journey, step by step.<br />
<br />
<br />
<strong>September</strong><br />
<br />
Do you need a masters? Okay, but do you <em>need</em> a masters? Do unis hire couples? Unmarried couples? Read depressing debates on <a href="http://www.eslcafe.com/">eslcafe</a>. Learn about the decline of quality jobs, quality students, quality work environments from a handful of online ranters with a lot of self-appointed expertise. Remind yourself they’re only ranters when discouragement comes nagging at your ear.<br />
<br />
<br />
Consult with every contact you have in the university sector, even the lukewarm friendships kept limply afloat by Facebook. Prod these people for tips, insights, ideas on how you and your partner can apply for these coveted jobs.<br />
<br />
<br />
Read emails from the two people who responded. “Okay, the application season starts around November,” you and your partner say together. “Lots of time to prepare.”<br />
<br />
<br />
Meet a woman at a dinner party who already started applying to university jobs, interviewed with universities, and landed two job offers. Listen as she makes it sound easy-breezy. Feel resentment and inspiration in equal parts. <br />
<br />
<br />
Discover later that she has a Masters from Harvard. Panic.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<strong>October </strong><br />
<br />
<br />
Scour job sites and university webpages, trying to find contacts and application information for the 300+ postsecondary institutions in Korea. Spend a lot of time reading websites very slowly in Korean. <br />
<br />
<br />
Polish your resume. Scan and upload every possible document required. Solicit a letter of recommendation from your supervisor who, swamped with work herself, asks you to just write it yourself and come back later for the signature. Spend an hour on a letter with just enough tiny English flubs to sound (you hope) like a non-native speaker. Or at least, not like you.<br />
<br />
<br />
Write a cover letter. Edit. Read your partner’s cover letter. Edit. Write a combined cover letter, emailing drafts back and forth. Write a Korean translation of your cover letter, imagining that employers will be impressed. Type it out at an approximate speed of 4 Korean words/minute. <br />
<br />
<br />
Send applications. A lot of them. <br />
<br />
On weekend hikes together, discuss your plan B, if you don't get jobs, if you have to go back to North America. Suggest backup options in an upbeat way. Privately dread them.<br />
<br />
<br />
<strong>November</strong><br />
<br />
<br />
Send applications. Every day. <em>Every </em>day. <br />
<br />
<br />
Scan job sites compulsively. Fill out surprisingly detailed application forms as required by different universities. Raise your eyebrows when asked to provide your parents’ occupations, your undergrad student number, the name of your church leader, your height.<br />
<br />
<br />
Downplay the subject when friends bring it up, especially in big groups. “Yeah, we’re trying,” you say sheepishly. “It’s tough, it’s really competitive.” Nod appreciatively when your friends say don’t worry, you’ll get it, you’ve got great experience. Wonder what people will say about you if you fail.<br />
<br />
<br />
Send more applications. Cold-call universities. Each day, in the free time of your lunch hour, in the free periods on your teaching schedule, send emails, write applications, research universities and colleges. Let personal emails pile up. Fall behind on world news. Dig through the teetering laundry hamper for clean-enough clothes.<br />
<br />
<br />
Land an interview! Two interviews! Plan your outfit, makeup and hair a week in advance. Make a cheat sheet of TESL methodologies in case asked about them. Spend the train ride quizzing each other on potential interview questions. <br />
<br />
<br />
Interview with one charming panel of department heads. Celebrate with tex-mex in Seoul. Interview with one dour panel of department heads. Comiserate by spending too much money on junky British women’s magazines in Seoul. <br />
<br />
<br />
<strong>December</strong><br />
<br />
<br />
Another interview! And another! Ask your patient employer for more unpaid leave. Plan another outfit that you end up tugging all day, worried the blouse neckline rides too low. <br />
<br />
<br />
At the university, sit in an interview waiting room with ten other applicants, each seemingly fun and peppy and charming and slightly more qualified than you. “I hear they’re interviewing 60 people.” Sweat. <br />
<br />
<br />
Get a job offer. Then another. Spend ten minutes on the bus wondering if, as a result of all your university job daydreaming, the offers came your way serendipitously like in <em>The Secret</em>. Spend twenty minutes on the bus scolding yourself for thinking about <em>The Secret</em>. <br />
<br />
<br />
Jump up and down with your partner. Go out to dinner. Smile a lot. <br />
<br />
<br />
Get a very polite rejection. And another. Sulk just a bit. <br />
<br />
<br />
Accept the job from the charming university. Tell your friends. Feel gooey and proud when they congratulate you and get excited for you. <br />
<br />
<br />
Contact the coordinator at your brand new job. Receive an email detailing the mountain of paperwork needed for your new visa. Let the scrambling begin again. <br />
<br />Anne Mhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14062316316772698617noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5963613366300244641.post-35517051336384579212011-12-19T20:32:00.001-05:002011-12-19T20:33:46.435-05:00Reacting to Kim Jong Il's death: "Can I come to Canada?"<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ySswmtCPSe8/Tu_lq6Q8HwI/AAAAAAAAAZ4/7tx3gkLNkVE/s1600/kim+jong+il.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="180" oda="true" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ySswmtCPSe8/Tu_lq6Q8HwI/AAAAAAAAAZ4/7tx3gkLNkVE/s320/kim+jong+il.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
Tae-nam, 15, student:<br />
<br />
(smiling) “Do you know Kim Jong Il? He is die die die die die.”<br />
<br />
<br />
Hyo-won, 15, student:<br />
<br />
“Is Obama happy?”<br />
<br />
<br />
Yumi, 21, university student:<br />
<br />
“His life was always comfortable because he took so much from others. I’m disappointed that he wasn’t punished before he died. Instead, his death was comfortable, like his life.”<br />
<br />
<br />
Jae-Eun, 31, English teacher:<br />
<br />
“People are not surprised. He was not a healthy man. I think on the news, we would see pictures and videos that were much older, showing him in good health.”<br />
<br />
<br />
Mimi, 34, Art teacher<br />
<br />
“My daughter asked if we were sad because someone died. My husband and I didn’t know how to answer that.”<br />
<br />
<br />
Mi-Ran, 14, student:<br />
"I don't know. Teacher, I have a test today."<br />
<br />
<br />
Ji-won, 26, math teacher:<br />
<br />
“Nobody knows what will happen next. Maybe the son is kinder, maybe he is more selfish. But, we know that the government doesn’t want to lose any power.”<br />
<br />
<br />
Chung-hee, 14, student:<br />
<br />
“Maybe there will be a war now. Can I come to Canada with you?”<br />
<br />Anne Mhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14062316316772698617noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5963613366300244641.post-30347206719227827022011-12-08T07:10:00.001-05:002011-12-08T07:20:09.493-05:00A very witty history of the English Language<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/rexKqvgPVuA?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>
<br />
<br />
This video is titled <i>The History of English in Ten Minutes</i>, but if you're like me, you'll watch it a few times to get all the rapid witty asides, layered on thick in each minute-long chapter. Puns, pop culture references, and a good jab at Dan Brown, all narrated by the very funny Clive Anderson.<br />
<br />
The animation was released last July by England's Open University. How did it take me 6 months to come across it?<br />
