I (Vanessa) wrote a few posts about my experience at the orphanage. (click on the link to read) Below is what Kyle had to say and below that is a composition video.
A little over a month ago our school arranged to do a teach away program to some of the local schools and orphanages in the local area. The idea was to give some of the lower income kids around the area an opportunity to spend some time with a native English speaker. I spent 2 weeks at an after school daycare in Yangpyeong, the next town over. I had a wonderful time. My partner teacher Kelly was absolutely fantastic with the kids and for the most part, they were adorable. Most of them were around 4 to 5 and a few were in the 8-10 range. They were very shy at first, but by friday of the first week, they had warmed up to us and started asking questions like; “Teacher, why hair on arm?” I guess Koreans don’t really have arm hair. “Teacher, you like Kimchi?” I guess most foreigners don’t but I sure do. In small doses mind you. That stuff is potent. Anyways, the kids were lovely and I was very sad to have to leave. Perhaps one day soon, some of them will come to the Village.
If you can't see the video click here.
Showing posts sorted by relevance for query orphanage. Sort by date Show all posts
Showing posts sorted by relevance for query orphanage. Sort by date Show all posts
Saturday, April 17, 2010
Sunday, February 20, 2011
Teaching the mentally challenged
February is a slow month for school in Korea. I've never worked in a public school, so I'm not sure exactly what goes on, but we hardly ever have students in February. So instead of bringing students to the schools, we take the teachers out into the communities. Some of you might recall my posts about teaching at an orphanage last year. This teaching experience was part of the "teaching away" program that English village participates in every year. This year, however, many more schools signed up than ever before, including a facility, or a school for the mentally challenged. I don't speak Korean, which can make my life difficult sometimes living in Korea, where everybody speaks Korean, and only a few speak English. Because of this, I'm not sure of the details of this school in which we attended; such as how it is funded, and who all is admitted it there, but what I do know is that it was an entirely novel and trying experience. I should clarify that I only taught at this school twice. I've been assigned development for the month of February, however, I've only been able to focus precious few minutes on developing because everyday something pressing takes me away from my developing work. Two days this week, I was asked to substitute for teachers who were too weak and lazy to attend their classes. I mean, seriously, like a swollen lung and fever is enough reason to take off work. (this is sarcasm for those who can't read the tone of my voice) So with thirty minutes to prepare, I was piled into a van with all of the other teachers and was shipped off to this special school. The classrooms were well maintained, and honestly better than ours. Because I taught for two different teachers, I taught in four different classrooms, two each day.
I'm a little ashamed to say that I have a fear of the disabled. Not so much a fear, but discomfort. I think its the uncertainty of what they will do. A fear of the unknown. And a fear of the bodily fluids. A lot of people share this discomfort or fear, but I don't know really how to pinpoint the cause. Its the same reason people don't like hospitals or nursing homes.
On that first day, I laid my jacket on the podium, and anxiously awaited the arrival of my class. They streamed in some limping, some looking at the ground, one even holding her arm limp at her chest in the stereotypical way children or insensitive people make fun of the mentally challenged. Some of them were curious about me, some of them didn't notice me, however only one of them made eye contact. A teenage girl with neatly done pigtails, laid her head on the table and began to lightly tap her head with her fist. Another grunted loudly, raising his voice to a shout on occasion. Showing the Korean teacher the color by number pages I brought for our activity, she pointed out the students who would be able to do the activity. It was valentines day, so I had brought a coloring page resembling a stained glass window. Each section had a number, and the students were supposed to color each numbered section a specific color. I passed out the worksheet and colors. Two boys sitting side by side quietly responded to my instructions by picking out the correct color I had said in English and began coloring the correct sections. They even repeated "red, one" in English. I was astounded. Another of the capable students whose face was deformed in such a way that he looked like "Sloth" from "The Goonies" kept giving me the thumbs up. His coloring was focused but he wasn't able to follow the directions fully. The grunting student scribbled getting so far out of the lines he drew on the table as he squealed. I'm not sure if he was squealing out of emotion or if it was just something he did.
When the bell rang, I breathed a sigh of relief. One class over, and it hadn't been so bad. The next class was even more entertaining. An older lady with down syndrom never looked up from the circles she was drawing on her own paper. This teacher asked me to teach them a song. I knew that many of the teachers had been bringing coloring pages. No one knew exactly what to do with special needs, and since only a few of them were capable of even coloring, they were at a loss. One of the teachers decided she was going to make masks with the kids. She passed out the cut out faces with a chopstick all the while, the Korean teacher followed behind, picking up the wooden chopsticks. He mimed the chopstick sticking in their mouth and eye, and all she could do was laugh in desperation. "Just coloring then." she replied.
I sang "twinkle twinkle little star" in English. The teacher sang the Korean version, and some of the students hummed along while others continued to do what they had before, such as the sweet smiling girl at the corner who folded papers the entire class. She had a seemingly never ending supply of papers in her desk. She would take one out, fold it in half, open it, and fold a different crease in it, fold another crease, crumple the paper, put it away and pull out a new, clean paper. She did this until she ran out of paper towards the end of class, and then went to the cabinet to pull out more. A student entered late, a popular student, and the class began repeating his name occasionally yelling out "babo" or foolish. The popular student only laughed. "Kim Eunlee" cried the girl folding papers. "Kim Eunlee" repeated the boy who continually stood up to turn off the CD player and erase the board against the teachers wishes. Kim Eunlee would laugh and it would start again. This game made them dizzingly happy, and I laughed along with them. At one point I asked, "crazy?" after they had yelled out "babo" for the hundredth time, and they all started to yell out "crazy!" When the bell rang, I said goodbye feeling more confident with my abilities to deal with this group. I had walked in unsure of my capabilities and walked out an hour and a half later patting myself on the back, but with a greater appreciation for the teachers who teach these students daily, day after tiring day.
To be continued...day two... more trying than the first.
ps. I didn't bring a camera to either session as I didn't know before hand that I would be teaching at the school.
I'm a little ashamed to say that I have a fear of the disabled. Not so much a fear, but discomfort. I think its the uncertainty of what they will do. A fear of the unknown. And a fear of the bodily fluids. A lot of people share this discomfort or fear, but I don't know really how to pinpoint the cause. Its the same reason people don't like hospitals or nursing homes.
