I really want to take some time to tell you about my two schools. I really think I lucked out with both of these placements. I live in a building with many English teachers and I hear their stories. Some are faced with horribly managed, huge groups of students and no support. Others have very little work to do at all and sit at their desks day after day with nothing to do. I’m not sure if the folks faced with either of these circumstances will continue to teach when finished in Korea. I wonder...
My story on the other hand is really excellent. First, I have two very different situations. In one school, I work directly with a single co teacher for three of the five days. He and I teach English only, and teach to 3 groups of 5th and 6th grade students. We plan lessons together and actually share the responsibility for teaching the classes. We both enjoy the students and teach well together.
In my other school I am greeted by a life size picture of Obama and the president of Korea on my classroom entrance. (I am thinking of all of my American friends as the election draws near.) I have my own beautifully styled, huge English classroom that’s furnished with a very large touch screen TV/ monitor and several work stations for role play activities. In this school, I have students and their classroom teachers come to my classroom. The teachers are very skilled with their students and help me interpret the new lessons and pretty much follow my direction, because I plan all of the lessons. At this school, I have 4 hours overtime each day. So for two days I teach 7 classes each day. I’m pooped on Thursdays!
I am so excited to be teaching elementary again. The Korean students begin taking English classes in third grade and are so adorable and eager to learn. We sing and dance and play games everyday in one school. In the other school, the kids are a little older and not as eager to sing and dance, but become fully focused and engaged when faced with a possible contest. Korean students LOVE to compete!
I had the funniest experience this week. The national fire prevention day was held on Thursday. I was informed that we were going to reschedule some classes and that we would have an hour for fire drill. AN hour??? So I got my jacket and went to a nearby entrance thinking I’de be ready and watch as kids kids came pouring out the door. I walked out my classroom door, glancing at our noble president for reassurance and sniffed. I smelled smoke. I thought it was my imagination so I asked my friend the nurse. “what’s the smoke? Is there a real fire?” There was no real fire but in Korea, they use a smoke bomb to simulate a real fire. I heard the familiar fire alarm, saw the kids pouring out the door and saw a billow of pink smoke coming from
the roof. I was hysterical! This was true Korean drama, and I fell for it!
There was an hour of fire prevention demonstrations. The kids used the hoses and extinguishers and put out real fires. There a was a fire captain that gave instruction and encouraged students to be safe. It was a familiar drill, so I could tell what was being said. It was typical, except for the pink smoke and real fire that the students took turns putting out. From this experience I learned 2 new Korean words. I later thought, my these should be learned at orientation. You probably guessed, the words are FIRE (hwajae) and firefighter (sobangsu). Being the only English person in the building, I don’t want to be left behind the droves of people running yelling HWAJEA!! SOBANGSU!! and not know what they mean. huh???
That was Thursday and today was Friday, so I was back at my other school. All of the 6th grade teachers were responsible for 6th graders on a field trip. It was interesting. We drove about an hour and a half south toward Cheongju and found a tourist attraction that had cages of birds and other small animals, some plants in pots and a few buildings. We were all invited in to make soap. It was easy and fun, and now I have 2 homemade bars of soap. Wow! Then we had lunch. I was delighted with this wonderful chicken ginseng soup. It was delicious and after finishing most of the large bowl in front of us we added some baked rice and spices and mushed it all up in the remaining broth. It tasted like an amazing blend of ginseng, chicken and fall spices with rice. It was the best meal that I’ve had here. You know, I’ll never find that place again. I did ask the name of the dish and it’s baegsug. So if I could only direct the wait staff at a future chicken soup to to my nifty new translator, I may just have that again someday.
I teach English as a foreign language in both schools in very different ways and am learning heaps about classroom management and cooperation between teachers. This is no easy task when you consider that I am the only person in the entire building at each school that is fluent in English. Here, you learn to speak from the heart. It’s exhausting and by the end of the week, believe me I have earned my pay. My pay... Oh yes, finally a pay check, and flight reimbursement .
My pay is directly deposited into my Korean account. My bank is conveniently down the road and I can use the ATM there anytime. I have only to ask and my building manager and he pays my utility bills for me, and I have a receipt that they are paid.
So life here is pretty simple. I wait patiently for the necessity of new language and it comes. I arrive at a restaurant , they bring me food. I never know what it is, but I eat it and ask questions later. I’m not dead yet, so I let all of this continue. I’m having an exciting adventure in South Korea. Everyday is different and I’m having a great time.
I’m so glad you all read this blog. I’d love to hear your thoughts and questions. It’s so fun to share all of this. See you online or on Skype if you can find me in this crazy new time zone. We are actually usually one day ahead, so look for me tomorrow. haha!