<br />Anne Mhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14062316316772698617noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5963613366300244641.post-27235801837827275192011-11-30T08:52:00.001-05:002011-11-30T09:04:32.491-05:00TESL Methodology in a (Rhyming!) Nutshell<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-MV1CIz91N-4/TtY3kuLp0GI/AAAAAAAAAZw/zEjgiWT6Tx8/s1600/study-habits.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="212" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-MV1CIz91N-4/TtY3kuLp0GI/AAAAAAAAAZw/zEjgiWT6Tx8/s320/study-habits.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 바탕;">I made study notes. </span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 바탕;">I made them into rhyming couplets.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 바탕;">They're about 90% iambic. I want to remember them easily, after all.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 바탕;">We're in the middle of an interview junket for university teaching positions. I've heard scary stories of deans grilling applicants on grammar terminology and TESL methodology. Panicked, I whipped up a crib sheet overview of the Big Ideas. It was verbose, as I tend to be, so I shrunk 'em down to simple, easy-to-memorize rhymes. </span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 바탕;">For the record, neither of our first two interviews grilled us that way. Still, I'm prepared. Rhythmic and prepared!</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12pt;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Classical Method</span></b></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12pt;">It</span><span lang="EN-US">’</span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12pt;">s vocab and grammar, not Listen and Speak</span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12pt;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Oft used with dead languages: Latins and Greeks</span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12pt;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Direct Method</span></b></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><i><span lang="EN-US">“</span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12pt;">Learn L2 like L1</span><span lang="EN-US">”</span></i><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12pt;"> said Maxmilian Berlitz,</span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><i><span lang="EN-US">“</span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12pt;">with vocab and flashcards, a repetitive blitz!</span><span lang="EN-US">”</span></i><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12pt;"></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12pt;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Audiolingual Method</span></b></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12pt;">Learn structure and vocab through </span><span lang="EN-US">“</span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12pt;">building block</span><span lang="EN-US">”</span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12pt;"> scripts</span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12pt;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Using everyday language, like a phrasebook for trips</span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12pt;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Communicative Language Learning</span></b></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12pt;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Never mind being perfect, just be understood</span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12pt;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">With real-life simulations, like ordering food</span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12pt;"><b>Natural Approach</b></span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px;">Krashen's i + 1's how learning naturally goes;</span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12pt;">language one step tougher than what a student knows</span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12pt;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Total Physical Response</span></b></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12pt;">In this class you</span><span lang="EN-US">’</span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12pt;">ll be active and play <i>Simon Says</i></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12pt;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">To learn vocab through movement before turning a phrase</span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12pt;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Suggestopedia</span></b></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12pt;">If learning</span><span lang="EN-US">’</span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12pt;">s efficient when students are calm</span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12pt;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Use drama, games, rhyming, while listening to Brahms!</span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12pt;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Dogme</span></b></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12pt;">Engage with fresh topics drawn from students</span><span lang="EN-US">’</span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12pt;"> choices</span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12pt;">Don</span><span lang="EN-US">’</span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12pt;">t bore them with textbooks, just use your own voices</span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12pt;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Silent Method</span></b></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12pt;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Language is modeled through Cuisenaire rods</span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12pt;">It</span><span lang="EN-US">’</span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12pt;">s the students who speak, while the teacher just nods</span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12pt;"><b>Affective Filter</b></span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12pt;">Students are timid and slow to progress</span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12pt;">When their learning</span><span lang="EN-US">’</span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12pt;">s impeded by boredom, shyness</span></span></div>
<br />Anne Mhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14062316316772698617noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5963613366300244641.post-51192704478257138312011-11-20T08:27:00.001-05:002011-11-20T08:57:08.134-05:0015 small truths about eating in Korea<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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1. If you have even the slightest hunch that the meat you're eating is pig's feet, you're probably correct.<br />
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2. Here, cherry tomatoes and mayonnaise are key ingredients in a fruit salad.<br />
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3. "Hamburger steak" is exactly what you're picturing.<br />
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4. Puffed rice snacks that are surprisingly tasty: onion, chocolate, and shrimp flavours. Puffed rice snack that is unforgivably bad: banana.<br />
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5. In the public Korean saunas, it is common to take a seat in the communal changeroom and have a snack, naked. Most locker rooms have a booth selling foods that I don't personally consider to be nude-appropriate, like hard-boiled eggs, dried squid, and yogurt.<br />
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6. Sometimes, even in the most rustic-looking Korean dishes, you'll get a taste of mustard. Go with it.<br />
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7. Barbecued kimchi is absolute heaven.<br />
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8. Apple kimchi, though frustratingly rare, is equally heavenly.<br />
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9. Most Korean food is soft enough that you can slice it with a spoon. See #3, hamburger steak.<br />
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10. When you order a noodle dish that comes with half a hard-boiled egg on top, eat the egg first. It's meant to coat your stomach and get it warmed up for some digesting.<br />