On that first day, I laid my jacket on the podium, and anxiously awaited the arrival of my class. They streamed in some limping, some looking at the ground, one even holding her arm limp at her chest in the stereotypical way children or insensitive people make fun of the mentally challenged. Some of them were curious about me, some of them didn't notice me, however only one of them made eye contact. A teenage girl with neatly done pigtails, laid her head on the table and began to lightly tap her head with her fist. Another grunted loudly, raising his voice to a shout on occasion. Showing the Korean teacher the color by number pages I brought for our activity, she pointed out the students who would be able to do the activity. It was valentines day, so I had brought a coloring page resembling a stained glass window. Each section had a number, and the students were supposed to color each numbered section a specific color. I passed out the worksheet and colors. Two boys sitting side by side quietly responded to my instructions by picking out the correct color I had said in English and began coloring the correct sections. They even repeated "red, one" in English. I was astounded. Another of the capable students whose face was deformed in such a way that he looked like "Sloth" from "The Goonies" kept giving me the thumbs up. His coloring was focused but he wasn't able to follow the directions fully. The grunting student scribbled getting so far out of the lines he drew on the table as he squealed. I'm not sure if he was squealing out of emotion or if it was just something he did.
When the bell rang, I breathed a sigh of relief. One class over, and it hadn't been so bad. The next class was even more entertaining. An older lady with down syndrom never looked up from the circles she was drawing on her own paper. This teacher asked me to teach them a song. I knew that many of the teachers had been bringing coloring pages. No one knew exactly what to do with special needs, and since only a few of them were capable of even coloring, they were at a loss. One of the teachers decided she was going to make masks with the kids. She passed out the cut out faces with a chopstick all the while, the Korean teacher followed behind, picking up the wooden chopsticks. He mimed the chopstick sticking in their mouth and eye, and all she could do was laugh in desperation. "Just coloring then." she replied.
I sang "twinkle twinkle little star" in English. The teacher sang the Korean version, and some of the students hummed along while others continued to do what they had before, such as the sweet smiling girl at the corner who folded papers the entire class. She had a seemingly never ending supply of papers in her desk. She would take one out, fold it in half, open it, and fold a different crease in it, fold another crease, crumple the paper, put it away and pull out a new, clean paper. She did this until she ran out of paper towards the end of class, and then went to the cabinet to pull out more. A student entered late, a popular student, and the class began repeating his name occasionally yelling out "babo" or foolish. The popular student only laughed. "Kim Eunlee" cried the girl folding papers. "Kim Eunlee" repeated the boy who continually stood up to turn off the CD player and erase the board against the teachers wishes. Kim Eunlee would laugh and it would start again. This game made them dizzingly happy, and I laughed along with them. At one point I asked, "crazy?" after they had yelled out "babo" for the hundredth time, and they all started to yell out "crazy!" When the bell rang, I said goodbye feeling more confident with my abilities to deal with this group. I had walked in unsure of my capabilities and walked out an hour and a half later patting myself on the back, but with a greater appreciation for the teachers who teach these students daily, day after tiring day.
To be continued...day two... more trying than the first.
ps. I didn't bring a camera to either session as I didn't know before hand that I would be teaching at the school.
Tuesday, June 14, 2011
Horror flicks
We've really been getting into scary movies recently. I'm not sure why or how it happened, but the thriller roller coaster has been let out of it's gate, and we've been holding on for dear life since. I've always liked scary movies. Not the slasher kinds, but the ones that get under the skin. It is tenebrous as to why I even like thrillers since they really frighten me- to the point where I spend a good majority of my time hiding under a blanket. Why would I subject my self to such torture? The answer is nebulous at best. But I continue to watch them voluntarily without coercion or force from others. I've listed some of the ones we've been watching below.
This movie is a Swedish psychological thriller. It has an unusual vampire in it, and isn't really SCARY, it's more strange, intriguing and disturbing. Let the Right One In. There is also an American version "Let me in." which is VERY similar to the Swedish version.
The Decent and The Decent 2 are British movies to which our British friends have recently introduced us. Basically the story is that a group of women descend into a cave get lost, and come upon "a surprise." This movie is frightening and very well done. It's frightening without the surprise. And the sequel is not bad. I rather liked it.Eden Lake is another British horror flick which has an unusual foe, a gang of children. It's kinda like "Lord of the Flies" with a British accent and probably a bit crueler.
Paranormal Activity 1 We saw last year with a group of Koreans and foreigners in our apartment. Afterwards, no one wanted to leave. They were too frightened to go back to their own apartments. Let's just say that it did the job of frightening the bageeseeis out of me. Paranormal 2 was not as good, but decent. I wasn't quite as scared, but that kind of made it a more enjoyable watching experience.
Misery (1999) is an older movie my Irish friend recommended. A man is trapped in a snowstorm, and is discovered and rescued by a woman who happens also to be a nurse. He's thankful to her for her treatment, until he realizes that she's his biggest fan (he's a famous writer) and she doesn't want to let him go.
Troll 2 is NOT a scary movie, although that was it's intention. If you look on IMDB, it has a 2.2/10 rating. There's a documentary made about this movie called, "the best worst movie." Basically, it's so terribly made, its hilarious. We watched it, not for the scare factor, but for the comedy. The title is Troll 2, but there aren't any Trolls, only goblins. All of the lead actors were applying for extra positions, and the Italian directors didn't speak English so all directions was done with sign language. The makings for a "FANTASTIC film."
The Orphanage is a Spanish film. Once again, this one is less scary, and more of just a psychological thriller. VERY good. I really enjoyed this film and highly recommend it. There are ghosts involved, but they aren't so frightening.
So there you have our recent Scary movie season. What good thrillers and or scary movies have you watched lately. What do you recommend?
Monday, August 01, 2011
Revisiting 2010
A while ago, I watched a video our friends had made of their previous year. At the end of 2010, I thought, I could do that! As I started to make the video, however, I came across an issue. Something happened in the formatting of some of our video footage. I couldn't figure out how to convert the strange format. Kyle said he thought he could fix it, but months later, it was still not accessible. I'd started making the project in 2010, but had decided to wait until the video footage was fixed. It's July of 2011, and I've decided, I've waited long enough. Most likely the footage wont be recovered until we are back in the states, and seeing as that will be quite a while, I decided to finish the project without the rest of the footage.
