Well folks, I'm not going to lie. I've been neglecting my duties to the internet world recently. I wish I had a good reason for it, but the simple fact is I don't. I've been busy but no more than normal. However, I am aiming to rectify this situation in the next few months. If I can't rectify it I will shut this down and probably never run a blog again. The past few months have been a rather interesting mix of problems, solutions, and more problems.
For starters, a lot of you know that my health has been really up and down this year. In fact this has been the worst year I've ever had in terms of my health. I have spent more time on medication and in the doctors office this year than I have in my entire life. Luckily at this point I'm just dealing with a couple of the side effects of my liver inflammation. It's not totally dissipated but it is definitely improving. When I get back from vacation I'm going to hop into a doctors office for another check up just to make sure but everything should be fine. Luckily that check will be the final all clear and I'll gratefully put this crap behind me.
Moving on from my health, my luck with women recently could be termed comical. I have run into several women recently that I have hit it off with great. Only to find out a few days later that: hey they've got a boyfriend, hey they're leaving the country, hey they're moving to another city, etc. I swear I must have a sign around my neck right now that says "hopeless." Now most of this is my fault because I didn't ask ahead of time but ohh well. Speaking of that, I am so screwed when I come back to America in terms of the whole dating scene. Dating in Korea is an entirely different approach and what is normal here would come off as an over-abundance of confidence with a lot of American women. Which I guess could be a benefit.
Professionally life here has been pretty much the same it has been for the past year or so. Although there was a new requirement that we obtain a 100 hour TEFL certificate to continue teaching. I've already finished mine and I'm planning on completing a 50 hour business English course when I get back from Japan. I am not to broken up about having to get the TEFL because I had been kicking it around for a number of years. I don't know if I'll ever actually have a need for it but you never know. Who knows, maybe I'll parlay this into a career abroad. Either that or it's a nice way to slip into school mode again. What do I mean by that? Well, when I get back chances are I have to get back into school. Which means a lot of writing and proofreading and any type of practice for that is good.
Finally, I have officially descended into the modern world. In the past six months I've procured an iPad and a Kindle e-reader. Well, this week I had to take the dive into the smart phone world. Which is a little ridiculous considering that I'm leaving in 6 months. Ohh well, I figured if I'm going to get screwed I might as well get screwed by getting a new fancy phone and I purchased the Samsung Galaxy S3. This phone is kinda nice and has all the bells and whistles. Of course, this also means that I have zero brand loyalty, because I am currently running a service on the three companies fighting it out in the smart world. At least I don't have a Kindle Fire because that would just make this ridiculous. Ohh well. I guess I had to jump in eventually. Alas good people, I will try to get a few more posts up and shorten the downtime.
Wednesday, August 1, 2012
Sunday, June 3, 2012
Xenophobia
Normally I try to steer clear of issues which may be incendiary or lead to misunderstandings. However, this time I feel the need to address this subject matter head on. First, this blog will not be a vitriolic attack on Korea, their culture, or even the older generations of people in this country. In my 3 1/2 years here I have had countless good experiences and conversations with people of all backgrounds. Moreover, I believe that I try to understand the differences between Korean and western culture more than most people. Second, I understand that this new report only represents the view of a small vocal minority of people in the country. Finally, I do not believe that getting outraged will do anything. Reacting emotionally to something like this will only give ammunition to the very people who espouse such vitriol.
I guess I need to get on to what this is about. Basically, last week or sometime in the last month I was made aware of a news broadcast which was aired on MBC. MBC is one of the 4 major news corporations in Korea. This news broadcast sought to expose the truth about relationships between foreign men and Korean women. Before I go into any commentary I think it would be best for you to actually watch the news segment.
Unlike a lot of people I know, I feel no need to get completely up in arms about the audacity of MBC to air such a direct attack on the foreign population of this country. It's their news agency and they can say what they want. This is very much the same view I hold about the Westboro Baptist Church. I cannot condone what they believe in and stand for. I find it absolutely revolting what they do, but they have the right to believe in the bigoted nonsense that they do and to act accordingly. However, I would like to address three things located in this news reports.
