The Deal with Open Classes

I just realized that I should put a warning somewhere on my blog, but I'm not sure where to put it yet, so for the moment I'll write it here:

Potential ESL teachers – your Korean experience will probably differ quite extensively from mine.  Aside from vast differences amongst jobs here – pay, bosses, co-teachers, food, students, location etc., something that will really affect your time in Korea is your attitude.  And, to be honest, I'm a person who is almost obnoxiously positive (and laid back). Really.  I have to tone it down in social situations because it often comes across as not being empathetic – people want someone to commiserate with, not assure them of the silver lining.  You've probably met someone like me and are getting annoyed just thinking about him/her.  Don't worry, I'm not that bad.  I'm recovering slowly.  I even have tiring days now and then; I just bounce back really quickly and tend to forget about them.  The key is bad memory. And probably some sort of hormonal imbalance.  Whatever.    

All of that to say, I don't find Open Classes to be stressful at all.  But you might.  So I thought I'd share about them, as nobody warned me that they would be part of the job description before I came.

An open class is a class that is designated as special "viewing" class, and they happen a few times a year.  I've had two so far (I've been here three months); one for the Vice Principal to observe/evaluate, and one for parents to attend.  The third type of open class is for visiting teachers to watch and get ideas/be inspired by/stareyoudownforbeatingtheirschoolatvolleyball.

In the spirit of this blog, I've uploaded a video of my fifth graders practicing directions by orienting their blindfolded teammate.

The Deal with Open Classes in Korean Public Schools

1) Open Classes are the one event you are guaranteed to be given plenty of advanced warning for by your co-teacher.  I was told from week 1 that these would be taking place (and the general months they would occur), and I think I got at least two week's notice for the specific dates.  

2) They are considered a big deal.  Or, at least my co-teacher found them both extremely stressful and intimidating.  She's a new teacher (to the school and to the profession), so the nerves were partly based on inexperience, but I think that generally Open Classes are taken very seriously.  As they should be – nobody, in any country, is going to take an evaluation by bosses/customers (the parents) lightly.

3) You get to choose the class you want to be observed. (At least in my school you do.)  This meant that we were able to chose our darling fifth grade class that not only enjoys learning, but is fairly bright (students picking up quickly on concepts = reflection on my excellent teaching abilities), and extremely well-behaved.

4) The planning is more detailed for an Open Class.  You pick a game you know the kids will love, and carefully plan out the teaching switches; for example, when SH is confirming lesson objectives I will be setting up the powerpoint and know the exact moment when she will finish her lessons and I will start mine.  SH (my co-teacher) reminded me not to fold my arms and to praise the students for correct answers.  She was required to submit a lesson plan. 

5) If you are in a public school, you will get to practice the lesson on another class before doing it as an Open Class.  (And you can practice in Hogwans too. His description is quite different than my experience though.)  This is because you teach the same lesson several times a week to the different classes in the grade.  Getting to "practice" on the class before is invaluable for timing, jokes, and general smoothness.

6) The guests will come in and sit down at the back of the classroom (or wherever you stick them).  They don't participate.  Sometimes they have evaluation forms to fill out.  

So basically an Open Class is just a carefully planned lesson which feels a bit more like a performance than usual.  Our kids are only too eager to join in the facade, and they are much better behaved on these days.  As a teacher you will be expected to be fun, engaging, loud, and complimentary.  

They honestly aren't much different than my normal classes, except they run smoother because of extra prep, and the kids are more respectful.  I don't mind Open Classes at all.  But then, I grew up in theater, so I enjoy performing.  

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Cookie Day and Body Image

"What is Cookie Day?" SH (my co-teacher) asked me.

"I don't know.  A day to eat cookies? I replied, a bit confused. Then it dawned on me.  "It's not in the book is it?"

"Yes! Look."  She showed me the sentences we would be teaching our grade 5's:

"Cookie Day is on May 7. We will enjoy the cookies and help poor people."

Ah.

The no bakes I have created in my ovenless existence

"Why don't you know what is Cookie Day?" she smiled.

"We don't celebrate it."  I laughed.

"I have a friend who is a teacher.  She has another foreign teacher.  Her foreign teacher knows what is Cookie Day."

I found this hard to believe; regardless, I have no idea what induced the curriculum writers to include such a random holiday in our dialogues.  Even if there's a mysterious foreign teacher out there who knows exactly what it is.

