Korean Job Discussion Forums

[philinkorea]

hey

ive got 4 months left of my second year in korea. taught children for 1 year then adults. ive started studying korean (finally got a good class) which i love and am thinking a may stay around. teaching is cool although i wouldnt want to do it in england. thinking i may stay around if i can get a good set up and save some good money. am looking into developing some counselling skills here. just wondered if anyone did any other stuff while theyre here.

[mithridates]

Yeah, I always try to do other stuff, usually linguistic things or perhaps music. When I go back to Korea in January I plan to find a place where I can practice the piano. I used to have a keyboard in my apartment but it was really heavy and the sound was weird so practicing wasn't as fun as I had hoped. Plus it was low and made my back hurt.

[mithridates]

A lot of other people I know are taking their Masters online through some university back home but I don't know anything about that. That's usually a good option though if one has the time.

[kermo]

A co-worker of mine is teaching me some 733t changgu skills. Playing this traditional hourglass drum requires a combination of strength, concentration, coordination and grace, and it's completely fascinating.

Also, some kind Australian is teaching me how to drink.

[captain kirk]

A year or so a poster said they were studying pottery/ceramics. Found a ceramic artist and started learning from them. Korea has very impressive ceramics, developed over hundreds of years. That's an abilty he or she can take home, and wouldn't otherwise have gained, being here.
Another guy is shooting a bow. There's a range alongside the river in Ulsan and guys/gals shooting there 'all the time'. Koreans are very into archery, another 'ancient art'.
I went on zen meditation retreats and learned more about Buddhism. In the last year I've learned alot about boomerang throwing, and making them.

[Pyongshin Sangja]

I've been working on the drive home after 12 tequilas skill.

[zappadelta]

i am addicted to �ٵ�

[tomato]

Hello, Phil Walker!

When I came here, I wanted to be sure I developed other skills, too.
Here are some skills which I have dabbled in:

folk instruments

Two jobs ago, I purchased a ���߱�, or a Korean zither.
Every Thursday, I took something from the students' lesson and set it to music.
Then the students took turns playing that little bit of music on the ���߱�.
It is sad to think about it, but Korea has become so Westernized that any folk instrument is almost as novel for the kids as it is for me.

��������

Don't you dare call it origami. That's a naughty word.
Three jobs ago, I had a one-hour kindergarten class. I had trouble filling up the time, so I scouted the libraries for simple paper-folding instructions.
Because of the illustrations, there is no problem in understanding the instructions.
Just one word of caution, though: always save this as the last activity in the class. Otherwise, the children will spend the rest of the class period folding and unfolding their creations.

The next time you go on a visa run, you can find some good books in the Fukuoka library.
This time, you can call it origami.

sign language

I believe that it benefits a foreign language student to study sign language concurrently with the foreign language.
Total Physical Response may be good, but I have yet to hear a TPR proponent explain how the student can act out any words besides verbs.
With sign language, however, the student can act out words in any part of speech.
Whenever a new student enters my class, I say "This is Larry. Larry is next to Bill. Bill is next to Barbara . . ." Then I repeat each sentence in sign language.

This topic has been discussed here:

http://www.eslcafe.com/forums/korea/viewtopic.php?t=22443&highlight=

Korean

It is fun to translate Korean children's songs.
For a sample of my creations, see:

http://www.eslcafe.com/forums/korea/viewtopic.php?t=28815&highlight=

It is also fun to translate Korean children's books.
I sometimes attract attention when I go to the children's room in the library.
For the children in the library who are not old enough to read, I read the books aloud in Korean.
For the older kids in the library, I find books which are simple enough to translate while reading.

In my current job, I am teaching University students.
Each day, I intend to translate a paragraph in the student newspaper and discuss it with the students.
Write back in a month or two and I'll tell you how it goes.

[Mashimaro]

Learning korean and spending time with my girlfriend is enough to keep me happy, but really should be a bit more productive with my spare time. These days I'm really interested in learning chinese characters and I'd love to start some calligraphy classes to help with that

[rapier]

Career-wise, learning Korean fluently (or even Japanese/chinese) while you're here, is probably the best option for increasing your future employment chances.

[kiwiboy_nz_99]

I'm totally immersed in the world of electronic music. It's a fascinating and cutting edge place to be, as the music making world is right in the middle of sesmic technological change. The big thing is software. People used to buy these big electronic keyboards called "synths", and they each had about 1000 sounds in them. Very cool things. But now, a "synth" comes on a disk in the form of a software program, and you install it, run it, open it up, and play it from your keyboard ( yeah, you need one keyboard ). And not only are these things totally programmable, but they're modular, you can hook several up in any configuration you like, and some programs let you contruct your own unique "synth". You've probably also heard the word "sampler", a staple of the hip hop set for 15 years. Well these things too are now available in virtual form. Open up the application, load your sounds ( you can still sample your vinyl, or buy a professionally created sample CD, but now you can also trawl the net for the 1000's of free sounds out there, and if you're naughty and clever you can also get the top quality "commercial sounds" for free too ). You've probably also heard of a thing called a "mixing desk", well, you won't be surprised to know that these things too can now be procured on a flat circular piece of plastic. Same with "effects units". It's all in the computer. And thanks to a my groovy Korean contact in a music store, I'm able to get the best software packages in the world for free. The only limitation is my cpu speed, ram, and disk space.

I don't know if this will ever make money. But it's so much fun I'm like "Who cares?". And I probably can spin it into a few bucks on the side quite easily down the line, but probably not a full time career. I like it that way anyway. Means I don't have a record company breathing down my neck trying to get me to make "radio playable hits" or some such nonsense. I can be fully engaged in the cutting edge of exprimental underground electronic sound design with all the freedom in the world, at very little cost. It's exhiliarating, and absorbing, it's not bad for my body, it's satisfying, and there's room to grow into it forever with nothing but increasing returns. I came to Korea to get the money to get this kind of set up, and it's happening. I feel pretty blessed...

[tomato]

Mashimaro, what does your signature mean?

[Apple Scruff]

No.

[kiwiboy_nz_99]

[itaewonguy]

my tollerance to soju has gone up and my stress level has increased slightly due to IDIOT drivers here!!