First and foremost, the quality of the reporting. I have seen better reporting done in high school. This report never once shows the questions that the foreigners have been asked. All it shows is them waxing poetically about their experiences in Korea. Given the location that they are reporting from Hongdae (a well known bar and club district), and the time of day that the reporting is taking place at (night), it is safe to assume that a lot of these people being interviewed are slightly to seriously inebriated. Even more significant is the fact that this area is located directly across from a major university in Seoul. Going beyond the people selected to be interviewed and the answers that were given there were no attempts at following up on the baseless assumptions that are made throughout the video. The entire video is a xenophobic attack on foreigners without a single shred of direct evidence or statistics to support their claims. Which just happens to be my next point of contention.
Second, where is the evidence. Are there complete scumbags in the foreign population of this country? Absolutely. I have had the severe displeasure of knowing some of them, and running into others. I do not doubt for a second that every one of the stories they presented about bad things happening were true. However, they offer only a few stories and allow the watcher to assume that all relationships work this way. This is patently untrue. I know several people who are in long standing functional relationships with foreigners. I know several couples who are married. In fact, most relationships in Korea that I've seen or known about follow the western standard of a boyfriend and girlfriend relationship. Once again, there are dirtbags who cheat, steal, and abuse, but by far a majority of the foreigners here are upstanding citizens. Going beyond this, the report uses three women who refuse to answer their questions, or deny knowing what they're talking about. What is interesting is that they use three straight denials as evidence they are correct. If this was so prevalent, would they not have easily been able to find countless women willing to go on record about how they were taking advantage of? Lets not even discuss the question being so loaded that not even a political pundit could ask it and get away with it. Going beyond these few stories they find to support their claims, they offer no statistical or factual evidence. There are no numbers, court cases, or even news reports.
Finally, the viewpoint of women this news report has. Women are portrayed in two ways. They are either complete whores who are flaunting tradition by running around with "daring" displays of intimacy. Or they are completely helpless women who are being stalked by predatory foreigners. Either way the view of women is completely archaic and has no direct standing to the women this country is currently producing. In this, I think we find quite possibly the real reason this video was made. The xenophobia is nothing new. This video was made to criticize and shame the women who are seen with foreign men. Why? One possible reason is that there is a small, but widening gender gap in the country and Korean men, particularly those living in rural areas and farming, are being forced to accept arranged marriages with foreign women (normally Thai, Cambodian, or Filipino).
I'd like to add one final point of commentary before leaving this subject alone. This attitude towards women and foreigners is nothing new. However, what is new, for the first time in Korean history is the option for Korean women not to put up with it any more. In fact, most every woman I know who has decent ability in the English language is fed up with Korean men. They have no interest in dating them, marrying them, or starting families with them. This can be for multiple reasons, but from talking with many women who feel this way, it always boils down to one simple reason. The attitude of a lot of Korean men towards women is something akin to the 19th century. However, I feel the need to state, that once again, this is not everyone. I know some wonderful Korean men with very modern sensibilities towards women.
I guess I need to get on to what this is about. Basically, last week or sometime in the last month I was made aware of a news broadcast which was aired on MBC. MBC is one of the 4 major news corporations in Korea. This news broadcast sought to expose the truth about relationships between foreign men and Korean women. Before I go into any commentary I think it would be best for you to actually watch the news segment.
Unlike a lot of people I know, I feel no need to get completely up in arms about the audacity of MBC to air such a direct attack on the foreign population of this country. It's their news agency and they can say what they want. This is very much the same view I hold about the Westboro Baptist Church. I cannot condone what they believe in and stand for. I find it absolutely revolting what they do, but they have the right to believe in the bigoted nonsense that they do and to act accordingly. However, I would like to address three things located in this news reports.
