Too soon?

Today my co-teacher Wendy asked the question everyone in my position anticipates (albiet much further down the line) - would I be renewing my contract at the end of the year? Please note that this is only my second week of officially teaching! Also bear in mind my predecessors both (there were originally two Native English teachers working in the school at the same time) stayed at Naeto for two years before disappearing into the unknown (although one of them still haunts my desktop). I was completely thrown by the question as we were only idly chatting and it came out of nowhere. Yet thinking back now I can understand why she asked and also why she would want me to stay. The previous Native English teachers were both male and older than her (Wendy is in her late 20s and they were in their mid-to-late 30s). Based on Korea's Confucian culture they were automatically in the hierarchy above her. Respect is extremely important in their culture, and this is reflected in their language and etiquette. So it's from my understanding she had some difficulty in working with them. It also didn't help that she only started working at Naeto about 6 months before they left. Therefore they probably had developed a particular teaching style they found hard to adapt. Whilst they were different in their own way they both seemingly favoured playing games in the classroom and did not attempt to 'discipline' the students.

Don't get me wrong - I believe there is much value in games (if it is related to the learning objective) but am aware of the danger it poses when you overuse it. I am also against corporal punishment ('tehnically' it's illegal in South Korea). However, the principals of discipline is part and parcel of being a teacher. Believe me when I say I've learnt the hard way when it comes to avoiding discipline.

Back to the point - our working relationship is completely different and (I hope) a welcome change. Putting myself in her shoes, it must be nice to finally work with someone younger and female with whom you can relate to. As I've pointed out before, your Korean co-teacher can make or break your experience in Korea. From my point of view she is the perfect co-teacher. Yes, she translates but she's not a 'translator' - she'll only translate when necessary or appropriate. Whilst I plan and take the lead in the lessons she isn't afraid to give advice if she thinks an activity is too difficult or would work more effectively in a different way. Nor am I afraid to ask.

Teaching has its ups and downs. You'd be disillusioned to expect anything else. Yet I can't help but love it (less so when I haven't had enough sleep). Inevitably I get attached, very easily - even when they're being monsters! It is what I've chosen as a career path so for me this is long-term; for many it is just an experience. A year may seem like a long time at first but it always surprises me how fast it flies by! I am beginning to understand why many in the same position end up staying longer than anticipated. It takes so much time to fully adjust and settle in a new place that it almost seems a waste to leave when you finally do so. I did consider the possibility of staying longer than a year before coming here but haven't yet factored it into my plans. Staying longer overseas means starting my teaching career in England later. Never mind that, how would my family react!? Of course plans change all the time. However, it is still too soon to answer the question. So until then, I'm keeping schtum.

One month in...

Thursday 17th March. Officially the EPIK Spring 2011 intakes' one month anniversary! What can I say...

Well first week of teaching went well! Bit rustly on the first day as students were getting used to the timetable - very frustrating when you're trying to start a lesson and everyone ends up coming in one by one! However, by the second day my co-teacher, Wendy, and I had it down to a tee. We found the best way was to do a very quick introduction and then launch straight into the 'Classroom Rules'. Tedious, yes. Nevertheless, as I've found with every teaching experience I've had in the past, the students need to know from the offset what is expected from the lesson and from the students themselves. Giving the students English names has also helped and been quite fun! I did try and make sure it somehow resembled their Korean names (phonectically) but for some reason many of them have ended up with quite 'British' sounding names!

Two things stood out in particular during my presentation about myself. Firstly, there were really varied answers given when I asked the students where they thought I was from; I had everything (apart from the obvious) from France to Thailand! Secondly, when displaying the picture of 'My Family', if I didn't specifically point out it was my family, the students responses varied from relatives to friends. Granted, my mum appears younger than her actual age but not that young! These both reinforced what I had read or been told previously. South Korea is a very homogenous society that follows a Confucianism philosophy. This means there isn't a large immigrant population so many assume I'm Korean and they still very much hold the ideology of the nuclear family. I've come to the realisation that whilst I sometimes envy the other waygooks that aren't of 'East Asian' descent (e.g. excusing themselves using the 'foreigner stamp'), I know from previous experience that I value my anonymity above all else.

