Monday, Monday

I just realized it's been about two weeks since I've written anything on here.  I guess that's mostly due to the fact that I haven't been doing anything particularly interesting recently.  I've been staying in Jeomchon on the weekends because 1) there haven't been any events that I'm dying to go to and 2) I need to save money because vacation is right around the corner.  I don't know my official vacation dates yet, but I will have my long vacation in January, then I'm going to China over the Lunar New Year.  Lots of exciting things coming up, but in the meantime I need to lay low for a while.

Anyway, today was one of the most random, but pleasantly surprising days I've had in quite a while.  Here's a rundown of my Monday...

It all started out perfectly normal with my pleasant fifth graders.  They're one of my favorite classes--they listen, participate, and many of them are very high level students.  However, my day takes a sharp turn for the worse once fifth grade leaves.  In the minutes following fifth grade's departure my rambunctious and downright rude sixth grades come yelling and pushing into my room.  Without fail they come in and are tackling each other, rolling around in the computer chairs, chasing each other, and yelling unnecessarily loudly about who knows what.  This means I spend the entirety of the twenty minute break before their class putting on my bitchface, telling students to leave the classroom, and guarding the stash of balls in the room that they love to steal and throw around.

Although my stomach always drops when I hear sixth grade coming into the room, I was pushed to my extreme limit today when one student found a book with a picture of an African child.  He was showing it to his friends, and they were all pointing and laughing, as if it this child's face was the most hysterical thing ever.

WHAT?! EXCUSE ME?

Ok, The blatant racism in Korea is no secret to anyone who lives here.  I know these kids aren't exposed to pretty much any racial diversity, and they've inherited a lot of their racism from the society they're living in.  BUT STILL. My blood was boiling, and the most frustrating part of the situation was I couldn't even properly talk to them about WHY their behavior wasn't ok.  They knew I was angry, but I don't think these particular students understand more then "hello", so I think everything I said was pretty much lost upon them.

So, fast forward another ten minutes and as I was writing something on the board one of the boys started to cry.  I have no idea why, but luckily as the bell rang the homeroom teacher came in and the next thing I knew all the students were sitting with their eyes closed and their hands on their heads.  About five of the craziest boys were standing with their hands in the air.  The homeroom teacher continued to yell at them for about seven minutes, as all of their hands were still up.

I've never seen these kids so quiet in my life.

I should mention that this kind of punishment isn't uncommon in Korea.  Actually, corporal punishment was only outlawed a few years ago, but this kind of thing is still frequently used.  It's not uncommon to see teachers punish students by making them kneel with their hands up, or stay for a long time in a kind of push-up position.  I've seen this done a lot in both the high school last year and at the elementary school this year.

Anyway, needless to say when I started my class they were all on their best behavior as the boys who were standing in the back continued to stand with their hands up.  I think this was the best class I've ever had with 6th grade--they actually participated and even enjoyed the game I prepared for them today.

Fast forward to after lunch and I had first grade.  Now, I never quite know what to expect with first grade.  They are always without fail super cute, but some days man are they crazy!  Their homeroom teacher doesn't stay for their class so I am literally alone in a room of first graders who don't understand a word I'm saying.  It can be completely insane on the days they decide they want to run around and tackle each other (I swear one class I had three kids cry in one forty minute class), but today they were SO GOOD and SO CUTE!

The absolute highlight was when they were singing and dancing.  It just doesn't get any cuter.  Then, after we finished with the songs, they all sat at their desks and did their writing and coloring assignment peacefully.  Oh first grade, why can't you always be so well behaved?

The girl in the yellow shirt is potentially the cutest kid in the entire school (and there are a lot cute kids in the school!)  Her personality is just SO friendly and she just has the cutest smile!

After first grade I had fourth grade.  When I went to their classroom they were in the middle of singing Happy Birthday to one of the girls in the class.  So, instead of having class with them I ate chips and cake with them.  Not a bad way to end my classes for the day.

The girl with the orange glasses was the birthday girl

The next surprise of the day happened as I was sitting in the office.  The secretary came over and brought me a package from my wonderful mother full of yummy goodies.

Thanks, mom!! What a nice surprise to end my day with!

Moments from the classroom

Korea's English program officially starts with third grade. However, once a week I see first and second grade even though technically I think that's against the rules...but I just do as I'm told.  Regardless, although I only see these classes once a week, they have provided plenty of comical (and sometimes frustrating) moments.

On Friday one student was about to leave the class when I asked where he was going.  He answered "화장실" which means bathroom.  I understood this because....well, bathroom is one of those words you learn within what, you're first week in Korea?  To make sure I got the point though, his friend grabbed a piece of paper and drew this for me:

Yes, that is a butt with poop coming out.  Good to know I can count on these second graders to help me with the language barrier. 

Another interesting thing about teaching first and second grade is seeing the difference between my male and female students.  Ok, so not all of the females are perfect angels and there are some boys who are wonderfully behaved, however overall the girl students are the ones keeping the boys in line during class. Although, nothing shows the differences between the boys and girls as much as when they draw.

For example, recently I have been teaching the students emotions so that they will be able to answer the question "how are you?"  I gave them a blank face and they had to draw an emotion and correctly complete the sentence on the top of the paper.  Overwhelmingly, the boys chose to draw "angry" with pictures like this:

The girls on the otherhand, overwhelmingly chose to draw "happy" with pictures like this:

I love you first and second grade. Don't ever change. 

Camp: Day 1

This week I'm teaching English camp with a group of about twenty first grade students.  For lack of any better ideas, I decided to do an "Exploring the World" camp, which will focus on a different English-speaking country everyday.

One of the things I love doing most while teaching in Korea is teaching students about western culture.  In our western-centric minds, we tend to let our egos get in the way and often assume that hey, everyone must know about our culture.  However, that's obviously not the case and I love introducing the students to the world beyond Korea.  Yes, I guess my inner social studies teacher is still lurking around after all.

Anyway, today I kicked off the camp with America...basically because I knew it would be the easiest to plan and I wanted to transition into the camp madness somewhat easily.  I started the class by breaking students into groups and giving them a bunch of questions about America to see what they already knew.  I also gave them a map of America and asked them to label any of the states they knew.  This turned into a fun competition and the results were definitely intriguing.

Here, my friends, is the United States according to Korean high school students:

Boston is next to Texas...who knew?

Note: Harvard and Yale are states. Mississippi is also a northern state.  

You'll notice the only state on here is Vermont.  That probably seems incredibly random, but actually it's not.  My friend who taught this particular group of students in middle school is from Vermont.  And we think they don't learn anything from our lessons--turns out they do pay attention! 

These are just a few of the maps, but you get the idea.  It's a good reminder that America's not the center of the universe.

And to be fair, of course the majority of Americans probably can't label the whole map of America, and I certainly didn't expect all of my students to be able to.  Not to mention, I'm sure the majority of Americans can't place Korea on a map. Geography seems to be a universal skill that is lacking.

Oh, and I should mention things just kept getting more entertaining when we went over the answers to the survey I gave them.  To end this post I'll give you a little excerpt from that part of class.

Me: Does anyone know what America's national bird is?
Student: Pigeon!!!

Just another day in Korea.