First and foremost, the quality of the reporting. I have seen better reporting done in high school. This report never once shows the questions that the foreigners have been asked. All it shows is them waxing poetically about their experiences in Korea. Given the location that they are reporting from Hongdae (a well known bar and club district), and the time of day that the reporting is taking place at (night), it is safe to assume that a lot of these people being interviewed are slightly to seriously inebriated. Even more significant is the fact that this area is located directly across from a major university in Seoul. Going beyond the people selected to be interviewed and the answers that were given there were no attempts at following up on the baseless assumptions that are made throughout the video. The entire video is a xenophobic attack on foreigners without a single shred of direct evidence or statistics to support their claims. Which just happens to be my next point of contention.
Second, where is the evidence. Are there complete scumbags in the foreign population of this country? Absolutely. I have had the severe displeasure of knowing some of them, and running into others. I do not doubt for a second that every one of the stories they presented about bad things happening were true. However, they offer only a few stories and allow the watcher to assume that all relationships work this way. This is patently untrue. I know several people who are in long standing functional relationships with foreigners. I know several couples who are married. In fact, most relationships in Korea that I've seen or known about follow the western standard of a boyfriend and girlfriend relationship. Once again, there are dirtbags who cheat, steal, and abuse, but by far a majority of the foreigners here are upstanding citizens. Going beyond this, the report uses three women who refuse to answer their questions, or deny knowing what they're talking about. What is interesting is that they use three straight denials as evidence they are correct. If this was so prevalent, would they not have easily been able to find countless women willing to go on record about how they were taking advantage of? Lets not even discuss the question being so loaded that not even a political pundit could ask it and get away with it. Going beyond these few stories they find to support their claims, they offer no statistical or factual evidence. There are no numbers, court cases, or even news reports.
Finally, the viewpoint of women this news report has. Women are portrayed in two ways. They are either complete whores who are flaunting tradition by running around with "daring" displays of intimacy. Or they are completely helpless women who are being stalked by predatory foreigners. Either way the view of women is completely archaic and has no direct standing to the women this country is currently producing. In this, I think we find quite possibly the real reason this video was made. The xenophobia is nothing new. This video was made to criticize and shame the women who are seen with foreign men. Why? One possible reason is that there is a small, but widening gender gap in the country and Korean men, particularly those living in rural areas and farming, are being forced to accept arranged marriages with foreign women (normally Thai, Cambodian, or Filipino).
I'd like to add one final point of commentary before leaving this subject alone. This attitude towards women and foreigners is nothing new. However, what is new, for the first time in Korean history is the option for Korean women not to put up with it any more. In fact, most every woman I know who has decent ability in the English language is fed up with Korean men. They have no interest in dating them, marrying them, or starting families with them. This can be for multiple reasons, but from talking with many women who feel this way, it always boils down to one simple reason. The attitude of a lot of Korean men towards women is something akin to the 19th century. However, I feel the need to state, that once again, this is not everyone. I know some wonderful Korean men with very modern sensibilities towards women.
Sunday, April 15, 2012
Korean elections make me smile.
I know that I've posted about Korean elections before but I have to admit that they make me smile. Tomorrow is election day here in Korea and the politicians at making their last pitches to the public before they vote. This makes for some great people watching near city hall.
In Seosan there is one traffic circle which is the "official" rally spot for all the local politicians. This circle is right next to city hall, and during peak traffic hours it can get a little congested. When you add a rally into the mix what you get is a captive audience just trying to get home. Today there has been a continuous stream of rallies and speeches. These rallies are as grass roots and participatory as you can get. The normally involve a bunch of ajjumas in color coordinated outfits bowing and dancing while their politician gives a speech. It makes me smile because politics at this level somehow feels more pure. Granted there is not a ton of importance where I live and it feels kinda like the mayoral election for Bumblescum, Kansas or someplace like it. That being said, it's still nice to see a democratic process where I know I'm not being lied to. Primarily It's because the politicians know I can't vote and have no interest in me, but hey. I'll take it.
