JinJu, Korea - August 4, 2002
First week of the camp has been finished. Now there are only 2 2 weeks and 6 days left to go! It will go by fast. This week I had the lowest level middle school class. Class "K" was there name. They self-proclaimed themselves 'The Genius Class'.. not a bad name.. they are a class of 10 boys from the age of around 13 to 16.
Class "K" is pretty interesting.. they almost never speak Korean because the school gives them 'penalty points' for speaking Korean. If they get over 21 points, they must talk to the Director. Each time they speak Korean they get 3 points. It is also possible to get other penalty points for a list of other 'non-english speaking' offenses.. a good system..
They are a funny bunch of kids, they mimic all of the things I wouldn't think they would mimic. For example, I often say 'yeah' instead of 'yes' and I say 'good job guys' when they do a good job. So now they say those things. Its kind of funny, but it feels a little strange to be monitored that closely and adopting the same speaking habits that I give off.
This weekend I went to Tong-yang (another city). Its a small coastal town about an hour south from JinJu. I heard it referred to as the "Naples Italy of Korea'.. but it wasn't anything like it at all. It was an okay little coastal town, but not nearly as fun or interesting as what I would think Naples might be like. Tong-yang was a little boring and not so interesting. I'm glad I went to see it, but doubt if I'd go see it again. It was extremely nice to escape the heat with an air-conditioned room!
Next Journal Entry in JinJu, Korea:
August 11, 2002
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