I realize this a big jump from the last comic. I have been in South Korea for over a week and I love it. The culture is a bit different than what I'm used to, but I think thats mostly due to the fact that I'm living in a city and not so much that it's a different continent. From what I remember of my few visits to Chicago/Boston/Atlanta, it's pretty much the same except 99.999% of the people are asian. And everyone is really quiet on the street, even when they are talking to each other. No screaming at cars here. But the trade off for this is that there are cellphone display kiosks like every 50 feet and they are all blasting often-terrible-often-nightmarishly-catchy Kpop, because that is all ANYONE listens to here. There are no other genres to be found. Your students listen to it. The old ladies (called 'ajumas') listen to it. Your Korean coteachers listen to it. The business men, walking to work in dignified suits and briefcases full of important legal documents, are listening to it on their pink iPods. I'm surprised my phone didn't come pre-installed with top 100 chart-topper Kpop ringtones.

BUT ANYWAY. The teaching is fun. Morning classes are separated by number (for example, second grade consists of the 2-1, 2-2, and 2-3 classes) and the afternoon classes are separated by color (for example, second grader consists of the 2 Red, 2 Blue, 2 Green and 2 Yellow classes). Some of these classes are very very good. They are all smart and attentive and literate; even some of the first graders can spell quite well. But, of course, some of these classes are nightmares. FOR EXAMPLE: Class 4 Green is amazing. They all know exactly what I'm saying and the context of my words, they can write full sentences with rare mistakes in spelling, and convey their thoughts and feelings with confident articulation. They are FOURTH graders. Then there is class 6 Red (I think; maybe 6 Blue). They suck. They barely understand English and they cannot write anything unless the sentence goes "I like (blank)" but then I have to tell them how to spell whatever word they are using in the blank, because they barely recognize the alphabet. They are SIXTH graders. These classes I usually attempt to give the lesson and play an organized game but, when clearly none of them will pay attention regardless of how much I shout or threaten punishment (which can only really be implemented through taking away points, which only applies if we are playing a game, and only for games that score them points (i.e. punishments don't really mean anything)), I then give up and give them paper to draw so they are at least doing SOMETHING constructive. These classes suck an astronomical amount of ass. When they are not hitting each other or on their cell phones, they are saying what I assume are mean things about me. I assume this because they say stuff in Korean and I occasionally hear either my name or a word I've come to recognize means 'teacher' and then they do that really cruel laughter that children do when they say something horrible about someone. But there's not really anything I can do about it. Thankfully, these classes are few. It makes me feel better that my coteachers, foreign and Korean alike, say that these classes are pretty much impossible and if you can teach them ANYTHING, then you're doing pretty good. As Jenny (Jeni? Je-ni? I don't know if this is her 'English name' or if it's her Korean name; it could go either way honestly) put it, "they have no desire." So oh well.

The rest of the kids are a mix of good and bad (mostly good so far, if not a bit over-energetic), so I can handle that. It's just when I get a class comprised entirely of bad kids, anywhere from 8-14 of them, I start to lose my control/hair/mind. Aaaaaaaaaa

Oh, and I guess I'm on a weekend baseball team now with some foreign guys I've met (from US, Canada, and New Zealand). They are all better than me and I play my first game on Saturday. I'll be the guy with a load in his diaper pants.