With the help of Google translate and Mr. Kim, I finally translated some key phrases for my class. For example: No talking. Pencils down. Listen up. You have to stay with me after class. The efficacy of these rules will be tested tomorrow. I have my Seokyang sixth graders five times in three days: three regular classes and two after-school classes Mon/Tues. They're the first group I'm testing the new rules out on. I know they know what I'm saying now, but whether or not they choose to listen is a different story. I kicked a kid out today and sent him to his homeroom teacher's room. Mr. Kim told me the students fear the principal and VP, so next time I'll send him there (I think the principal might be gone though). We'll see.

Every day the mornings are a little cooler, but it still gets hot eventually. The past few mornings have been extremely foggy - I can't believe how damp it is here all the time.

I'm slowly learning all the kids' (English) names. Once I get those down I'm going to try and learn their Korean names as well. Since my Seokseoung classes are so small (10-12 students), I know a lot of theirs already. The kids like and remember their English names, which is great for me. I'm actually a little surprised they answer to them because I think I'd have a hard time remembering my foreign nickname... if my teacher said Jinyeoung or Jaelin or Youjin, I don't think I'd remember it was me.

So far the trickiest thing to teach has been primarily pronounciation. There's no Korean "f" sound, and they don't really distinguish between "b," "p," and I don't think there's a Korean "v." Also "g" and "k" as well as "l" and "r." The Romanization of Buyeo, my town, used to be Puyo, and another town, Busan, used to be Pusan. If you say it out loud, the B and P do sound awfully alike. The town of Ganggyeoung, for example, sounds more like Kangkyeoung to me when the Koreans say it. Therefore making these distinctions is pretty hard for my students and the teachers. I spent about ten minutes during lunch trying to explain the difference between "Luby" and "Ruby" to two third graders. I remember how frustrating learning the French "r" was, so I tell the kids they just need to practice.

I don't know the linguistical reason behind this, but Koreans like to add "y" to the end of a lot of words that don't need it, i.e. "lunch = lunchy" "dash = dashy" "slash = slashy" "finish = finishy." This habit is proving to be very hard to break. The kids are forever raising their hands and saying, "Finishy!" when they're done with their worksheets.

Today after my last class was over, Mr. Kim told me Mrs. Jee, the special ed teacher, was making songpyeon (rice cakes) with her class and I was invited. We went downstairs and she showed me how to make songpyeon, which looks a lot like green clay. It's rice and pa (which is some vegetable Mrs. Jee didn't know the name of in English). It reminded me a lot of pierogi... little circle of dough, put some sesame seeds and sugar or beans in the center, and fold into a half moon. Then you steam it. I ate some, and it didn't really taste like anything except for the sesame seeds/sugar or beans. Mrs. Jee's class is five students, but only two were around for the after-school class. She has one girl with Down's syndrome who really likes me. Mrs. Jee told me she's very smart even though she has Down's, and I'd have to agree. She always says hello and goodbye to me in the hallways and waves.