I guess I'll just have to suck it up and celebrate.

Obesity in the classroom

During my first few days teaching, I was surprised at the amount of overweight kids in my classes.  Around 40% of my 5th and 6th graders are overweight/obese, which actually confirms the OECD statistics.  I haven't properly researched the topic, but my former co-worker told me that the government had become concerned over childhood obesity rates. 

Before coming here, I had been under the impression that Koreans were shaped differently (they are), and simply didn't gain large quantities of weight because of diet/lifestyle/genetics.  Yeah - I was pretty ignorant.  Now that I'm here I've seen my fare share of bigger Koreans, including men and women who are simply big boned and tall.

Still, the same general impression of Korean men and women being shorter, slimmer, and - yes - cuter, has held true.  I don't know if this general cuteness is the result or the cause of the Korean emphasis on beauty and dieting.  A lot of statistics are thrown around about SK's obsession with plastic surgery, and the one that caught my attention can be found in this Economist article – Korea is the highest plastic surgery consumer (per capita) in the world.  (Check out the link for more information; the statistics include non-invasive cosmetic enhancements like Botox.)

Girl's Generation

Public pressure

My question is: Numbers aside, is the pressure on women to be thin/pretty greater in Korea or in the States?  I think Korea takes the cake.  Both cultures have a strong media presence which streams photoshopped images of impossibly thin, attractive women with flawless skin.  (They don't agree on all their beauty standards, but that's for another post.)  However, in Korea, the beauty obsession is much more public –  your co-workers, family, and friends will have no qualms telling you that you look "off" today or that you've gained weight, or should wear more/less makeup.

Also, in Korea the standard of beauty seems to be more monogamous and accepted than in the States.  I haven't seen as much of a counter protest against the skinny=perfect mantra – in the States there are nonstop articles questioning the weight-obsession; and celebrities and ordinary folk alike have taken a stand.  There are American actresses, celebrated for their beauty, who are not size zero - Sophia Vergara (the hottie on Modern Family), Scarlett Johansson,  Kate Winslet, etc.  *To be honest, I don't watch Korean T.V. or read articles, but the general impression that I get is that the standard of beauty is more rigid (super skinny, "small face", pale skin), and less challenged (I've yet to hear a Korean complain about these expectations, but I've heard many enforce them.)

I haven't put a lot of research into this, but if you google "korea weight obsession", you'll get plenty of anecdotes about the topic.

Korean idols

My "fat" co-worker

Here's my anecdote to add to the bunch: my co-teacher, who is tiny, as in size zero (or probably negative with all the vanity sizing now), regularly complains about her weight.  But she doesn't do it in a "I really wanna lose three pounds" American way to get the – "Oh but you're so skinny" response.  She genuinely seems to believe it, and gets bummed out by the fact that she likes food so much and can't bring herself to stop eating.  Also – and I have no way to verify this – apparently her boyfriend has been agreeing that she needs to lose weight.  It boggles my mind.  I would literally diagnose her as anorexic, except that she isn't starving herself.  The other day she told me she wanted to take her cardigan off, but couldn't because she of her fat arms.  And, when I can't help but tell her she was being stupid (yes, I used those words), she said I didn't know because I hadn't actually seen her tiny little stomach that does not pooch out in her dresses, jeans, or skirts.

But, genuine or not, the weight conversation gets old.  Now when it comes up, I just role my eyes, tell her to stop being dumb, and constantly advise her to break up with her boyfriend.  He's not too thrilled about me, but I'm not too thrilled about him either. 

Gentlemen; when you tell your girlfriend she's fat, it not only ruins her week, but her co-worker's week.    

Naturally, when I hear things like this, I wonder if it's only self criticism, or if she happens to think that I'm a mammoth.  I'm pretty slim, but I do have hips and thighs, and – horror – arms.  I probably look like King Kong to her.  (I have at least 5 inches on her).

Other factors

I don't think that I personally have a strong enough understanding of the pressure on women in Korea to look a certain way.  I can't imagine being hounded by my parents over my weight.  I can't imagine growing up going into stores and literally not being able my (non obese) size.  I can't imagine having friends tell me that I've gotten uglier.

It's not that other countries don't pressure their women (and men!) – it's that they aren't as direct.  And there's something to be said for that. 

