Out of China at last

Needless to say you can't use blogs or Utube or Facebook in China and thus the silence.
I am back in Thailand visiting my son and my new grandson.

I have only been here one week and it's all flooded back - the long hours, the crying, the lack of sleep and you begin to wonder why people do it; then that gorgeous smile, the cooing, the progression through all the baby steps! Voila we are all hooked again. Richard has three adults running in circles for him. Does this impress him? No. Poor boy doesn't realise that this is the best time of his life. Never again will he be the centre of so much unadulterated attention.

Can't Believe It's Been So Long

I can't believe that it's almost a year since I posted anything.

I actually returned to Australia mid October 2008 with the idea of finding work near home as the isolation in Jeju was getting to me. I didn't have a solid social network and found myself spending way too much time reading or staring at the walls of my apartment. The odd dinner with my Korean friends turned out to be insufficient to maintain my equilibrium. Thus after ten ever increasingly long months I had enough. In hindsight going back to a place I had taught twice before was a mistake. The island of Jeju is very small and there was nothing left of any interest that I hadn't seen at least twice. So for sanity's sake I returned home. I thought I would be happy doing anything provided I was in my little house in Fernvale and even tried a stint at two or three different jobs in totally different streams of employment. Now almost 8 months later it would appear I am off overseas again. It does look like I don't know what I want doesn't it. You may well be right. I do love teaching ESL though and there is nothing within commutable distance for me here. So this time I am off to China near Guangzhou.

I will be back doing what I like to do best, preparing students for university entry. At this stage I'm only committed to two semesters so that I am not tied up for the full year if it turns out to be too unpalatable. The weather is definitely more to my liking than Jeju, as it is sub-tropical. Thailand was too humid for my taste, so hopefully Liujong, which is about one hour's bus drive north east of Guanzhou in Guangdong province, will be closer in climate to home. We shall see. I am due to start work mid July which would bring me home towards the end of Feb 2010. Let's hope teaching trip number 5 will be more enjoyable than trip 4. At least I will have a cousin and approximately 14 other English speaking colleagues on campus. This has to be a great leap forward to being totally isolated.

Extraction or Distraction

Is that mortal or moral decay you say?

Well it's been a bit of a nasty week with the much avoided trip to the dentist followed by a harrowing molar extraction. A totally new cultural experience. It would seem Korean dentists are not big on 'gentleness'. I felt my mouth had been invaded by some tantrum throwing two year old. Then we he started banging about my mouth with 'demolition equipment' I remembered all the reasons why I hate the dentist. I was pounded and ground to submission - all with a much used green face cloth on to hide my grimaces from the staff. Ten minutes later when I dared to look around I found the offending tooth in four pieces lying totally exhausted on the utensils table. I knew exactly how it felt and almost apologised to it until I remembered the months of pain it had caused me which had eventually brought us both to this bloody conclusion. It's pain was over. Mine however was only just beginning.

The dreaded 'dry socket' was the inevitable outcome... only because they don't seem to know how to treat it here and I can't buy any dry socket dressings at the chemist... tylenol is not really doing anything, neither is soju... I will be glad when the two weeks is over and my mouth will have healed... hopefully. Saline solutions etc are all I have to keep the area as clean as possible.

These only occur if you don't bleed like a stuck pig and thus have a nice thick blood clot to keep the air and whatever else wants to get into the gaping hole in your mouth and grind against the bone and nerve endings! Suffice it to say that it might be a while before I venture back though there are about four fillings needed... some how I think I'll opt for total knock out next time with a first class dental surgeon - if there is such a beast.

Aaaaaagh Nearly Half of 2008 Consumed

I can't believe it's nearly mid 2008 already. It took a comment from an old mentor to make me realise I hadn't even posted anything since Easter!

My teaching schedule is still heavy but bearable now that I have Sundays to myself.

Can't say I've done anything spectacular in my free time though as I managed to trip over on a raised drain hole in the middle of my street 3 Saturday nights ago and cut my right hand in 6 places - the one on my middle finger being over half an inch long and almost to the bone. In true Australian style I opted for self-doctoring and quietly bled my way to the bathroom sink, finally staunching the flow after a half an hour... very disappointing too as the blood was red not blue!

There was one small problem though. I had no first aid gear. Fortunately I was able to cut up a sterile white handkerchief and glued it all together with bright green ducting tape. Not the best look but effective nonetheless. Since then I have managed to find some fresh Aloe Vera leaf which I am using to reduce the scarring. Admittedly the middle finger will never look the same but I was never going to win a 'hand beauty' contest anyway.