Limping to the finish line

If I had to choose one emoticon to display how I've been feeling recently, this would have to be it. Teaching in Korea has made one thing abundantly clear to me over the past few weeks:

Having school during the summer is just wrong.

I remember way back in the winter one of my friends here said that every July she wants to quit her job.  I now can understand why. These past few weeks have been a bit of struggle.

To start with, Korea's summers are really hot and humid, so by the time I walk to school each day I'm pretty drenched with sweat, which pretty negates the shower I take each morning.  It's not the most glamorous way to being the day, and the school itself is only sometimes air conditioned.

Secondly, despite the fact that finals were two weeks ago, we have been continuing with classes as normal, just with students who are less motivated and more exhausted.

I spent the entirety of last week trying to finish all of my grades for the writing class I did with the first grade girls.  Grading always takes a long time, but it takes way longer when you're reading essays written by students who don't speak English as their first language. At times it's exhausting to figure out what the intention of each sentence is, and it takes the mental exhaustion that comes from grading to a new level.

Nevertheless, I'm so glad I did that writing class this semester because I saw so much improvement in my students' writing.  At the beginning of the semester they struggled to write one paragraph.  By the end, they wrote two five paragraph essays.  I feel like a proud mama when I see so much improvement in their work.  These are the things that make me love working in education.

Of course, grading is grading and I don't think I've felt so overwhelmed with work since teaching back in America (and that's saying a lot!)  We're talking non-stop working, staying up crazy late busy. Last week I told myself all I had to do was get to the weekend....but it hasn't slowed down a bit this week.

Next week I'll be teaching an English camp at my school.  Although the last week of regular classes is this week, of course my students are still in school for the rest of the summer.  Actually all EPIK teachers are responsible for doing an English camp during school breaks, which essentially is just what is sounds like. You pick a theme and teach kids for an extended amount of time each day.

Yesterday I found out my camp will be next week from 4-9.  Yes, that's right.  4-9 PM.  Gross.  And since the camp will be with the same group of students each day, that means I have four hours of lessons to prepare for each day.  That's just a lot of planning...and a long time to be spending with the same group of kids.  Given it usually takes me hours just to plan one lesson, I'm feeling slightly overwhelmed by the amount of work I have to do to prepare for next week.

Of course, it would be a bit better if I didn't have a teacher's trip this whole weekend.  Not to mention, my three-hour Wednesday planning block is non-existent this week because my CT told me today that I need to go to Gumi to renew my ARC tomorrow during that time.  Since I teach ALL day Thursdays and we leave for our trip on Friday, I can't help wonder: when exactly am I supposed to get my materials together? Did I didn't even get home from school until 9:30 tonight...

After my camp I'll be teaching a conversation class the following week...which I think they think will be easy, and maybe it would be except the class will only have about five kids.  As anyone who has taught a small class before knows, you have to plan A LOT more when classes are that small.

The past few weeks I just feel like I've been drowning in school work.  It's the feeling you get when you look at your to-do list and your free time and you know that there's no way to cross everything off besides losing a lot of sleep.  It's the feeling when you keep giving yourself goals ("just finish this project and you'll have some time to breathe")....only to finish your project and realize that actually there is just way more waiting for you and in reality the finish line is WAY further down the line.

This semester has, in general, been extremely long and exhausting.  Today I was reflecting and trying to figure out why I feel so burnt out.  Then it hit me--in America we have school vacations about every two months.  Now here in Korea we are going on five months now with only one five day weekend.  Now I know to people who don't work in education think this sounds normal...but truly school vacations exist for a reason and I can now tell why.  Students and teachers in Korea both are going through the motions but there isn't an ounce of energy left in anyone.

On top of everything it probably doesn't help that this is my last week with most of my students, and I'm bracing myself for some difficult goodbyes with friends coming up in August.  I can't quite wrap my head around what it's going to feel like here without these people, and quite honestly I'm trying to put it out of my mind for the time being, but it's still always there behind everything else. Just a bit of emotional exhaustion on top of everything else.

In the meantime, I am thinking about home constantly and my main motivation to plow through my absurd workload has been the countdown I have going on my phone (18 days and counting!)  The work is going to get done somehow or another, and I can't think of any sweeter way to end this marathon than with my friends and family, in a place where for the first time in a year, I'll be able to understand everything.  I can't quite wrap my head around that yet.

Since I started this entry with a rather depressing emoticon, I suppose I should finish it with one that is a little more uplifting. So ladies and gentlemen, here is an emoticon that depicts just how I feel about coming home:

And yes, he has a butt crack on his head.  Why? Because, Korea. 

Scattegories

So there I was.  It was a typical post-exam Friday afternoon.  It was one of those classes where quite honestly, I had no idea what to do with my first graders because...well, exams are finished, yet we still have two weeks of classes during which time every other teacher in Korea is allowed to show movies, but of course at our "rigorous and prestigious" school we're not allowed to.  This means that the kids have no motivation for class and are expecting to watch movies, yet forced to continue on with their classes as normal.  You can imagine how fun these two weeks are for all the teachers at my school.

I try to think of fun lessons to do during these weeks, because let's face it...the students need a break.  Not to mention the weather has become incredibly hot over the past few weeks, with highs around 90 accompanied with insane humidity every day.  Who wants to sit in school during that kind of weather? Certainly not I, and definitely not y students either.

Friday I was super busy finishing grading things for my writing class, so I figured why not play Scattergories with my students. I mean, who doesn't like Scattegories?

During one of the rounds one of the categories was "breakfast foods", and the letter was "M".

What did students respond with?

Mushroom soup and milkshakes.

There were two other answers and I can't currently remember what they were, but they were just as great as mushroom soup and milkshakes.

However, most notably, not one group said what most Americans would think....muffins!

Yes, for Koreans mushroom soup would be a totally normal breakfast food because in Korea breakfast food isn't really any different from food you eat at any other time of the day. Soup and rice are common breakfast foods, whereas muffins are just what you eat at a coffee shop, maybe as a post-dinner food.  Love those cultural differences.

Later in the day I gave another one of my classes the letter "S" for the same categories and answers included:

--salad
--salmon
--sushi (most groups disagreed with this answer, but they argued that in Japan this would be a breakfast food...)

Yes, who doesn't want salad for breakfast?  My students told me it's actually commonly served for breakfast in Korea.  Who knew?

Anyway, that's what I did on Friday.  And yes, I get paid for sometimes playing Scattegories at work. I guess this job isn't that bad.

If Korea Had Prom....

Given this is prom season back in America, when I was out of ideas for my second grade class this week, I decided why not do a prom theme.  There is no such thing as prom in Korea, so needless to say my students were amazed (and jealous) of the prom experience that American high school students have.

After I told my students about prom, they had to make a proposal for their own prom and present their ideas to class.  Afterwards, we voted for the best one.  This was highly entertaining for me because of the themes the students chose.  Here are some of my favorites:

--Harry Potter
--Vampire's Castle
--Dinosaur
--Traditional Korea
--Night Club
--Mermaid theme (girls have to dress as mermaids and boys have to dress as fish)

And last but not least:
--Frozen
(I should have known this would be on someone's list!)


Overall it was an interesting activity.  There are no school dances in Korea, so students are quite envious of this element of American high schools.  Who knows, maybe someday Korea will adopt the tradition of having prom as well....because who wouldn't love to go to a Frozen themed prom? ;)

Things that happened at school this week

Things that happened at school this week:

1) I amazed my students by reading Korean. 