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11. A genius little Korean snack stand invention is the cup/bowl. A soft drink will come with a deep bowl-like lid, usually filled with chicken nuggets and some spicy sauce. Genius.<br />
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12. If you're sick, don't let anyone see you eating an apple. I've never been told why, but it's a very common belief that apples aggravate illness.<br />
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13. Chopstick trouble? Many restaurants can provide you with flexible little bands that loop around your chopsticks. They're for toddlers, but hey, so is spilling food down your shirt.<br />
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14. Never agree to play a food-related game with teenagers. Nine times out of ten, it's an awkward kissing game where two kids bite either end of a Cheeto like the Lady and the Tramp on their spaghetti date.<br />
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15. If you've been in Korea for longer than 2 days, you've probably eaten Spam. Don't fight it.Anne Mhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14062316316772698617noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5963613366300244641.post-20399792684776494342011-11-08T00:14:00.002-05:002011-11-08T00:14:45.140-05:00Peace between Englishes: do it for the children<br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">The memory is as vivid and painful as middle school gym class traumas.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">This class of 8-year-old students was sweet, funny, and inquisitive. One day, I wrote on the whiteboard, “<em>what is your favourite…”</em> something or other. Each one started giggling, the loud and rocking laughing fit that never goes away without a fight.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><strong>“Teacher, bad spell!”</strong> They crowed. They pointed. They laughed on and on. For the rest of the lesson they were a little rowdier, a little slower in their work, a little snarkier in their jokes. My upper hand had fallen. At the end of the lesson, I explained to them that English spelling is sometimes inconsistent, that many words have two different ways of being spelled. They nodded, they stopped snarking at me, but the confusion on their faces were clear.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Now I could have sat them down the next day to talk about British and American English (and its little-used cousin, Canadian English). I could have explained world Englishes and run them through drills on <em>traveled/travelled, tire/tyre, center/centre</em>. We could have branched out into weeks of lessons. </span><em><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Rubbish in the bin! Trash in the garbage can! Truck in the parking lot! Lorry in the carpark! </span></em><br />
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<em><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"> </span></em><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">I didn’t plan any such lesson.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Why?</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Because they were 8 freaking years old, and had only recently learned </span><em><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes. </span></em><br />
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<em><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"> </span></em><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Really, do we need to be chucking these regionally-specific terms at them? Are we so nationalistic, such gung-ho peddlers of our nation’s parlance that we’ll pretend your average Glaswegian won’t understand “<em>candy,”</em> or a Californian will scratch her head over </span><em><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">“at the weekend”? </span></em><br />
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<em><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"> </span></em><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">We’re halfway through the fall semester here in Korea. It’s that time of year when the September intake of ESL teachers start getting irked by all the American spelling and vocabulary in Korean textbooks.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><em>“I’m giving my elementary school students a lesson on the Queen’s English,”</em> a Brit will say semi-jokingly. <em>“I’ve made a whole PowerPoint for the Grade 5 class on British and American spelling,”</em> another will chime in. I sigh.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Should English language learners study these differences? Yes, of course. When they reach a high enough level of comprehension, I’m confident they can take on these nuances without much confusion.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">But come<em> </em>on, elementary school students? Kids who are still learning past simple? Students who consult dictionaries when listing off the months of the year? <em>These </em>students need to understand the tiny cultural divides of the language they barely grasp as it is?</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">I say no.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">I say, come <em>on</em> teachers. When planning these World English lessons, ask yourself how much this will benefit the students. Touch on the different spellings or synonyms, fine, tackle individual words when they come up. But a whole lesson telling students that their already tiny vocabularies have a set of synonymous twins? </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">I’m a pretty basic Korean speaker. If my tutor came in one day and proclaimed that 15% of my tiny Korean vocabulary can be said or spelled in a totally different way, my brain would melt. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">So please language teachers, declare peace between world Englishes until your students reach a level where they can take it all in. That may take years, but hey, language acquisition is no cakewalk, no matter where your teacher is from.</span><br />
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<br />Anne Mhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14062316316772698617noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5963613366300244641.post-20922589192971926822011-10-26T09:56:00.003-04:002011-10-26T09:56:55.803-04:00Heck yeah, Japan!It was everything I thought it would be!<br />
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The shopping malls were as sterile as hospitals. The fish was briny fresh. The billboard models were simultaneously sexy and infantile. The fashion was eclectic and neon. The salarymen, after dark, were tipsy and jovial.<br />
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I loved Japan. Five days in Fukuoka just made me jacked to visit again.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I like a neighbourhood grocery store with a sense of humour.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Duckboat wranglers.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Space candy</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-jSA85q__yqU/TqgO7OMiLSI/AAAAAAAAAYg/swZGO9E7qPc/s1600/DSCN4487.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-jSA85q__yqU/TqgO7OMiLSI/AAAAAAAAAYg/swZGO9E7qPc/s320/DSCN4487.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Greatest park sight ever. I never could deduce how the hat stayed on.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-D1xkbWhxFlg/TqgPFK_DV4I/AAAAAAAAAYo/LEbzK-li7vg/s1600/DSCN4510.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-D1xkbWhxFlg/TqgPFK_DV4I/AAAAAAAAAYo/LEbzK-li7vg/s320/DSCN4510.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Stunning temple. That hike was hot, sweaty, punitive, worth it.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-IZQF44lJJdw/TqgPLXFIktI/AAAAAAAAAYw/6Mc_k8sg5d0/s1600/DSCN4523.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-IZQF44lJJdw/TqgPLXFIktI/AAAAAAAAAYw/6Mc_k8sg5d0/s320/DSCN4523.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Street noodles. This is not your dormmate's ramen.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-NDPGPvXpv_Y/TqgPPfG9BwI/AAAAAAAAAY4/vYII5YTd1RE/s1600/DSCN4529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-NDPGPvXpv_Y/TqgPPfG9BwI/AAAAAAAAAY4/vYII5YTd1RE/s320/DSCN4529.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">New friends. They gave us Asahi. We gave them our paper fans from a pachinko parlour.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-EWToQWOKtcM/TqgPc-q1o3I/AAAAAAAAAZA/zdZtDTgZW78/s1600/DSCN4561.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-EWToQWOKtcM/TqgPc-q1o3I/AAAAAAAAAZA/zdZtDTgZW78/s320/DSCN4561.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A Fukuoka Hawks baseball game, where a crowd inciter led cheers through a megaphone.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-NMhW0ivwkwY/TqgPrGqh45I/AAAAAAAAAZI/TVeL-1hrqyM/s1600/DSCN4580.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-NMhW0ivwkwY/TqgPrGqh45I/AAAAAAAAAZI/TVeL-1hrqyM/s320/DSCN4580.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The 7th inning balloon release where spermy-looking inflatables swiggle skywards towards the diaphragm-like stadium dome.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-wCp1fXGco8M/TqgP1tQOw_I/AAAAAAAAAZQ/SOtxrMnUue8/s1600/DSCN4584.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-wCp1fXGco8M/TqgP1tQOw_I/AAAAAAAAAZQ/SOtxrMnUue8/s320/DSCN4584.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sashimi at the fish market.</td></tr>
