God's Pure Souls

That's what I call the students in the "Special Education" program at our school. This month the students from the program are integrating with regular classes to get the experience of being in a real torture chamber uhhhh I mean high school classroom. In April, they will return to their regular classroom and begin their program.

The other day there was a boy, who is in the program, in my class. Of course, no one told me. In my normal fashion I was asking students my basic questions like "LOJ is handsome, isn't he?" and "When you grow up you want to be just like LOJ, don't you?" Well, I get around to the special boy who just stares at me. I have a "No Pass" rule in my class. Which means, when I ask you a question you have to say something in English - even if it is "I don't know." If the student doesn't say anything, I wait until peer pressure, or my steely glare, forces them to say something in English.

The boy just sat there. I waited and looked at him. He looked at me. I looked at him some more. He looked at me some more. Then one of the other students told me "LOJ, your majesty (I've got them trained well!), he is a special student." He continued, "He never speaks." I said "Really?" somewhat embarrassed. I asked the special boy the question in Korean. The boy just stared at me. At which point another boy said "LOJ, he NEVER speaks in Korean or English." I replied "Not even to a teacher?" and the other student said "Never to anyone." Quickly extricating myself from the embarrassing situation I continued around the class. At the end of class I looked at the boy smiled and waved goodbye.

After class I went to ET#3 and asked for a list of special students in my classes. Shortly thereafter, I received one. ET#3 got a copy also after I told my story.

Yesterday, I had the boy in class again. I was careful to not ask any questions in his direction. I noticed, however, he just sat there and didn't say a word to anyone the entire class. A couple of times I walked around the class during a writing exercise and, as I passed his seat, put my hand on his shoulder, smiled at him and nodded. Kind of like you do when you have a secret between you and a friend.

Fast forward to today. I was walking up the stairs and the "Special boy" was waiting for me at the top of the stairs. I looked at him and smiled. He smiled back at me. Then he stuck out his hand to shake mine. I took his hand and said "Hello!" He smiled wide and said "Good morning. Nice to see you." I'm not kidding. You could have knocked me over with a feather! I put my hand on his shoulder and told him, "It's nice to see you too!" The boy smiled wider and said "See you later" and went on his way down the hall. I just stood there for a second savoring what had just occurred.

You know, there are very, very rare days when I absolutely love being a teacher. This is one of them.

Rhymes Update

Well, I guess I'm not the only one who can't access Rhymes with Jeju from work. So, far, there are 3 of us at three different schools who are, apparently, "blocked."

Additionally, when I tried to click on Yahoo Groups from the Yahoo main page, I received a Korean police warning on my screen. I wonder what the heck is going on?

Medical Insurance Update

I was reading and thinking about Bill Kapoun, the American teacher that died the other day, and I decided to link to some information concerning medical insurance. I can't stress this enough: IF YOU DON'T HAVE MEDICAL INSURANCE - GET IT!

(via Marmot's Hole)

Korea Law Blog #1

NHIC Website in English

NHIC Pamphlet in English

You don't have to rely on your hogwan director to get it for you if they give you a problem and you don't want to or can't quit. You can get it yourself. I would also recommend getting supplemental coverage also. The National Health Insurance Program DOES NOT cover everything.

I strongly recommend you visit the NHIC office in Jeju City or Seogwipo to verify your coverage. All you have to do is go in, given them your Alien Registration Card, and they'll be able to tell you if you are in the program. The office I am familiar with is near the new Cheju Tourism College building in Shin Jeju (around the corner from E-Mart).

While you're at it you may want to verify your Pension and Tax contributions at the appropriate offices. The thing to remember, especially if you are away from home for the first time, is that the only person you can really rely upon to take care of you is you. There is no one that is going to force feed you the information concerning what you are entitled to when you work in Korea. You need to educate yourself - and always plan for the worst case scenario. Play the "What if..." game. OK, enough of that. I've done my part. It's now up to you. I'll get off my soapbox. See ya.

The Latest "Jeju Life" Issue Is Out

I was given a copy of the latest issue of Jeju Life over the weekend. Yet again, the good people who put this little magazine together have done a superb job. The photography on the cover and in the issue is excellent. I really wish I could operate a camera like the guy who takes the pictures for the magazine. I'm lucky if I can even point a camera in the right direction!