If you interested in whats going on in the video, I've provided a rudimentary list of events along with a few links to blog posts.
Click to watch in youtube
Ansan drama, Samgipsal dinner (BBQ pork), golden beauty- our first, very decorative, phone, ski trip- click here
Monk for a day
Teaching at an orphanage- (the middle two posts)
Deserted island trip
World cup
Jellamnom-do- in the south
The Russian students
mudfest
and part.2
Free trip
egg drop
Our schools version of immigration
Shopping in Seoul
Boracay- Vacation to the Philippines,
Hiking in Yongmun
One year birthday party
Halloween
Korean food
Everland
Bugs
Preschool- there are LOTS of preschool posts, here's one
Building an igloo
Vacation to Hawaii
Home for Christmas
Wow, that took way longer than I expected to link all those posts... I hope you look at them...
Note: The first two songs are Korean songs, and the last one is composed and played by our friend Michael Fontenot.
If you interested in whats going on in the video, I've provided a rudimentary list of events along with a few links to blog posts.
Click to watch in youtube
Ansan drama, Samgipsal dinner (BBQ pork), golden beauty- our first, very decorative, phone, ski trip- click here
Monk for a day
Teaching at an orphanage- (the middle two posts)
Deserted island trip
World cup
Jellamnom-do- in the south
The Russian students
mudfest
and part.2
Free trip
egg drop
Our schools version of immigration
Shopping in Seoul
Boracay- Vacation to the Philippines,
Hiking in Yongmun
One year birthday party
Halloween
Korean food
Everland
Bugs
Preschool- there are LOTS of preschool posts, here's one
Building an igloo
Vacation to Hawaii
Home for Christmas
Wow, that took way longer than I expected to link all those posts... I hope you look at them...
Note: The first two songs are Korean songs, and the last one is composed and played by our friend Michael Fontenot.
Friday, August 10, 2007
Peru Trip Play by Play
JUL11: Only Mayne arrives in Lima, because the families flight was delayed over 24 hours
JUL12: LIMA
Shopped, walked around, bargained, and ate fresh fish by the seafront
JUL13: LIMA – IQUITOS
flight to Iquitos at 520AM canceled. Lots of fighting to get another flight. Ran into the rest of the family at the airport. Book a hotle, eat breakfast, explore the city in crazy taxis, visit a church, and China town. Try to sleep over the noise of the highway
JUL14: TAHUAYO
Flight at 1 AM and arrive in Iquitos at 3 AM. 8 AM take a boat to our lodge. Eat lunch, bird watch, hike and hunt for crocodiles
JUL15: TAHUAYO
Lodge activities including the zipline, hiking, laying in hammocks, and eating lots of food
JUL16: TAHUAYO – LIMA
Morning at the a Native village market, and visit a local river school
JUL17: LIMA – PARACAS
Bus to Paracas. Tour of the the National Reserve. Sandunes, pelicans, sealions, and beautiful scenery
JUL18: PARACAS – NASCA
Ballestas Islands with smelly birds, sealions, dolphins, penguins and lots of fun
The Huacachina Lagoon a natural Oasis as well as other archaeological attractions along the way. Our guide is Enrique spoke beautiful English and took us on a dunebuggy which the Queens (Nancy, Mom and Mayne loved!! hee hee! Especially the speed and the bumps) and sandboarding. Lots of sand everywhere.
Arrive in Nasca exhausted but happy
JUL19: NASCA – LIMA
Flight over the Nazca Lines. Amazing! And crazy cemetary with 4,000 year old skeletons
JUL20: LIMA – CUSCO
Flight to Cusco. Altitude does not agree with almost everyone. Shopping, dinner and dance show. Wondeful, and colorful
JUL21: CUSCO
Sacred Valley tour. More shopping in Pisac. Inca ruins, cool stuff
JUL22: MACHU PICCHU – CUSCO
Aguas Calientes, the town right next to Machu Picchu.
Hang out and eat. Too tired to do much
JUL23: CUSCO
Transfer back to Cusco, funny train ride with crazy fashion show
JUL24: CUSCO
Nancy, Lisa, John leave for Texas. Mom leaves for Orphanage. Vanessa and Kyle take tour bus with English guide to Puno. Church, Inca ruins and good food.
JUL25: LAKE TITIKAKA
Uros and Taquile Excursion. Crazy thing about the floating islands. Big question is why do they make handmade Islands when there are perfectly good uninhabited islands. Dancing festival. Altitude did not agree with me
JUL26: LAKE TITIKAKA
Morning hike to see more ruins. Back to Puno where Kyle and I lounged around our comfy hotel and watched TV. Oh how wonderful not to do anything for half a day!
JUL27: PUNO – AREQUIPA
Bus to Arequipa, boring and long. Played eye spy! Ate dinner at an Italian restraunt and ordered pizza and sangria while listening to a blind accordian player play Italian music.
JUL28: COLCA CANYON
Tour to Colca Canyon, and Canyon that is twice as deep as the Grand Canyon in places. Was beautiful, but now we have to visit the Grand Canyon to compare. Our tour guide had an old injury in the middle of the tour causing our tour to be shortened. He was in so much pain, he was on the verge of tears. He couldn't move. Hot springs, which is always fun. Dinner show with funny peruvian dances where lovers pretend to die.
JUL29: COLCA CANYON
Beautiful and graceful Andian Condors. They have can have wing spans of 10 feet. Crazy!
JUL30: AREQUIPA – LIMA- SantiagoTravel Travel Travel. From 8 AM to 3 AM!! All the hostels in Santiago were full, evidently skiing is popular now, and had to go searching at 1:30 am for a hostel for the two of us. Really fun!