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<br />Anne Mhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14062316316772698617noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5963613366300244641.post-9090523546381212042011-09-29T02:47:00.000-04:002011-09-29T02:47:41.961-04:00The CREEPIEST way to learn the alphabet in Korea<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-sY2zeHOaggk/ToQUJfIuxsI/AAAAAAAAAYE/qPJGy-FJ-mg/s1600/vline.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320px" kca="true" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-sY2zeHOaggk/ToQUJfIuxsI/AAAAAAAAAYE/qPJGy-FJ-mg/s320/vline.jpg" width="258px" /></a></div>Last winter, I caught a nasty flu. <br />
<br />
People told me I looked tired, weak, terrible. <br />
<br />
Around Day 5, I started getting compliments.<br />
<br />
"You have a V-line!" one usually timid coworker told me, pressing down her own cheeks with either palm. <br />
<br />
V-line, dontcha know, is the Ideal Face Shape: a pointed chin and sleek, non-chubby cheeks. <br />
<br />
I had never heard the term before then, but it seems that Korea loves using alphabetspeak when describing, of all things, body types. If you look around, you'll notice that those health drinks hawked by foxy Korean starlets are always pushed for their "S 라인" properties. That is, they will help your body achieve the coveted S-line, a curvy womanly body. <br />
<br />
I had to look these up online. It's a weird system, but I was really hoping there would be more.<br />
<br />
And there are! The good, the bad, and the shamefully flabby.<br />
<br />
<strong><span style="color: orange;">B-line:</span></strong> big rack, big belly<br />
<br />
<strong><span style="color: orange;">D-line:</span></strong> pregnant, or pregnant-looking<br />
<br />
<strong><span style="color: orange;">M-line:</span></strong> on men, taut six-pack abs<br />
<br />
<span style="color: orange;"><strong>O-line:</strong></span> round like Chris Farley. Shame on you.<br />
<br />
<span style="color: orange;"><strong>S-line: </strong></span><span style="color: black;">a buxom, curvy body, when viewed from the side. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: orange;"><strong>V-line: </strong></span><span style="color: black;">a slim face with a narrow chin</span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: orange;"><strong>W-<span style="color: orange;">line</span></strong></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: orange;">:</span> sizeable breasts</span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: orange;"><strong>X-line</strong></span><span style="color: orange;"><strong>: </strong></span><span style="color: black;">long legs and arms with a narrow waist</span>Anne Mhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14062316316772698617noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5963613366300244641.post-76297816979909218862011-09-05T21:38:00.004-04:002011-09-05T22:38:11.877-04:00On hoping to "just pick up" the language<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-PfYKezDn2qo/TmV5gDbnchI/AAAAAAAAAYA/0Y1xjqF98UU/s1600/speaking.bmp" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="318px" nba="true" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-PfYKezDn2qo/TmV5gDbnchI/AAAAAAAAAYA/0Y1xjqF98UU/s320/speaking.bmp" width="320px" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span lang="EN-US">First, you will learn </span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-ascii-font-family: 바탕;">“</span><span lang="EN-US">hello</span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-ascii-font-family: 바탕;">”</span><span lang="EN-US"> and </span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-ascii-font-family: 바탕;">“</span><span lang="EN-US">thank you.</span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-ascii-font-family: 바탕;">”</span><span lang="EN-US"> For weeks, you will marvel at just how far you can get with those two bits of speech, how people smile at you for attempting their native tongue.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span lang="EN-US">You will learn the word for </span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-ascii-font-family: 바탕;">“</span><span lang="EN-US">foreigner,</span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-ascii-font-family: 바탕;">”</span><span lang="EN-US"> hearing it constantly from young children and old ladies as you pass them on the street. </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span lang="EN-US">You will learn how to say </span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-ascii-font-family: 바탕;">“</span><span lang="EN-US">how are you?</span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-ascii-font-family: 바탕;">”</span><span lang="EN-US"> You will learn </span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-ascii-font-family: 바탕;">“</span><span lang="EN-US">good</span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-ascii-font-family: 바탕;">”</span><span lang="EN-US"> and, later, </span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-ascii-font-family: 바탕;">“</span><span lang="EN-US">tired.</span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-ascii-font-family: 바탕;">”</span><span lang="EN-US"> It will be months before you learn any other possible answers to that question. It will be half a year before you learn that here, they don</span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-ascii-font-family: 바탕;">’</span><span lang="EN-US">t do the </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-ascii-font-family: 바탕;">“</span><span lang="EN-US">how are you? Fine thank you</span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-ascii-font-family: 바탕;">”</span></i><span lang="EN-US"> small talk of your home country. </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span lang="EN-US">You will buy a textbook, phrasebook, and/or dictionary. You will camp out in coffeeshops on afternoons off, learning materials in hand, hoping someone will approach you and offer some </span><span lang="EN-US">conversation practice.</span><span lang="EN-US"> </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span lang="EN-US">On the bus, you will eavesdrop on bickering couples, giggling schoolgirls, businessmen on the phone with their wives. You will rake over each sentence in your mind, cheering on the inside when you recognize a word. Those words will be the simplest nouns, </span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-ascii-font-family: 바탕;">“</span><span lang="EN-US">house</span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-ascii-font-family: 바탕;">”</span><span lang="EN-US"> or </span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-ascii-font-family: 바탕;">“</span><span lang="EN-US">friend</span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-ascii-font-family: 바탕;">”</span><span lang="EN-US"> or </span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-ascii-font-family: 바탕;">“</span><span lang="EN-US">food.</span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-ascii-font-family: 바탕;">”</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span lang="EN-US">You will learn to ask </span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-ascii-font-family: 바탕;">“</span><span lang="EN-US">how much is this?