The phenomenons of living as an expat in Korea

Today I will be describing a few of the mysteries inherent in Korean expat life.  (No, I won't be discussing fan death.)

The Truman Show Effect

stalker shot

It happens all the time -- when talking to a local shop owner, bus driver, or waiter, struggling to use my rudimentary (read: practically non-existent) language skills, the Korean I'm talking to will suddenly break into some very decent English.  Apparently they enjoy watching me flounder, but can only take so much. (In Sweden, most expats complained about the opposite problem - Swedes hearing your non-native Swedish and immediately switching to English, not allowing you to practice. Ever.) 

Or, more commonly, when engaged in a letmemakethenoiseoftheanimaliwanttoeat difficult conversation, it won't be the shop owner/bus driver who flips an English switch -- sometimes a complete stranger will swoop in with flawless English.  This phenomenon is what my friends and I have dubbed "The Truman Show Effect" -- when we are lost or confused or engaged in one of the aforementioned conversations, and suddenly a stranger from the background (an extra), pops in and helps us out.  This only happens in dire circumstances though: our everday/mundane failings are generally ignored.

Case in point: I live in a small rural town.  The communication currency I exchange consists of stares, smiles, and head nods.  Nobody talks to me.  When Typhoon Bolaven  hit, the creators of my show decided that my gruesome death would not make excellent television, and two different Koreans came out of the silent woodwork to tell me something in perfect English.

Extra #1: (construction worker, fixing wind damage). "You'll have to go around that way."

Extra #2: (random pedestrian lady, sees my umbrella snap in half in the wind). "You need to get a new umbrella."  (I bet she was fired). 

**

Time Space Fabric Issues

This one is pretty simple.  Time here is weird.  You simultaneously feel like you've been away forever and are brand new. 

The time space fabric stretchy weirdness directly correlates with the Spastic Expat Response effect wherin an expat is completely comfortable with many odd situations, but one random thing will make him/her snap.

It is best described with the following scenario: A teacher wakes up and goes to her bus, ignoring the spit in the elevator and the crazy bus madness they call driving.  Look how adapted she is!  She has fully accepted her limited cheese access and soaking bathroom floor.  She's so native!

And then, when she walks down the street towards her school, she senses a couple of people turning all the way around to watch her pass - a common enough occurence - and for some reason she snaps.  Why does everyone stare here? What is the problem? etc. 

It's not that the teacher doesn't like this country or hasn't adapted.  It's that she's been here a long time and feels settled - almost at home - until something reminds her that she still doesn't belong here. 

**

There are worse things than not truly belonging.

 

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Gepik Training 2012

Gepik Training 2012.

The first time I heard there would be a three day GEPIK teacher's orientation, I had four main questions:

1) Would I learn anything useful?
2) Why were they training me two months after I started teaching?
3) Would this be an opportunity to meet people? 
4) Would the food be good?

I was pleasantly surprised by the answers.

Our GEPIK training group (B3)

An Overview

Orientation was three days and two nights.  It consisted of 10 mandatory sessions, two optional sessions, and open evenings.  For some of the sessions we were in large auditoriums with the entire group of GEPIK elementary teachers, and for some of the sessions we were split into smaller regional groups (of about 20). 

Did I learn anything useful?

Yes.  There were sessions covering classroom management, team-teaching, material integration, multimedia usage, and more.  There were funny lectures – one speaker told us to invest in a microphone for our classrooms to assert our godhood, informative lectures – I learned some great classroom attention grabbing techniques, and, yes, boring lectures – nobody could figure out why, as Elementary teachers, we needed all the details of the NEAT English test. 

I'm particularly grateful for some of the websites and various classroom game ideas that were shared in the sessions.

The timing of the orientation

Even though I had already been teaching two months, I still learned some useful classroom management stuff, and Korean culture/life information.  I imagine it would have been an overwhelming amount of information if I had received it my first week here.  Doing orientation a bit after my arrival helped me to visualize some of the tips the speakers were giving.  Still, if it had been a little bit sooner, it would probably have been more relevant, as at least 40% of the information was already familiar to me.

Socialization

I was actually surprised at what a diverse group we were.  A multitude of ages, nationalities, ethnicities, and backgrounds were present, which made for some interesting discussions and well represented the variety of English speakers sprinkled across the globe.  Because our groups were divided by region, we were able to get to know people in our areas a little bit better.  At night, we bonded over belting cheesy noraebong songs (I pretty much filled my lifetime's quota of Bohemian Rhapsody) and playing pool/ping pong/monopoly.     

