You don't know my name

Another student mistake over my name. How can you mistake Gavin for Gival? I applaud this kids imagination and wonder if any more will leap out at me before my time is up here. I think this is almost as bad as the time my now ex co-worker thought my name was garden.

Putting my foot in it

Me to student: "Sarah, how was your weekend?"
Student: "I went to Seoul"
Me to student (joking) "Oh, where's my present?!"
Student: "My Grandmother died"
--Abrupt end to conversation--

Seeing red - 2 steps away from black belt

Up the ladder once again. White, yellow, orange, green, purple, blue, brown and now red. Today was taekwondo test day at my dojang and I passed and got a new belt. However it didn't all go according to plan. My condition was pretty good, preparation was fine, practice went OK and I felt extremely confident and then the test started.


First we did the 6th and latest poomsae. This went very well and I didn't make any mistakes. Then came numbers four and five and my technique collapsed. I made so many mistakes it just wasn't funny. Three hours later and I'm still furious with myself. The mistakes were stupid mistakes too, things that I don't get wrong when I practice. Usually it's the easy poomsaes that I screw up.


Luckily our master gave us both another chance to take the poomsaes and they went much better. He said we need to be at 60% to pass but he wants us to be at an 80% level soon. I'm supposedly at 70% which is OK for now but not good enough for the black belt test in maybe two months time. I repeat to myself that I must improve, must work harder and must try my best even when I don't feel up to it. It's not going to get any easier from here on in.


When we get to the black belt test there are no second chances on the day, it's pass or fail. Today would have been a fail and a two month wait till the next time. On the up side I feel I'm getting better and I've got rid of that ugly brown belt. Now I have a HUGE red one which is so long that I have to wrap it around my body twice. You win some you lose some but you can see in the picture how pleased I am to get rid of the previous one. I anticipate the next test in about three or four weeks and then we will be practicing for black. This is going too fast but it's something to look forward and something to aim at.

Name calling

Yesterday in class I got some new Wednesday students and as usual I asked about their names.

Me to student A: "OK *** *** do you have an English name?"
Student B: "His name is Hitler"
Me (in disbelief): "What?!
Student C: "His name is heil Hitler"

I think my jaw hit the floor but I nipped this one in the bud and they won't be saying that again on Wednesdays.

Keeping an eye out in the classrom

Two things I chanced upon in the classroom this week. Firstly yet another way of incorrectly spelling my name. I don't now how they do it, I really don't. You teach someone week after week and yet they can't get your name right. Now one boy thinks my name is Garbine. When I say a students name wrongly (which I do repeatedly, deliberately) they go ballistic. I just remain gob-smacked at their failings. It will happen again.



Secondly I noticed one boys notebook. It didn't have any ridiculously inappropriate use of English or the saccharin 'cute' images that are abundant here. Instead there was a picture of a Caucasian family being burgled, trying to stop the robber from escaping. A weird image for a child's notebook I thought. If you click the picture you can see a drawing pin is in the burglars eye. I doubt we get similar designs back home. Why do they never have pictures of Koreans on stationary paraphernalia here?