</span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-ascii-font-family: 바탕;">”</span><span lang="EN-US"> long before you learn the numbers necessary to explain a price. Most salespeople and waiters have calculators on hand anyway, to punch out the number and show you. </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span lang="EN-US">You will learn three different ways of saying </span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-ascii-font-family: 바탕;">“</span><span lang="EN-US">okay,</span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-ascii-font-family: 바탕;">”</span><span lang="EN-US"> but still, </span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-ascii-font-family: 바탕;">“</span><span lang="EN-US">okay</span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-ascii-font-family: 바탕;">”</span><span lang="EN-US"> will be the first word out of your mouth when you</span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-ascii-font-family: 바탕;">’</span><span lang="EN-US">re agreeing with someone.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">You will learn how to order food, order beer, buy chocolate bars from the corner shop. </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span lang="EN-US">You will learn how to say </span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-ascii-font-family: 바탕;">“</span><span lang="EN-US">I like _________,</span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-ascii-font-family: 바탕;">”</span><span lang="EN-US"> and spend days milking this milestone, rattling off lists to cab drivers and market vendors. </span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-ascii-font-family: 바탕;">“</span><span lang="EN-US">I like Michael Jackson.</span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-ascii-font-family: 바탕;">”</span><span lang="EN-US"> </span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-ascii-font-family: 바탕;">“</span><span lang="EN-US">I like Santa Claus.</span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-ascii-font-family: 바탕;">”</span><span lang="EN-US"> </span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-ascii-font-family: 바탕;">“</span><span lang="EN-US">I like beer.</span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-ascii-font-family: 바탕;">”</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span lang="EN-US">You will not learn the days of the week or months of the year. You will not learn to tell time. You will not learn any numbers past 10. You will not be able to translate </span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-ascii-font-family: 바탕;">“</span><span lang="EN-US">head, shoulders, knees and toes.</span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-ascii-font-family: 바탕;">”</span><span lang="EN-US"> Not for months and months. </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span lang="EN-US">If you</span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-ascii-font-family: 바탕;">’</span><span lang="EN-US">re an ESL teacher, you will learn </span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-ascii-font-family: 바탕;">“</span><span lang="EN-US">sit down</span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-ascii-font-family: 바탕;">”</span><span lang="EN-US"> and </span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-ascii-font-family: 바탕;">“</span><span lang="EN-US">be quiet.</span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-ascii-font-family: 바탕;">”</span><span lang="EN-US"> You will learn </span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-ascii-font-family: 바탕;">“</span><span lang="EN-US">textbook,</span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-ascii-font-family: 바탕;">”</span><span lang="EN-US"> </span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-ascii-font-family: 바탕;">“</span><span lang="EN-US">pencil,</span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-ascii-font-family: 바탕;">”</span><span lang="EN-US"> and </span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-ascii-font-family: 바탕;">“</span><span lang="EN-US">eraser.</span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-ascii-font-family: 바탕;">”</span><span lang="EN-US"> When the students all chirp a word proudly, waving worksheets in the air, you will deduce that it means </span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-ascii-font-family: 바탕;">“</span><span lang="EN-US">finished.</span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-ascii-font-family: 바탕;">”</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span lang="EN-US">Your peers will keenly teach you swear words. Before you can count to ten, you will know how to say f**k, sh*t, f**k off, and at least one nasty line about someone</span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-ascii-font-family: 바탕;">’</span><span lang="EN-US">s mother.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span lang="EN-US">You will learn </span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-ascii-font-family: 바탕;">“</span><span lang="EN-US">I don</span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-ascii-font-family: 바탕;">’</span><span lang="EN-US">t want</span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-ascii-font-family: 바탕;">”</span><span lang="EN-US"> after being approached by aggressive vendors in the market, or children selling roses on the street. You will learn that there</span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-ascii-font-family: 바탕;">’</span><span lang="EN-US">s no point trying to say it politely. </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span lang="EN-US">You will learn </span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-ascii-font-family: 바탕;">“</span><span lang="EN-US">delicious,</span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-ascii-font-family: 바탕;">”</span><span lang="EN-US"> and say it happily after every meal. </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span lang="EN-US">You will learn </span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-ascii-font-family: 바탕;">“</span><span lang="EN-US">I love you,</span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-ascii-font-family: 바탕;">”</span><span lang="EN-US"> and smile every time you hear a voice whisper this to another in an unassuming crowd. </span></span></div>Anne Mhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14062316316772698617noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5963613366300244641.post-9373152473841911452011-08-24T09:08:00.000-04:002011-08-24T09:08:05.236-04:00The morning commute of an ESL teacher<br />
I brought my camera to work one day. <br />
<br />
I was going to make a great day-in-the-life photo essay of my workday.<br />
<br />
The battery died before I even passed the front gate. <br />
<br />
I had snapped some photos of my morning walk for context. It was all ho-hum stuff to me, the surroundings I glimpse every day. A squat doorframe, crates of empty soda bottles, motorcycles parked in an alley. My eyes scan past them each morning. It was only when I stopped to take photos that I saw these images standing alone, each revealing a quirky little insight into Korean living.<br />
<br />
Enjoy.<br />
<br />
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</div><div><span id="goog_1631559127"></span><span id="goog_1631559128"></span></div>Anne Mhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14062316316772698617noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5963613366300244641.post-24074434514285067522011-08-08T23:05:00.008-04:002011-08-08T23:10:22.635-04:00Korean Snacks, Vol II: Rehydration<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large;">Korean summers in a word: thirsty.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large;"><br />
</span></div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large;">I'm not much of a soft drink person, and tend to avoid sugary convenience store drinks. Still, when the temperature has climbed to the point where stepping out my door is akin to opening an oven door, I need refreshment. Like, every 5 minutes.</span></div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large;"><br />