JUL12: LIMA
Shopped, walked around, bargained, and ate fresh fish by the seafront
JUL13: LIMA – IQUITOS
flight to Iquitos at 520AM canceled. Lots of fighting to get another flight. Ran into the rest of the family at the airport. Book a hotle, eat breakfast, explore the city in crazy taxis, visit a church, and China town. Try to sleep over the noise of the highway
JUL14: TAHUAYO
Flight at 1 AM and arrive in Iquitos at 3 AM. 8 AM take a boat to our lodge. Eat lunch, bird watch, hike and hunt for crocodiles
JUL15: TAHUAYO
Lodge activities including the zipline, hiking, laying in hammocks, and eating lots of food
JUL16: TAHUAYO – LIMA
Morning at the a Native village market, and visit a local river school
JUL17: LIMA – PARACAS
Bus to Paracas. Tour of the the National Reserve. Sandunes, pelicans, sealions, and beautiful scenery
JUL18: PARACAS – NASCA
Ballestas Islands with smelly birds, sealions, dolphins, penguins and lots of fun
The Huacachina Lagoon a natural Oasis as well as other archaeological attractions along the way. Our guide is Enrique spoke beautiful English and took us on a dunebuggy which the Queens (Nancy, Mom and Mayne loved!! hee hee! Especially the speed and the bumps) and sandboarding. Lots of sand everywhere.
Arrive in Nasca exhausted but happy
JUL19: NASCA – LIMA
Flight over the Nazca Lines. Amazing! And crazy cemetary with 4,000 year old skeletons
JUL20: LIMA – CUSCO
Flight to Cusco. Altitude does not agree with almost everyone. Shopping, dinner and dance show. Wondeful, and colorful
JUL21: CUSCO
Sacred Valley tour. More shopping in Pisac. Inca ruins, cool stuff
JUL22: MACHU PICCHU – CUSCO
Aguas Calientes, the town right next to Machu Picchu.
Hang out and eat. Too tired to do much
JUL23: CUSCO
Transfer back to Cusco, funny train ride with crazy fashion show
JUL24: CUSCO
Nancy, Lisa, John leave for Texas. Mom leaves for Orphanage. Vanessa and Kyle take tour bus with English guide to Puno. Church, Inca ruins and good food.
JUL25: LAKE TITIKAKA
Uros and Taquile Excursion. Crazy thing about the floating islands. Big question is why do they make handmade Islands when there are perfectly good uninhabited islands. Dancing festival. Altitude did not agree with me
JUL26: LAKE TITIKAKA
Morning hike to see more ruins. Back to Puno where Kyle and I lounged around our comfy hotel and watched TV. Oh how wonderful not to do anything for half a day!
JUL27: PUNO – AREQUIPA
Bus to Arequipa, boring and long. Played eye spy! Ate dinner at an Italian restraunt and ordered pizza and sangria while listening to a blind accordian player play Italian music.
JUL28: COLCA CANYON
Tour to Colca Canyon, and Canyon that is twice as deep as the Grand Canyon in places. Was beautiful, but now we have to visit the Grand Canyon to compare. Our tour guide had an old injury in the middle of the tour causing our tour to be shortened. He was in so much pain, he was on the verge of tears. He couldn't move. Hot springs, which is always fun. Dinner show with funny peruvian dances where lovers pretend to die.
JUL29: COLCA CANYON
Beautiful and graceful Andian Condors. They have can have wing spans of 10 feet. Crazy!
JUL30: AREQUIPA – LIMA- SantiagoTravel Travel Travel. From 8 AM to 3 AM!! All the hostels in Santiago were full, evidently skiing is popular now, and had to go searching at 1:30 am for a hostel for the two of us. Really fun!
Tuesday, April 06, 2010
Teaching at the orphanage
February is a slow month for English Villages. So, in an out of character move, the school decided to use it's teachers time for the benefit of the community, by shipping us out to orphanages. I might have been required by the government, who knows. Planning that first lesson was a complicated as I had no idea what their level would be.
After throwing together an erratic lesson plan for these children, I was ushered into a car and driven forty-five minutes further into the country. Yangpyeong is the country, so if we had to drive further into the abyss of desolate Korea, we were definitely in the middle of nowhere. One thing to know about Korea is that even though it was one of the most technologically advance countries, the countryside is a desolate waste-land. There is a serious lack of vegetation and wildlife as we drive along the rice patties and dilapidated farm houses. I am told that this condition in the countryside is due to the Korean war, but I admit, I am ignorant about the subject, so we will leave it to that.
When the ride ends, all that is visible from my window is a windowless corporate building under construction. For a brief moment, I am struck with the thought they have brought me here to "do me in." I see nothing resembling a school of any sort. Construction, bull dozers, construction workers, an abanoned looking stucture and a small red brick building. We are escorted into the red brick building which is not the school but the office. A pile of shoes in front of the door is my cue to remove my boots before entering. The couch is pointed out to me, and tea handed to me as I plopped down. Korean is exchanged in an award yet cordially formal manner that is usually had between strangers who have no idea what to say to one another. After fifteen minutes of no one saying anything to me, as my interpreter isn't translating anything for me, and no one else can speak my language, I am interrupted from pretending to study the bottom of my tea cup and brought to the actual school house.
The school is conveniently hidden behind the windowless monstrosity out of sight of any passerby. It is common practice to hide orphanages from the public eye in Korea. They are an embarresment, I guess. Once again, I am instructed by custom to remove my boots. As an American, I feel extremely naked without my shoes. Don't get me wrong, the first thing I do when I arrive home is to take off my shoes and pants, but that is in the comfort and privacy of my home. Teaching without the completion to my outfit of my shoes, is a whole other ball game. I felt thrown off, unnerved standing in front of the children in my pale green socks. It was like the shoes held any authority I possessed in their soles and once they were removed and placed in their cubby down below, I was as helpless as any child there. Somehow I gained my strength, even without the aide of my shoes and survived a day of teaching shoeless.
I taught one to two hours daily for two weeks at the orphange and really grew to love the children. For parentless children, I was impressed with their behavior. Although, it was not the best, they showed interest and a willingness to learn. That is except for the little chubster who continually fell asleep, even occassionally drooling on his worksheets.
Kyle also taught outside of the school, but his postion was not at an orphange but an after school program. Here are some photos of the my kids.