When I read the Korean one of the markers (보드마카)  for the white board my students were completely astonished.  But see, the funny thing is I've been able to read Korea for pretty much the whole time I've been here.  Not to mention 보드마카 reads as "Bo-duh-ma-ka.  It's not exactly hard to figure out what something says when it's just English words written in Hangul.  However, I am glad that my students are occasionally easy to impress.

2)  I amazed my students by telling them that my mom, brother, and I have blue eyes, while my dad and sister have brown eyes.

I was wearing a royal blue shirt, which is just about the only color that makes my eyes look really blue and less grey.  Naturally most Korean students aren't that used to seeing people with blue eyes, so they are occasionally really interested in staring at me on days when my eyes look especially blue.  This time two girls stayed after class to tell me about how much they loved colored eyes.  When I told them that my dad has brown eyes and my mom has blue eyes, they were completely shocked.  Then came my mini-genetics lesson about how that works (thank you high school biology!) They were fascinated, which was pretty adorable, but my favorite part was when they asked if I had ever seen people with green eyes.  When I told them yes they couldn't believe it.  Green eyes?!  Amazing.

They then asked if I knew people with red or purple eyes, and the conversation then changed to a discussion about the natural color of eyes versus the use of contact lenses.

Who knew eyes could be so fascinating?

3) A student shared her bathroom issues...in detail.

During my night class there is a fifteen minute break for the students.  During that time one of the girls in my class began telling me about how she has been having bathroom difficulties lately.  This is when the vocabulary lesson about the word "constipation" began.  She then continued to tell me a very long and detailed story about her problems with this before.

The funny thing is, this isn't the first time this has happened this semester.  I remember at orientation they told us that Koreans are very open about discussing bathroom occurrences, but I hadn't experienced it until this semester.  I don't know if it's because my female students feel close to me or what, but I am learning a lot about my students in ways I NEVER would have imagined.

I'm going to add this to my list of things that would never happen in America.

4)  I had a class of 27 crying teenage girls.

As I already noted, Thursday was Teacher's Day.  It was a wonderful day...until my last class.  Usually my students come into class before the bell rings, but when it came time for my last period class the bell rang and I still had an empty classroom.  I was wondering where they were when they slowly a few students started to come in.  However, instead of bouncing through the door and yelling "hello!" like they usually do, they were all crying.

My co-teacher wasn't there, so I was left to ask them what was going on.  I couldn't fully understand what happened, but apparently they had prepared a big surprise for their homeroom teacher (my CT later told me that they had gotten a cake, printed pictures, and were standing in a heart shape when he walked in the room).  However, apparently he had been upset with their behavior in his class (or in another class...I'm not really sure), so as soon as he walked in the door he said he didn't want it, yelled at them, and then left.

Well, these fragile, emotional teenage girls were heartbroken.  I can't imagine this class ever behaving badly, so I have a had time believing that they really did anything THAT bad. I guess I can't really know the full story, but it really broke my heart to see them all so upset.

So, there I was, in a room with 27 crying teenage girls.  How are you supposed to teach a class like that?

Naturally, I tried to distract them.  I put on Pharrell's music video "Happy", which was somewhat successful.  They were still upset, but at least they had stopped crying by the time it was over.



It's amazing how much can happen in one week.  When my days start to feel redundant, sometimes I need to step back and recognize these kind of unique moments, especially since I only have a few more months to enjoy with this group of kids.

Staying Motivated

 Today’s article is written for the Reach To Teach Teach Abroad Blog Carnival, a monthly series that focuses on providing helpful tips and advice to ESL teachers around the globe. I'll be posting a new ESL related article on my blog on the 5th of every month. Check back for more articles, and if you'd like to contribute to next month's Blog Carnival, please contact Dean at dean@reachtoteachrecruiting.com, and he will let you know how you can start participating!

"How do you keep yourself from becoming burnt out and how do you stay motivated to teach?"

This month's topic for the blog carnival couldn't come at a more appropriate time.  At this point we've had  two solid months of classes without any long weekends.  Thankfully, we do have one right around the corner, but these past few weeks I've been struggling to keep my motivation to teach.

There's no way around it: teaching is exhausting.  I think few people understand just how draining teaching is until they are teachers themselves. Teaching is more than just planning lessons and lecturing.  You have thirty or more students who all need your attention, sometimes all at the same time.  You're pulled in a million different ways each and every class. Teaching is emotionally draining, and it's only a matter of time before you just need a break to rest and regain your passion and enthusiasm.

When it comes to the inevitable problem of feeling burnt out, here's what works for me:

1)  Take time for yourself.

As an introvert, this is something I always have to remind myself that's it's OK to do.  The wonderful thing about being in Korea is that there's always something going on.  I feel like I always have friends that I can meet up with. However, just because you're  invited to do things doesn't mean that you have to so say yes every time.  It's perfectly OK to say no.  It's OK, and in fact, even prudent to sometimes spend your day in your pajamas, watching TV, reading, listening to music, whatever it is you need to do to just unwind.

Sometimes alone time works wonders for recharging my motivation.  However, other times I find that nothing can rejuvenate my enthusiasm for Korea like going somewhere or doing something new.  Sometimes a change of scenery really ignites my passion for being here, and that can carry over into the classroom.  Sometimes taking time for yourself means sucking it up and spending a lot of money on the weekend to get out of town for an adventure.

2)  If possible, teach what you're passionate about and don't be afraid to try new things. 

I'm fortunate to teach high-level high school students, so I'm guessing that this is a little easier for me than it is for elementary or lower-level teachers.  However, this is one of the main things I try to do to keep my enthusiasm in the classroom.  Before I came to Korea I was a social studies teacher.  This means the things I'm  passionate about teaching are history, politics, culture, etc.  While I don't mind teaching things like English grammar, it's just not what I'm passionate about.  Luckily, in my position I'm not expected to strictly teach grammar, which has allowed me to create lessons about things I'm more passionate about.

I teach some of my lessons six times a week, so in order to keep my motivation it's essential to create lessons that can not only get the students to practice English, but that I can also find interesting and feel passionate about. Trying new teaching techniques and topics for discussions definitely keeps the atmosphere of the classroom interesting.  Sometimes a lesson can take a few times to get right, but finding something new that works great with the students is a really rewarding feeling that can boost your enthusiasm for being in the classroom.

I suppose the fact that I had teaching experience before coming here probably affects the types of lessons I make (once a social studies teacher, always a social studies teacher), but in my experience there's nothing worse than teaching a lesson you're not passionate about over and over and over.  Mixing up lessons and keeping them interesting to you makes the days much more enjoyable.

3) Remember your impact on your students goes beyond what you do in the classroom. 

Out of all the ways to keep motivation levels high, I would say this is the most important.  When the days start to all feel the same, it's easy to lose sight of the impact you can have as a teacher.  When you teach classes in which the students are always falling asleep because they got five hours of sleep (or less) the previous night (and every night before that), it's easy to feel like you're wasting your time by putting so much energy into your lesson plans and time in the classroom.

However, that couldn't be less true, especially while teaching in a school where you're the only foreigner.

