Chalking One Up

It really hit home today how tricky Monday and Wednesday blipping will be this semester. I teach classes from 9:30am and while I used to be done by half past four, I'm now teaching an extra 'Universiade' class for two hours from 6:30 onwards.

Universiade is the name given to what is basically the university olympics, and my cuurent hometown of Gwangju will play host in 2015.
For those Koreans wanting to volunteer at the games, Gwangju's government is putting on free evening classes in various languages in several locations around the city.

This is my third round of universiade classes, and the latest is the easiest to teach so far. They are interested and eager to learn, but more importantly several of the students have outgoing personalities. Jasmine especially, and her friend Ellen, are confident and fun - the only youngsters in a class where everyone else is middle-aged and up.
I don't think it's unfair to say that shyness is a national trait in Korea, and this, coupled with an ample dose of student apathy, can make some days at work infuriatingly dull.
Many of my regular university students make no bones about telling me they don't want to be there, and so teaching folks who are volunteering their free time to be in my class is a breath of fresh air.

Jasmine here saved my life today, offering to pose after I told her about blip. I had nothing else planned, no ideas in the locker and the weather outside was bitterly cold.
I feel like it's only a matter of time before I miss a blip on a universiade day, but I want to stave it off for as long as humanly possible.

You can see Jasmine's real name written in the brackets, which is pronounced Kim Ji Myeung (Kim being the surname, which comes first in Korea). Many students over here have an adopted 'English name', which they use to take pity on the foreign teachers (and also as a bit of fun) who sometimes have trouble remembering all the Korean ones.
I am terrible with names at the best of times, and as a lot of the names here sound incredibly similar (to me at least), and just a handful of surnames are epically prevalent, the occaisional English moniker is greatly appreciated.
It can also have its amusing moments - I once taught a young lad named 'Spiderman'.