One story, in the latest issue, described the Jeju Stone Culture Park. I was especially interested in this article since I did a post on the place for this blog in June 2006. Check it out if your interested.

As I mentioned in a previous blog entry, even though I have been on the island a while now, I always seem to learn something when I read the magazine. In this issue I learned that I should never get on a go-cart track when there are a bunch of Chinese tourists in the area. Thank you for that. It may have prevented a trip to the hospital for yours truly.

In the latest issue there is also a story about a local restaurant frequented by foreigners on the island. If you are new to the island, it may be a good place to meet other "strangers in a strange land." There is also a story, with great photos, about a small island near Jeju. In this story I learned that if there is a pharmacy located near a ferry terminal, it is probably a good indication of how smooth (not) the ride to the island will be.

If you're interested in taking your life in your hands, you can also find a little bit about obtaining a Korean drivers license. In this article there is a lot of good information. I just wish it described what to do if you are a licensed U.S. driver versus a licensed Canadian/British/Australian driver and how (I think) the process is a little different. But, as I said, still a lot of good info in the article.

Overall, guys and gals, another job well done. Keep it up.

I Don't Have The Words...

The Korea Times reported that the American teacher Bill Kapoun has passed away. I can't imagine the heartbreak of his parents. There is just something not right about a child dying before its parents. It's just not right.

Korea Times

The parents still owe a whole lot of money to cover hospital expenses. Please help the family out. See the links in the post about medical insurance.

Damn.

I'm Really Pissed Off

I have been following the story of the American teacher that was burned so horribly. You can check the links in the story below about medical insurance.

Why am I pissed? Because I read today where the family had to take out a loan from the U.S. Embassy and that while there is a hospital in the U.S. waiting for Bill with open arms for free medical treatment, it is going to cost the family thousands and thousands and thousands of dollars to have him flown to the U.S.

When I read this I nearly lost it. About 18 months ago the news in Korea was all aflutter with the story of the U.S. Air Force flying a sick KOREAN young man back to Korea FREE. Heck, even the local U.S. general was on hand to meet smiling Korean dignitaries at the airport when the US taxpayer funded aircraft and crew arrived.

Now, here we are with an AMERICAN that is in dire need. His family was able to get a LOAN!!!!???? from the U.S. Embassy for an amount that doesn't even come close to meeting the needs of the family to get him home - and pay for the treatment he has received in Korea.

Why the hell can't the U.S. Air Force fly him home for free on a medical evacuation flight???

I have written e-mails to the U.S. Senators from Bill's home state of Indiana asking them that same question.

The link is below. Please write the senators and ask them why we can fly a sick young man from Korea home for free but can't take care of one of our own young men?? Shameful.

Senators Evan Bayh (Democrat) and Richard Lugar (Republican)

PLEASE WRITE!! - AND WRITE AGAIN AND AGAIN.

Bill needs to get home.

Please keep Bill and his family in your prayers. Also, if you can, please send a donation to his fund.

(Update: As posted above, Bill has passed away. But I still have the same questions of the US Government.)

Where is "Rhymes?"

I have trying to access the Yahoo group "Rhymes with Jeju" for the past couple of days and, so far, have been unsuccessful. I have tried from both work and home. I wonder if it has been "killed" by a person or persons unknown. Anyone else having the same problem or is it just me?

Medical Insurance - Get It!

I was surfing the net and came across a story that is disturbing to say the least. It is about an American teacher in Korea that was severely burned during an apartment fire. The teacher was working at an after school program and had no health insurance. I won't retell the story here. You can read it in the links below.

The story made me think. If you are working at a hogwan or other type of school and don't have health insurance, get it now. If your boss won't give it to you, quit. You may be young and strong but you are still human.

The story made me think of similar situations, that I am very familiar with, that occurred with teachers on the south side of the island.