This was illustrated for me last week as I was walking home from school. I was on my normal walk home  when one of my former second grade students caught up with me. She continued to walk with me because she was heading to the doctor and it was in the same direction as my apartment.

 During our walk, she told me that she and her classmates often talk about me with their other English teacher.  This of course surprised me and  made me hesitantly ask why, at which point she told me it was because her class is very fond of me. Apparently they often talk about how they worry that I am sad because I miss my family.  I assured her that even when I miss my family, I am happy to be here because I have many friends and enjoy seeing everyone at school.  She then told me she was glad and that I shouldn't ever be sad because they all love me and don't want me to leave Korea.

Moments like these are important reminders that although sometimes students are shy and afraid to talk to you, you have a real impact on their lives. Lately, many of my students have been asking me questions about America.  They are curious about everything--especially the lives of teenagers.  Sometimes I forget that these kids have no idea what life is like outside of Korea.

Although sometimes I doubt how much I really help these kids improve their language abilities, the main thing I hope many of them take away from their time with me is an understanding of the world outside of Korea.  Or should I say, an understanding that there is a world outside of Korea.  Don't get me wrong, I love Korea in many ways, but it's an incredibly intense country to grow up in.  Students don't often get a glimpse of the outside world, except through their native teachers.

Sometimes I need to remind myself that my role as a teacher here is way more than teaching students English.  It's introducing them to what's out there beyond the confines of the school walls.  It's reminding them that someday the unbearable monotony of high school will be finished, and there's a big world waiting for them.  It's reminding them that they're more than their imperfections.  It's reminding them that they're more than just their test scores.  It's making them believe that life is exciting and wonderful, because many times they really don't believe it.

No teacher has perfect lessons every single day, but that's not all there is to teaching.

What is the main thing that keeps me motivated to teach?

Without doubt, it's my students.  While students are often what make me feel burnt out, they're also what restores my motivation and passion for teaching.  Always telling classes to be quiet and juggling the classroom management of apathetic students takes a serious toll on you.  However, looking for the growth in every student is what makes it worth it.  It's watching them become a little less shy to speak English.  It's in getting to know them and their aspirations.  It's watching them become more curious about the outside world.  These are the things that make me come back to school day after day, and these are the things that I will keep with far long after I leave Korea.

Some days teaching in Korea goes a little like this...

Today I was reviewing how to give advice and suggestions with my first grade girls.  I gave them different scenarios and they had to practice giving advice for each situation.  One of the situations I gave them was "My boyfriend doesn't love me anymore."  The overwhelming solution I got from my students?

"You must get plastic surgery!"

Just imagine a room full of 15 year old girls telling you that if a boy doesn't love you, you need to get plastic surgery.  Pretty much a dagger through my heart.

In a later class I gave them the problem "A boy likes me, but I don't like him."  One of the solutions was "You should tell him to get plastic surgery."  At which point I tried to explain that the problem actually the way he looked, but the way he ACTED.

And yes, I threw in a lot of relationship problems because hey, it gets their attention EVERY single time.  Seriously, if I ever need to wake up those sleeping students, all I have to do is make some sort of scenario about a boyfriend.

Anyway, I blew my students' minds the other day when I asked them some "would you rather" questions.  One of the questions was "Would you rather be rich and ugly or poor and beautiful?"  I told them if they chose rich they couldn't get plastic surgery to become beautiful.  The overwhelming choice for this question was that they would rather be poor and beautiful.

I told them that I would definitely rather be rich and ugly--they couldn't believe it.  They said it was because I was "already beautiful", at which point I told them I would much rather be ugly and rich because I could travel, see the world, and help countless people with my money. At that point they were all staring at me with looks that were partly confused and partly in agreement.  I think I caused some major cognitive dissonance.  Score!

I know I've written plenty about both the importance of appearance here, and the way in which students talk so nonchalantly about plastic surgery, but after 7 months here, it still blows me away.

My first students are smart and beautiful young women.  It really breaks my heart that they only see all of their "imperfections", which I'm sure have been pointed out to them from a young age.

When we were practicing giving advice today I gave groups slips of paper with problems written on them, then they had to give people suggestions one by one.  For one of the problems one girl was told by her group she needed plastic surgery to change her face.  I was walking by as I heard that suggestion, at which point I exclaimed "No! Your face is beautiful!"

She looked at me in disbelief and proceeded to tell me over and over how touched she was.

I hope my students improve their English while they're in my class, but I think I'll be even happier if they at least re-examine some of their beliefs about what's important in life--if they at least know that there are different perspectives out there.  I love Korea, but man, this is a tough country to grow up in.

Figures...

For the next week and a half I will be teaching a one hour class every day.  The class was open to my students, so I wasn't entirely sure of how many students to expect today.

What did I get when I walked into the class this afternoon?

11 of my most rambunctious boys...and 1 girl.

Figures. 

But really, I had a great time with them this afternoon.  There's a lot of energy, but it was fun because they're students I can joke around with.  And since it's a small class, if I have problems with them there's plenty of room to split them up.  

Plus, I get to teach the class all on my own.  Don't get me wrong, my co-teachers are super nice, but it doesn't matter how well I get to know them, I'll never be comfortable having someone else watch me teach.  It felt awesome to have my own classroom today--it reminded me of what teaching was like back home.  I think I almost forgot how much I missed it.   

Plus, there's nothing more entertaining than having a bunch of teenage boys beg you to play "Let it go" from Frozen...things that just wouldn't happen in America.  

What do you know about Christmas?

Today I started class by asking my students what they think of when they think of Christmas so I could make a list on the board before we began our lesson. What did everyone start yelling out when I asked the question?

Christmas trees?
No.

Santa Claus?
Nope.

Baby Jesus?
Not at all.

The answer that was so forcefully thrown my way was.....

"Kevin!!"

Now, perhaps you are confused by this.  Kevin?

Yes, remember that movie we watched a million times when we were younger with the little boy named Kevin?  Yes, Home Alone. Well, it's apparently the most popular Christmas movie in Korea, but they don't call it Home Alone, they call it "Kevin".

Naturally when my students all started shouting this out I couldn't help but laugh.  Not just because of the answer, but because just this weekend my friends were telling me about this phenomenon.  They told me that when I asked that question that would be the first thing everyone would shout out.  And sure enough, they couldn't be more right.  Apparently Home Alone is shown on just about every tv station all day on Christmas.

Why Home Alone?  I couldn't tell you. But the fact that they call it "Kevin" just makes it even more hilarious to me.

Four months in, and Korea is still full of surprises.

Oh, and one other random thing.  They don't have candy canes in Korea.  How is it supposed to really feel like Christmas without candy canes?   I thought I must just have been missing them in Homeplus, but I asked around and my worst fears were confirmed.  Apparently candy canes just aren't a part of Christmas in Korea.

What a shame, but at least I know I can get more than my fill of Home Alone. I guess that counts for something?

A glimpse into the classroom...

As I was getting set up to teach one of my lessons last week, one of my students came up to me with a chocolate muffin-type snack.  He shoved it in my face, and I quickly asked, "For me?"  He said yes and kept it right in front of my face.  "You want me to take a bite?"  He nodded his head and replied "Yes, one bite."  I took a bite and then he continued to eat the rest.

