Hafta, Gonna, Wanna...Youbetcha.

I was watching the vice-presidential debate last night--before you stop reading, I want to clarify that this post is NOT political--and was distracted by something. I'm sure you caught it if you have heard Sarah Palin speak much. She has more of a "Fargo" accent than many Minnesotans I know! I couldn't get past it! I tried to listen to her policies and ideas, but kept getting blocked by her down-home speak.

I shouldn't be the one to talk about this, though. Since I have returned from Korea, I have noticed some strange things in my own speech patterns. My friends have been nice to point out that I am a little slow lately and that my words are extra-enunciated. A little slow? I hope it was only my speaking they were talking about! Yes, I have learned to be extremely careful about how I speak--when working with non-native speaking individuals, this is necessary. When speaking to American, English-speaking peers and teenage sisters, it is not.

To remedy my speech problem, I have intentionally started to add some of the rushed words that make it difficult for non-English speakers to understand, like, gonna, hafta, wanna, and shoulda. I don't like using these words, but I decided to add them into my vocabulary for a few months to jump start my normal, non-English-teacher language.

One problem, though: while my speech has sped up, I have started to hear something coming out of my mouth that I thought was gone for good: an up-north, Minnesota accent. No way! I worked hard in college to remove any traces of an accent that would mark me as a midwesterner--not because I dislike midwesterners, but because I teach English and don't want my students to sound like they stepped off the set of Fargo.

So, in light of last night's debate, and Sarah Palin's blaring accent, I have to admit that the reason it bothered me so much is that I have heard some of the same things in my own speech. I have decided to work on this in the dark recesses of my home (or, in the back room of my spunky, 94-year-old roommate, Edna) and not to speak in California until it is fixed! :)

Samanfar, Elric

My friend sent me this video the other day. I laughed so hard as I watched! It is a clever little clip from China, though the content could translate to Korea pretty easily. Take a look:



At the beginning of summer camp, I asked my students if they had English names. One boy answered, "Elric." For Korean students, as well as other Asian language speakers, the "L" and "R" sound is difficult to decipher. Many times these sounds are confused, leaving the listener a little unsure of what is being said (liver-river, wrong-long). Well, I asked Elric if he was sure that it wasn't "Eric," but he insisted on the spelling, so I called him Elric.

I like the name Samanfar...don't you? :)

Gyeongbokgung, Noraebang

Changing of the guards at Gyeongbokgung Palace, "the main palace of the Joseon Dynasty."



A vending machine outside the restrooms in the subway station.


Martin's trip to Korea wouldn't be complete without a little noraebang! :) Kara joined us for an hour's worth of singing time after going out last weekend! Lots of fun...

Dr.Fish, Korean Baseball, Fresh Crap Pizza

Off to Dr. Fish for some breakfast, coffee and exfoliation! I honestly didn't think Martin would be able to tough out the 15 minutes of pure ticklish torture (he can be very, very ticklish), but he impressed me by keeping his feet in the water long enough for the greedy fish to give him a pedicure!


Next, we hit up a Korean baseball game between the Doosan Bears and the Samsung Lions. The skill level of the game was played sub-par to American games, but did provide plenty of entertainment with thundersticks for all fans! The game was a non-stop cheering fest! We couldn't believe how the stadium would erupt after each play! The highlight was the stage area. There were four girls and one guy dancing the ENTIRE game! They had little cheers and dances for everything! If I can figure out how to upload videos successfully, I will provide you all with a little sample of this spectacle!


Finally, it seems that the most popular pictures and blogs I post tend to be filed under the "funny English" section. Here you go...serve yourself up some Fresh Crap Pizza! Mashita!

Bangbae screenprinted towels.

What kinds of gifts do you get from work? Anyone ever get a towel? How about three? These have been from different times of the year--the orange one is the newest. They commemorate different things, although, I'm not sure what. These school gifts are interesting--I've also gotten an umbrella, a set of his/hers socks, two fancy sets of chopsticks and spoons, and countless rice cakes!

There is a funny English conversation I want to share a portion of with you... I won't include the whole conversation as it includes a lot of guessing on my part! The word in question is this: geeno poBEEah. What does it mean, you ask? Here are some clues my non-English speaking art teacher friend gave me: "Korea, no, Japan, no," "don't like," "Europeans, yes." Any guesses? The answer: xenophobia! We had a conversation about xenophobia today. I didn't figure out exactly what we talked about--sometimes those conversations are like that, we just both nod our heads yes as we continue silently down the road to the subway! :) If you have spent any time in a foreign country, you know what I mean!

Tresaures?

I got a birthday present from a co-worker yesterday... It is a really nice black Calvin Klein T-shirt, but as my friend and I looked a little closer, we surmised that it may be a knock off! I completely missed the typo the first time I looked at the shirt--my mind just rearranged the letters automatically! My friend and I tried to figure out if there was a code to crack or if a tresaures are a kind of dinosaur we didn't know about.

My birthday was on Wednesday. I had a seminar in the day and was finished by 2. I was still feeling sick, so I came home for my daily 2 hour nap (lately, I've been taking lots of naps). For my birthday, Kara took me out for dinner at Tony Romo's (where we occasionally go for our cheeseburger fix) and ice cream at Baskin Robin's! It turned out to be a pretty good birthday despite being sick!

I think I am finally healthy and am not sure what I had, but it wasn't fun. Today, I am meeting a former co-worker for lunch to celebrate our birthdays (hers was 10 days before mine). Should be fun!

"Life is venture..."

Seen on a T-shirt on the subway today: "Life is venture or nothing." I think it is a tribute to Helen Keller's quote at the top of my blog page! :)

Not Exactly

I received this note on my desk on Friday. I had some problems with one of my classes and asked a few boys to write me a letter in English as a punishment. This is one of the letters I got. It is not exactly what I hope for in my conversational English classes!

What do you mean exactly?

Whenever you have the chance to work with people who are learning English, funny conversations are sure to happen frequently! I had one of these the other day, and as I relayed the conversation to a friend here, she encouraged me to blog about it. So, here is the conversation I had with a 27-year-old, female English co-teacher:

Korean co-worker: Would you like some chocolate?
Me: Yes, thank you.
Korean co-worker: You know, it is important for women to chew on things like squares of chocolate. It keeps our teeth healthy.
Me: Really? I didn't know that.
Korean co-worker: Yes, that is why chocolate is good for women. Also, it is good to chew on gum and penis.
Me: Gum and what?
Korean co-worker: Gum and penis.
Me: (laughing) Do you mean peanuts?
Korean co-worker: Yes, penis.
Me: (laughing harder) I will write what you said on paper. (I write it down and hand it to her)
Korean co-worker: (immediately realizing her mistake and red in the face) Oh no!