IF I LEARN YOGA WILL I BE SMARTER THAN THE AVERAGE BEAR?

I went to Yoga today. The person who does the class doesn't speak English (but knows some words) and I signed up for 5 days a week (Monday to Friday) at 10AM. The cost was about $70. So today was class 1.

There are 2 other foreigners in the class. One is a Canadian woman (from the Yukon) who's been here for 2 years and she was with her friend who is from Mexico. I don't know anything about her. I spoke with them for a couple of minutes. They were friendly enough but I suppose because they had each other that they didn't make any effort to befriend me. Plus they have boyfriends so I suppose a male isn't of interest to them. Of course, I'm just surmising but if I don't care that they're women, they shouldn't care if I'm a man.

The class has about 20 people in it. I'm one of two men. The other man looks about 60 and I think he goes with his wife. There was one pregnant woman there so she couldn't do everything.

Yoga is not easy. How do they get themselves into those positions? I was pretty useless but it was day one. However, the teacher must have no bones. She sits cross-legged on the floor and while sitting she puts her head and stomach on the floor. Needless to say, I couldn't do that and I have no expectations of ever being able to.

The class was about 1 hour and 15 minutes and I was whipped afterwards. The foreigner women I met said to give it 2 weeks. I plan on doing it because it's something I can do that's healthy and doesn't require Korean. The teacher would come over at times and position me properly but I was pretty hopeless. But who knows, maybe with time I'll become more flexible.

I was telling some of my students about starting Yoga today and touching the head to the floor and a couple of 15 year-old girls sat on the floor and did that. Maybe it's a female thing. When I got back to my apartment from Yoga I had to lay down to recover.

I started teaching myself Korean with my book and CD's. This will not be easy. But I will persevere and master at least 20 words. Reading will be important so I can read signs. So I was 2 for 2 on the things I said I would do today. I was impressed with myself.

After Yoga I went to visit my ex-student where she works to ask why she quit. She told me she didn't quit but just took the week off. I said, "see you tonight". She didn't show. I don't get it. Doesn't anyone do what they say they'll do? Maybe it's a Korean thing to be agreeable. I prefer honesty but that's just me.

I had a new student at 8PM. She's 18 and in her last year of high school. She could understand next to nothing of what I said and could barely talk English. I was shocked. She's been taking English for at least 10 years. She can read, but she doesn't know what she's reading. I must have asked her over a hundred simple questions but they were too difficult for her. She seems very nice but I have no idea how to teach her. I think I'm going to have to use a beginner book to have simple conversations. It's depressing.

At my late class tonight I asked the girls how it is that someone can advance without knowing anything. They told me that students rarely "fail" here because the teachers don't care. They have 40 kids in a class. I like these girls and as I do with all my students, I use them to learn things about everyday Korea. I find how things work here very interesting.

I think Korean people have a smell about them. I wonder if they think I do. I'm sure it's the food they eat and sometimes I don't notice it, and then sometimes I'm overwhelmed it. I'm not complaining but I don't find it a pleasing smell. Maybe if I liked Korean food I'd feel different.

I was told to give homework to my 7PM class every day and report when someone doesn't do their homework twice. I hate giving homework as I've said several times. I think giving them homework is supposed to show their parents that we're working and we care. I think not giving them homework shows we care and are working hard during class time. But it's not my school.

I saw one kids progress report who's in my 6PM class today. Kelly brought it in and attached it to his book to make sure he took it home. It was all A's and A+'s. This kid can't speak and can't read. It's so ridiculous. Besides their phony marks these progress reports show a class average which is also bogus. So I see some class averages that are "C" but everyone in the class got an "A". As Jason said to me, "it's a business". I know that. But what happens if Kelly gets busted on it? Who knows. It's not my school. Jason says all the schools do it. But I don't trust anything anyone tells me because maybe they're just being agreeable or don't speak English well. Jason prides himself on his study of languages. He's always studying Spanish, Chinese, or Japanese. He reads dictionaries. He uses the word "vocabularies" to talk about learning English vocabulary. I suppose I should "testify" his "vocabularies".

The only reason I make fun is because these people are teachers and claim to know a lot. If a student said the things the teachers say, I wouldn't mention it. On the drive home tonight I was riding with the late class. I asked one girl who said she was tired if she had homework. She told me yes and it was about one to two hours worth. Another girl said she had none. The first girl said, "I envy you". I was impressed. The second girl said, "I am green with envy you". She then asked if that was the correct thing to say. I corrected her and told her that she didn't need the you at the end. I was impressed with the "green with envy" part, and I was doubly impressed that she was checking to see if her English was correct. I love good students. They make the job easy and make it easy for me to learn from them.

I pointed out in one class that one boy had finally started saying something correctly. It was the word "they're". The students always say it as "they are". "They're" is difficult to pronounce. But he was consistently saying it properly. I think he was pleased that I complemented him on how he has started to say it correctly, and that I said he was the only one who has started to do so. There are things like words that end in "ed" and "s" that are so difficult. What happens when I correct them and make them repeat after me the proper way, is that they do it correctly. However, when they read or speak again they revert to the old way. It was just a small thing but it made me feel good that he improved in this one small thing. I also told him it made me feel good that he was speaking better.

I did give another class homework but that was because they annoy me. I didn't do it as a punishment that they knew was a punishment. But I know I did it because they annoy me. Maybe it will work for them, but I know my motives aren't pure.

Why did I download Rick Springfield singing "Jesse's Girl"? It's a mystery to me.