My first level test here...

 Wow, I usually level test kids on a regular basis. That is not the case here. Reasons for this I suspect is that my schedule is quite full.

What a mess! You see level testing allows a school to place a kid in the right class. We have to test speaking, reading, vocabulary range, and listening. It is possible if you do it right you can learn a bit more about the student.

I always demanded that if I am going to level test, Moms or Dads could not be present in the same room. Also NO OTHER KOREAN teachers. You see in Korea there is a way that Koreans talk when they speak to kids. It is a sort of a fake high toned voice. I always use my normal voice. Kids can feel the fakeness. The teacher I was with was using that "voice" in spades. The mom was there looking embarrassed. Her reseaon? Her child studied overseas in Vietnam. Likely this mother failed where many others have failed when is comes to teaching a second language to a child. First, just like my exercising make it a lifestyle choice. Use English in and around the home along with your native tougue. The brain is incredibly plastic. It will make new language circuits that will last for a lifetime. Instead many language schools including the one I am at produce kids that talk in a very strange ways for someone who has been studying English for 5 to 6 years.

There is a reason Yogita is envied where she works. Why many Academy owners want to work with her. Actually, they do not care about the why of it, they just want students to bother follow her to thier schools, while having kids that quit come back. It is only about the short term profit.

I can say this, if this mother chooses this school she made the best choice. Her kid will likely speak using one word responses, but her ability to read, and her range of vocabulary will be the most advanced. 

I guess my next topic will be titled: Forena.

Ok time to go. Hopefully, Yogita and I are in the siege tonight.

/tata

The delta strain is in South Korea

 So it has finally reached South Korea. It was inevitable. Traveling was restarted all over the globe with a few places not allowing tourists. Here in South Korea, more and more people have started traveling again. We are going into a 2-week lockdown. No restaurants or gathering with friends. This means that we will save more money LOL. When we finish work on Saturday we will likely chill at home venturing out to an isolated area in a park later. Just Yogita and I no one else. I will instruct my boys to maintain more distance when walking Oskar. 

As we predicted it would hit Seoul and surrounding areas first. Then it would spread to the lower provinces as many people in our area love to visit Seoul for entertainment. Seoul is great for everything entertainment-related. Family fun, gastronomy, adult fun, couples, site seeing. Seoul has it all in spades. We got some very good exercise just walking during past visits to the capital.

It is no surprise that Seoul would be an epicenter yet again. 

Yesterday at work it was hunky-dory. I was asked to "air out" my class between classes. My goodness if it is so serious "airing" a room out with no active airflow OUT of the room...means nothing is happening to air particles within the room. I comply because first I would not be understood if I tried to explain why "airing a room with no active airflow is blah blah blah..". A waste of time that would only lead to conflict.

Cleaning surfaces, washing hands wearing masks, this is effective. Actually, in this order washing hands, cleaning surfaces, and finally wearing a mask together helps prevent the spread of disease. As a teacher, I wash my hands two to three times a class. I need to wash surfaces more though. So tomorrow and for the next few weeks, I will be doing that. 

I should note that I still have not gotten sick with a cold or flu since I started wearing a mask along with washing my hands. I would say the washing of the hands was something I was sorely lacking. You would be surprised at how many times we touch our faces!

Ok time to head into the next topic!

/tata

Sometimes people think we are not listening...

 It has been my experience that since I listened to my mothers advice I have gained very good powers of observation. No I am not a dectective. I can get a vibe from people just because I "shut up and listen". Case in point I had a friend who for some reason didn't like my wife. He would make snide remarks, to which Yogi would respond with a smart witty reply. 

He decided (at a very bad time), to open an English academy. I really wonder what goes through peoples mind when they open a business with no proper plan or team in place. The new business was failing to put it simply. They needed a proper team. They knew how good my wife is at not only running a school, but as an awesome teacher as well. The night in question this friend was very polite and friendly to my Yogi. This struck me as very odd, but it felt so welcoming because I had love for this person.

Well Yogita is no fool either. She also felt odd. I still remember we were in a grilled pork resturant when Yogita asked: "You are never this nice to me, what is up with you?". At this moment I looked his wife  right away. The look on her face said "Do not screw this up!". Josh promply answered "I have to be nice to you if I want your help." His wife looked annoyed which told me his true feelings. He has always hated her. I should have known about this since my previous employer and very good friend showed how she felt about Yogita making one teacher a little embarrassed, and Josh then stating "She fucking loves Yogita". Of  course he was not smiling as he said this. I was distracted as I could not stop laughing. I was observing Mrs Choi the entire night and knew her intentions as she got up to leave. I am leaving out certain details on pourpose. 

I heard other things as well that led me to sever ties with certain people. The end result, I am happier, less stressed, and can focus on the people that truly matter. I have learned some very valuable lessons. I have also shown a remarkable amount of self-control. 

Even where I am currently employed, I listen very carefully. It has helped me in so many ways. The bible says to be Know this, my beloved brothers: let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger;. 

The result is that when I do get angry my words have far more of a postive impact, I need to work more on this, MUCH MUCH more. But to the other reader of this blog...it is so funny when people do not realize you silence means you are actually listening very closely, and learning things.

/tata

Knowing your place is not a bad thing....

 In the United States as a child I was taught that all people were equal. However, the schools that I attended were a mess. They were in very very poor shape, the teachers where not motivated to teach well. Basically, they were just counting the days until payday. One class room had a hole in the floor. Through this hole you could see the classroom on the lower level. 