The first is where a teacher was told that the hogwan would insure the teacher. That if there were any problems medically the hogwan director would pay for it. Does this sound familiar to anybody reading? Well, the teacher got sick and had to have an expensive test done at a hospital in Jeju City. All of a sudden the hogwan director says that they will pay for it and then deduct the cost from the teacher's next month pay. Of course, this was said after the test was done. So, the next month the director deducts 1,000,000 Won from the teacher's pay for the hospital bill. Only after leaving at the end of his contract did the teacher discover that the bill for the test came to only 150,000 Won.

Later, the teacher again became ill and after extensive treatment the hogwan owner flatly refused to pay for the treatments. The teacher had previously given notice that at the end of the contract, two months later, he was going home. The total cost was approximately 700,000 Won that the teacher had to fork over because he had no health insurance and the hogwan owner, who was "such a nice lady," stiffed him.

In another case Mrs. LOJ and I were at a local clinic and talking with the doctor. The doctor stated that he felt sorry for the local English teachers because a lot of them came to him for minor ailments but none of them had any kind of health insurance.

Later, I spoke with some of these teachers and asked them if they had health insurance and every one of them, who worked for the same hogwan, stated that they did. I asked them how they knew and they stated that the director had told them so. I inquired as to how much they were paying when they went to the doctor. They told me the amount and then stated that it was "after insurance." I almost fell over. They were paying full price and didn't even know it! They believed their director and had no independent verification that they had insurance. After all, their hogwan director was a "Christian" and such a nice guy. Yeah, right, whatever.

I won't rehash the laws regarding enrollment in the National Health Insurance program. There is plenty enough information on other ESL/EFL websites. But, if you are working for a school, any school, and are not enrolled in the National Health Insurance program - and you know it - I personally don't have much sympathy for you. If there is any doubt in your mind as to whether you are covered or not, find out now. The emergency room is a helluva place to discover you're not covered. Oh, and when I mean find out - I mean YOU find out. Don't ask your director. Contact the insurance office. If you need a Korean friend to translate for you, get one and do it. It is too friggin' important.

Be that as it may, please consider contributing to the fund set up as described in the links. I don't know the specifics as to why he didn't have health insurance so I will refrain from commenting on his situation. I would not be surprised if he thought he was covered when in fact he wasn't. There is nothing good about this tragedy other than it may serve as a warning to others. My thoughts and prayers are with him and his family.

Marmot's Hole

Korea Times

Bill Kapoun's Burn Fund

New Semester, Dinner Speech and Was I Insulted?

Well the new semester has started - sort of. As I have learned from others, the month of March is a time when a lot of schools shake out the new schedule and try to figure out just what the heck is going to happen from now until December. One of my co-teachers, who shall remain nameless, told me to basically "wing-it" until April when things should be locked in stone (or, more accurately, mud). OK, fine. If called upon I can "wing-it" like a 737 (that is headed for a tall tower in New York). So, for the past couple of days I have been preparing the "Wing-it" curriculum and lesson plans for the Korean educational systems version of "March Madness." Someone once told me that to be successful in any type of educational setting in Korea you must be fluid. I would agree to a point. However, I would change the word "fluid" to a more accurate "gaseous." To be successful in Korea you must be the proverbial "Fart in the Wind" or something like that. Whatever. The way I look at it, I've never met a young student whose mind I couldn't warp with little or no effort. I'm soooo special (*cough,* *cough,* *hack,* *spit*).

But one thing is good about the start of the new year. The good part is the several dinner parties to welcome new teachers and say goodbye to the teachers that are leaving. I just came back from one this evening. It was a good time. Heck, I even had a good time getting slightly(?) drunk with ET#3. I even was able to share shots of soju with teachers that had barely spoken to me in the previous 8 months. It felt like I had graduated from Marine Corps boot camp and was finally accepted as the resident "Fat-white-guy-that-they-can't-seem-to-get-rid-of-no-matter-how-hard-they-try." I'm joking (sort of).

But, as usual, there was an incident that did involve me. As we were drinking, and Mr. Soju was in the middle of his assault on my brain cells, ET#3 gives me a glass and tells me to go with him over to the Principal and offer him a drink. OK, no problem. Done it many times before. I poured the drink and the Principal poured me a drink (the soju assault continued). We talked a little bit and continued to drink - and drink. Then, the next thing I know, the Principal stands up and tells everyone that LOJ is going to give a toast. Say wha!!??? Thinking quickly I came up with some witty remarks in my head and stood up. Gosh, the speech I had in my mind sounded so professional, intelligent and all that good stuff. But when I opened my mouth it came out "ubluh moo odinky doomaahhh seehii upsid dozee dai zeemong fitheeup so - Cheers!!!" I kid you not. That's what it sounded like - and I was trying to speak friggin' English!!! DAMN YOU MR. SOJU!!!

