The Meeting...
Trip Start
Dec 11, 2008
1
9
32
Trip End
Dec 13, 2009
Seoul, Korea Rep.
Sunday, February 15, 2009
It all started on Thursday when the nokjiwon six had a meeting, which was quite common so nothing to get unduely worried about. However, what followed was a ridiculous monologue from one of the head teachers, which to this day I have no clue as to it's content and/or purpose! She rambled on and on about how we are one big family, and how a Korean teacher called her at 5.30am one morning as she wanted to get into the office to start work early. Good for her! As long as we are doing everything that is asked of us in a timely and efficient manner, then where's the problem? It was basically a pointless diatribe on how great the Koreans are, but alas, she then suddenly switched tack and "thanked God" for being given such great foreign teachers!
I was completely baffled as we all work hard and do everything that is asked of us, and we have been assured that the students love us, so there really wasn't any need for this indirect criticism. I felt sorry for Juli because she works harder than most and is so stressed because of all the excessive marking that she has been given. Well it has backfired because she later confided that she won't be renewing her contract, and will be leaving in a few months...then the fun will really begin!
Anyway, the said person didn't hang around, and was out of the meeting before the rest of us had even begun to absorb the nonsense she had just spouted.
The rest of the meeting wasn't exactly music to my ears either, as it was announced that there would be more model teaching on the 20th in preparation for next semester's new journalism class. I was seething inwardly at this point, particularly when she mentioned that all the Korean teachers would be watching...again. It's just more muddled thinking without consultation first. Friday is the foreign teachers' busiest day of the week, with both written and online marking due, so to take out a large chunk of our day for all of us to teach the same lesson back-to-back...well, it's just a nonsense.
Why have I never had the chance to embarrass a Korean teacher in front of everyone by acting like a spoilt brat? Why does an experienced teacher like Juli have to prove herself when she has more knowledge than the rest of them put together? They are welcome to come and observe my classes (which they do) and even videotape them (which they do) but there's no chance that I'll be doing that model teaching come Friday...
Juli, Hew and me went out for beers and soju after work on the Friday, and had a fun time laughing and joking together - we really do get on well, and make a good team. It's important to close ranks in times of war! I am of course being melodramatic, and reading this entry probably makes it sound worse than it is. For the mostpart, I love my job and all that goes with it - it's just the 5% that includes people sticking their noses in!
On a more positive note, I had enjoyed spending my first full wage packet - somehow I doubt I'll save as much in Korea as I envisaged! I bought a computer from a whizkid that Juli had recommended to me, and I was thrilled as he'd installed everything in English for me - I just had to wait for the internet bloke to come around, and I was away - no more PC bangs!
I'd also purchased a couple of cool bean bags from www.gmarket.co.kr - that website is amazing! It's like the Korean equivalent of ebay, and it is in English as well! I ordered my bean bags on the Wednesday afternoon, and received them on Friday morning - just in time as Eun ju was coming around on the Saturday for a day of relaxation and movie watching (now my downloading was in full swing).
Naturally I'd had to clean my apartment from top to bottom in preparation, not to mention buy extra cutlery - she insisted that I made her beans on toast! She's lucky to meet such a classy Yorkshireman! We had joked about me buying a red carpet for her arrival, and I must admit I did go to a good deal of effort. Valentine's Day is different in Korea though, as it is only meant for girls to buy the boys gifts, and not vice-versa - that happens on White Day in March. Still, I couldn't resist and bought her some chocolates regardless...
Eun ju seemed to really like my apartment, especially my bean bags (result), and I was touched by the sheer amount of effort she'd put into making my gift. She'd been up most of the night making me personalised biscuits, and individual fruit sweets that had my name on the sticks...how cute is that? She'd also bought a chocolate cake and a dangly bear to hang from my mobile phone, that had my birthday on it...
It was nice getting to know her a bit better, and we enjoyed watching "The Pursuit of Happiness" together in my new, comfortable cinema room! My apartment is definitely getting a more homely feel to it now, which is a good job if I'm going to be entertaining on a more regular basis...