Koreans have different rules about sharing food (in that there are no rules). When you go out to eat you generally get a large portion of food that is shared by everyone.  There's none of this "getting your own plate of food" business that we have in the west.  I've grown accustomed to that, but this moment still took me by surprise.  I'm just going to add this to my list of things that would never happen in the US.

Here are a few other humorous moments from my time in the classroom last week:

Situation 1
Assignment: Write about a person who inspires you and explain why that person inspires you.

Me:  Who are you writing about?
Student 1:  His mother.
Me: Oh yeah?
Student 1:  Yes. Best friend.
Me: Oh, he's your best friend?
Student 1: No.
Me: Oh, why?'
Student 1: He loves me, but I don't love him.
Me: Oh, ok.
Student 1: No, no!! Not gay!!!!

Situation 2
Context: In the midst of asking the students a serious of "would you rather" questions.

Question 1:  Would you rather be invisible or be able to fly?

Student 1:  I would rather be invisible because then I could see everything.
Everyone else in the class: OOOOHHHHHHHHHH!!!

A few minutes later....
Me:  I think I would rather be able to fly.
Student: That's because you are a woman.  It is every man's dream to be invisible.  Then you can see everything.
Me: ..........................

Question 2: Would you rather go to a concert or go to the movies?

Student 1: I'd rather go to a concert because then I could hug a girl I didn't know.
Me: ..........what?

Student 2: I'd rather go to the movies because it's dark in the movies.
Class: OOOOHHHHHHHH


Just in case I was forgetting, these are high school boys I'm teaching after all....

What I've Learned in the ESL Classroom

 Today’s article is written for the Reach To Teach Teach Abroad Blog Carnival, a monthly series that focuses on providing helpful tips and advice to ESL teachers around the globe. I'll be posting a new ESL related article on my blog on the 5th of every month. Check back for more articles, and if you'd like to contribute to next month's Blog Carnival, please contact Dean at dean@reachtoteachrecruiting.com, and he will let you know how you can start participating! 


When I finished EPIK orientation about two and a half months ago, I felt like I had been through the most overwhelming whirlwind of my life. Everything in my life was suddenly different, and then BAM! On top of it all,it was time to start a new job.

Adapting to life in Korea became so all-consuming that the whole teaching thing (you know the reason we're all here in the first place) almost became a second thought.  During orientation we didn't know where we were living, never mind the grade we would be teaching.  Needless to say, despite the hours of training we endured, we didn't exactly feel like we had any idea what to expect from our jobs.

This is not my first teaching job.  In fact, I have a Master's degree in Secondary Education and I taught for two years in America before coming to Korea.  I can't tell you how many times during orientation people looked at me and said "oh, you have teaching experience, you'll be fine."

The truth is, I knew teaching in an ESL room would be a completely different experience, and in large part, it has been.  At home I taught Civics/Economics/Law and a few other social studies classes.  I had ZERO experience teaching English, never mind teaching English as a foreign language in the midst of a school system that functions quite differently from the system in the US.

One of the reasons I wasn't sure of whether or not I should come to Korea was because of how much I loved teaching in America.  I never stopped doing work when I was teaching at home, but I also couldn't imagine myself doing anything else.  I wasn't sure if I wanted to leave something I loved to do something that I didn't know if I would even like.

I'm two and a half months into teaching here, and while I really do miss teaching in the US,  I've learned a number of things in my short time here.  Here's a snippet of what I've taken away from my time as an ESL teacher.

1)  Teenagers are teenagers, no matter what country you're in.  
Sure, there are differences in culture that affect the way some of my Korean students act, but the similarities between my students in Korea and the US far outweigh the differences.  There is most definitely a social hierarchy in Korea, just as there is in America.  There are the "athletic" students, the "outgoing students", the "shy students", the "studious students" and the "socially awkward" students.  I've been surprised by how many times my students have said or done things that have reminded me of my students in America.  These students love the same things as American teenagers--they like music, sleeping, thinking about members of the opposite sex, and playing video games. They are self-conscious and place great importance in their looks.  They have their emotional mood swings, and some days you don't know whether to expect them to be bouncing off the walls or completely asleep for the duration of the class. Even if I can't communicate with them that well, I love them and their crazy/wonderful teenager ways just as much as I loved my American students.

2) Students need to be built up, not torn down. 
My students are under a tremendous amount of stress.  Korean education is ALL about testing.  In fact, their entire education essentially comes down to the SAT test they take in their third year of high school.  These kids have been going to hagwons since they were children, which means their school days basically consists of two parts--the regular day and then night classes.  They hardly ever get real days off from school, not even on weekends or holidays breaks.  If they're not smart (or really just bad at testing), they will be reminded of it.  If they don't fit into the narrow idea of acceptable beauty, they will be told by virtually everyone around them (as if they didn't already know it themselves).

I've found that compliments can go a long way in the ESL classroom.  Many students lack confidence in their ability to speak English, and they need encouragement to feel like it is ok to make mistakes.  I try to build the students up as much as I can (not that I lie to them), but from what I can tell, they don't hear many positive things about themselves very often.

Recently my students participated in a competition in our provinece where they had to put on a play in English.  During lunch I would go and watch and try to help them with their plays. The first time I saw them I told them it was really good (and it was--they ended up winning 1st place), but they looked at me with complete disbelief.  "Really?!"  Apparently the other teachers hadn't been telling them the same.  After they won, one of the students excitedly came up to me at school the next Monday and thanked me for my help. I didn't think I did that much, but it was truly appreciated by the students.

Students need to hear corrections, but they also need to hear positivity as well. And trust me, it means A LOT for them to hear it from the western, native teacher.  Students are really shy and self-conscious, especially about speaking English, and especially about speaking English to the native speaker (I mean, who wouldn't be?)  It's really important to give corrections in a gentle way and to give positive feedback whenever possible.  It does wonders for these kids' confidence.

3)  Good lessons only come with a lot of time and effort. 
Teaching is hard work. You don't just get to show up and do you're job--there's planning, making materials, implementing the lesson, and revising.....and then revising again.  I sometimes teach the same lesson six times in one week.  Some weeks, I change the lesson almost every single time.  By Friday, I usually finally have the lessons to a point where I am satisfied with them.

I've always known that teaching is a process, but this is the first time I've really been able to revise lessons.  I didn't teach long enough in America to really get to revise any lessons, so this has actually been a good experience for me.  I've been able to truly going through the evolution of the teaching process.  And if anything, teaching the same lessons so many times has really shown me just how much of a process it is.

4) It's hard to be patient, especially when you're insecurities are brought to the forefront. 
Teaching requires a whole lot of patience.  This is again something I already knew, but teaching in Korea has made me more aware of this.  Teaching in Korea has additionally made me aware of the fact that I am not confident in my teaching ability.  One of the major changes I've had to adjust to is the fact that I have to teach with a co-teacher.  Last year I could do whatever I wanted in my classroom, and if I had a lesson go badly, I didn't have my colleagues there to witness it.