There were times boys would pick on others and fights would break out. NO ONE BROKE these fights up. I would defend my friends and fight those bullies. The teachers would watch. Just watch. I would go home and shadow box, do push ups, and sit ups. I did this because it made me stronger. I could fight longer, hit harder, take more physical punishment. The result? I shamed those bullies. If they attacked or bullied a friend of mine I would wait until that person was alone then I would attack them. Teachers...did....nothing. 

So if we  are equal why is it that other schools did not have this environment. Other schools were very concerned about test scores, how they ranked against other schools. Teachers taught with gusto. There were so many after school programs. You see those schools were in white neighborhoods. Are we equal? There so many examples of how we are not equal. Even our DNA can show how humans are not all on an equal fitting. My boss can not drink the same amount of alcohol as I can. I recover from wounds faster, and rarely get hangovers. Yet, my boss is taller, stronger, ages very very slowly. We are not the same. 

In my job we have people who have made a lot of money in setting up private academies. Many have also lost money. The point is some of these persons are from native English speaking countries. When they see other foriegners they want to make friends. This is natural. However, once you sign a contract with said person, you are now under them. Yes the contract protects you, makes sure you are well compensated. But, you are now not on the same level socially. 

You see where I work there was guy who worked here with me. He became fast friends with the boss. However, he over stepped his bounds one too many times. The result? He was let go earlier than the original release date was. It cost him thousands of dollars in pay, and hundreds of dollars in severence payments. 

I know I make my boss feel uncomefortable when we are in a social setting and I keep referring to him as my boss, yet he calls me his friend. Yes I view him in a very friendly way. Yet I know that there are levels or a hierarchy in every aspect of our lives. 

In bible God allowed people to buy and own slaves. Angels refer to themselves as slaves. Yet modern society wants to make the word slave and evil thing. Even though we have many forms of slavery in this very day. Rich still get richer and poor still get poorer. If I have more than 10000 usd in my account the IRS will get a notification. 10,000 bucks??!?! It does not take long to save up that amount of money. Yet the rich roll around not even having money in bank accounts. If I have 40,000 USD in my account (a tiny drop compared to it takes to truly rich in this world) I will have some tax officers looking into me. 

For me knowing my place has helped in many ways. I hold on to jobs much much longer. The people that I work with really enjoy working with me. If there is an issue my employers know that we can resolve it in a quiet respectful manner, with very little to no stress. 

So know your place. If you are in a higher position be loving, kind, and show respect. You will have success. 

/tata

Working and working

 These days are very busy days. Even the pandemic could not slow us down. We are very forunate for this. You never what is around the corner. This world is full of uncertainty. At any moment things could from bad to unbearable. We have been forunate as of late. It is hard these days as we facing mass vacination. Everyone knows that this thing is man made. We just don't why they did this. We have so many theories. 

So as I am working and working I scan the news, and gather information. I it is better to be awake. To realize some truths about the world we live in. One truth is human nature. Due that I have made this blog private. First my opinions and views should not be shared openly. I need to test if the settings work though. If you know who I am you can figure out a lot of things about my life by reading this blog. I feel that there are certain people who I considered friends but they actually hate my wife. If you hate the one I love that means you hate me too. Another reason to limit access to information about my daily goings on and movements. I need to test if it is working though. Or I will archive this and delete this account. 

Ok so after some testing to access this blog you will need to sign into a blogger accoun via goggle id. Since that is linked to an email ID only those who I send an invite too can see this blog. 

/tata

Spring is ending soon...

 We are able to feel the heat more and more. Humidity is creeping up as well. Also we are entering a rainy season (the first rainy season that kick starts summer). We have not stopped our nightly walks. Instead, we find that we are walking a bit more. Stressors are main cause of this. Work related mostly. Foruntately they were minor issues. However, it resulted in us walking an extra kilometer or two more than average. 

George is feeling more and more healthy with his nightly walks. I am thinking of having Jeyo join him.

Marvel phase 4 is full effect we just watched Loki season 1 episode one. It was so entertaining. However, for the next 5 weeks I will only download the episodes. I hate waiting week to week for exciting episodes to air. So I will find something else to enjoy while Loki completes airing. Then have a very nice 5 hour long Loki experience. So basically, we will not watch it until the end of the first week of July. 

Meanwhile we are on the hunt for ebook readers for our boys. 

Ok time to get the work part of the day started!

/Tata

Actually, we will have to walk in the rain this week!

June is here!

 So we are in June. Middle of the year and the pandemic looks like it is slowing its spread in India. In America is is also spreading. However, in Peru after looking over certain statistics they doubled the Covid deaths there. I feel that all over the world the actual number of people who have been infected, or died from this virus is a much larger number than is reported. 

This year is looking good for us so far. I pray that we can get through this year in a stable way. Who knows what is coming next year. We have been exercising since last November and I can see the results on both of us. As the weather gets warmer and warmer our bodies will burn more energy in order to keep cool. In the winter we are under warm layers of clothes so the body is a more homestatic environment. This means that it will burn less energy in order to stay warm. 

However, the summer presents another issue. Here in South Korea just like in Philly summers are hot and very humid. There are about two rainy seasons that can last for days at a time. So our main struggle will be to make sure we keep active dispite this. The preparations that I have outlined for our second Miruk mountain walk will be used for our daily nightly walks.

Yesterday we walked 6.3 kilometers. Today I am aiming for a bit more but perhaps today will be the same. Last week we walked about 34 kms for me, and perhaps 28 or 30 for Yogita. George walks about 4kms day 5 days a week. I feel he needs his walks to help him work through his feelings, and thoughts. It helps Yogita and I in the same way.

So yes June is here and summer starts on the 21st of this month. Lets see how we tackle this!

/tata