cheetos

I was at 7-11 today and saw these "European burger flavor" Cheetos. Not even normal European burger flavor Cheetos, but "Cheetos Bike". I guess cause they are wheel shaped. Why they needed to make them wheel shaped, I have no idea. I bought them cause I wanted to know what a European burger tasted like. They were not bad. I am not much of a fan of Cheetos but they were better than normal cheese flavor Cheetos.

Speaking of Cheetos, in the US Cheetos are all about cheese, but in Korea they don't even sell cheese flavored Cheetos.

1 month left

It's March 18th, my contract ends in one month, April 18. I can't believe its over already. The year was good and it went so fast. I never had time go by faster than this past year.

This weekend I have to get a ticket for my flight home (school pays for it). and do some other things to get ready to leave. I still dont have any real plan for what happens after April 18. I want to work here one more year, but I don't have a job yet.

quetions my students have asked during the first class

During my first class I show a Powerpoint presentation to introduce myself. I tell them things like my name, hometown, hobbies, age, favorite food, and previous career. At first I felt very awkward standing in front of the class making them listen to me talk about myself, but they are actually very interested. After that I ask the students if they have any questions for me. A lot of them are not able to ask their questions in English so the Korean teacher will help them or sometimes let them ask in Korean and translate.

These are the common questions and my answers, nothing unusual:
Are you married? (this and the next one are always asked right away.) -No
Do you have a gf? -No
Where do you live? -Geumchon, near Daeha Mart
How tall are you? -173cm
How much do you weigh? -A lot
How long have you been in korea? -Since April 2010
Do you like korean music? / Who is your favorite Korean singer? -I don't listen to it. I don't like pop music and it seems that's the only Korean music I hear.
What kind of music do you like? -Rock n roll and heavy metal.
What tv shows do you like? -I watch The Simpsons a lot.
Do you watch Korean tv shows? -No. Why not? -I cannot understand Korean, so it's boring.
Where have you been in korea? -Cheongju, Busan, Daegu.
Why did you want to leave the US? (Sounded like the kid thought I wouldn't be returning) -I Wanted to try living in a foreign country for a while.
Why did you choose Korea? I have known a lot of Koreans in the US and I have visited Korea twice before and liked it.
Do you speak Korean? -Only a little.
They want to hear me speak Korean. -I say 안녕하세요. 저는 존 라이언 입니다. 만나서반갑습니다. They laugh and act impressed.

Less common/odd questions:
Who takes care of your parents? -My parents are not so old that they need someone to take care of them.
What kind of things do you buy? I didn't know what he meant, so I said I like to buy electronics and digital cameras.
Do you smoke? (surprised I have not heard this more) -No. I hate smoking.
Do you like soju? (surprised I have not heard this one more too) -Yes, sometimes.
Do you want to marry a korean girl? -I don't know. Maybe.
Who looks the smartest in the class? I picked 3 that looked smart.
Who is the most handsome guy? I picked a guy.
Is north face popular in the US? -Yes.
Can teenagers buy guns in the US? -No, You have to be 21 in most states to buy guns.
Do you own any guns? -Yes, five. Four handguns and one shotgun.
Are you rich? -What do you think?
Do you have a six pack? -What does it look like?
Do you know dokdo? -Yes. (I don't give any opinion of it)
Do you know capoeira? ("Know" as in, can I do it? Or as in, am I aware of it?) I said I know what it is.

Some other questions I would get asked when I first started at my school were like, my co teacher would tell me one of the students saw me walking the other day... he wants to know where you were going. Or a student saw me at the grocery store, he wants to know what I was buying. Usually with those questions I cannot even remember where I was going or what I was buying.

Most of my students don't care about my class or about learning English, but they are curious about me.

school finally started

School finally started yesterday after several weeks of sitting at my desk doing nothing. I don't mind sitting at my desk all day, but lately I had been doing nothing. In the past I have been more productive during my free time, studying Korean, or sorting my photos, or something. The past couple weeks I have just been wasting time online.

So far the new 1st year students seem better at English than the old 1st year students. I have only taught six classes, but the two low level classes I have taught were much better than the low level classes last year.

I don't really care about teaching high level or low level, I just like teaching the classes where the students don't hate the class. Usually it's the high level classes where the students have a better attitude, but some of my lower level classes last year were fun.