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Chemicals, bribes, and basketball: Dealing with my wild classrooms

My co-worker and I have a small problem.  Small is the key word here, as she is all of 5'1 and 90 lbs (or whatever the corresponding skinny weight is for 5'1).  I'm not short (5'8, which, according to my mother is an inch under model height.  Such a promising career ruined...), but I'm a pale, boney, unintimidating thing.  Between the two of us, we lack the ability to instill terror into classes filled with students who are taller and larger than at least one of us.

This wouldn't be a problem in most of our classes, but - as every public school teacher here will confirm - there's always one class, (in my case, entire grade), that will test your limits in a way you haven't experienced since your one roommate in college who ate your food and played underground Finnish rock music to ease their bouts of insomnia.  The reason a teacher will undoubtedly have a difficult class, is because classes are made up of children, and children are like chemicals; some are benign, some smell nice and are useful, a few are toxic, yet containable on their own, but:

It's never a good idea to randomly throw together a bunch of chemicals in a confined space.

In some cases the combinations don't turn out too badly - the reactions are energetic but not malignant, and as long as the scientist (teacher) is in control, nothing too terrible happens.  And that's the end of my overly extended chemical metaphor.

Basically my 3rd, 4th, and 5th grades are all decent classes.  Some classroom management is required, and the old tricks work.  In these classes, we positively reinforce good behavior with games: Each table is a team, and each team gets points for good behavior (and loses points for bad behavior).  When enough points are racked up among the teams, the class gets to play a justhappenstobefilledwithtodaysvocabulary game.

My 5th graders practicing English.  Yes.





We also use various techniques for quieting the children - clapping sequences, phrases (if one of us says "Eyes on me", all the students shout back "Eyes on you!"), and even a bell.  Punishments include making a rowdy student stand in the corner, having students write sentences (in English), and intense, emotionally manipulative lectures frequently doled out by my co-teacher in Korean which scare even me (even though I have no idea what she's saying).

Ah, but our sixth graders are another matter.  They're little hellions who have no respect for the wonder that is the English language (or its messengers).  We use all the same techniques, but never effect a permanent change.  And yes, I know that SH's and my statues/genders shouldn't make a difference if we have good technique, but we're both brand new teachers - while we figure out discipline, it wouldn't hurt to have muscles and a moustache to tide us over on the respect front. 

Our current tactic with the sixth graders is similar to a method of defense my basketball team used in high school. Most of the time, we played man-to-man defense, meaning that each of us was assigned one player to guard. However, when we played a fairly decent team with one superstar player, we would double team her - assign two players to cover her at all times.  This strategy really works when there's one player making the majority of the points.  My sixth grade classroom is a similar situation - there is often only one student or table who really disrupts the class (and stir the others up).  So I personally double team him - instead of walking around the class and keeping tabs on everyone, I hover at his table.  I wouldn't be able to do this without a co-teacher (hard to simultaneously hover and teach), and I'm extremely thankful to have one.

**

Despite what you may have read, corporal punishment is not an option in public schools in Korea.  At least, not in mine or anyone else I've met.  I haven't researched this, but I imagine some legislation was passed within the past few years. 

Though there is no corporal punishment, the physical relationship between teachers and students here is much different than in the States.  Both co-workers who I have had, have been (in my opinion) extremely touchy with the students.  This includes rubbing shoulders and hair and play wrestling.  A 5th grade boy gave my co-teacher a shoulder massage one afternoon, and asked if I wanted one too.  They were both surprised at my immediate refusal.  Massage is not a boundary teachers can cross in the States.

**

Likelihood that they are changelings aside, I actually love all my students, including the sixth graders.  It's hard to actually hate a kid, especially over something as human as a bad attitude towards authority.  I don't believe in working at a job that I don't enjoy (yes, a middle class privilege, I know), and I wouldn't enjoy teaching if I didn't like my kids.  I also wouldn't enjoy teaching if I didn't have a sense of humor about it.

So, anyone have any tips for classroom management?  (Keeping in mind that I can't use my words, and my lectures generally consist of: "You (point at student) talk (make talking motion with hand) too much (big hands).  You must listen (point at ears).  No more talking. (shut hands).")

I love my third graders.

 

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A Day in the Life of a GEPIK Public School Teacher in Korea

The time has come for me to describe a typical day in my life – the life of a public school ESL teacher in Korea.  Specifically, a GEPIK teacher.  GEPIK stands for Gyeonggi English Program in Korea, and it consists of the public schools in the Gyeonggi-do province – the province surrounding Seoul, South Korea.  There are many reasons that I chose GEPIK over a different public or private position, and I'll discuss them in another post.

