Monthly Archives: November 2010

December Teaching Schedule

Ah yes, the chaos continues! It’s my last month here so I thought maybe I would be able to handle this easier. But no.

I’m not teaching on Saturdays this month, so my weekday schedule is packed. We are under contract to teach 30 hours per week. 

In the morning, I teach five DIFFERENT classes, and sometimes a 1-1 class in addition. And, two of the morning classes, I’ve never taught before: Writing and Listening. Plus, I’ve taught Intermediate Reading before. This time, it’s beginners. Wow! Okay, I can do this. I can get as organized as possible, but mostly my goal is to be peaceful and joyful, and looking forward to the class.

  • 6:50 am M-F Level 1
  • 7:50 am T,Th 1-1 Student
  • 9 am M-F Reading Beginner
  • 10 am M-F Level 3 Conversation
  • 11 am M-F Writing Beginner
  • 12 noon M-F Listening Beginner
  • 7 pm M-F Level 3 Conversation

Making Kimbap and Dakboki

Today we took the subway to my friend Ae Soon’s house. We made kimbap (california rolls …Korean style) and dakboki (hard to describe …bbq sauce on chewy rice cakes). Ade knew how to make these already because he worked in a Korean restaurant in Indonesia. Ae Soon’s son hadn’t ever made it before. So he and I both made kimbap for our first time today. Very cool!

To make kimbap:

(click this picture to see more detailed photos)

You put a piece of seaweed on the kimbap or sushi mat (kimbal), and cover 2/3 of it with seasoned rice (rice with crushed sesame seeds and salt). You can put anything you want in kimbap but today we used yellow Daikon radish, egg (think egg omelette strips), oadeng (dried fish cake), imitation crab, sausage (we’d call it hot dog), cucumber, and spinach. Roll it up tightly, pausing at the last bit to moisten the end of the seaweed so it will adhere to the rest of the roll. Brush it with sesame oil to keep it moist and flavorful. Cut it into 1/2″ slices or so, and sprinkle crushed sesame seeds and eat!

…or you can buy a roll of these for about $1 from any 7-11, convenience store, mom and pop diner, or groc store, if you’re too lazy to make them or if you don’t live in Korea. ha ha



Poetry Waits for You

Don’t tell me you can’t write poetry.

Did you not live your own life yesterday?

Did you wear someone else’s shoes, walk down someone else’s street?

Or open someone else’s door with someone else’s key?

Universal themes may stretch across the ages

Common threads that weave humanity

Can’t lessen the importance and uniqueness of an individual

Your poetry has not been written before.

It is waiting impatiently for you.

Does not your gut want to express that feeling

Your heart want to explore that welling up inside

Do not your legs want to lay out the arguments, deciding whether to run away or dance

Please

Don’t tell me you can’t write poetry

It’s rumbling about in your head

Tumbling out on your lips

Pick up the pen

Let a poem tell you about you