</span></div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large;">Korean marts have zillions of drinks, ranging from the familiar (Coca Cola) to the odd (black bean tea, which I didn't have the balls to sample in this experiment). I've culled a selection of uniquely Korean drinks for a taste-test. Thirsty? Read on. Also, don't laugh at the wallpaper by my desk.</span></div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large;"><br />
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</span></div><div style="font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: center;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large;">Ryoo</span></b><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-hp2HaJqfE3k/TkCf_1ad3hI/AAAAAAAAAWQ/cNTpt1IzeOs/s1600/DSCN4378.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-hp2HaJqfE3k/TkCf_1ad3hI/AAAAAAAAAWQ/cNTpt1IzeOs/s320/DSCN4378.JPG" width="240" /></span></a></div><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large;"><br />
</span></b></div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large;"><b></b></span></div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large;">It looks like some kind of iced tea, which I always love. Ingredients include oolong tea, ginseng, and something that translated on Babelfish as "tangerine mouth."</span></div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large;"><br />
</span></div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large;"><b>The Look:</b> Overbrewed green tea</span></div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large;"><br />
</span></div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large;"><b>The Smell:</b> Sourdough bread</span></div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large;"><br />
</span></div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large;"><b>The Taste: </b>Earthy and wheaty, like the mildest beer ever brewed. It's not at all sweet and definitely tastes healthy, like a homeopathic elixir from an oriental medicine clinic. For all I know, it could be curative. I imagine it would be good served hot, like barley tea. </span></div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large;"><br />
</span></div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large;"><b>Surprise!</b>: This was the first drink I sampled after sweating my way home from the convenience store. It <i>is </i>thirst quenching, I'll give it that.</span></div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large;"><br />
</span></div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large;"><b>The Verdict</b>: Probably an acquired taste. Still, I wouldn't pass it up on a hot day.</span></div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large;"><br />
</span></div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large;"><br />
</span></div><div style="font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: center;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large;">Aloe Nectar</span></b><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-CEhI0maAG2k/TkCgg1ZqNZI/AAAAAAAAAWU/l4I7x5w0nVw/s1600/DSCN4383.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-CEhI0maAG2k/TkCgg1ZqNZI/AAAAAAAAAWU/l4I7x5w0nVw/s320/DSCN4383.JPG" width="240" /></span></a></div><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large;"><br />
</span></b></div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large;"><b></b></span></div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large;"><b>The Look: </b>Pale green and cloudy.</span></div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large;"><br />
</span></div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large;"><b>The Smell</b>: Very sweet! Like Sprite.</span></div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large;"><br />
</span></div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large;"><b>The Taste</b>: Sugary and a bit grassy. It's slippery going down, with the pieces of aloe floating around. I'm sure the sugar kick comes in handy if you're sweaty and dehydrated. I couldn't find a brand that was 100% juice, and I wonder how different a pure juice would be.</span></div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large;"><br />
</span></div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large;"><b>Surprise!</b>: I thought the gobs of aloe would be squishy like tapioca in bubble tea. They're crisp and sweet like bits of apple. Thumbs up!</span></div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large;"><br />
</span></div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large;"><b>The Verdict</b>: Yes yes yes. I'm sure it's jacked with more sugar than juice, but it's darn tasty.</span><br />
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</span></div><div style="font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: center;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large;">Nostalgia Rice Drink</span></b><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-1G2arHy0Yy8/TkCg3K6iC0I/AAAAAAAAAWY/w8545cOnKH4/s1600/DSCN4399.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-1G2arHy0Yy8/TkCg3K6iC0I/AAAAAAAAAWY/w8545cOnKH4/s320/DSCN4399.JPG" width="240" /></span></a></div><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large;"><br />
</span></b></div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large;"><b></b></span></div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large;">I've had a version of this traditional sweet rice drink before in my school cafeteria. It was aggressively sweet then, but hey, cafeteria food isn't exactly a hallmark of cuisine, right? Round two.</span></div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large;"><b></b></span></div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large;"><b>The Look</b>: Murky puddle.</span></div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large;"><br />
</span></div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large;"><b>The Smell</b>: It's a malty, molasses smell, like dark beer.</span></div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large;"><br />
</span></div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large;"><b>The Taste</b>: Still cloying at first, but the aftertaste is pretty nice, like toasted rice. That sounds weird, considering the drink is ice cold, but I don't mind it. </span></div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large;"><br />
</span></div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large;"><b>Surprise!</b>: There's a good tablespoon's worth of rice floating around at the bottom, which amps up the nutrition I guess. In the name of science, I sampled a spoonful. <b>Don't. Eat. The. Rice.</b> It's like wet newspaper. Just swallow them in a glug if you want the energy.</span></div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large;"><br />
</span></div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large;"><b>The Verdict</b>: I bet it would hit the spot on a hike when you want some calories to keep you going. For everyday? Meh.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large;"><br />
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<div style="font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: center;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large;">Milkis</span></b></div><div style="font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: center;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large;"><br />
</span></b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-PHh6xUd67iY/TkChJOwIhLI/AAAAAAAAAWc/P4hcb9uT7Cg/s1600/DSCN4405.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-PHh6xUd67iY/TkChJOwIhLI/AAAAAAAAAWc/P4hcb9uT7Cg/s320/DSCN4405.JPG" width="240" /></span></a></div><div style="font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: center;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large;"><br />
</span></b></div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large;"><b></b></span></div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large;">I've never seen anyone buy or drink Milkis, but the can is pretty cute. There have been great marriages before between dairy and fizz, right? Root beer floats? American Yoo-hoo? Bring it on.</span></div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large;"><br />