Meals

The food was pretty decent – everything was buffet style – and three free meals a day (in a non-prison setting) is always a plus.  Our first night was a carb-fest of french fries, spaghetti, and rolls (among other dishes).  Breakfasts were basic, and included options of rice, cereal, and kimchi.  I think all the meals had vegetarian options, but even if those were limited, there was a grocery store at the resort. 

Overall

The GEPIK orientation was an enjoyable three day break from teaching.  It was also a useful one; I've integrated some of the classroom tips and used some of the sites/material that were suggested in different sessions.  I thought the GEPIK coordinators did a great job at preparing lectures that were both broad and specific enough to meet the needs of a diverse group of people.  In one of the sessions, I learned that if you don't swipe your card at the end of a bus ride, the next bus charges you double.  If nothing else, I'm glad I went to the GEPIK orientation for that bit of knowledge – it's saved me around 60,000 won a month.     

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Why I decided to teach ESL in Korea

Sexy Korean men...was not on my list of reasons for moving to Korea.  Not that I didn't find Korean men attractive; I just already happened to be in a relationship.  So, in fact, the man situation in my life was actually working against my move.  But I'm getting ahead of myself.

Sometime in 2010 I realized that job hunting in California without a car as a fresh liberal arts college grad was not my ticket to a successful career.  (On a related note, my plan to take Hollywood by storm through never finding an agent or going to an audition was not my ticket to fame and glory.) 

I was also getting antsy. As in, location antsy.  As in, I no longer desired to live in America. So I sat in my room playing bellydancing music and reminiscing about my childhood.  I became overly enthusiastic about meeting Middle Eastern shop owners, and paid frequent visits to my fellow TCK friend where we cooked Ethiopian food and reminisced about being evacuated from civil wars and fires.  (OK, there was only one civil war, and the fire was in California.  Still.) 

The antsy thing thing happens to me every few years and I blame it on my childhood.  And also my personality.  Basically on anything that allows me to pass on the responsibility for my psychological demerits.

Anyways, my original post-graduate plan had been to get a job in a writing field.  Or possibly join the Peace Corps.  Grad school also sounded like a good idea - maybe a bit of international relations to ease an entrance into NGO or State Department work.  Grad school also sounded good because I'm an excellent test taker.  (It's probably my strongest skill.  So, if I'm going by pure skillset, I should get into the perpetual student field of academia.)

I'm not sure when Korea came up in a list of life possibilities, but it was hardly a surprising idea – I had a college friend who was currently teaching ESL in Korea, and I was also interested in the Korean culture.  L.A. has a strong Korean-American community, I had a Korean-American roommate (who was and is a superstar), and I was working at a tutoring center which was basically an Americanized hagwon filled with Asian-American students.   

Teaching in Korea is an attractive prospect to recent college grads for quite a few reasons.

1) It's a guaranteed full time job in an otherwise questionable economy.
2) It pays pretty well, especially when perks are taken into consideration - Free roundtrip airfare, free housing, low/no taxes, subsidized healthcare.
3) It's an opportunity to travel and live overseas.
4) It's a better resume filler than the part-time/waitressing work that many grads do while looking for a job.
5) It's fun.  (Subjective, yes.)  You get to hang out with kids, make international friends, eat weird food, and shake your world up.

 

My third graders.

So, with these reasons in mind, two of my roommates and I started discussing the possibility of teaching ESL in Korea.  (These roommates also happened to be my best friends, which is a potentially wondrous and disastrous thing – mixing friendship with rooming – but that's for another post that I'll never write.)

I moved to Sweden.  Roommate #1 moved to DC to work on the Hill, and roommate #2 got a full time job and engaged.  They both had decided against the idea (in favor of becoming adults), but it still sounded attractive to me, especially when I realized that Sweden involved nine months of icy darkness.  So I convinced my newly minted communications grad brother (if ever a major needs a job, it's communications), to join me, and he and his then girlfriend began the application process with me.

He is now teaching with Americorps, but his (ex) girlfriend did make it over and is living in Busan.
Her blog title is much better than mine.