Here are some videos to show you what I'm talking about.
Here are some videos to show you what I'm talking about.
Thursday, March 29, 2012
Health Update
Well I am two weeks into volleyball right now and it seems like my knee is holding up well. I might try in a couple of weeks to add another day to my volleyball schedule. The good is while my knee is not at 100% yet, it is passing every stress test. Now gamed everything could change in the next few weeks, but so far so good. One another health front my students have succeeded in giving me my first cold of the new school year. Thanks guys, you couldn't even give me one month of good health. Ugh, I hate getting sick.
Thursday, January 26, 2012
Pale Blue Dot
I'm not sure if anyone here has ever read the quote or seen the picture, but this has been on my mind a lot lately. I guess a lot of it has to do with my growing disgust coming from the politics of both parties in the United States, and just how futile it seems to try and change anything. I think everyone needs to drop the holier than thou attitude and start trying to fix the problems we have. If we cannot find a way then we are doomed to repeat the errors of the past. How can we lead the world when we can't even lead ourselves?
Look again at that dot. That's here. That's home. That's us. On it everyone you love, everyone you know, everyone you ever heard of, every human being who ever was, lived out their lives. The aggregate of our joy and suffering, thousands of confident religions, ideologies, and economic doctrines, every hunter and forager, every hero and coward, every creator and destroyer of civilization, every king and peasant, every young couple in love, every mother and father, hopeful child, inventor and explorer, every teacher of morals, every corrupt politician, every "superstar," every "supreme leader," every saint and sinner in the history of our species lived there--on a mote of dust suspended in a sunbeam.
The Earth is a very small stage in a vast cosmic arena. Think of the rivers of blood spilled by all those generals and emperors so that, in glory and triumph, they could become the momentary masters of a fraction of a dot. Think of the endless cruelties visited by the inhabitants of one corner of this pixel on the scarcely distinguishable inhabitants of some other corner, how frequent their misunderstandings, how eager they are to kill one another, how fervent their hatreds.
Our posturings, our imagined self-importance, the delusion that we have some privileged position in the Universe, are challenged by this point of pale light. Our planet is a lonely speck in the great enveloping cosmic dark. In our obscurity, in all this vastness, there is no hint that help will come from elsewhere to save us from ourselves.
The Earth is the only world known so far to harbor life. There is nowhere else, at least in the near future, to which our species could migrate. Visit, yes. Settle, not yet. Like it or not, for the moment the Earth is where we make our stand.
It has been said that astronomy is a humbling and character-building experience. There is perhaps no better demonstration of the folly of human conceits than this distant image of our tiny world. To me, it underscores our responsibility to deal more kindly with one another, and to preserve and cherish the pale blue dot, the only home we've ever known.
-- Carl Sagan, Pale Blue Dot, 1994
Look again at that dot. That's here. That's home. That's us. On it everyone you love, everyone you know, everyone you ever heard of, every human being who ever was, lived out their lives. The aggregate of our joy and suffering, thousands of confident religions, ideologies, and economic doctrines, every hunter and forager, every hero and coward, every creator and destroyer of civilization, every king and peasant, every young couple in love, every mother and father, hopeful child, inventor and explorer, every teacher of morals, every corrupt politician, every "superstar," every "supreme leader," every saint and sinner in the history of our species lived there--on a mote of dust suspended in a sunbeam.
The Earth is a very small stage in a vast cosmic arena. Think of the rivers of blood spilled by all those generals and emperors so that, in glory and triumph, they could become the momentary masters of a fraction of a dot. Think of the endless cruelties visited by the inhabitants of one corner of this pixel on the scarcely distinguishable inhabitants of some other corner, how frequent their misunderstandings, how eager they are to kill one another, how fervent their hatreds.