After throwing together an erratic lesson plan for these children, I was ushered into a car and driven forty-five minutes further into the country. Yangpyeong is the country, so if we had to drive further into the abyss of desolate Korea, we were definitely in the middle of nowhere. One thing to know about Korea is that even though it was one of the most technologically advance countries, the countryside is a desolate waste-land. There is a serious lack of vegetation and wildlife as we drive along the rice patties and dilapidated farm houses. I am told that this condition in the countryside is due to the Korean war, but I admit, I am ignorant about the subject, so we will leave it to that.
When the ride ends, all that is visible from my window is a windowless corporate building under construction. For a brief moment, I am struck with the thought they have brought me here to "do me in." I see nothing resembling a school of any sort. Construction, bull dozers, construction workers, an abanoned looking stucture and a small red brick building. We are escorted into the red brick building which is not the school but the office. A pile of shoes in front of the door is my cue to remove my boots before entering. The couch is pointed out to me, and tea handed to me as I plopped down. Korean is exchanged in an award yet cordially formal manner that is usually had between strangers who have no idea what to say to one another. After fifteen minutes of no one saying anything to me, as my interpreter isn't translating anything for me, and no one else can speak my language, I am interrupted from pretending to study the bottom of my tea cup and brought to the actual school house.
The school is conveniently hidden behind the windowless monstrosity out of sight of any passerby. It is common practice to hide orphanages from the public eye in Korea. They are an embarresment, I guess. Once again, I am instructed by custom to remove my boots. As an American, I feel extremely naked without my shoes. Don't get me wrong, the first thing I do when I arrive home is to take off my shoes and pants, but that is in the comfort and privacy of my home. Teaching without the completion to my outfit of my shoes, is a whole other ball game. I felt thrown off, unnerved standing in front of the children in my pale green socks. It was like the shoes held any authority I possessed in their soles and once they were removed and placed in their cubby down below, I was as helpless as any child there. Somehow I gained my strength, even without the aide of my shoes and survived a day of teaching shoeless.
I taught one to two hours daily for two weeks at the orphange and really grew to love the children. For parentless children, I was impressed with their behavior. Although, it was not the best, they showed interest and a willingness to learn. That is except for the little chubster who continually fell asleep, even occassionally drooling on his worksheets.
Kyle also taught outside of the school, but his postion was not at an orphange but an after school program. Here are some photos of the my kids.
Friday, September 19, 2008
Inspired
We have a lot of time on our hands lately so I find myself thinking about future posts more than I ever have in the past, partially out of boredom, but also because I have the time for creativity. I have the time and the energy to let my imagination and thoughts run wild. A hidden blessing in our time of frustration, one might say. Through my internet searching today, I came across a commencement speech by J.K. Rowling, the author of the Harry Potter series, given to the graduating class at Harvard. And by her speech I was inspired. So much so, that even after an inordinately long post that most of you probably haven't had the chance to read yet, I have decided to post another. (p.s. please read Kyle's entry before you read this one as it is really worth the read, and I not just saying that because I am the biased wife, it really is so well written and entertaining. It is not one to be missed!) I am not going to post the whole speech, but take excerpts that particularly spoke to me. However if you would like to read the entire speech, click here.
Ultimately, we all have to decide for ourselves what constitutes failure, but the world is quite eager to give you a set of criteria if you let it. So I think it fair to say that by any conventional measure, a mere seven years after my graduation day, I had failed on an epic scale. An exceptionally short-lived marriage had imploded, and I was jobless, a lone parent, and as poor as it is possible to be in modern Britain, without being homeless. The fears my parents had had for me, and that I had had for myself, had both come to pass, and by every usual standard, I was the biggest failure I knew.... So why do I talk about the benefits of failure? Simply because failure meant a stripping away of the inessential. I stopped pretending to myself that I was anything other than what I was, and began to direct all my energy into finishing the only work that mattered to me. Had I really succeeded at anything else, I might never have found the determination to succeed in the one arena I believed I truly belonged. I was set free, because my greatest fear had already been realised, and I was still alive, and I still had a daughter whom I adored, and I had an old typewriter and a big idea. And so rock bottom became the solid foundation on which I rebuilt my life.
So obviously Kyle and I have had hit road blocks in our life, but we haven't even brushed the edge of the decline that leads to rock bottom. In no way, am I comparing what we are going through to the rock bottom that she speaks of, but I think what she has to say about failure is so intriguing and true for some, but not all. I love the quote from the movie Catch Me If You Can, "Two little mice fell in a bucket of cream. The first mouse quickly gave up and drowned. The second mouse, wouldn't quit. He struggled so hard that eventually he churned that cream into butter and crawled out." For some, failure is just that, failure, and there is nothing more to say or do. Rock bottom is just another place to live or die. But for others, for the fighters, for the ones who want more and are willing to struggle failure can be the lottery ticket to success, an opportunity. I am always so inspired by stories of failures that lead to success because I want to be one of those people who takes risks and isn't afraid of failure. The line where Rowling says, "I was set free" made so much sense to me. If what you fear is failure, and you have failed, than there is no where else to go but towards success.
Imagination is not only the uniquely human capacity to envision that which is not, and therefore the fount of all invention and innovation. In its arguably most transformative and revelatory capacity, it is the power that enables us to empathise with humans whose experiences we have never shared. ...I paid the rent in my early 20s by working in the research department at Amnesty International's headquarters in London. here in my little office I read hastily scribbled letters smuggled out of totalitarian regimes by men and women who were risking imprisonment to inform the outside world of what was happening to them. ... Many of my co-workers were ex-political prisoners, people who had been displaced from their homes, or fled into exile, because they had the temerity to think independently of their government.
... I shall never forget the African torture victim, a young man no older than I was at the time, who had become mentally ill after all he had endured in his homeland. He trembled uncontrollably as he spoke into a video camera about the brutality inflicted upon him. He was a foot taller than I was, and seemed as fragile as a child. I was given the job of escorting him to the Underground Station afterwards, and this man whose life had been shattered by cruelty took my hand with exquisite courtesy, and wished me future happiness.