And that's my story.  My reasons are pretty typical - a love of traveling, an enjoyment of working with kids, a desire to save money while thinking about my next plans, and an interest in Korea. 

I would definitely say that if you don't like kids or are pretty inflexible, teaching ESL here isn't the best idea for you.  OK, and no-one is going to describe themselves as inflexible, so let me put it like this: if the idea of having work/classes/meetings constantly changed on you at the last minute makes you feel sick to your stomach, Korea isn't for you.  Really.

Also, if you have a serious bf/gf, go the Hardy Boys route and knock them out with chloroform and take them with you.  Long Distance sucks.

(No, Frank and Joe never chloroformed anyone, but everybody they came across did.  I knew that word at a very young age.  Thanks Franklin Dixon/ghost writer.)

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Stages of Culture Shock

I wanted to this post right, I really did.  I was going to do a bunch of research and cite sources and integrate quotes from sources, and go all out.  Instead, I started to read the first scholarly article about culture shock that appeared on Google, and I got overwhelmed.  Mostly by the nonuserfriendly format, but also by the realization (after skimming a few paragraphs) that this was one of several theories on the stages of culture shock. I regoogled for a simpler format, and the next article I saw was titled Plasmodium falciparum erythrocytic stages in culture.

All of that to say, the information I bring you today will be based largely on personal experience and Wikipedia.  You are warned.

According to Wikipedia, there are four phases of Culture Shock: 

• 1.1 Honeymoon phase
• 1.2 Negotiation phase
• 1.3 Adjustment phase
• 1.4 Mastery phase

The Honeymoon phase is exactly what it sounds like – the idealized and exciting beginning of your new relationship with a country (in this case, Korea).  Everything is so fascinating and so thrilling and different and you're so happy to be out of your homecountrywheretherewasnotrueappreciationofyournaturalabilitytospeakenglish.  You very seriously consider kidnapping a few of the local children who are unbelievably adorable.


The Negotiation phase happens around three months in, when you start to realize just what you've committed yourself to – a strange land where people stare at you and eat stupid food and speak some sort of nonsense dialect and can't even properly replicate American fast food without adding their own twists (corn on pizza???).  Your life is filled with slow motion shots: You shaking your head as your students cannot remember a single word of yesterday's lesson; your co-teacher tapping you on the shoulder to tell you about a surprise meeting; the chicken guy staring at you blankly as you try to explain your order.  Everything is frustrating. 


The Adjustment phase (month 6-12) is when life starts to normalize and you accept your routine and other parts of the experience.  Kimchi starts to grow on you, you've figured out some functional communication skills, and you've made friends – friends, mom! – and you no longer get lost on every form of public transportation you use.  You shrug off or smile down the stares, and you learn how to use local ingredients in your toaster oven to make tasty creations.  If it doesn't feel like home, it doesn't feel so foreign either.  


The Mastery phase occurs when you are fully comfortable in your new culture.  Thinking about your life in your home country feels distant, and it almost feels strange to go back.  


**

You stick out as an expat.

Those were my interpretations of Wikipedia's descriptions as applied to Korea.  While, like most theories, they serve as a useful general guideline, they definitely haven't corresponded with my time here yet.  I think they vary greatly from person to person, but I also think that they are extremely fluid – at any point in your new country you might feel like a mix of all four phases.  For example, I still feel positive and enthusiastic about being here (phase 1), while occasionally getting frustrated (phase 2), and feeling strangely adjusted (phase 3); and my old life feels very far away (phase 4).


But, of course, I personally have had some advantages.  I have lived overseas before, I have lived away from family before, I was blessed to meet some great people early on, and I have an unnatural amount of endorphins or something – I generally enjoy myself.


Still, the whole business of working/living overseas is a strange one.  It's hard to describe – especially to people who have never traveled aside from vacations and destination weddings and class trips.  Committing to something for a year or more is enormously different than visiting somewhere for a week, or even a summer or semester.  A year is a countable fraction of your life.  It means decorating your apartment and joining a gym and figuring out bargains when grocery shopping.  There might be an end in sight, but it's four seasons away.  It's Thanksgiving, Christmas, Independence Day, birthdays, and weddings spent away from family and friends.  And working in a foreign country is different than studying or vacationing – it's communicating with locals, and dealing with different corporate practices, and getting a bank, cell phone, internet, etc.  