Our posturings, our imagined self-importance, the delusion that we have some privileged position in the Universe, are challenged by this point of pale light. Our planet is a lonely speck in the great enveloping cosmic dark. In our obscurity, in all this vastness, there is no hint that help will come from elsewhere to save us from ourselves.
The Earth is the only world known so far to harbor life. There is nowhere else, at least in the near future, to which our species could migrate. Visit, yes. Settle, not yet. Like it or not, for the moment the Earth is where we make our stand.
It has been said that astronomy is a humbling and character-building experience. There is perhaps no better demonstration of the folly of human conceits than this distant image of our tiny world. To me, it underscores our responsibility to deal more kindly with one another, and to preserve and cherish the pale blue dot, the only home we've ever known.
-- Carl Sagan, Pale Blue Dot, 1994
Wednesday, January 25, 2012
Falling Apart.
For the longest time my health and general ability to heal have never been a problem for me. However in the past few months, it's becoming more and more apparent that as I get older, I'm actually going to have to start paying attention to stuff. Now I don't doubt that every person who gets older goes through this at some point, but this time it's me. I guess the past few months just haven't been that great for me physically.
First, we had the whole knee thingy. That has healed, but now because it was injured I am spending a good amount of time doing some physical therapy trying to strengthen the muscles and tendons surrounding my knee. I really didn't realize just how week my knee was going to be after until I started doing some of these exercises. I also realized just how dominant my left leg. However, once I've done these exercises and the muscles and joint are strengthened I should be just like new. Ok, well not really new, but back to my complete inability to jump higher than about 1 foot. Some white men can jump, I am not one of them.
Then in December I had a 24-48 hour bug. Which is starting to become more and more common for me. This thing took me down and beat me up. I almost felt like it was food poisoning, but it didn't present with all the normal symptoms I have when I get food poisoning. Sadly, I have had food poisoning now 5 times, and I am quite aware of how it makes me feel. This bug though, thoroughly wrecked me though. It was gone after two days, but it took almost two weeks before I really felt back to normal. This extended recovery time might have more to do with the last health related issue.
Lastly, it turns out I've had a urinary tract infection for a few months. Turns out we can get them too. I didn't know that. Given the fact that my parents read this blog I'm not going to go into the details of how I got it, but rest assured I sure did manage to get one. Well, the problem I had was that after a few days of discomfort it really felt like it was getting better/going away. I normally wait a few days to see how my body is going to react to something before I go see a doctor (see: get dragged kicking and screaming). Well since stuff was getting better I figured I'd just give it a few more days and I'd be fine. Well, it turns out that with a bacterial infection like this, it doesn't get better, the symptoms just move wherever they can and your body adapts to them. Which is what finally dragged me into a urologists office two weeks ago. It had started moving into my kidneys, and I was noticing some back pain, even though I hadn't done any heavy lifting. Once I also noticed it was localized around the kidneys and on both sides I figured I should go see a doc. I'm on week two of antibiotics, and I'm hoping that when I go for my check up tomorrow morning the guy is going to clear me. I'm sick of taking pills.
The whole thing that is weird for me though is that five years ago this probably wouldn't have been a problem. The whole kidney thing would have, but it would have been the one issue in a few years that I tend to get. Broken finger, Drainpipe to the head, sliver in the eye, hyper-extended shoulder joint, sciatica. Every one of these things were pretty well spaced out, and when my knee went screwy I figured it was just about time I hurt something again. However, with the infection, I'm a little worried I may not be as bullet proof as I never was. We'll just have to see how the next few years go.
First, we had the whole knee thingy. That has healed, but now because it was injured I am spending a good amount of time doing some physical therapy trying to strengthen the muscles and tendons surrounding my knee. I really didn't realize just how week my knee was going to be after until I started doing some of these exercises. I also realized just how dominant my left leg. However, once I've done these exercises and the muscles and joint are strengthened I should be just like new. Ok, well not really new, but back to my complete inability to jump higher than about 1 foot. Some white men can jump, I am not one of them.