With so much time on my hands, I have been doing a lot of soul searching. "Who am I? Who do I want to become? How can I improve myself and improve the world?" After working at Alamo Segway, although I enjoyed myself greatly while exploring the city via segway and meeting interesting people, I have decided that in order for my heart and conscious to be whole, I need to know that I am useful, that I am helpful. I want to live life to the fullist and for me that means that I need to do something extraoridary. That doesn't mean that I have to live in poverty in an orphanage in China. Extraoridariness, if thats a real word, can be found anywhere, even in our own backyard. I don't exactly know where that leads me, but it gives me a general direction to where I am headed. (An example of working in one's own back yard, Kyle and I had a job interview yesterday with the community center here in Redmond and may have part time jobs helping middle schoolers. More on that later when we know more.) I leave you with this quote that has become my recent mantra, "Risk more than others think is safe. Care more than others think is wise. Dream more than others think is practical. Expect more than others think is possible. "
~ Cadet Maxim
Ultimately, we all have to decide for ourselves what constitutes failure, but the world is quite eager to give you a set of criteria if you let it. So I think it fair to say that by any conventional measure, a mere seven years after my graduation day, I had failed on an epic scale. An exceptionally short-lived marriage had imploded, and I was jobless, a lone parent, and as poor as it is possible to be in modern Britain, without being homeless. The fears my parents had had for me, and that I had had for myself, had both come to pass, and by every usual standard, I was the biggest failure I knew.... So why do I talk about the benefits of failure? Simply because failure meant a stripping away of the inessential. I stopped pretending to myself that I was anything other than what I was, and began to direct all my energy into finishing the only work that mattered to me. Had I really succeeded at anything else, I might never have found the determination to succeed in the one arena I believed I truly belonged. I was set free, because my greatest fear had already been realised, and I was still alive, and I still had a daughter whom I adored, and I had an old typewriter and a big idea. And so rock bottom became the solid foundation on which I rebuilt my life.
So obviously Kyle and I have had hit road blocks in our life, but we haven't even brushed the edge of the decline that leads to rock bottom. In no way, am I comparing what we are going through to the rock bottom that she speaks of, but I think what she has to say about failure is so intriguing and true for some, but not all. I love the quote from the movie Catch Me If You Can, "Two little mice fell in a bucket of cream. The first mouse quickly gave up and drowned. The second mouse, wouldn't quit. He struggled so hard that eventually he churned that cream into butter and crawled out." For some, failure is just that, failure, and there is nothing more to say or do. Rock bottom is just another place to live or die. But for others, for the fighters, for the ones who want more and are willing to struggle failure can be the lottery ticket to success, an opportunity. I am always so inspired by stories of failures that lead to success because I want to be one of those people who takes risks and isn't afraid of failure. The line where Rowling says, "I was set free" made so much sense to me. If what you fear is failure, and you have failed, than there is no where else to go but towards success.
Imagination is not only the uniquely human capacity to envision that which is not, and therefore the fount of all invention and innovation. In its arguably most transformative and revelatory capacity, it is the power that enables us to empathise with humans whose experiences we have never shared. ...I paid the rent in my early 20s by working in the research department at Amnesty International's headquarters in London. here in my little office I read hastily scribbled letters smuggled out of totalitarian regimes by men and women who were risking imprisonment to inform the outside world of what was happening to them. ... Many of my co-workers were ex-political prisoners, people who had been displaced from their homes, or fled into exile, because they had the temerity to think independently of their government.
... I shall never forget the African torture victim, a young man no older than I was at the time, who had become mentally ill after all he had endured in his homeland. He trembled uncontrollably as he spoke into a video camera about the brutality inflicted upon him. He was a foot taller than I was, and seemed as fragile as a child. I was given the job of escorting him to the Underground Station afterwards, and this man whose life had been shattered by cruelty took my hand with exquisite courtesy, and wished me future happiness.
Every day, I saw more evidence about the evils humankind will inflict on their fellow humans, to gain or maintain power. I began to have nightmares, literal nightmares, about some of the things I saw, heard and read.
And yet I also learned more about human goodness at Amnesty International than I had ever known before.
Amnesty mobilises thousands of people who have never been tortured or imprisoned for their beliefs to act on behalf of those who have. The power of human empathy, leading to collective action, saves lives, and frees prisoners. Ordinary people, whose personal well-being and security are assured, join together in huge numbers to save people they do not know, and will never meet. My small participation in that process was one of the most humbling and inspiring experiences of my life.
This passage gave me a greater understanding of her books. While reading the Harry Potter series, I often got a sense that what she was warning against was not evil in the world, but instead, not standing up against what you know is wrong, even if you have to do it alone and at the risk of everything. Voldemort controlled with fear, paralyzing those who knew that he was wrong into doing nothing. Voldemort may have been a fictional villan, but what he stood for is unfortunatly far from fiction. Voldemort is much like the totalitarrian governments that strike fear in the hearts of many citizens of our world. Rowlings work with Amnesty International gave her a first hand look at what happens when we allow fear or totalitarrian governments to rule. Her books are beautiful stories, with imaginative creatures in a mysterious and enchanting world, but more than that, I think she wanted to send a message to all the children and adults in the world. Face your fear, don't let it control you, your dreams or what you know to be right.And many prefer not to exercise their imaginations at all. They choose to remain comfortably within the bounds of their own experience, never troubling to wonder how it would feel to have been born other than they are. They can refuse to hear screams or to peer inside cages; they can close their minds and hearts to any suffering that does not touch them personally; they can refuse to know.
I might be tempted to envy people who can live that way, except that I do not think they have any fewer nightmares than I do. Choosing to live in narrow spaces can lead to a form of mental agoraphobia, and that brings its own terrors. I think the wilfully unimaginative see more monsters. They are often more afraid.
What is more, those who choose not to empathise may enable real monsters. For without ever committing an act of outright evil ourselves, we collude with it, through our own apathy.