We probably all need therapists

Because living overseas is a crazy mix of emotions that don't make sense, and are hard to sort.  Also, most of us are kind of weird.  Like not just "leave your country for an adventure and money" weird, but fully, certifiably, "couldn't make friends or date in my home country so I'll test out Korea and they'll accept me because they'll attribute my weirdness to my foreignness" weird.  OK – I actually haven't met too many crazies, but I hear they're out there.  


Back to my original point: I generally feel conflicted when I stop and think about my life here.  I really like it.  I like my job.  I like Koreans.  I like most of the food.  I like my apartment. I like my friends. I could make a giant list of what I like.  But I miss a lot of things. And some of them are identical to my like list: I miss food variety. I miss my friends. I miss my non-early morning job. I miss my family.

And then, this is where it gets confusing: I know that the things I miss are not real things. They are memories of things.  My non-early morning job was parttime and was not cutting it.  My family is absolutely nuts. My friends have their own lives now.


Also, I know that the things I don't like aren't so different than in the States.  9-5 office jobs in the States are soul sucking.  Though my co-teacher springs last minute things on me, I like her and she is far better than having a nasty boss back home.  Things in Korean culture that seem bizarre or illogical are totally trumped by every DMV experience I've had in America.


I really do miss food variety though.


My experience has been a generally positive one.

Sure I get scared by the constant yelling in the supermarket and the drag racers who moonlight as local bus drivers.  I get tired of the language barrier and overwhelmed by the difficulties of everyday tasks like reading menus and hunting down baking soda.  But I'm learning so much about myself, about culture, and human nature.  I've met a spectrum of Koreans – wonderfully kind, very nerdy, strangely rude, shy, friendly, etc. – the same people you meet everywhere.  It's hard to imagine how different life here would be if I understood the language and could communicate with my neighbors and co-workers, and read the local news, and navigate effortlessly.  

I know that there are many legitimate horror stories about both public and private positions in Korea; contracts constantly changed, non-existent co-workers, schools that insist on hunting you down at the hospital if you take sick leave, etc.  On the other hand, there are many wonderful jobs that offer a great quality of life and working conditions.  I think the majority of jobs lie somewhere in between: good benefits, decent co-workers, but some annoying conditions that are livable.  That's life.  

If you are reading this as a homesick foreigner, cheer up.

Things could be worse.  You could be in my situation – I don't have a home to miss.  I grew up in six different countries, went to college in California, and my family is currently in Europe.  When I miss things about America, I'm generally referring to California, in which I have lived a total of four years.  My driver's license is Texan, my grandparents are in Connecticut, and my siblings are in the Midwest. 

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The Deal with Open Classes

I just realized that I should put a warning somewhere on my blog, but I'm not sure where to put it yet, so for the moment I'll write it here:

Potential ESL teachers – your Korean experience will probably differ quite extensively from mine.  Aside from vast differences amongst jobs here – pay, bosses, co-teachers, food, students, location etc., something that will really affect your time in Korea is your attitude.  And, to be honest, I'm a person who is almost obnoxiously positive (and laid back). Really.  I have to tone it down in social situations because it often comes across as not being empathetic – people want someone to commiserate with, not assure them of the silver lining.  You've probably met someone like me and are getting annoyed just thinking about him/her.  Don't worry, I'm not that bad.  I'm recovering slowly.  I even have tiring days now and then; I just bounce back really quickly and tend to forget about them.  The key is bad memory. And probably some sort of hormonal imbalance.  Whatever.    

All of that to say, I don't find Open Classes to be stressful at all.  But you might.  So I thought I'd share about them, as nobody warned me that they would be part of the job description before I came.

An open class is a class that is designated as special "viewing" class, and they happen a few times a year.  I've had two so far (I've been here three months); one for the Vice Principal to observe/evaluate, and one for parents to attend.  The third type of open class is for visiting teachers to watch and get ideas/be inspired by/stareyoudownforbeatingtheirschoolatvolleyball.

In the spirit of this blog, I've uploaded a video of my fifth graders practicing directions by orienting their blindfolded teammate.

The Deal with Open Classes in Korean Public Schools

1) Open Classes are the one event you are guaranteed to be given plenty of advanced warning for by your co-teacher.  I was told from week 1 that these would be taking place (and the general months they would occur), and I think I got at least two week's notice for the specific dates.  