Then in December I had a 24-48 hour bug. Which is starting to become more and more common for me. This thing took me down and beat me up. I almost felt like it was food poisoning, but it didn't present with all the normal symptoms I have when I get food poisoning. Sadly, I have had food poisoning now 5 times, and I am quite aware of how it makes me feel. This bug though, thoroughly wrecked me though. It was gone after two days, but it took almost two weeks before I really felt back to normal. This extended recovery time might have more to do with the last health related issue.
Lastly, it turns out I've had a urinary tract infection for a few months. Turns out we can get them too. I didn't know that. Given the fact that my parents read this blog I'm not going to go into the details of how I got it, but rest assured I sure did manage to get one. Well, the problem I had was that after a few days of discomfort it really felt like it was getting better/going away. I normally wait a few days to see how my body is going to react to something before I go see a doctor (see: get dragged kicking and screaming). Well since stuff was getting better I figured I'd just give it a few more days and I'd be fine. Well, it turns out that with a bacterial infection like this, it doesn't get better, the symptoms just move wherever they can and your body adapts to them. Which is what finally dragged me into a urologists office two weeks ago. It had started moving into my kidneys, and I was noticing some back pain, even though I hadn't done any heavy lifting. Once I also noticed it was localized around the kidneys and on both sides I figured I should go see a doc. I'm on week two of antibiotics, and I'm hoping that when I go for my check up tomorrow morning the guy is going to clear me. I'm sick of taking pills.
The whole thing that is weird for me though is that five years ago this probably wouldn't have been a problem. The whole kidney thing would have, but it would have been the one issue in a few years that I tend to get. Broken finger, Drainpipe to the head, sliver in the eye, hyper-extended shoulder joint, sciatica. Every one of these things were pretty well spaced out, and when my knee went screwy I figured it was just about time I hurt something again. However, with the infection, I'm a little worried I may not be as bullet proof as I never was. We'll just have to see how the next few years go.
Wednesday, December 7, 2011
How?
This past month, my time has been spent participating in the 3rd Annual Teacher's Presentation Contest. My co-teacher first informed me of the contest around Halloween. What was a little more disconcerting, was the fact that this was the third competition. I have been here for three and a half years, and this was the first time I had ever been informed about it. Either way, the contest was a two part contest. The first part was the written submission of a master lesson plan, a class lesson plan, an essay, and a 10 minute video showing your class. The point of the contest was to show ways in which you were improving English education in your school. After the submissions process, 14 teachers were selected to present at a training session/contest. The contest involved multiple judges and anywhere between 100-200 native English teachers who were attending it as a training session.
I was the 4th presenter of the day, and was grateful for my position. I would rather get it over with quickly than wait six hours to present. It does my nerves a lot better and I can also relax after and enjoy the rest of the competition. We were given 15 minutes to deliver a speech and then there was a 5 minute question and answer session. I would like to say that my speech went perfectly, but there were some mistakes. There were no debilitating errors and I even managed to have some fun up there. I didn't do horribly, but I didn't do great either. My powerpoint was very basic, and the idea was to rely more on my speaking ability than my powerpoint skills.
After the presentations were finished the judges did their jobs and judged us. Based on what I saw I knew that I would be lucky if managed to place third. The judges awarded 1 first place, 2 second places, and 3 third places. I figured I was in the middle of the pack. I knew there were several presentations which beat me, but I was not in the bottom 1/3 of presenters. As they began announcing the third place winners another person from Seosan placed third. John F. from Haemi had some technical issues in his presentation, but overall I had his presentation ranked ahead of mine. He put a lot of effort into, and his presentation had some very good ideas. I failed to place third and so did my friend John Wermer. At this point both he and I sat back and realized that we weren't winning anything. To our utter surprise, John W. won second place. I was shocked, because while he beat me in terms of powerpoint, I was and am a far better speaker than he is. I guess I should have known something was up at this point. Either way I had resigned myself to winning nothing, and dealing with some gloating out of John because he placed ahead of me. Well, then the damnedest thing happened. They announced first place, and said my name.
