The 'First' Week in the Trenches
Trip Start
Aug 30, 2005
1
13
49
Trip End
Aug 29, 2006
Jochiwon and Area,
Korea Rep.
Friday, September 16, 2005
The readjustment after a week of partying (and study) with fellow native English speakers was probably more difficult than the original landing in South Korea 3 weeks ago. Wow! 3 weeks already, doesn't seem possible. I digress though; I will explain. You see, it was a reverse culture shock of sorts as I was just starting to accustom to the Korean culture and not being able to speak English at a whim and be understood. Then the resort came and spoiled me. It is sort of like cooking a cake: It looks done you take it out of the oven and cut it only to discover its soft on the inside - you try and put it back in the oven, but it is too late! This is similar to the situation here.
It didn't take me long to get back on my feet though. I wasn't supposed to start teaching till Monday of next week, but on Wednesday the Korean English teacher was needed outside of the school to help a student acquire a visa to visit Japan (she had no parents to help her, only a Grandmother ... I didn't ask). So I taught an introductory lesson to the Middle School Grade 1 and 2. My lesson was prepared on a whim, but quite sucessful; as I was not prepared to teach this week I did not haver my lesson plan with me. I now know to carry one, but the incident actually helped me re-adjust more quickly.
On Thiursday the Korean Grade 3 students were so upset that I had not taught them the day before they practically had a coup d'etat. The English teacher rushed down to find me; this time I was more prepared and I pulled out the stops. I introduced myself, we played the Alphabet game, then we did "Head and Shoulders, Knees and Toes" (Imagine! Me doing this - it is actually quite medicinal) and finished off with a brisk game of I Spy. Success! Sort of...
The only problem I encountered was some special needs students; I wasn't aware of them until a student pointed them out in class (Bless his heart!). Damndable lack of communication in Korean to English! But I made out alright in the end. So the students apparently think I am the greatest teacher at the school - this seemed to depress my co-teacher as she used to be there favourite.
Thursday was a busy day, as I made a reputation for myself in and out of the school according to the principle. I say this because he seemed to think I sucked up to the right judge, whom was judging a Home Economics teacher cooking contest at the school. Apparently she is some uber-powerful female principle that runs the Korean Teachers Association in my province. He seemed to think that me showing her a proper amount of respect had earned me a good reputation with her. He actually seemed slightly jealous! He then gave me a low down on how to avoid the spread of bad rumour regarding myself, they go like this:
1) Show proper respect and station in Korean culture. Cultural sensitivity.
2) Maintain the student interest and teach according to their level, and proper relationships with the students (ie, don't go beyond their level)
3) Maintain a good reputation throughout the community (ie, don't make an ass of myself).
Now I am slightly alarmed after this entire conversation! Firstly, because his English is broken and the conversation we had require an extreme amount of attention to decode. I don't think he was threatening me... I am pretty sure at least. However, I think it was a bit of a warning to be careful about not becoming to popular to quick and then disappointing people - specifically him. He wants to see me teach as well. Apparently this reminded him of something, and he threw in at the end that on September 28th some dudes from Canada are coming to see me teacher - wonderful! Teaching for two weeks and then get assessed.
So after this stressful encounter I got to go home early. Which was nice. I cooked some Kimchi fried rice and crashed for a bit.
Today is a slow day. I have been trying to develop lesson plans for the impending classes - I could take the off the web but I never know if they will be good until I look at them indepth. More importantly today is just before a Korean long-weekend called Chew-sock (phonetic), which is equivalent to Thanksgiving in Canada. I have recieved several gifts from the students and the staff! These include: a giant box of pears, a box of mushrooms (savin for you Danny), Ginseng tea, chocolate, numerous candies and chocolate chip cookies.
The country practically shuts down this weekend so I have alot of free time, which is nice as I have alot to do. I also will be buying a cell phone soon. Busy, busy.
Jeremy out....