Back to why I am really here... I am thoroughly enjoying teaching English in Jeju again. I like the hogwan situation best because of the variety of students I am able to teach from the very young beginners to adults who want to enter a Western university. It's very challenging and stimulating. I have to confess I haven't started my formal research as yet... just observing a lot and making copious mental notes. Because I was so dreadfully ill with chronic bronchial infections for the first four months here, I determined I would start piecing things together when I return from my R & R at the end of July.

I still think the project is worth the effort; just don't intend to kill myself in the process.

Easter for Vou Workster for Moi

Hmmm...

I was so glad to find that the Easter Bunny finally got what was coming to the little sh.. especially as I have had to work Good Friday, Easter Sat... and will be working Sun and Mon... Okay, so it's just a mindset, but you'd be surprised how much you feel that the four-day break is a 'right of passage'. I shall very much enjoy posting when it's Chuseok though that is quite a hop away.

To all of my family and friends who are drinking, funning, sunning or just plain lounging around on this most holy occasion... GET TO CHURCH!

That's what the holiday is for!

Okay so enjoy your holiday anyway! (Moi am truly truly green!)

Travel I've Done but Blogging None

I can't believe it's been almost 5 months since I've updated this blog.
SO THIS IS A QUICK UPDATE!!!!

I was frantically busy before heading overseas on Jan 18th sorting, amongst other things my garden... why you ask did you do your garden when you intend to be away 2 to 3 years... call it my "I still love you" farewell to my garden.

These are my grandchildren at my goodbye bonfire.

My week in Thailand was great though as I was able to see my brand new niece up close and personal.

This is Marissa and my brother Mark a couple of weeks ago. She was born on Jan 22 this year just 2 days after my 57th birthday!

I came down with the much dreaded bronchitis almost upon arrival in Korea and spent the first 3 weeks teaching to a 'killer' schedule that thankfully has subsided to the rather normal, yet still insane 'split shift' which is almost tolerable save that the split keeps shifting... yes you guessed it from day to day my teaching schedule changes... something I have endured before but not quite like this... talk about the 'shifting sands of time'!

Here it is the day before Easter when I'd be breathing a sigh of relief in Australia and looking forward to longest weekend we get over there. I hope everyone enjoys and gives me a passing thought as I will be working on each and every day. Easter is not officially recognised in Korea.

So while my family in Australia is having fun in the sun and my brother in Thailand is enjoying the weekend... moi will be plodding on teacher as per... but it's okay as I actually love teaching and it's not as if the way things are in South Korea is a 'first time' shock as this is my third stint here.

Well now that I have the Internet in my apartment and have once again 'plogged' back in
I will use this site for generic info rather than those all encompassing emails which seem to offend the sensibilities of those who want something a leetle more poisonal... point taken and noted family... roger wilko etc etc

Itchy Feet Syndrome Strikes Again

Or perhaps I've just been bitten by the insidious travel bug. Either way, subject to my blood tests etc etc being good, ie, not dying of anything more serious than life, I am off to South Korea in January.

I must say I am looking forward to it in many ways. Actually I am going out of financial necessity; because teaching ESL in Brisbane is more like a subsidized volunteer effort.

I love teaching my students but I am not getting any younger - 57 next January - don't have any Super to speak of and just cleaned out my savings doing and extension at home.

So it's Hi Ho Hi Ho off to Jeju I go once again. The upside is that I have decided to finish my Masters. Can't re-enrol straight away because the cost per unit at QUT is absolutely overpriced. I will have to work for at least 6 months to get some money together to continue. However, that doesn't stop me commencing my research... :)

Well must go, I am assisting my brother with his website... This will complete his Masters... diligent little fellow... of course he's not paying up front so there you go.

A Distant Light

Thanks to Debra's comment, left on my blog over the weekend, I feel there is a faint glimmer of direction out there.

I've been rather slothful lately using all my free time to indulge in a reading orgy... all pure escapism of course. However, I will give Debra's comment some structured thought. As reading is my preferred option, at the best or worst of times, I'll start with a smorgasborde of readings. There is so much out there on TESOL, ESL, EFL etc etc that I am bound to find something of interest that will hopefully prod me into action regarding some definitive and worthwhile research.

Anyone stumbling on this blog who has read something recently that really enervated them feel free to leave the info in my comments section. [err something related to ESL preferably :)] My blog automatically notifies me if someone places a comment there.

A good result but what now?

Finally got my mark for this subject and was very pleased that all my hard work produced such a pleasing result.

Initially I was looking forward to the break from study but now that it's mid July the euphoria has faded and I'm left asking "What now?"...

Perhaps I will go ahead and get my Masters in TESOL after all... but I'm giving myself until Christmas to decide. The thing is I'd like to do some useful research rather than simply work my way through another four set units. I just don't feel excited enough about any aspect of TESOL to want to do detailed research on it. Let's hope this changes before December...

Blogging is less daunting than before ...