I guess I should mention now, that when they announced it the lady said "In first place, from Seosan (there were only 4 presenters from Seosan) Mr. William David Stuch....er, Stuche...m. As normal, nobody can pronounce my last name. Anyways, I corrected the lady on my last name, and then remained seated in the front row. It's not because I wanted her to say my last name correctly, it's because I still wasn't processing the fact that I won. She had to say my name again and then start looking around before I realized she was waiting for me to stand up and to accept my prize. After accepting my prize 300,000\(roughly $290) and certificate I asked the judges as I walked down from the stage if they had made a mistake.
Honestly, I'm still trying to wrap my head around how I managed to win the Teachers Presentation Contest. While I am confident in my speaking ability (even though this was my first time speaking in front of over 100 people and being judged by it), and I am confident in my teaching ability, my presentation was not the best presentation of the day. There were several presentations which beat me not only in terms of material, but presentation as well. When I was talking with the judges afterwards they said that my presentation fit the criteria the best, which is a little shocking considering most of us had never seen the criteria. I am grateful for the win, and rather surprised by it, but other people who presented beat me easily in terms of style, and some substance. I guess I just hit all the right buttons.
I was the 4th presenter of the day, and was grateful for my position. I would rather get it over with quickly than wait six hours to present. It does my nerves a lot better and I can also relax after and enjoy the rest of the competition. We were given 15 minutes to deliver a speech and then there was a 5 minute question and answer session. I would like to say that my speech went perfectly, but there were some mistakes. There were no debilitating errors and I even managed to have some fun up there. I didn't do horribly, but I didn't do great either. My powerpoint was very basic, and the idea was to rely more on my speaking ability than my powerpoint skills.
After the presentations were finished the judges did their jobs and judged us. Based on what I saw I knew that I would be lucky if managed to place third. The judges awarded 1 first place, 2 second places, and 3 third places. I figured I was in the middle of the pack. I knew there were several presentations which beat me, but I was not in the bottom 1/3 of presenters. As they began announcing the third place winners another person from Seosan placed third. John F. from Haemi had some technical issues in his presentation, but overall I had his presentation ranked ahead of mine. He put a lot of effort into, and his presentation had some very good ideas. I failed to place third and so did my friend John Wermer. At this point both he and I sat back and realized that we weren't winning anything. To our utter surprise, John W. won second place. I was shocked, because while he beat me in terms of powerpoint, I was and am a far better speaker than he is. I guess I should have known something was up at this point. Either way I had resigned myself to winning nothing, and dealing with some gloating out of John because he placed ahead of me. Well, then the damnedest thing happened. They announced first place, and said my name.
I guess I should mention now, that when they announced it the lady said "In first place, from Seosan (there were only 4 presenters from Seosan) Mr. William David Stuch....er, Stuche...m. As normal, nobody can pronounce my last name. Anyways, I corrected the lady on my last name, and then remained seated in the front row. It's not because I wanted her to say my last name correctly, it's because I still wasn't processing the fact that I won. She had to say my name again and then start looking around before I realized she was waiting for me to stand up and to accept my prize. After accepting my prize 300,000\(roughly $290) and certificate I asked the judges as I walked down from the stage if they had made a mistake.
Honestly, I'm still trying to wrap my head around how I managed to win the Teachers Presentation Contest. While I am confident in my speaking ability (even though this was my first time speaking in front of over 100 people and being judged by it), and I am confident in my teaching ability, my presentation was not the best presentation of the day. There were several presentations which beat me not only in terms of material, but presentation as well. When I was talking with the judges afterwards they said that my presentation fit the criteria the best, which is a little shocking considering most of us had never seen the criteria. I am grateful for the win, and rather surprised by it, but other people who presented beat me easily in terms of style, and some substance. I guess I just hit all the right buttons.
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