I don't know what was funnier, my speech or the fact that the teachers in the restaurant were nodding in agreement and smiling like they understood what came out of my mouth. I even saw one lean over and, I assume, translate my remarks for another teacher. I almost asked her to come over and translate them for me. I just hope against hope that what came out my mouth didn't sound like Korean for "I want to go to North Korea and play hide the salami with Kim Jong Il."

If asked I'll just say that my speech tonight was given in a little known dialect of American English called drunkdumbassnish.

I have to go to another dinner party tomorrow night. It should be fun. Especially since I know I will never be asked to give a speech again.

After getting home tonight I got on the 'net to look around. I came across another Jeju blog called Jeju Life Blog. I read the post "Jeju National University Presentation & Online Persona." In the post, it talks about the writer briefly meeting me in a local coffee shop. The author writes:

I was also able put a face-to-the-blog of ‘Lost on Jeju’, briefly meeting the man behind it all in Holly’s Coffee. It was one of those moments where I wondered if the blog persona created in my mind lived up to the person in real life.

And that got me thinking about other bloggers I read every day - Paul Bradshaw, Pat Thornton and Mindy McAdams.

Would they live up to their commanding online image in real life?

Interesting. I never thought about it. When I read blogs I don't consciously put a face or persona with the writings. I guess that comes from reading too many "Dear Penthouse, I can't believe this happened to me but....." letters when I was younger. If you don't get the reference, don't worry, it comes from the pre-internet porn age when all we had was Playboy, Penthouse and Hustler magazines stuffed under our beds.

In addition, I don't set out to create any kind of persona. I just write about the stupid, silly and sometimes serious things that happen to me. Or, I bore unfortunate readers with my opinions about stuff that in the big scheme of things don't amount to more than a pile of mouse dung at the bottom of the Grand Canyon.

At first reading, I thought that the comment might have been a backhanded insult of sorts. But then I took a quick course in Readin' Comprehension and came to the conclusion that it's not. As far as the question posed by the writer concerning me I think I can answer the question regarding persona vs. reality. It probably doesn't.

Stop on by Jeju Life Blog for some more info about our little slice of heaven called Jeju, or Cheju, or Tamna, or the Hub of (fill in the blank).

Update of Sorts

I haven't updated lately because I've been in a kind of a funk. I just haven't had the energy or desire to do anything but sit on the sofa, eat and watch TV.

After the winter break I head back to school tomorrow. I don't know the schedule, who or what I am going to teach or anything. I guess I'll find out tomorrow when I am asked "Are you ready?" and I reply "Ready for what?" and then get the all too often reply "Oh, didn't anyone tell you?" Blah, blah, blah. I am really not looking forward to going back to work at the school. I don't know why, but my hearts just not in it. Well, that's not true I think I do know why. It has a lot to do with what I put up with the first 8 months I was at the school. The time off during the winter break has given me time to reflect on what happened and what has and has not transpired since. I'm just not sure I could put up with another series of incidents like happened before, money or no money. Plus, people who I thought were my "dear dear" friends during the first 8 months have, as I expected, turned out to be nothing more than "fairweather friends" at best. If I again hear the phrase "you can trust me" I don't know if I'll be able to contain my laughter.

I guess we'll see what happens. I hope I'll get into the groove of things sometime during the coming week. If not, it's going to be a looooooong friggin' year.

In other news I guess the burning oreum thing went off last night. No reports of burning foreigners or anything so I guess it was OK. I saw some pictures on the 'net of the fire and it looked pretty nice.

Oh, I was checking over at "Rhymes with Jeju" and I saw where there were some posts about a couple of schools on Jeju you may want to avoid. If you are thinking of coming to Jeju, you might want to check out the posts concerning "Oxford" and "Wonderland."