One of the many things I learned at the end of that Classics corridorwas this, written by the Greek author Plutarch: What we achieve inwardly will change outer reality.With so much time on my hands, I have been doing a lot of soul searching. "Who am I? Who do I want to become? How can I improve myself and improve the world?" After working at Alamo Segway, although I enjoyed myself greatly while exploring the city via segway and meeting interesting people, I have decided that in order for my heart and conscious to be whole, I need to know that I am useful, that I am helpful. I want to live life to the fullist and for me that means that I need to do something extraoridary. That doesn't mean that I have to live in poverty in an orphanage in China. Extraoridariness, if thats a real word, can be found anywhere, even in our own backyard. I don't exactly know where that leads me, but it gives me a general direction to where I am headed. (An example of working in one's own back yard, Kyle and I had a job interview yesterday with the community center here in Redmond and may have part time jobs helping middle schoolers. More on that later when we know more.) I leave you with this quote that has become my recent mantra, "Risk more than others think is safe. Care more than others think is wise. Dream more than others think is practical. Expect more than others think is possible. "
~ Cadet Maxim
Thursday, October 01, 2009
Inspired (again)
I was having a conversation over dinner just tonight about how I had once read a speech by JK Rowling and found it one of the most inspiring speeches I had ever read. It inspired me to revisit this post which picks out some of the more inspiring parts of the speech, at least for me. And I once again was blown away at the power of her words. Many people who now follow the blog, did not follow it almost exactly one year ago (when we were in Seattle with my aunt), so I felt impelled to repost this wonderfullly inspiring speech. I hope you enjoy it as much as I have!
We have a lot of time on our hands lately so I find myself thinking about future posts more than I ever have in the past, partially out of boredom, but also because I have the time for creativity. I have the time and the energy to let my imagination and thoughts run wild. A hidden blessing in our time of frustration, one might say. Through my internet searching today, I came across a commencement speech by J.K. Rowling, the author of the Harry Potter series, given to the graduating class at Harvard. And by her speech I was inspired. So much so, that even after an inordinately long post that most of you probably haven't had the chance to read yet, I have decided to post another. (p.s. please read Kyle's entry before you read this one as it is really worth the read, and I not just saying that because I am the biased wife, it really is so well written and entertaining. It is not one to be missed!) I am not going to post the whole speech, but take excerpts that particularly spoke to me. However if you would like to read the entire speech, click here.
Ultimately, we all have to decide for ourselves what constitutes failure, but the world is quite eager to give you a set of criteria if you let it. So I think it fair to say that by any conventional measure, a mere seven years after my graduation day, I had failed on an epic scale. An exceptionally short-lived marriage had imploded, and I was jobless, a lone parent, and as poor as it is possible to be in modern Britain, without being homeless. The fears my parents had had for me, and that I had had for myself, had both come to pass, and by every usual standard, I was the biggest failure I knew.... So why do I talk about the benefits of failure? Simply because failure meant a stripping away of the inessential. I stopped pretending to myself that I was anything other than what I was, and began to direct all my energy into finishing the only work that mattered to me. Had I really succeeded at anything else, I might never have found the determination to succeed in the one arena I believed I truly belonged. I was set free, because my greatest fear had already been realised, and I was still alive, and I still had a daughter whom I adored, and I had an old typewriter and a big idea. And so rock bottom became the solid foundation on which I rebuilt my life.
So obviously Kyle and I have had hit road blocks in our life, but we haven't even brushed the edge of the decline that leads to rock bottom. In no way, am I comparing what we are going through to the rock bottom that she speaks of, but I think what she has to say about failure is so intriguing and true for some, but not all. I love the quote from the movie Catch Me If You Can, "Two little mice fell in a bucket of cream. The first mouse quickly gave up and drowned. The second mouse, wouldn't quit. He struggled so hard that eventually he churned that cream into butter and crawled out." For some, failure is just that, failure, and there is nothing more to say or do. Rock bottom is just another place to live or die. But for others, for the fighters, for the ones who want more and are willing to struggle failure can be the lottery ticket to success, an opportunity. I am always so inspired by stories of failures that lead to success because I want to be one of those people who takes risks and isn't afraid of failure. The line where Rowling says, "I was set free" made so much sense to me. If what you fear is failure, and you have failed, than there is no where else to go but towards success.
Imagination is not only the uniquely human capacity to envision that which is not, and therefore the fount of all invention and innovation. In its arguably most transformative and revelatory capacity, it is the power that enables us to empathise with humans whose experiences we have never shared. ...I paid the rent in my early 20s by working in the research department at Amnesty International's headquarters in London. here in my little office I read hastily scribbled letters smuggled out of totalitarian regimes by men and women who were risking imprisonment to inform the outside world of what was happening to them. ... Many of my co-workers were ex-political prisoners, people who had been displaced from their homes, or fled into exile, because they had the temerity to think independently of their government.
... I shall never forget the African torture victim, a young man no older than I was at the time, who had become mentally ill after all he had endured in his homeland. He trembled uncontrollably as he spoke into a video camera about the brutality inflicted upon him. He was a foot taller than I was, and seemed as fragile as a child. I was given the job of escorting him to the Underground Station afterwards, and this man whose life had been shattered by cruelty took my hand with exquisite courtesy, and wished me future happiness.
With so much time on my hands, I have been doing a lot of soul searching. "Who am I? Who do I want to become? How can I improve myself and improve the world?" After working at Alamo Segway, although I enjoyed myself greatly while exploring the city via segway and meeting interesting people, I have decided that in order for my heart and conscious to be whole, I need to know that I am useful, that I am helpful. I want to live life to the fullist and for me that means that I need to do something extraoridary. That doesn't mean that I have to live in poverty in an orphanage in China. Extraoridariness, if thats a real word, can be found anywhere, even in our own backyard. I don't exactly know where that leads me, but it gives me a general direction to where I am headed. (An example of working in one's own back yard, Kyle and I had a job interview yesterday with the community center here in Redmond and may have part time jobs helping middle schoolers. More on that later when we know more.) I leave you with this quote that has become my recent mantra, "Risk more than others think is safe. Care more than others think is wise. Dream more than others think is practical. Expect more than others think is possible. "
~ Cadet Maxim
We have a lot of time on our hands lately so I find myself thinking about future posts more than I ever have in the past, partially out of boredom, but also because I have the time for creativity. I have the time and the energy to let my imagination and thoughts run wild. A hidden blessing in our time of frustration, one might say. Through my internet searching today, I came across a commencement speech by J.K. Rowling, the author of the Harry Potter series, given to the graduating class at Harvard. And by her speech I was inspired. So much so, that even after an inordinately long post that most of you probably haven't had the chance to read yet, I have decided to post another. (p.s. please read Kyle's entry before you read this one as it is really worth the read, and I not just saying that because I am the biased wife, it really is so well written and entertaining. It is not one to be missed!) I am not going to post the whole speech, but take excerpts that particularly spoke to me. However if you would like to read the entire speech, click here.