For now I will outline a typical Thursday. It's my busiest day, so  you'll be getting an idea of some of the extra duties I have besides teaching.

Warning: this post is for people interested in the reality of teaching public school in South Korea.  If you're already teaching here, or aren't interested in doing so, this will be pretty boring. 

A Day in the Life of a GEPIK Teacher

My alarm first rings at 6:30 a.m.  I hit the nine minute snooze several times (no idea how to change the time on that), and eventually acknowledge the reality of existence at 7:00.  Acknowledging existence = opening eyes and picking up laptop to check mail, news stories, etc.

Oh wait, you didn't want a play by play of my morning routine?   Fine.

My classes start at 9:00, which means I'm required to be at school at 8:30, and, as I've a half hour commute, I leave my apartment around 7:40 to catch one of the two buses that go to my school. I think there's a bus schedule, but I don't know how to access it, and the buses seem to come at different times every morning, so I make sure to go out early enough to catch one by 8:00.

When I arrive at school, I change into my school slippers.  Every teacher has a pair of school shoes that they keep in a locker at school.  Students also take their outdoor shoes off and attend classes in socks.

Before class I scan the day's lesson plans ( provided with the curriculum, but sometimes we modify them) and discuss with my co-teacher how we'll conduct the class.  She generally leads the 3rd and 4th graders because their English levels are so low: it's necessary to explain games/new vocab, etc. in Korean. 

On Thursdays I arrive a little earlier because Thursday (and Tuesday) is a Broadcast English morning.  This means that my face adorns the screens of all of the classrooms from 8:30-8:40.  Don't freak out if you're considering doing public teaching – many schools don't do a morning English broadcast.  Also, it's really relaxed and the camera isn't on me most of the time:

Morning English Broadcast

Morning English Broadcast consists of me reading a children's book on camera to the students.  I go into a special soundproof studio (adjoining the teacher's lounge) and stand behind a podium across from a small video camera on a tripod manned by a student.  Behind me on the wall "Morning English" is spelled out in happy bright letters.  Across from me is another podium with three microphones for the three students who assist me in Morning English.

The children's books that we are going through all have accompanying music videos (the text becomes the lyrics and the images are scans of the book pages).  The music video plays on TV screens across the school, and when it finishes, I start my lesson.

I greet the students, ask how they are and how the weather is, and respond to the same questions in a super cheerful I'msohappytosharemylanguage voice.  I then pick up the book – we're currently doing "The Animal Boogie" and exclaim over the pretty illustrations.  "Wow" I say.  "Look at the juuuunglllle."  (My co-teacher instructed me to be very enthusiastic and say "wow" as many times as possible.)

I teach the children some new vocabulary from today's page (we read one new page per broadcast), and my three helpers listen and repeat the new words.  Unfortunately, because it's a children's book, some of the words are borderline nonsensical – thankfully no Dr. Seuss yet (though I have had to "translate" his books for my students back in Sweden). Don't hate on me – I adore Dr. Seuss.  It's just that he, and many children's book authors, did not consider the confusing implications their words might have in the world of ESL.  Explaining English words is difficult enough without having to define "thneeds" and "truffluas."

So, for morning English, I get to slooowly say words for my helpers to sloooowly repeat.

"Skyyyyy"
"Creeeeeature"
"Boooooogie Wooooogie Oooooogie"
"Flaaaaappy Flaaaaap"

Here's the video they watch:
 

I teach 23 sessions of 40 minutes per week, from 3rd-6th grade.  Each grade is divided into two or three classes: 6-1, 6-2, 6-3, etc.  This means that each lesson plan is repeated two or three times to the different classes.  On Thursday I have class from 9:00-9:40, 9:50-10:30, 10:40-11:20, 11:30-12:10, 1:00-1:40, and 1:50-2:30.  It's the only day I have six classes, and one of them is a special after school English class with advanced students.  I get paid extra for this class because the GEPIK contract signs a teacher up for a 22 class work load.  (I have the option of getting paid for this class or for using it towards vacation - 8 hours = 1 day of vacation.)

The curriculum our school uses consists of textbooks, teacher guides, CDs and a workbook with additional excercises.

A typical lesson

Each class begins with a song (which I shared with you on this post) to get the students seated and focused.  After the song, I ask the students: "What can you do?" and they shout back "I can study English!" (Yes, some good ol' repetition and phrase memorization.) 