This year I have another teacher in the room with me 80% of the time.  I like my co-teachers a lot, but it is still uncomfortable for me at times, especially when I think something isn't going well.  Of course, feeling this way has unleashed a number of personal questions (why do I care as long as I am putting in my best effort?), but at times it can be frustrating.  It can be difficult to keep your patience when your students can't always understand you, you have a communication barrier with your co-teacher, and you don't feel confident about what you're doing.  Everything is amplified in the classroom--whether it's your strengths, insecurities, or ability to be patient, teaching is the culmination of so many things that you can't help but learn a lot about your ability to deal with all different types of circumstances.

5) One of the best ways to learn about Korea is to get to know the students

It sounds cliche, but my favorite part of teaching is hands down getting to know my students.  By this point there are certain students I look forward to seeing on a daily basis--the students who always stop by at the same time, or who I always see on my walk home from school.  Talking with them in those informal situations is absolutely the best part of my job, and I love hearing more about their lives.  I have learned a lot about life in Korea just by talking to my students, and I hope that they are learning just as much about America by talking to me.  You can learn a lot by reading books or articles online, but you learn myriads more by talking to people and hearing about their own experiences.  I can read about Korea and my students can read about America, but to talk to someone is to get the real deal, the real insight on how a culture affects a person's life.

I always tell my students that someday when they come to America they can find me and we can meet up and I will buy them pizza (or hamburgers or whatever western thing we happen to be talking about)....but I honestly mean it, and I hope that one day they really will get to experience my culture, just as I am getting to experience theirs.




Teaching in the ESL classroom is still teaching me new things every day and I'm sure it will continue to teach me more with every day I spend with my students. At least I hope it will, because I came to Korea to learn as much as I can, and I have no doubts that I will go back to America someday as a much stronger, well-rounded person and  teacher for my future students.

The best invention in the world is...

Today I did a lesson with my second graders that focused on inventions.  After I showed a brief slideshow of some famous inventors and their inventions, they had to work in groups to decide on what they thought are the five best inventions of all time.  The following are some of the answers I got:

Fried chicken
Rice burgers
Toothbrushes
Toothpaste
Toilet paper
Fire
Religion
Telephones
PC rooms
Plastic surgery

Yes, that's plastic surgery.  I asked the student why and he said plastic surgery, and he said that it is because people can get plastic surgery and  it will change their lives and they will have more opportunities.  I asked him what kind of opportunities, and I don't think he understood, so my co-teacher stepped in to tell me that in Korea people care more about your appearance than they do about character.

Now, I don't think that is absolutely true by any means--Korean people certainly DO care about character, but lest I forget this country is number 1 in the world for plastic surgery, my students have told me on MANY occasions that this it's a big deal in Korea.

Earlier this week I did a lesson where I told the students a short story about a man who wakes up in the middle of the night and goes down to his basement to an old trunk, takes out an envelope, throws it in the fire, goes back to his room, kisses his wife on the cheek, and goes to sleep.  The students basically had to write a back story to tell me why he threw the envelope into the fire.  I got some pretty entertaining stories, but it was really interesting to see how many of the stories mentioned plastic surgery.  I would say at least a third of the stories had at least some mention to plastic surgery at some point.

These two lessons have really reminded me that plastic surgery is just a fact of life for many Koreans today.  When I turn on the tv and see models in commercials or any of the Korean celebrities on a tv show, it is beyond obvious that they have had considerable plastic surgery.  They simply don't look like the Korean people I encounter on a daily basis (which is really a shame because Korean people really are naturally beautiful).

To finish my lesson today, my students had to create an invention of their own. One group created a cream that lightens your skin.  I told them about how Americans think that it is beautiful to have dark skin and they were perplexed. It is so crazy to me that many people tan obsessively, to the point where they get cancer, when in Korea people want absolutely nothing to do with being tan (they would never want to be mistaken as a southeast Asian).

When I hear my students talk so nonchalantly about plastic surgery, I want nothing more than to tell them that the plastic surgery craze is nonsense.  For a country that values its culture so deeply, I cannot understand why physically they strive for a western ideal instead of valuing what is unique about their identity.  There is a complete contradiction that exists in Korean culture--they are proud of their heritage and the obstacles they have overcome, but do not think their natural appearance can be acceptable without undergoing surgery.  One of my classes voted Hangul (the Korean writing system) as the best invention in the history of the world because "they are Korean and it has kept their culture", but two minutes later the same students were telling me about the importance of plastic surgery.

 I want to tell my students to fight against this notion that they need to change their appearance to have a good life. I want to tell them not to buy into it--to ignore these messages from society.

Of course, it's easy for me to say...I will one day leave Korea, and return to the US.  The majority of  my students will always live in Korea.  Their opportunities for marriage and employment often DO rely on their image. Of course, we have our own image problems in the US. There are plenty of teens in the US who feel the pressure to be something they're not.  But I can without doubt say the pressure in Korea is far more intense.  Or maybe Koreans are just more honest with themselves about the issue.  Maybe it is just as bad in the US, but we don't acknowledge it or we try to bury the subject.  I don't really know, but what I certainly DO know is that there is something incredibly disturbing to me about a beautiful sixteen year old girl telling me that plastic surgery is the best invention ever because it can "change your life and help you get a boyfriend."

I know I can't change this part of the culture, and it's neither my job or place to do so. It's disheartening, but I suppose I can only try to find the little things I can do, like telling my girls that they are beautiful or giving them compliments when I talk to them.

Maybe if they hear it enough they'll actually start to believe it.

Seasons change and school goes on

Believe it or not, I just finished my eighth week in Korea. Those oppressively hot summer days during orientation feel a lifetime away.  The cool air is moving in, the leaves are starting to change, and there is no doubt about it, autumn is upon us.  In some ways, it's only been the changing of the seasons that has made me truly feel like this is where I am living now.  At first, when everything was new and exciting it felt like a trip, or a place I was just visiting.  I've never seen the seasons change any place besides NH, but admist the blur of the beginning of my time in Korea, nature is reminding me that life is continuing, just as it always has, despite the fact that my entire daily life has changed tremendously.

My routine is pretty much solidified at this point, and I think it's safe to say that honeymoon stage at school is coming to a close.  I don't quite have my rock star status like I did in my first weeks at schoool.  Don't get me wrong, my students still treat me way better than my students in America did (well, mostly), but some classes are now having more behavior issues. Actually, I should clarify, it's really just my second grade boys.  The majority of my classes are the first grade boys, and they are pretty good, but I don't know about those second grade boys--they can give me a run for my money.

However, I can't even begin to complain because I know that my students are WAY better behaved than the students in the other schools.  I get almost daily reminders about how my school is the best in the area, so I know that I am lucky to be there, but sometimes teenagers are teenagers, regardless of their academic abilities or ambitions.  Just because my students can study and get good test scores doesn't mean that they're always perfect angels.

I've been enjoying teaching, but it is very clear to me that teaching EFL is not my passion.  I still like teaching, but my passion is definitely teaching social studies.  I'm really thankful to be here, and I have no doubt that this is where I was called to be to learn about myself, the world, and teaching.  However, is this what I want to do with the rest of my life? No.  Does that mean I don't enjoy teaching here? No.  I've learned a lot in a short amount of time, and it's been extremely eye-opening to teach in a country whose educational philosophy is on the other end of the spectrum from my own.

