No, this post is not about Jen. Though I’ve seen more of Jen sans pantalons than I’d like to admit.
Chances are, when you visit a traditional Vietnamese village, you will encounter the adorable, dirty, pantless village children on your journey. I used to have a tradition of sending my mom a postcard of such a scene, which I knew always made her inevitably cringe as she gazed upon their dust-smeared smiles. While in Sapa, we were not let down. Perhaps most importantly of all, I was very happy to find that they didn’t once approach us asking for money or candy but simply waved, grinned and yelled “HALLO!”
I’m glad to see the no-pants-dance is still going strong in Asian villages.
Send an email to Kris, the author of this post, at kris@jetsetzero.tv or read more of their posts here.
Most children of Ky Kuang orphanage were abandonned by their parents because they have a birth deffect. Some of them have body malformations, some are blind and others are mentally challenged.
Some of those children still are the victims of Agent orange a chemical weapon used during the Vietnam war with disastrous consequences on people’s health.
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La plupart des orphelins de Ky Kuang ont été abandonnés par leurs parents parce qu’ils étaient anormaux à la naissance. Certains ont une malformation physique, d’autres sont aveugles et d’autres encore ont un handicap mental.
Certains d’entre eux sont encore les victimes de l’agent orange, une arme chimique utilisée pendant la guerre du Viêtnam, et qui a eu des conséquences dramatiques sur la santé des populations locales.
Send an email to Laurene, the author of this post, at laurene@jetsetzero.tv or read more of their posts here.
In short, I have to get up very early to be at work from 7.15am until 1.00pm. Need to be always on the watch to prevent children from running away. I’m liking this job. I think the kids like me. I’m happy! (At least for now.)
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BONHEUR CHEZ LES TOUT-PETITS
En résumé, je dois me lever très tôt le matin pour être au travail de 7h15 à 13h. Il faut être tout le temps vigilant pour éviter que les enfants s’échappent de l’école. J’aime mon job. Et je pense que les enfants m’aiment bien. Le bonheur! (Du moins pour l’instant!)
Send an email to Laurene, the author of this post, at laurene@jetsetzero.tv or read more of their posts here.
The teachers at my school seem to think that the purpose of Arts & Crafts class is to make kids mass produce enough decorations to cover the walls of our classrooms thrice over. They pass out two or sometimes three copies of the same coloring page to each student and prod them along until each one is fully decorated. I’ve never heard kids put up such a fuss about coloring; they’d rather continue doing math work than be sent off to Arts & Crafts.
The other day, one of the teachers came into my classroom and handed me a stack of papers, each bearing the outlines of four flowers. She explained that we needed more decorations for the third floor, and even though the kids had colored at least 8 of these flowers each already, we needed another 8 from each of them. I gave her a funny look and told her that I’d do my best but I couldn’t promise I’d get a page from each kid, much less two.
Our school suffers from a serious flower deficiency
This week I have learned a little bit about what English words and phrases Korean children are most likely to know. I thought I would share the wisdom.
Things Korean children are more likely to know in English:
Hello! Colors (red, yellow, blue, etc) Numbers (1-10) Fuck You Kidneys (really just that one child) Harry Potter Break Time Water Bathroom
Things Korean children do not know, at all, ever:
What’s wrong? Why are you crying? Please stop crying It will be ok Don’t do that Stop No That hurts me/other children Stop/Don’t/No hitting/screaming Quiet Stop talking Sit Down God help me Just stop fighting/screaming for three minutes and then class will end
Just a heads up for anyone planning on being around or teaching Korean children.
Send an email to Brian, the author of this post, at brian@jetsetzero.tv or read more of their posts here.
I’m going to keep this short and simple as I am exhausted from a truly epic week of fucking terrible things.
I am now an English “Teacher” in Korea. I use quotes because I am not, in fact, a teacher at all. I am a day care attendant for an endless miserable stream of kindergarteners who have been raised with nothing but spite and malice in their heart for both me and my intentions of teaching them.
Each day I get up at 7:30 AM, I leave my “home” (tiny box, not home), at 8 and then I take a train for about an hour to bum-fuck Egypt where I teach 8 classes over 9 hours.
Most of these classes are 40 minute blocks where I “teach” (once again, in quotes) about a dozen children who punch me in the junk, scream at me, punch each other, cry, shit themselves, scream more, run, break, thrash, bite me and cause general anarchy. After 40 minutes of me running through pleas for help to a list of gods and spirits that I think might be listening to Asia, the children leave, and I reconsider my life choices while walking to get the next group. Eventually I make it home at 7:20 PM.
Today was the first day a child bit me. Also I met a child who only said two things in English: “FUCK YOU”, and “kidneys, kidneys”. After his second statement he proceeded to punch me in the kidneys. He is 6. I hate him.
I leave you with this picture of a painting of sunflowers. They represent hope.
Send an email to Brian, the author of this post, at brian@jetsetzero.tv or read more of their posts here.
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