After the song, I do greetings: "How's it going?" (useful phrase, eh) "Who's TIRED?" (make sleepy face, hand pillow), "Who's HUNGRY?" (point at stomach) – the kids are always hungry – "Who's ANGRY?" (stomp foot), etc.  And then we get to the weather.

Every single day in April my kids stubbornly (and loudly) insisted that the weather was "Hot!  Very Very Hot!" (with accompanying tugging at shirt and fanning face motions).  I, equally stubbornly and loudly insisted that it was COOL. Because it was.  Our average morning temperatures in April were under 68F (20C) and I would shiver in my jacket at the bus station, only to end up, an hour later, in a heated debate over the warmth of the weather.  To be fair to my kids, the afternoons often warmed up – but that wasn't the question.  I would point at their jackets asking why they needed them in hot weather, which got confused looks – not because of my logic but because of my using unscripted English words.  Sigh.

After the greetings, we start the lesson.  The textbooks we use are laid out in chapters, and each chapter has a theme and set of key expressions/words that the students should know after completing the chapter. The chapters are split into sections (called periods) which focus on a different aspect of learning English: speaking, reading/writing, listening, etc. 

So: currently we are doing Lesson (chapter) 4 in 6th grade.  This chapter is titled "When is your birthday" and revolves around dialogues about when events will be taking place.  For example:

"When is your birthday?"

"It's April 5th."

"What will you do?"

"I will have a cookie party/pizza party/barbecue party."

"When is Earth Day?"

"It's April 22nd."

"What will you do?"

"We'll pick up cans and bottles and have an Earth Day parade."

The students will be taught the questions and responses, and some accompanying vocabulary to play with.  In this unit, some of the new vocabulary is: bottle, parade, people, office, and the months of the year.

I sometimes take issue with the phrasing of things in our books, because I don't know anyone who would say "I will have a cookie party" instead of "I'm going to have some friends over, and we'll make some cookies."  I've actually never the term "cookie party" used.  Or "Barbecue party" for that matter.  We also had a chapter where we taught the expression "I'm in the 6th grade" instead of "I'm in 6th grade." (Or even more realistically, when someone asks what grade you're in: "6th.")

Our class period consists of watching a few of the CD dialogues on the big screen TV at the front of the class (connected to a computer), and asking the students comprehension questions about what the characters are doing/saying.  The students also listen to and repeat the dialogues.  Often there are interactive questions on the CD that the students answer in their workbooks.  We then go over the answers together.

There are usually activities in the workbooks for the students to complete depending on the focus of the period.  If the focus is reading/writing, the students will be tracing or writing sentences/words in their books.  If the focus is speaking, students will create dialogues together based on picture prompts in their books.

Almost every period has a subject/vocabulary-themed game suggested in the Teacher's Guide at the end. We change many of these games because we know the types of activities our kids would prefer. 

During the lesson, my co-teacher and I tag teach.  She leads one section of the period while I a) get the next one ready b) walk around the classroom and make sure the kids are listening to her, or c) assist her. 

I lead the majority of the sections in 5th and 6th grade, and she leads the majority of 3rd and 4th grade.

Lunch

Our lunch break is 50 minutes, and I eat with the rest of the school in the cafeteria.  You have an option to bring your own lunches, which I would only recommend if you're a picky eater or have special dietary restrictions.  Even if you're a picky eater, you should see if you can try a lunch or two to see if you like it.

Reasons I eat in the cafeteria:

1) It's cheap.  The food is subsidized by the government, and I pay about 2 dollars per lunch. 

2) It's social.  All of the teachers and students eat in the cafeteria, and it's often the only contact I have with the other teachers. 

3) It's filling and decent food.  The lunch trays have five food sections on them, and there's always something that I like.  Meals always include kimchi, a ton of rice, a bowl of soup, some sort of vegetable, and usually some sort of meat.  Everything is eaten with chopsticsks and a spoon.

Sometimes there are some funky looking things on my tray which I don't try, (I am averse to the idea of eating anything with suction cups on it), but quite often there is a pleasant surprise - fresh fruit, yogurt, etc.

Afternoon classes

Two days a week I have no classes after lunch, two days a week I have one class after lunch, and on Thursdays I have two.  My second one is a special class which I get to design and implement by myself.  I really like this class because I get full control over the content and can throw in things that I don't have time for in my other classes. 