2) They are considered a big deal.  Or, at least my co-teacher found them both extremely stressful and intimidating.  She's a new teacher (to the school and to the profession), so the nerves were partly based on inexperience, but I think that generally Open Classes are taken very seriously.  As they should be – nobody, in any country, is going to take an evaluation by bosses/customers (the parents) lightly.

3) You get to choose the class you want to be observed. (At least in my school you do.)  This meant that we were able to chose our darling fifth grade class that not only enjoys learning, but is fairly bright (students picking up quickly on concepts = reflection on my excellent teaching abilities), and extremely well-behaved.

4) The planning is more detailed for an Open Class.  You pick a game you know the kids will love, and carefully plan out the teaching switches; for example, when SH is confirming lesson objectives I will be setting up the powerpoint and know the exact moment when she will finish her lessons and I will start mine.  SH (my co-teacher) reminded me not to fold my arms and to praise the students for correct answers.  She was required to submit a lesson plan. 

5) If you are in a public school, you will get to practice the lesson on another class before doing it as an Open Class.  (And you can practice in Hogwans too. His description is quite different than my experience though.)  This is because you teach the same lesson several times a week to the different classes in the grade.  Getting to "practice" on the class before is invaluable for timing, jokes, and general smoothness.

6) The guests will come in and sit down at the back of the classroom (or wherever you stick them).  They don't participate.  Sometimes they have evaluation forms to fill out.  

So basically an Open Class is just a carefully planned lesson which feels a bit more like a performance than usual.  Our kids are only too eager to join in the facade, and they are much better behaved on these days.  As a teacher you will be expected to be fun, engaging, loud, and complimentary.  

They honestly aren't much different than my normal classes, except they run smoother because of extra prep, and the kids are more respectful.  I don't mind Open Classes at all.  But then, I grew up in theater, so I enjoy performing.  

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Cookie Day and Body Image

"What is Cookie Day?" SH (my co-teacher) asked me.

"I don't know.  A day to eat cookies? I replied, a bit confused. Then it dawned on me.  "It's not in the book is it?"

"Yes! Look."  She showed me the sentences we would be teaching our grade 5's:

"Cookie Day is on May 7. We will enjoy the cookies and help poor people."

Ah.

The no bakes I have created in my ovenless existence

"Why don't you know what is Cookie Day?" she smiled.

"We don't celebrate it."  I laughed.

"I have a friend who is a teacher.  She has another foreign teacher.  Her foreign teacher knows what is Cookie Day."

I found this hard to believe; regardless, I have no idea what induced the curriculum writers to include such a random holiday in our dialogues.  Even if there's a mysterious foreign teacher out there who knows exactly what it is.

I guess I'll just have to suck it up and celebrate.

Obesity in the classroom

During my first few days teaching, I was surprised at the amount of overweight kids in my classes.  Around 40% of my 5th and 6th graders are overweight/obese, which actually confirms the OECD statistics.  I haven't properly researched the topic, but my former co-worker told me that the government had become concerned over childhood obesity rates. 

Before coming here, I had been under the impression that Koreans were shaped differently (they are), and simply didn't gain large quantities of weight because of diet/lifestyle/genetics.  Yeah - I was pretty ignorant.  Now that I'm here I've seen my fare share of bigger Koreans, including men and women who are simply big boned and tall.

Still, the same general impression of Korean men and women being shorter, slimmer, and - yes - cuter, has held true.  I don't know if this general cuteness is the result or the cause of the Korean emphasis on beauty and dieting.  A lot of statistics are thrown around about SK's obsession with plastic surgery, and the one that caught my attention can be found in this Economist article – Korea is the highest plastic surgery consumer (per capita) in the world.  (Check out the link for more information; the statistics include non-invasive cosmetic enhancements like Botox.)

Girl's Generation

Public pressure

My question is: Numbers aside, is the pressure on women to be thin/pretty greater in Korea or in the States?  I think Korea takes the cake.  Both cultures have a strong media presence which streams photoshopped images of impossibly thin, attractive women with flawless skin.  (They don't agree on all their beauty standards, but that's for another post.)  However, in Korea, the beauty obsession is much more public –  your co-workers, family, and friends will have no qualms telling you that you look "off" today or that you've gained weight, or should wear more/less makeup.

