Since the xmas party on Tuesday, I've been telling my students a little story of it – how I was the only foreigner there, and how my very limited Korean language skills meant I remained very confused most of the time. But then I share with them the fact that I actually picked up quite a bit, just from understanding 5% (or less!) of the vocabulary flying around. And that I learned a lot. And I coined a little aphorism: "If you understand everything, you're learning nothing." They seem to appreciate this – even the less-motivated students nod sagely after it sinks in and they've parsed its syntax.
I bought 꼬치 (chicken skewers) for the O2 students after they got a pretty high average on a vocabulary quiz. A way to ring out the old year, I guess. They seemed pleased with this.
It was drizzling as I walked home. Where did winter go? It's been warmer the last few days. Hmm… typical Korean pattern, actually. A bit of Siberia, a bit of southern Japan – the air mass boundary moves back and forth. And when it's warmer, it's wetter. So the best chance for snow is when the line's moving north… which is always followed by warmer weather. Which is why Korean winters rarely have much snow on the ground.