Unfortunately, one month in has also coincided  with getting ill for the first time in South Korea. Now, I know apparently everyone gets ill at the beginning - namely coming down with the classic cold/flu sore throat thing, and I totally thought I was going down the same road. Instead, after a relatively casual night out, I was violently sick on Friday morning. I had 1 (weak) cocktail and 3 (light) beers and I can honestly say I was practically sober. The last time I was this sick was on New Years Eve. Undertandably though, I was extrememly wasted and due to the suggestion of my clever sister, Yick, ate a spicy pot noodle (Shin Cup - Korean in fact!) before going to bed. My body protested within a few hours and consequently I spent the majority of New Year's day in the bathroom. A memorable way to start the year for sure. Therefore, I cannot really explain why I ended up being sick this time. Wendy knew something was up when instead of devouring my lunch, as I usually did, I only picked at it. Whilst I haven't been physically sick since, I keep feeling nauseous and have severely lost my appetite. Before you jump to conclusions, NO, I have not been knocked up! I had to somehow explain this in my first attempt at obtaining some Korean drugs at the local pharmacy. My venture resulted in two sets of drugs, one which has no English whatsoever, the other (after Googling) is to treat poor appetite and stomach problems. I'm down to my last dose but am not entirely sure they're working....

Another lunch I couldn't enjoy! The Korean mums at the Center where I've started to volunteer treated me to lunch after our first Taekwondo session. I really hope I got the message across that I normally love Korean food (most foods really) but still, I couldn't help but feel impolite.

A bunch of us waygooks met up on Saturday night and went bowling in a very retro looking bowling alley. I played my usual game of gutter balls and random strikes/knocking most of the pins. Whoever said 'practice makes perfect' needs to meet me! I think I prefer playing against my students as at least that way I can pretend I'm 'letting them win to boost their self-esteem'! Bonus: Met some more lovely waygooks! After, we popped over to Western Village where crazily enough I randomly met another waygook, Michael, who could speak Cantonese! This is the second time I've come across an English person who could speak my mother tongue. Stangely enough Michael even resembled the other guy I knew. Small world?

You can't see but the screens won't even let you enter names/initials. It just lists a letter 3 times. I was 'KKK'.

Torture. More delicious food I couldn't eat. Rice, Kimchi and an Egg. It comes with the lid on and gloves - shake it to mix up! Praying my appetite comes back soon.

We ended the night going to a 'Norebang' (Karaoke). Think this was my 3rd or 4th experience of going to one and it always ends up with everyone having a horse voice and at least one rendition of Oasis' Wonderwall. I'm most definitely ensuring I'm suitably intoxicated the next time I end up in one. Being the only sober one can be an interesting experience but not one I'd like to repeat too often!

Our very first payday is scheduled for the 25th - cannot wait to restore the funds and go exploring!

Naeto Elementary School

As promised here is an extended blog about the school I've been placed in - Naeto Elementary School which is located in the Sin-back dong area, just on outskirts of the city. The bus stop is 2 minutes from my apartment and the bus journey takes roughly 15-20 minutes. I've got my bearings now so I plan on walking to school as often as possible (beats going to the gym) but I need to time the journey first as I've been told it could take about 40 minutes!

Journey to school - crossing the bridge

Naeto is a very big (Primary) school and, as mentioned, has an attached Kindergarten school.

Attempting to capture the scope of the school. There are at least 5 levels!

Playground/playing field

As I feared - in every Korean school you must take off your outdoor shoes and don these lovely shower slippers! I lasted exactly one day in them! I made sure I had brought with me some new flats.

They use 'grades' in Korea as opposed to the Year groups we use in the UK. It gets extra confusing due to the Korean age system. Infants, upon birth, are automatically 1 year old. However, as soon as it's a new year they add an additional year on. So when asking someone's age you have to factor in when in the year they were born and where in the current year you're in as they could be anything from 1-2 years younger than the stated age. I simply convert the grades into our year groups for simplicity and hope for the best! Thus Grade 1 is equivalent to Year 1 and so forth.  

Back story: I came in on the EPIK (English Program in Korea) recruitment but was actually hired by the school directly as opposed to being placed. Not too sure about the finer details but I'm taking this as a good thing! My current schedule means I am teaching to the full requirement of 22 teaching hours per week. As it's an 'after-school' programme my working hours are roughly 10am - 6pm but this can vary!  This includes 2x20 minute classes with Kindergartens, a special (gifted) class and a Teacher class (yes, really) in addition to my normal classes. We've grouped the grades together (e.g. grade 2 - 1's will start next semester, 3/4, 5/6), tested them and then separated them into Lower, Middle and High ability groups with classes no bigger than 16 (it's all that will fit so I've stuck firm with this). In the normal school programme classes can be anywhere from 30-40 with no distinction between abilities. So in a way the after-school programme is significantly more organised and, hopefully, more beneficial for the children. I officially start teaching on Monday (later today!) so we'll see how that goes!