Ultimately, we all have to decide for ourselves what constitutes failure, but the world is quite eager to give you a set of criteria if you let it. So I think it fair to say that by any conventional measure, a mere seven years after my graduation day, I had failed on an epic scale. An exceptionally short-lived marriage had imploded, and I was jobless, a lone parent, and as poor as it is possible to be in modern Britain, without being homeless. The fears my parents had had for me, and that I had had for myself, had both come to pass, and by every usual standard, I was the biggest failure I knew.... So why do I talk about the benefits of failure? Simply because failure meant a stripping away of the inessential. I stopped pretending to myself that I was anything other than what I was, and began to direct all my energy into finishing the only work that mattered to me. Had I really succeeded at anything else, I might never have found the determination to succeed in the one arena I believed I truly belonged. I was set free, because my greatest fear had already been realised, and I was still alive, and I still had a daughter whom I adored, and I had an old typewriter and a big idea. And so rock bottom became the solid foundation on which I rebuilt my life.
So obviously Kyle and I have had hit road blocks in our life, but we haven't even brushed the edge of the decline that leads to rock bottom. In no way, am I comparing what we are going through to the rock bottom that she speaks of, but I think what she has to say about failure is so intriguing and true for some, but not all. I love the quote from the movie Catch Me If You Can, "Two little mice fell in a bucket of cream. The first mouse quickly gave up and drowned. The second mouse, wouldn't quit. He struggled so hard that eventually he churned that cream into butter and crawled out." For some, failure is just that, failure, and there is nothing more to say or do. Rock bottom is just another place to live or die. But for others, for the fighters, for the ones who want more and are willing to struggle failure can be the lottery ticket to success, an opportunity. I am always so inspired by stories of failures that lead to success because I want to be one of those people who takes risks and isn't afraid of failure. The line where Rowling says, "I was set free" made so much sense to me. If what you fear is failure, and you have failed, than there is no where else to go but towards success.
Imagination is not only the uniquely human capacity to envision that which is not, and therefore the fount of all invention and innovation. In its arguably most transformative and revelatory capacity, it is the power that enables us to empathise with humans whose experiences we have never shared. ...I paid the rent in my early 20s by working in the research department at Amnesty International's headquarters in London. here in my little office I read hastily scribbled letters smuggled out of totalitarian regimes by men and women who were risking imprisonment to inform the outside world of what was happening to them. ... Many of my co-workers were ex-political prisoners, people who had been displaced from their homes, or fled into exile, because they had the temerity to think independently of their government.
... I shall never forget the African torture victim, a young man no older than I was at the time, who had become mentally ill after all he had endured in his homeland. He trembled uncontrollably as he spoke into a video camera about the brutality inflicted upon him. He was a foot taller than I was, and seemed as fragile as a child. I was given the job of escorting him to the Underground Station afterwards, and this man whose life had been shattered by cruelty took my hand with exquisite courtesy, and wished me future happiness.
Every day, I saw more evidence about the evils humankind will inflict on their fellow humans, to gain or maintain power. I began to have nightmares, literal nightmares, about some of the things I saw, heard and read.
And yet I also learned more about human goodness at Amnesty International than I had ever known before.
Amnesty mobilises thousands of people who have never been tortured or imprisoned for their beliefs to act on behalf of those who have. The power of human empathy, leading to collective action, saves lives, and frees prisoners. Ordinary people, whose personal well-being and security are assured, join together in huge numbers to save people they do not know, and will never meet. My small participation in that process was one of the most humbling and inspiring experiences of my life.
This passage gave me a greater understanding of her books. While reading the Harry Potter series, I often got a sense that what she was warning against was not evil in the world, but instead, not standing up against what you know is wrong, even if you have to do it alone and at the risk of everything. Voldemort controlled with fear, paralyzing those who knew that he was wrong into doing nothing. Voldemort may have been a fictional villan, but what he stood for is unfortunatly far from fiction. Voldemort is much like the totalitarrian governments that strike fear in the hearts of many citizens of our world. Rowlings work with Amnesty International gave her a first hand look at what happens when we allow fear or totalitarrian governments to rule. Her books are beautiful stories, with imaginative creatures in a mysterious and enchanting world, but more than that, I think she wanted to send a message to all the children and adults in the world. Face your fear, don't let it control you, your dreams or what you know to be right.And many prefer not to exercise their imaginations at all. They choose to remain comfortably within the bounds of their own experience, never troubling to wonder how it would feel to have been born other than they are. They can refuse to hear screams or to peer inside cages; they can close their minds and hearts to any suffering that does not touch them personally; they can refuse to know.
I might be tempted to envy people who can live that way, except that I do not think they have any fewer nightmares than I do. Choosing to live in narrow spaces can lead to a form of mental agoraphobia, and that brings its own terrors. I think the wilfully unimaginative see more monsters. They are often more afraid.
What is more, those who choose not to empathise may enable real monsters. For without ever committing an act of outright evil ourselves, we collude with it, through our own apathy.
One of the many things I learned at the end of that Classics corridorwas this, written by the Greek author Plutarch: What we achieve inwardly will change outer reality.With so much time on my hands, I have been doing a lot of soul searching. "Who am I? Who do I want to become? How can I improve myself and improve the world?" After working at Alamo Segway, although I enjoyed myself greatly while exploring the city via segway and meeting interesting people, I have decided that in order for my heart and conscious to be whole, I need to know that I am useful, that I am helpful. I want to live life to the fullist and for me that means that I need to do something extraoridary. That doesn't mean that I have to live in poverty in an orphanage in China. Extraoridariness, if thats a real word, can be found anywhere, even in our own backyard. I don't exactly know where that leads me, but it gives me a general direction to where I am headed. (An example of working in one's own back yard, Kyle and I had a job interview yesterday with the community center here in Redmond and may have part time jobs helping middle schoolers. More on that later when we know more.) I leave you with this quote that has become my recent mantra, "Risk more than others think is safe. Care more than others think is wise. Dream more than others think is practical. Expect more than others think is possible. "
~ Cadet Maxim
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