I have decided to make blogging a compulsory weekly event in my combined class, i.e., the afternoon when I must teach both the IELTS and SSPP class together. My hope is that they will eventually fly solo with this concept and generate their own discussions - although a cyber bulletin board might work better. I'll have to give that one some more thought.

For the moment I am posting tasks to the class blog that I moderate and getting the students to follow the instructions re postings etc from it. Half of my class are not comfortable with computers which is a huge surprise for me as the majority of them are teenagers. So much for the concept of the young running ahead of us in the techno-stakes.

Perhaps there is such a thing as tech-overload with our younger users after all.

Traffic might not be the death of me but it certainly may be the death of my career...

It would appear that there is a major accident on the Ipswich motorway between Fernvale and Gailes at least once a fortnight. No big deal as long as you are not in the subsequent traffic gridlock. Today was my best effort. I heard the traffic report; opted for an arduous trip through Ipswich central and out to Blackstone Rd... Half hour wasted as it was gridlocked. Doubled back to Dinmore only to find that I could have come straight down the highway and cut out at Dinmore... did my usual back way only to find that it is no longer a secret... 40 minutes where I usually take 10... I nearly rang in and resigned... The dole is looking good... or a job in the local bakery... cleaner at the local school.... teachers aid... road sign nazi!!! The options are endless.

Moving On

In some ways it's very nice to be moving on but in others there's always that feeling of loss. Now that I have my weekends back I feel slightly rudderless.

However, some good news on the techno-ESL front - This week I introduced my new IELTs class to Blogs and blogging. I hope to encourage them to generate their own discussions via their individual blogs. At the same time I was pleased to see that my SSPP class has moved to the next level in blogging with all students now cross-commenting on the various group blogs.

One small step for woman etc...

Trial by Fire...

Yesterday, ten of my SSPP students engaged in a reasonably successful sortie with my Health and Nutrition page. I'm happy to say casualties were low. They had been forearmed with two previous 'face-to-face' lessons on Health and Nutrition - "Dietary Guidelines for Australians" and "How to Prevent excess Weight Gain". These lessons were based on the information published in the "Dietary Guidelines for Australians - A Guide to Healthy Eating" put out by the Australian Government.

As this was simply the first skirmish in a protracted campaign (i.e. 6 computer periods of approximately 1.4 hour duration) no definitive results are yet available.

After their foray, the students were debriefed. They were asked to give their impression of the two activities they had time to trial. The feedback was both verbal and in writing. [Individual student comments are attached to this posting] Nine out of the ten students managed to attempt two activities in the limited time frame. All ten students successfully completed activity one which was a reading comprehension exercise on "Enjoying a Wide Variety of Foods Every Day". Four of the remaining nine completed the Crossword. We had to return to base earlier than planned to allow others time on the battlefield. [A study tour group teacher asked me to give up part of my allotted computer room time so that her homesick students could contact friends and family. Owing to the fact that I felt it politic, at that particular juncture, to re-establish my reputation as a benevolent despot I acquiesced.]

We had some serious technical hiccups that clouded the trial. All of the students' computers are linked to the same server on the same line and therefore are abominably slow... and for some unaccountable reason they were even slower yesterday; much slower than the staff computers which aren't as fast as they could be either... the page took too long to download.

Because I am going to be using this teaching resource quite often at this particular (though unsatisfactory) location, I will have to forego some of the fancier elements like 'flash buttons' for basic hyperlinks in order to speed up access. Just as well I haven't loaded this page to my public website. I'd like to iron out a few more kinks before taking that particular plunge.

Also, some students tended to rush ahead without thoroughly reading the instructions which I feel is detrimental to the learning process. I am going to have to include a few more checks and balances on the way through. It's fine if there is a teacher present at all times but if for some reason this material was to be used in a 'distance education' capacity, i.e. most of the work being done online, this could cause unnecessary frustration on the part of the learner and be a demotivating factor in the learning process.

Interestingly some students felt the comprehension questions were easier than those they had done in class and perhaps they were. Because this was the first activity in the series and the whole concept of doing this type of work on the computer is so new to my students I didn't want to make their first attempt too daunting. I'll monitor this with future students and make any necessary adjustments when I have a little more feedback.

A couple of students had problems finding their place on the page when clicking through to answer the questions. Perhaps a split screen activity might be more workable or a few more sub-headings in the text.

I was relieved, though a little surprised, to find that all of the students who attempted the crossword enjoyed the process, despite the fact that they found it very difficult to do. Also, none of them pressed the solve button for the quick answer. Despite this pleasing outcome I think that I will rebuild the crosswords with some easier hints in them; probably some hyperlinks or pictures would be the best option because the object of the exercise is to build or reinforce vocabulary. I don't want them to be tempted to go the easy fix and just press the solve button in order to finish the exercise.