I remember when I started teaching at Nashua last year, I would talk to my friend that I interned with, who was also starting her first year at a different school.  In the beginning, we would talk about how we almost felt homesick for Marshwood--we missed the comfort of our old teaching routine, knowing the other teachers, and having our intern support system.  I feel like I'm going through a similar process now.  I enjoy being here, but I miss the comforts of my old classroom.  I miss having students who could understand what I was saying to them.  I miss being able to read school e-mails and knowing what is going on.  I miss knowing what is expected of me. I miss being able to communicate with my co-workers.

Having teaching experience is obviously a great asset as an EPIK teacher, but it can also be a little bit of a curse. My brain constantly wants to compare my experiences even though they are in completely different realms.  It's essentially like comparing apples and oranges.

I'm sure it won't take long for me to become completely attached in my new job.  I'm sure in a few months I will look back and laugh at myself for being so confused at school.  Until then, the seasons are changing, life goes on, and I will continue to learn more about how to be a better ESL teacher.

Everland/Other Updates

I AM SO TIRED.

Yep, definitely feels like I'm teaching again.  I've said it before, but teaching really does exhaust you in a way that nothing else does.  Add in the constant confusion and lack of understanding of what is going on, and it takes the whole teaching thing to a new level.

These past few weeks have been ridiculously busy.  When I think about the fact that I haven't even been in Korea for a month yet, it totally blows my mind. I feel like I'm still living in a fog of emotions/experiences.

My first week of teaching went pretty well.  I did an introduction lesson in every class with information about where I'm from, what I like to do, and a little information about my family.  The students really enjoyed seeing photos, and I loved seeing their reactions to everything (they thought my dad was really handsome and they thought any boy in a picture with me was my boyfriend).  I also enjoyed their questions--the first question was always to ask if I had a boyfriend.  Several classes asked if I would date their teacher (my co-teacher, who was always in the room when they asked....nothing like making things awkward!)  My favorite question was probably when one girl asked how I am so slim when so many Americans are fat.  Classic.

I still need to take pictures of my school and explain how the school system works here in Korea.  It's coming, I promise.

This past weekend I had a few visitors, which was nice, even though I am a terrible tour guide at this point since I really don't know anything about this city yet!  I have some major learning to do!

Monday was our school trip to Everland.  Well, only the first graders went there--the second grade went somewhere else, and the third graders are too busy studying for their college entrance exam, so they didn't go anywhere.

I got to school around 7:30 AM, and I was glad to see that one of the other English teachers I met back at the first staff dinners would be the other teacher on my bus (and by default, responsible for spending the day with me).  She is really young and speaks English really well, so I was relieved to know that that would at least make the day easier.

We were probably only on the bus for around 30 minutes before we stopped at a rest stop.  Korean rest stops are far superior to US rest stops, by the way.  I wanted to take pictures, but I didn't know if that would make me look totally weird...I'm not quite in that comfort zone to be THAT American yet..

We all got coffee (that the school paid for), and got back on the road.  About an hour later we arrived at Everland.  Everland is an amusement park, kind of like the Disneyland of Korea.  The kids went their separate ways and we started to walk around the park. We checked out a lot of the animal related stuff--they have some really cool safari bus rides that you can do that bring you REALLY close to a lot of the animals.

After a while, we stopped by a drink stand and as I pulled out money for my drink, the other teacher told me that "No, the school will pay! Anything you want...it's free!"  Not such a bad deal.

We spent a lot of time walking around because my other teacher friend doesn't like rides.  There were some cool roller coasters I wanted to go on, but I obviously wasn't going to go ditch her to go on them...oh well, maybe another time!

Our day was nice, but one of my favorite parts of the day was seeing the students having FUN and being kids.  There kids are ALWAYS at school.  In fact, they are still at school as I write this.  It blows my mind.  I am so glad that for at least one day, they got to enjoy themselves.

We left Everland around 4:30.  We stopped again on the way home  (apparently a 2 hour bus ride is just too long to do without stopping?), and by the time we got home I was EXHAUSTED.  Of course, when we got back I was informed that the teachers were going to a restaurant for dinner.  All I really wanted to do was go home, but it's not good to pass up those opportunities, so all headed over to a local restaurant for some food.  Finally, I was home and completely wiped. (it was probably 8:30 by that point). But I had to finish preparing a few things for my classes the next day--the last thing you want to do after a long day.

School yesterday was crazy stressful, but you can read more about that in my last post.

Today I reached a somewhat new level of school related stress.

I have always been a perfectionist--when I was a student I would stay up ridiculously late studying for tests, to the point where my parents would tell me to go to bed because sleeping was more important than school.  Of course, I always ignored them, because not doing well was just never an option in my mind.

As I have gotten older, I have relaxed in many ways, but I cannot shake my need to feel like I am being successful in what I'm doing.  It's one of the things that makes teaching very difficult for me--there are so many challenges, and it takes a long time and a lot of practice to really be a good teacher.  When I was teaching in America, I always knew there were so many things I could do better, but when I was feeling like a complete failure I had a huge support network of people who understood how I felt.

Jumping into teaching here has been really challenging, in large part because I don't really know what is expected of me or how I am supposed to teach.  Teaching English is completely different from teaching at home where I at least know what the curriculum is and the general accepted methods of teaching.

Only one of my classes here has a textbook, and it's really just a random assortment of English phrases.  There is absolutely no coherent theme within the units.  I've been getting mixed messages about how I should be teaching, and it's making it really hard for me to plan anything that I feel ok with.

After one of my lessons today, one of my co-teachers was telling me that some of the kids that are shy were getting discouraged because I didn't call on them to answer a question, and she told me I should call on the shy kids more.

Ok, I absolutely would.  Except it is only my second time seeing these kids (and I have SO MANY STUDENTS!), so I really don't know which kids are the shy students yet.  It's little things like that that can make it really frustrating for me to feel like I am being even somewhat successful.

That conversation made me feel really guilty, and the stress of school had me missing home in a big way today.  Of course, right when I was at lunch trying to keep myself together, one of the teachers asked me about how I keep in touch with my parents--not the best timing for a question like that, when I was already trying really hard not to think about home.  Let's just say I was very ready to be done with lunch today.

Anyone who has ever taught knows that it often takes a few times to get a lesson to the point where it's really any good.  I am having to try so many new things, and sometimes things aren't working.  This is a normal part of teaching, but I like I am really under the microscope, which makes me feel like if a lesson doesn't work out, I'm a bad teacher.

Please don't take this the wrong way--everyone at school is still extremely nice to me, but I can't seem to shake my inner perfectionist.

Also, don't take my rants to mean that I don't like teaching here.  I absolutely love my students.  They make my day, everyday.  And anyone who has ever taught knows that that alone is why you teach--it's the students that make it worth it.

The first day of school

The first day of school always comes with a certain amount of anxiety.  There is always so much you don't know going into the first day, whether it be the ability of your students, whether or not your lessons will be successful, or how your students will react to you.

This is my third year having a "first day" as a teacher, but this one was definitely the biggest wild card.  Never having been in a Korean classroom, I really didn't know what to expect.  Of course, when your students bow to you and tell you you're beautiful, it makes it a little easier to deal with.

I will write more about the Korean school system another day, but here are some of my initial observations about school life:

-These kids are TIRED.  As soon as I walked through the halls to my class I saw classrooms full of students asleep on their desks during their 10 minute break.  These kids are at school ALL day.  They get to school in the morning and do not leave until 10 or 11 at night.  These kids are exhausted.