</span></div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large;"><b>The Look</b>: Milk. Right down to the bubbles at the top of the glass.</span></div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large;"><br />
</span></div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large;"><b>The Smell</b>: Soft-serve vanilla ice cream.</span></div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large;"><br />
</span></div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large;"><b>The Taste</b>: Like a root beer float without the root beer. Like cream soda with a stronger vanilla taste.</span></div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large;"><br />
</span></div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large;"><b>Surprise!</b>: I hear it tastes great paired with soju (Korean rice alcohol). That's my Friday night sorted.</span></div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large;"><br />
</span></div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large;"><b>The Verdict</b>: Capital-R refreshing. Really sweet (notice the theme here?) but definitely tasty. </span></div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large;"><br />
</span></div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large;"><br />
</span></div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large;"><br />
</span></div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large;">For more Korean snacks, read the first installment, <a href="http://annemerritt.blogspot.com/2011/04/korean-snacks-vol-1-vegetable-donuts.html">Korean Snacks, Vol I: Vegetable Donuts</a></span></div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><br />
</div></div>Anne Mhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14062316316772698617noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5963613366300244641.post-36544254615791097142011-07-29T21:24:00.000-04:002011-07-29T21:24:05.841-04:00An open letter to my Estonian readers<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-AKi1OaF6mEs/TjNdD5Nx0-I/AAAAAAAAAWM/HFKRl2QeAew/s1600/images.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-AKi1OaF6mEs/TjNdD5Nx0-I/AAAAAAAAAWM/HFKRl2QeAew/s1600/images.jpeg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Anne Merritt. Clothes on.</td></tr>
</tbody></table><br />
<br />
Dear Estonian audience,<br />
<br />
<br />
I'm not the Anne Merritt you're likely searching for.<br />
<div><br />
</div><div>Last week, I was excited to look at my blog stats and see a sharp spike in traffic coming out of Estonia.<br />
<br />
I visited the country four years ago, and loved it. The cities were like cosy snow globe towns dotted with witty anti-Bush graffiti. The food was fresh and hearty. The people were polite and kind. I've been encouraging other travellers to see the Baltics ever since.</div><div><br />
</div><div>But why the sudden popularity in Estonia?</div><div><br />
</div><div>A curious parallel was noted in the blog stats. Earlier this month, around the same time that my readership rose in Estonia, a pattern of keyword searches also emerged.<br />
<br />
<b>"Anne Merritt porn."</b><br />
<b>"Anne Merritt porno."</b><br />
<br />
Very curious.<br />
<br />
I Googled it (wouldn't you?) and found that there's another Anne Merritt on the internet airwaves, doing sexy stuff for a very zoomed-in camera. The video is short, but seems to be making quite the splash on Baltic adult film sites.<br />
<br />
The real kicker? This other Anne Merritt also has brown hair, pale skin, and a big nose. If you only knew my face from thumbnail author photos, you'd be forgiven for thinking she and I were the same person.<br />
<br />
We're not the same person.<br />
<br />
I'm sure you're disappointed that your x-rated Google search brought you to a blog where I talk about teaching, moon over Korean pop music, and eat weird things.<br />
<br />
But if you can, stick around a while. I'm glad you're here.<br />
<br />
<br />
Terviseks,<br />
<br />
Anne</div><div><br />
</div><div><br />
</div><div><br />
</div><div><br />
</div><div><br />
</div><div><br />
</div>Anne Mhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14062316316772698617noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5963613366300244641.post-60724945831321498382011-07-06T22:12:00.003-04:002011-07-07T03:30:37.000-04:00Five MORE Reasons to Love K-Pop<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><br />
</b></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Last winter, I wrote a <a href="http://annemerritt.blogspot.com/2010/12/four-reasons-to-love-k-pop.html">blog post</a> about my favourite K-pop videos, and why it's perfectly fine for a grown woman to love them. </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Well, it's high time I share Korea's summer soundtracks, along with more reasons to listen to K-pop. Not that you need them. It's cultural immersion. Right? Right?</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><br />
</b></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b>1. K-Pop stars, they're just like us</b></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Some <em>wild</em> pop scandals in the news lately. First, <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cAr-rhGkXzY">MC Mong</a> is arrested for </span><a href="http://www.allkpop.com/2011/03/mc-mong-breaks-out-in-tears-during-recent-trial"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">evading military service</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">, now Big Bang's Daesung commits </span><a href="http://www.allkpop.com/2011/06/big-bangs-daesungs-car-accident-the-story-so-far"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">manslaughter</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">? ESL teachers, if your students are acting listless, bring up these scandals and the girls will talk til their jaws are sore. Communicative English!</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/IKZEmLvYVF0?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b>2. You can learn some Korean.</b></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Nae-ga che jal ah ga. Nae-ga che jal ah ga. </span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Look at you, speaking Korean. Phrases like these may not be superduper practical when it comes to getting around Korea or asking questions. But hey, robot-rapping "I am the best" will break the ice.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: xx-small;"></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><object class="BLOGGER-youtube-video" classid="clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000" codebase="http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=6,0,40,0" data-thumbnail-src="http://2.gvt0.com/vi/j7_lSP8Vc3o/0.jpg" height="266" width="320"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/j7_lSP8Vc3o&fs=1&source=uds" /><param name="bgcolor" value="#FFFFFF" /><embed width="320" height="266" src="http://www.youtube.com/v/j7_lSP8Vc3o&fs=1&source=uds" type="application/x-shockwave-flash"></embed></object></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b>3. </b></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b>They're playing their own instruments now!</b></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; margin: 0px; text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><br />
</b></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; margin: 0px; text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Well done, CNBlue.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; margin: 0px; text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; margin: 0px; text-align: left;"></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-weight: bold;"><br />
</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><object class="BLOGGER-youtube-video" classid="clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000" codebase="http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=6,0,40,0" data-thumbnail-src="http://1.gvt0.com/vi/_500iqJggs0/0.jpg" height="266" width="320"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/_500iqJggs0&fs=1&source=uds" /><param name="bgcolor" value="#FFFFFF" /><embed width="320" height="266" src="http://www.youtube.com/v/_500iqJggs0&fs=1&source=uds" type="application/x-shockwave-flash"></embed></object></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><br />