In my special class, we do a lottery every two weeks where I pick out the name of two students from a bag, and they win a small prize (pencil, candy, etc.).  If students have three strikes against them, their names aren't in the drawing. 

My special classes are usually grammar and subject themed lessons with funny youtube clips, games, and pop songs thrown in.  By the end of each lesson my students should have learned five new vocabulary words. 

I've heard of English teachers doing a variety of extra classes including teaching a class of other teachers at the school, teaching a creative writing class, teaching a song class, theatre class, or a sports class. 

The front of my school (view from classroom window).

The rest of my day

I usually have a few hours after class to prepare future lesson plans, etc.  Only a tiny fraction of this extra time is needed for school-related stuff, and I'm often online reading articles and books, or blogging (and yes, checking Facebook).  Sometimes the 3rd grade teacher in the classroom next to us has a lot of food from the students' parents, and she invites us over to eat and gossip.  Or, in my case, eat and watch them gossip.  I never take work home.

My bus drops me off around five, and I finish my evening with normal activities that aren't country/job specific - grocery shopping, dinner making, TV watching, writing, reading, socializing, etc.

Grocery shopping can be pricey here, depending on whether you to keep vegetables and fruits in your diet.  These tend to run higher than they did in the States, and they occasionally climb above Swedish prices too (which is just scary.)  Meat can also be quite expensive, as is cheese and nuts.  Nothing is too crazy though, except the occasional foreign item (one avocado will set you back five dollars), Skippys peanut butter hits six dollars (in certain locations).  A liter of milk averages about $2.10.  

Making dinner is a little depressing because I don't have an oven.  And guess what?  If you're coming to teach English in Korea, you won't have an oven either! (Unless you buy it yourself or get extremely lucky).  Also, the food you will be working with are different here, unless you're planning on funding the beach houses of the owners of the foreign food stores in Seoul.  Foreign food store = place to spend money when you're having a everythingisweirdhereandijustwantsomemacandcheeseinaboxtoremindmeofhome moment.  Not the best place for general groceries.

A TV came with my apartment, but it doesn't work.  I have friends who get some decent international shows though.  I prefer to watch TV on my computer regardless.

Socializing in Korea is not too difficult, depending on location.  Other  native English teachers are in the same boat as you - in Korea for a limited amount of time and looking to make friends. In and around Seoul, there are bars, clubs, restaurants and other forms of nightlife like noraebongs (Korean karaoke rooms).  For daytime, there are many clubs - sports, hiking, cultural, Korean classes, writing, book clubs, taekwondo, etc -  you can join which can be found on meetup.com, facebook, and by asking around. 

Reading is something I do on my kindle.  There are English bookstores in Seoul, but as I live an hour+ away, it's much more convenient to download books.  Also, they weigh a lot and you probably won't reread most of them.  I made a very hesitant transition, but am extremely glad that I did. 

**

That's about it for a day in the life of a public school English teacher in Korea.  This post is for my detail starved mother. :)

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Quirky Korea

There have been many incidents that have happened to me in Korea that aren't enough material for a blog post, but that definitely add colors to the picture of my life here.  I've decided to start putting these into Quirky Korea lists.

Quirky Korea

1) Metro announcement music. At the subway in Seoul, when your train is about to pull into the station, it is announced with trumpety fanfare over the PA system.  Kind of like the president is arriving.  Every 8 minutes. 

2) This month I accidentally ate jelly fish legs.  How does one accidentally eat jelly fish legs?  The same way you accidentally eat anything - someone sticks a plate in front of you, doesn't tell you what it is, and you assume it's noodles.  For the record: no, they weren't delightful enough to compensate for the weirdness of the idea.

3) Service. If you make a big or specific order, vendors will often throw in a free gift.  This is service.  Literally, that's what they call it, so if you aren't sure if they accidentally stuck something in, you can ask: "Service?"

Last week I bought a pack of batteries and received service: a packet containing some sort of white material.  I was pretty excited because I love free stuff.  It turned out to be one of those face masks that are worn by a) Zach Braff and b) bus drivers in my neighborhood.

4) Speaking of service, pizza places give you free sides of sweet pickles with your order.

5) There's no such thing as sending an unruly student to the principal's office here.  Teachers are expected to deal with students by themselves.  My co-teacher and I usually send disrespectful kids to stand at the back of the class for a while.

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