Today I asked the kids to answer a few questions so I could a better sense of where they're at.  The last statement I asked them to fill in was "One thing you should know about me is ________"

Almost every single student wrote something about how tired they are.

-Students seem to have good, respectful relationships with their teachers.  Obviously this is just an initial reaction, but students constantly and freely come into the teacher's office to speak with their teachers.

-My kids are really smart.  Other people have been telling me that the school I'm placed at is a really good one--and while the building itself isn't the greatest, the students really impressed me with their English abilities.

-Many students are shy, especially about speaking English.  I don't blame them either, since I am extremely self conscious about speaking Korean.

-Almost all the girls have mirrors on their desks and will check themselves out throughout class.

There are probably many more things, but I am pretty wiped.  Teaching makes you a very specific kind of tired.  It's strange, over long breaks I almost forget just how exhausting it really is.

But with that said, I'm really happy to be teaching again.

Finally Friday

I was sitting at my desk today when one of my co-teachers told me to go to the cafeteria.  Apparently from 11:30 on teachers are supposed to go get lunch whenever they have time.  Yesterday I went at the same time as some other teachers, but today I was on my own.

I got to the cafeteria and there were only two other teachers sitting at the table. I grabbed a tray and saw that there were bowls of noodles, so I took a bowl and moved down the line.  There were large bowls of what appeared to be a questionable looking brown sauce as well as something that was circular shaped and looked like it was some sort of breaded meat.  I skipped the sauce because it looked odd and I wasn’t sure what to do with it. I started to grab for the food that was next to it.  As I grabbed it, out of nowhere one of the cafeteria workers ran over and started yelling something at me, grabbed my bowl and put the sauce on my noodles. 

Silly American.  I don’t even know how to get my food from the cafeteria. 

But really, I don’t know how to do much of anything in Korea.  In short, even the simplest daily activities have become a guessing game.  It’s like suddenly being a child again, dependent on others for even the simplest tasks. I have to guess when buying food at the corner store because I don’t know what it says on the label.  I have to guess what exactly I’m eating at lunch.  I constantly have to guess when using my computer at school because all the programs are in Korean (I've used power point and Microsoft word millions of times, but when it’s in Korean, it makes it a HUGE guessing game….my computer at school is super slow, and I’m guessing it’s because the other teachers before me and I have probably inadvertently clicked on and installed so many random things over the years).  I have to guess what the stores I walk by sell.  I have to guess about what kind of food is served at a restaurant.  I have to guess what people are talking about when I walk by. The list goes on and on. 

You never can fully understand how influential and powerful literacy and language comprehension are until you are in a place where you understand nothing.  Over the past few days, I’ve become hypersensitive to how much I really DON’T understand. 

All the more reason I need to start studying my Korean. Of course, that would require internet, which I still don’t have.   

My small victory of the day was figuring how to turn on my hot water.  After three days of cold showers, I brought the subject up with my co-teacher again, at which point she drew me a picture of where the control is in my room.  Of course, it was easy enough to explain, and I’m not sure why it took so long to get that information?  But after playing around will a combination of buttons, I finally have hot water.  That warm shower will be glorious tomorrow morning.

I also got to meet a few more students today.  After school I went upstairs to see one of my co-teachers and passed by many students on the way who were so eager to talk to me.  As I sat in my co-teacher’s office, there were TONS of girls peeking through the door.  It really is so funny , and I can’t wait to meet them all next week. 

Of course, I am still lost about what exactly I should be teaching next week for this writing class.  I came up with some questions for the kids to answer, but I have no idea if they will be too hard or too easy, or really what the heck is expected of me.  Am I supposed to have some conversation in there?  Is the class really just writing?  How long do they write for?  I guess I will wing it and see how it goes and go from there.

I also found out today (surprise!) that I will be teaching a class at night.  It’s typical for EPIK teachers to teach an after school class, but I was hoping that since I have such a heavy class load I wouldn't have to.  Of course, today I was filled in that I will be teaching Tuesday nights.  I can basically teach whatever I want, which is cool, but also quite a bit of freedom.  The good thing about this is that I will get paid overtime, amounting to an extra 60,000 won (a little less than $60) a week, three weeks a month.  Not bad extra cash.  

Day 3

Originally written Thursday, August 29

Today was less eventful than the past two days, but I am still exhausted nonetheless.  On my way to school around 8:15 this morning I ran into another EPIKer from my class.  I had no idea he was in this town as well, but I’m pretty sure I’ve never been so excited to see another American.  I got to school and at 9:00 I met with two of the other English teachers that I will be working with.  I have 4 co-teachers in total, but I think three different preps. 

At EPIK orientation, we were told that we would only be teaching speaking and listening and that our job was to get students to speak.  But SURPRISE! I’m teaching writing.  From what I can tell the other two classes I teach will be more cultural classes (or as the teachers told me that’s the “fun” class that needs to engage the kids).  Apparently the writing class (which is called Advanced English Conversation….but I don’t think really had anything to do with conversation?), is the “very important” class. 

I have no idea how to teach a writing class (I mean, I taught writing plenty in social studies classes), but I have no idea what level these students are at.  The teachers said they should be able to write sentences, but I really have no idea what to expect in terms of their writing ability. 

So, I’m trying to make a writing prompt for Monday with really no idea what is expected of me or what the students can do.  For the other classes on Monday, I don’t even know what the classes are supposed to be about, or who I am teaching those classes with. 

It wouldn’t be such a big deal, but I don’t want the other teachers to think that I am unprepared or a bad teacher.  I have to say, I’m slightly envious of the people who got elementary school and get to spend their days singing songs. 

Of course, I will love high school once I have a better idea of what I’m doing, but I teach 21 classes a week.  That’s a lot! They told us at orientation that we shouldn't take any work home with us, but I’m pretty sure that I am going to be the one that ends up grading their writing?  Which will potentially be a lot? 

On a lighter note, I have never felt like such a celebrity in my life.  There have been many students that have come in to the teacher’s office to catch a glimpse of me.  It’s pretty amusing because they usually come with another friend and usually are giggling as they look at me.  Sometimes they will tell me I’m pretty or say hello.  As I was leaving school today, there were many kids outside and almost all of them said hello to me.  Some also already know my name, which they are always proud to tell me. 

It’s quite the experience to be so noticeable all of a sudden.  You really don’t realize how diverse America is (even NH!) until you are thrown into such a homogeneous society.  If it weren't for the English teachers here, many of these students would probably live a considerable amount of their lives without encountering a westerner. 

On a totally different note, today after school I took a little walk to see what is around me.  What did I discover? 

There is pretty much nothing around me.

 But I did find a little corner store right near my apartment.  I finally bought some laundry detergent (totally guessed on what kind to buy because I couldn't read any of the containers) and right now I have my very first load of laundry in the washer.  Which, by the way, is also an accomplishment because I can’t read any of the buttons on the washer.  But hey, if my clothes are clean, mission accomplished!

Once I get more settled down I will have much shorter posts, and be able to post more about random aspects of life of Korea.  But for now I’m somewhat long winded because I have a feeling that a year from now, these days are going to be the ones that are most comical to look back on. 

Love you all!