</b></span> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b>4. It's going west!</b></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Remember the K-pop concert in France that had to <a href="http://www.gokpop.com/news/smtown-paris-will-have-a-second-date::7561.html">add a second date</a> because it sold out within hours? Remember those images of screaming Parisian tweens holding "TVXQ 사랑해요!" signs?</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">K-pop is spreading, and groups are tweaking their sound for western ears. </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I think 2PM really owes us an apology for this Eurotrash video and it's disappointing dance sequences (did you know that 2PM are insane dancers? </span><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wLiLn91TKzc"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Watch</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">). Still, the song is catchy, and has "non-Korean audience" written all over it. </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><div style="text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/KgrB2KBZws4?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div></span><br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b>5. You can pick up some moves.</b></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Skip to 1:22 and tell me that doesn't look cool. I'm certain that this move is going to be the new <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JXxGo1MvNls">Shock</a>. Well done, B2ST.* </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: xx-small;"><br />
</span><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/ZAzWT8mRoR0?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: xx-small;">*</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: xx-small;">pronounced "Beast", in case you were curious</span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div>Anne Mhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14062316316772698617noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5963613366300244641.post-52534063175529860882011-07-04T10:08:00.001-04:002011-07-04T19:44:21.348-04:00On Summer Rain<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-BOGUHbewV8Y/ThHJMFVEKII/AAAAAAAAAV8/owgWduUmduY/s1600/5862536157_e3693fe1ac.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213px" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-BOGUHbewV8Y/ThHJMFVEKII/AAAAAAAAAV8/owgWduUmduY/s320/5862536157_e3693fe1ac.jpg" width="320px" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Photo by: <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/fframe/">FFrame</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It's not the kind of rain that falls hard. </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Instead, it drums calmly on rooftops and parked cars. It comes at night, always at night, to pool quietly on subway steps. To swell slowly in flowerboxes, old cardboard, doormats and toy trucks left forgotten on the balcony. </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It's not the kind of rain that cuts humidity. </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Instead, it soaks a mouldy wetness into the city. It hangs around in hot wet sidewalks and brown puddles. I picture it as eggs poured over a bowl of flour by a baker's hands. The flour fans up, hangs in the air, and settles down finely again. By morning, the heat settles down finely again. </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The students carry hand fans shaped like Batman masks, fans with pop star pictures, fans shaped like fat pink strawberries. In my classroom, they scavenge the cupboards and drawers for spare paper to shape into cups and fill with water. They slouch even more these days.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">My face, constantly, is the boiled-shrimp pink of overexertion. Five times a day, people ask about my health. Here, I sweat between my fingers. The small of my back, the arches of my feet. The pages of my books are all wrinkled from touch.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">At night, the barest breeze goes down the long corridor of my street. People come out slowly, always moving slowly these days. Kitchen doors hang open, and cooks in rubber aprons squat on their stoops, peeling sweet potatoes and snapping green onion stalks in two. </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">On balconies, you can spot the bobbing silhouette of a working housewife. You can hear the slap and drip of laundry washed by hand, the splash of thankful arms in cool water. </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span>Anne Mhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14062316316772698617noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5963613366300244641.post-992792191738156852011-06-27T00:44:00.001-04:002011-06-28T10:07:17.340-04:00Korean Massage, Soreness, Cucumber in my Hair <br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img height="213px" src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5149/5587641947_aca1a1902e.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="320px" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Photo by <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/uggboy/">uggboy</a></td></tr>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">"A naked 300-pound woman squirted 2 bottles of baby oil onto my back and started massaging as fast as a carwash. Relaxing? I had to hold in for dear life!"</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">That's how my friend Lisa described a Korean sauna treatment to me, years ago. I stayed away, for ages.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Yesterday, lured by the low low massage price at my favourite Korean sauna, I bit the bullet. </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Some notes:</span><br />
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<strong><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">the good</span></strong><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Price price price: the equivalent of $20 Canadian for a 45-minute facial, body scrub, massage.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Though the rest of the sauna runs at a relaxville snail's pace, the masseuses hum around very efficiently. Car wash, indeed. </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">My masseuse grated up a fresh, ice-cold cucumber and pressed the pulp onto my face, It felt superb.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">My chronically stiff shoulders feel pretty darn good.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I'm as smooth as a baby's bottom.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">A friend later called me "glowing."</span><br />
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<strong><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">the bad</span></strong><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">More than a few people looked over to gawk at my pink foreigner skin, which was pink as a shrimp platter from all the firm scrubbing.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Not gonna lie, there was a bit of pain as my masseuse lay her elbows into my vertebrae. I usually say "the deeper the better" when it comes to massage, but this was... pointy.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It was a little embarassing, just how much dead skin came off during the scrub. </span><br />
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<strong><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">the strange-ee</span></strong><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">My treatment table was covered in vinyl Burberry plaid. </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The rinsing off portion involved throwing warm buckets of water. </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Some parts of my body do not like being scrubbed like a kitchen soup pot. My armpits are sore.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The massage involved a lot of punching. Not to say it didn't feel nice....</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The verdict? Thumbs up. Go. Experience it. Share your story with me, please. </span>Anne Mhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14062316316772698617noreply@blogger.com2