Watching the students work through the exercises I realized I needed to add a hyperlink to an online dictionary/thesaurus which I will now do.

The above hiccups/technical glitches notwithstanding, I am pleased with the webpage and excited at the prospect of refining it to improve students' learning outcomes.

Back from Paradise...

North Queensland was a lovely break. All that green was a bit depressing... My partner was going to take a photo of the lush grass just so we could all remember what it looks like but I dissuaded him. :) It rained on and off for the entire time we were there! Coming back to clear blue skies after promises of rain on the forecast was very depressing. Let's hope they get it right for later this week.

The Whitsundays are lovely but I have to say you really can't beat South East Queensland for the variety. We've got it all... well we usually have it all and will again once the drought breaks. Our beaches are lovely. Our hinterland is exquisite. Our holiday accommodation is much more affordable and a lot more up you go than up North. They really need to check a dictionary to find out what 'deluxe' is supposed to mean. :|

Went to Bowen... hmmm was underwhelmed. Saw the movie set whilst I was there. They just blocked off a small section of one city street, covered the asphalt with dirt and plopped a few WWII army vehicles there. I was amazed how authentic it looked.

Still it was nice to take a break for a couple of days. Leaves one reluctant to return to the classroom but I am sure once I see my students' expectant faces I'll be right back into it.

Drawing to a close...

Fortunately for me I am not a 'true' obsessive compulsive; therefore I can leave my final draft alone... as the final draft even... instead of the semi final draft...

Perhaps the fact that I have to dye my hair, handwater the garden, pack my bag, go to the doctor etc before I get on that plane tomorrow morning may have a leeeetle bit to do with this newfound strength of character.

Free At Last ... Free At Last... Almost...

Okay so it hasn't been 28 years since I began this project but if a 'thousand years is but a day unto the Lord'... reverse that and you get my drift!

I am excrutiatingly happy to say that I have finally finished my first draft of the Rationale!

As prescribed by all writing gurus, I shall now leave it for a full 24 hours before reading it again!

Now to more serious matters...

I'm sick of reading!!! I've consumed the entire of Egbert, Hanson-Smith's "CALL Environments" +++ reams of downloads from the CLN618 site and don't feel any closer to putting my 'Rationale' together for the final assignment. Well that's not quite true.

I'm okay with most of it... It's the 'reference to literature that's bogging me down. I know why I do what I do. I know why it works in my classes. It's finding the recognised experts to quote that I find a tad wearying. Oops I think I just joined Ruthie again... Triple that Tad, add expletive pain in the wherever, plus multiple yawns and why not throw in those steak knives while you're at it.



On the flip side... there is so much more I want to do with the second assignment... but time doesn't permit, so it will have to wait until after this unit is over. As I fully intend to use this Health and Nutrition online work in the teaching module I'm putting together, I know that what is assessed will not actually be the final product that my students will be using... That's why I intend to keep this blog going long after this unit is over... as a true reflection on the final product.

Yet another week has flown by...

... and what a week it's been. Four full days teaching, a student birthday celebration followed smartly by my grandson's 4th birthday celebration. I can't believe it took me nearly two hours to buy his birthday gifts; which ended up being 3 boxes of leggo - which he loved,
a Times table book with a singalong CD - which my daughter thought was highly inappropro - hmmm
and Thomas the Tank Engine sliding number cards - another gift which underwhelmed my daughter... hmmm

Actually Conor (Mr now 4) is very interested in his numbers, always wanting to join in when his big sister is doing her homework... this will,hopefully, rearrange the power ratio as the Times Table book and the Thomas the Tank Engine number cards are HIS!

You know you're a Cyborg when...

... your computer doesn't boot up and you feel you've lost a vital organ!

Which is just what happened yesterday... My very young... only 14 months since it was built... computer turned into a tin box yesterday when upon poking and prodding at the start AND reboot buttons no blue or red lights came on! What fun... finding a computer mechanic on a Saturday who would even look at it! Fortunately for me an old friend of a friend said... "Bring it over and I'll take a look at it." The fact that I live miles from anywhere gives "bring it over" a whole new look and feel! However, one frantic car ride later I was a much happier cy - bee...

Double fortunately he had a spare power box lying around his workshop that actually worked... (They usually have all these discarded bits from old computers that should have been thrown out years ago.) Triple fortunately it fitted my computer and in two shakes of a mini screwdriver the lights came back on in my not so little 'black box' (I knew it was ominous that my new computer's shell was black - just asking for a major crash for sure!)

Being of a curious bent my computer saviour and I pulled the old power box apart and sure enough it had blown a capacitor! So here's hoping the new one can take the workload I impose upon it.

The sad news is I lost a vital day so my schedule is