Also, in Korea the standard of beauty seems to be more monogamous and accepted than in the States.  I haven't seen as much of a counter protest against the skinny=perfect mantra – in the States there are nonstop articles questioning the weight-obsession; and celebrities and ordinary folk alike have taken a stand.  There are American actresses, celebrated for their beauty, who are not size zero - Sophia Vergara (the hottie on Modern Family), Scarlett Johansson,  Kate Winslet, etc.  *To be honest, I don't watch Korean T.V. or read articles, but the general impression that I get is that the standard of beauty is more rigid (super skinny, "small face", pale skin), and less challenged (I've yet to hear a Korean complain about these expectations, but I've heard many enforce them.)

I haven't put a lot of research into this, but if you google "korea weight obsession", you'll get plenty of anecdotes about the topic.

Korean idols

My "fat" co-worker

Here's my anecdote to add to the bunch: my co-teacher, who is tiny, as in size zero (or probably negative with all the vanity sizing now), regularly complains about her weight.  But she doesn't do it in a "I really wanna lose three pounds" American way to get the – "Oh but you're so skinny" response.  She genuinely seems to believe it, and gets bummed out by the fact that she likes food so much and can't bring herself to stop eating.  Also – and I have no way to verify this – apparently her boyfriend has been agreeing that she needs to lose weight.  It boggles my mind.  I would literally diagnose her as anorexic, except that she isn't starving herself.  The other day she told me she wanted to take her cardigan off, but couldn't because she of her fat arms.  And, when I can't help but tell her she was being stupid (yes, I used those words), she said I didn't know because I hadn't actually seen her tiny little stomach that does not pooch out in her dresses, jeans, or skirts.

But, genuine or not, the weight conversation gets old.  Now when it comes up, I just role my eyes, tell her to stop being dumb, and constantly advise her to break up with her boyfriend.  He's not too thrilled about me, but I'm not too thrilled about him either. 

Gentlemen; when you tell your girlfriend she's fat, it not only ruins her week, but her co-worker's week.    

Naturally, when I hear things like this, I wonder if it's only self criticism, or if she happens to think that I'm a mammoth.  I'm pretty slim, but I do have hips and thighs, and – horror – arms.  I probably look like King Kong to her.  (I have at least 5 inches on her).

Other factors

I don't think that I personally have a strong enough understanding of the pressure on women in Korea to look a certain way.  I can't imagine being hounded by my parents over my weight.  I can't imagine growing up going into stores and literally not being able my (non obese) size.  I can't imagine having friends tell me that I've gotten uglier.

It's not that other countries don't pressure their women (and men!) – it's that they aren't as direct.  And there's something to be said for that. 

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Chemicals, bribes, and basketball: Dealing with my wild classrooms

My co-worker and I have a small problem.  Small is the key word here, as she is all of 5'1 and 90 lbs (or whatever the corresponding skinny weight is for 5'1).  I'm not short (5'8, which, according to my mother is an inch under model height.  Such a promising career ruined...), but I'm a pale, boney, unintimidating thing.  Between the two of us, we lack the ability to instill terror into classes filled with students who are taller and larger than at least one of us.

This wouldn't be a problem in most of our classes, but - as every public school teacher here will confirm - there's always one class, (in my case, entire grade), that will test your limits in a way you haven't experienced since your one roommate in college who ate your food and played underground Finnish rock music to ease their bouts of insomnia.  The reason a teacher will undoubtedly have a difficult class, is because classes are made up of children, and children are like chemicals; some are benign, some smell nice and are useful, a few are toxic, yet containable on their own, but:

It's never a good idea to randomly throw together a bunch of chemicals in a confined space.

In some cases the combinations don't turn out too badly - the reactions are energetic but not malignant, and as long as the scientist (teacher) is in control, nothing too terrible happens.  And that's the end of my overly extended chemical metaphor.

Basically my 3rd, 4th, and 5th grades are all decent classes.  Some classroom management is required, and the old tricks work.  In these classes, we positively reinforce good behavior with games: Each table is a team, and each team gets points for good behavior (and loses points for bad behavior).  When enough points are racked up among the teams, the class gets to play a justhappenstobefilledwithtodaysvocabulary game.

My 5th graders practicing English.  Yes.