I have my own classroom and despite having some textbooks, they are there as a guide and so I have flexibilty as to what I want to teach. There isn't one for the gifted class so I've planned some more 'project' based lessons. Will blog in future to let you know how it's going. I used the 'desk-warming' time productively and explored all the resources available and was shocked as to how much hadn't been used (i.e. new and still in packaging). There were numerous phonics-based resources so I will try to utilise them as much as possible in my lessons with the lower grades.

Almost every class comes with a Interactive TV (ITV) that links with a computer. Whilst it may look impressive it isn't as versatile as the Promethean ActivBoards I'm used to in the UK schools.

My lovely Korean Co-teacher Wendy

Above is Korean Co-teacher, who is incredibly helpful and friendly! As a foreigner you must register for an Alien Registration Card (ARC) when you start working for your school. To do this we had to go to Cheonju, where the immigration office for Chungbuk is located. It takes about 7-10 days. You must get an ARC in order to get services such as the internet, cell phones, functioning bank accounts, etc. Therefore, I could not get internet installed in my apartment until I had my ARC. Wendy knew how important it was to me to get internet as I had yet to contact my family through Skype. It arrived late Thursday afternoon and she arranged it all for me so that it was installed by Friday! She even let me go early in order to let the installation person into my apartment! I've read that your Co-teacher definines your experience of teaching in South Korea so I'm eternally grateful to have such a lovely one!

Japan crisis 'worst since WWII'

On Friday 14th March at 14:46 local time Japan was struck by one of its worst ever earthquakes. It measured 8.9 on the richter scale. News coverage has been extremely widespread and there were imminent warnings of tsunamis hitting much of the North-east coast. I just wanted to reassure people that due to the location of the earthquake in Japan we were not affected here in Korea.

However, it was only speaking to people from the UK that I realised just how easily we could have been affected and what I would have done in that situation. The thought does not bear imagining. My heart goes out to everyone involved and affected by this tragic event and I can only hope people are able to find or recover their loved ones. It is frightening how close the events of the devastation that occured in Australia and New Zealand is to this with regards to the timescale. It was refreshing how strong the message of environmental conservation is in South Korea but it makes me wonder how much impact this is actually having and how much more could be done on a global scale.

Getting to know Jecheon

As I mentioned in my last post, Jecheon is considered to be one of the three main cities in the Chungbuk province and I'm very grateful to have been placed here instead of somewhere smaller and more rural. Most of the people I've met (English) really like living here as whilst it's a city, it's small enough that there is a community feel and most of the 'waygooks' (Korean term for foreigners) live nearby. There is a Lotte Supercenter (supermarket) 5 minutes from my apartment. Very useful if, like me, you're one of those people who does not write lists and therefore ends up forgetting to buy things! There are also convenience stores galore that generally open to the late hours (many are 24 hrs apparently). Very convenient as they ALWAYS sell 'pot noodles' and have hot water on a dispenser. I do kind of miss grabbing a western style kebab/chips (or fries - too much time spent around North Americans!) after a night out though. We did find some very yummy southern style fried chicken when we went out in Seoul but it was surprising expensive for what it was!

There's one on EVERY corner!

Main intersection

Pun or spelling error?

Downtown

It doesn't take long to explore the area around the city center as everything is quite linear and built up. Wendy, my co-teacher, did advise me that in general clothing, shoes, etc is very expensive in Jecheon and the best places to shop is either in Cheonju (the main city in Chungbuk) or Seoul. Either way it's a 2 hour bus journey so I think we'll be regular visitors to Seoul!

We went shopping yesterday and happened across our first pet store where the unbelievebly tiny dogs caught our eyes. They were all so adorable! Upon entering the store though we were struck by how much it smelt (foul) and how excited the dogs became. They were all in display boxes with glass walls with seemingly no separation from their litter and  newspaper for bedding. Being it was such as small store I'm hazarding a guess they don't have a different area for them when the store is closed. Communicating in extremely limited Hangul we understood that to buy one it would be anything from 200,000 to 300,000 won which is roughly £100-150. Having never really had a pet beyond a goldfish (the poor thing) I wanted to rescue them all so much. However, it's too cruel and unimaginable for it to be left alone in my apartment whilst I'm at school. Also, as I'm planning on travelling after, what on earth would I do? Needless to say we had to tear ourselves away!

