Mannequins and Museums

My working hours have been increasing slowly but surely over the past few weeks, growing from 18 the first week to 25 this past week to 31+ this week. That's proven to be a blessing because it's allowed me to get things settled and also to acclimate myself to longer and longer days of teaching. I feel as though in this month alone I will have talked more than I did my entire last semester at Brown! While that is probably a huge overstatement, I do talk virtually from the second class starts to the second it ends two hours later. Repeat 3+ times and it's obvious that teaching SAT has most assuredly given me ample time to practice the art of speaking. I've found myself verbally unloading everything on my mind on a given topic during class and I've also found myself ending my sentences in upspeak (rising intonation) and reflexively asking "Does that make sense?" or "Right?" I am thankful that the students have grown more comfortable as the weeks have gone on, which makes the class more enjoyable and worthwhile for all of us. Seeing these kids spend every day of their summers at the academy, trying to cram 50 new vocab words into their heads and complete a few hours of homework every night has forced me to reflect on my 10 week course at Han Sam SAT as I was preparing for the SAT. The Han Sam course seems like nothing compared to classes here.

I could launch into a discussion and theories as to why students (at least until college) undergo such intense and continuous education, but I'll save that for another time.

Last Monday, I wanted to try Korean dorm food so I went with Janice and her dad to the school her dad teaches at, Dankuk University. The entire school recently moved from central Seoul to the Bundang area, so everything is brand new- they've even constructed an enormous artificial waterfall.






Dorm food was surprisingly cheap (about $3) and filling so I may be returning soon.


The trip also gave me a chance to visit the mannequins in the museum at the university. The mannequins weren't exactly the most talkative people I've met, but as I was the only one in the museum, some company was better than no company!




Yesterday I ventured out to Seoul Grand Park and the Seoul Museum of Contemporary Art despite the rain and humidity. I'd been wanting to see Nam June Paik's "The More the Better" ever since learning about it in Contemporary Art and finding that it was still housed in Seoul, and seeing the structure in person did not disappoint. I'm not entirely sure as to what Paik intended the tower built from 1,000 Television screens to mean, but I like to see it partly as a comment on the decidedly Asian method of filling the night skyline with thousands of flashy neon signs.




I also took pictures of other works I enjoyed before realizing there was a sign that said "No Cameras". Thank goodness I'm not in another East Asian country where breaking the rules could lead to strict disciplinary action!

Jesus and Buddha riding into Seoul