Apparently there are two extremes of a 'dog's life' in Korea. On one hand it's follwed the western trend of people, mainly young women, parayding the cute and small dogs in handbags and carrying them around like babies. On the other hand, there is of course the widely debated consumption of dog meat in Korea, among the other East Asian countries. Whilst I would never dream of consuming dog meat (knowingly) myself, I recognise now how this cuisine came about and respect that each nation has their controversial issues.

Last night was also the first time we went out properly in Jecheon (for the night scene as opposed to just eating!). I'd done some research and read that 'Rock & Roll' was apparently the place to be for the foreign community and we decided to check it out. I did discover early that day though it was the next street from mine! Unfortunately, there weren't any waygooks around and the bar itself wasn't busy. Upon leaving however, we finally met our first waygook, Aaron, who informed us that Rock & Roll was no longer the 'it' scene and everyone had moved onto either Bottleneck or Western Bar, again both very close. We hit the jackpot with Western Bar where a bunch of waygooks were playing darts! They were mainly North Americans but sadly no British, but apparently there are some (I do quite miss the accent as I'm slowly but surely picking up the dreaded 'twang'). Everyone was very nice and merry though. Was too busy talking so forgot to take pictures but I'm assuming we'll be meeting up again very soon!

The beginning (ish) of the Adventure...

Ok, so I know this is seriously delayed and I apologise but I only managed to get internet installed in my apartment yesterday (very quickly in fact and all thanks to my amazing co-teacher Wendy - will explain in more detail later)! I originally intended to start this blog way back when I started applying through EPIK to teach in South Korea. However, I didn't want to 'jinx' things and thought I'd better wait until I knew for definite I had been accepted. By that point though I was finishing off my last week of work and rushing to get the final things sorted. Upon arrival our schedules were so full, coupled with 'networking', that starting a blog was the last thing on my mind.

The lovely hoody EPIK gave us in our welcome package. Much needed as I hadn't packed a really thick jumper and it was bloody freezing! Word of advice: White is not a good colour to pick when coupled with eating spicy orange coloured food! I was brought up using chopsticks yes but the Korean ones are metal and a lot thinner/flatter!

A large sized towel = a fantastic idea. I'm not that bothered about fluffy towels but I do like a good sized one. I'd only brought one of those large 'travel' towels as they'd served me well in the past and I'd rather bring more clothes. But so far I've yet to find towels larger than what I'd class as a 'hair towel'. Only wish I coud have grabbed one more..... 

But here we are! So I found out a couple of days before leaving the Jeonju University Orientation that I'd been placed in a city called Jecheon in the Chungcheongbuk-do (Chungbuk abrv) province, which is located in the central region of South Korea. Before going out I knew I was going to Chungbuk but hadn't yet been told where exactly and who/where I'd be teaching, nor did we know what our apartments were going to be like. In my mind it was potluck. Luckily I've been placed in an Elementary School (my first choice - it's what I'm qualified for so it makes sense!) called Naeto but am actually working in the English Education Center doing the 'after-school' programme. Again, I will explain in more detail in a separate post. It's the biggest Elementary School I've ever seen (or Primary School for you UK people) and there are up to 4 classes per grade, with roughly 30-40 students per class. Plus there's the attached Kindergarten school so as you can imagine it's pretty sizeable (pictures to come). I'm very pleased though as I get my own classroom (so the kids come to me) and my class size is around 15 students!

Naeto Elementary School

Jecheon is classed as one of the three main cities in Chungbuk but it's seen as the smallest of the three. Nevertheless it's a nice size and a lovely city. Considering my main choices were 'rural' I'm actually very grateful for being placed in a city that's still in very close proximty to beautiful countrysides. Mainly explored  around my local area and downtown (the shopping part) so far but intend on hiking some of those mountains and visiting the tourist resort (Cheongpung) once the weather warms up! Amazingly though, my sense of direction has improved dramatically since coming to South Korea. I've always had a bad sense of direction and tend to get lost (a lot) and it was a running joke as to how I was going to survive in a foreign country on my own. But it's precisely for those reasons why I've been able to find my way around! There's nothing worse than getting lost and not being able to speak the language. Also being Chinese (i.e. not sticking out like a sore thumb) means people don't automatically think to help you. Therefore I've got no choice but to have my wits about with me!

Main intersection - Sharmila (Canadian EPIK teacher) posing!

There's so much that I want to write about that if I don't stop now I'll end up going off on a tangent.