We also use various techniques for quieting the children - clapping sequences, phrases (if one of us says "Eyes on me", all the students shout back "Eyes on you!"), and even a bell.  Punishments include making a rowdy student stand in the corner, having students write sentences (in English), and intense, emotionally manipulative lectures frequently doled out by my co-teacher in Korean which scare even me (even though I have no idea what she's saying).

Ah, but our sixth graders are another matter.  They're little hellions who have no respect for the wonder that is the English language (or its messengers).  We use all the same techniques, but never effect a permanent change.  And yes, I know that SH's and my statues/genders shouldn't make a difference if we have good technique, but we're both brand new teachers - while we figure out discipline, it wouldn't hurt to have muscles and a moustache to tide us over on the respect front. 

Our current tactic with the sixth graders is similar to a method of defense my basketball team used in high school. Most of the time, we played man-to-man defense, meaning that each of us was assigned one player to guard. However, when we played a fairly decent team with one superstar player, we would double team her - assign two players to cover her at all times.  This strategy really works when there's one player making the majority of the points.  My sixth grade classroom is a similar situation - there is often only one student or table who really disrupts the class (and stir the others up).  So I personally double team him - instead of walking around the class and keeping tabs on everyone, I hover at his table.  I wouldn't be able to do this without a co-teacher (hard to simultaneously hover and teach), and I'm extremely thankful to have one.

**

Despite what you may have read, corporal punishment is not an option in public schools in Korea.  At least, not in mine or anyone else I've met.  I haven't researched this, but I imagine some legislation was passed within the past few years. 

Though there is no corporal punishment, the physical relationship between teachers and students here is much different than in the States.  Both co-workers who I have had, have been (in my opinion) extremely touchy with the students.  This includes rubbing shoulders and hair and play wrestling.  A 5th grade boy gave my co-teacher a shoulder massage one afternoon, and asked if I wanted one too.  They were both surprised at my immediate refusal.  Massage is not a boundary teachers can cross in the States.

**

Likelihood that they are changelings aside, I actually love all my students, including the sixth graders.  It's hard to actually hate a kid, especially over something as human as a bad attitude towards authority.  I don't believe in working at a job that I don't enjoy (yes, a middle class privilege, I know), and I wouldn't enjoy teaching if I didn't like my kids.  I also wouldn't enjoy teaching if I didn't have a sense of humor about it.

So, anyone have any tips for classroom management?  (Keeping in mind that I can't use my words, and my lectures generally consist of: "You (point at student) talk (make talking motion with hand) too much (big hands).  You must listen (point at ears).  No more talking. (shut hands).")

I love my third graders.

 

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A Day in the Life of a GEPIK Public School Teacher in Korea

The time has come for me to describe a typical day in my life – the life of a public school ESL teacher in Korea.  Specifically, a GEPIK teacher.  GEPIK stands for Gyeonggi English Program in Korea, and it consists of the public schools in the Gyeonggi-do province – the province surrounding Seoul, South Korea.  There are many reasons that I chose GEPIK over a different public or private position, and I'll discuss them in another post.

For now I will outline a typical Thursday. It's my busiest day, so  you'll be getting an idea of some of the extra duties I have besides teaching.

Warning: this post is for people interested in the reality of teaching public school in South Korea.  If you're already teaching here, or aren't interested in doing so, this will be pretty boring. 

A Day in the Life of a GEPIK Teacher

My alarm first rings at 6:30 a.m.  I hit the nine minute snooze several times (no idea how to change the time on that), and eventually acknowledge the reality of existence at 7:00.  Acknowledging existence = opening eyes and picking up laptop to check mail, news stories, etc.

Oh wait, you didn't want a play by play of my morning routine?   Fine.

My classes start at 9:00, which means I'm required to be at school at 8:30, and, as I've a half hour commute, I leave my apartment around 7:40 to catch one of the two buses that go to my school. I think there's a bus schedule, but I don't know how to access it, and the buses seem to come at different times every morning, so I make sure to go out early enough to catch one by 8:00.

When I arrive at school, I change into my school slippers.  Every teacher has a pair of school shoes that they keep in a locker at school.  Students also take their outdoor shoes off and attend classes in socks.

Before class I scan the day's lesson plans ( provided with the curriculum, but sometimes we modify them) and discuss with my co-teacher how we'll conduct the class.  She generally leads the 3rd and 4th graders because their English levels are so low: it's necessary to explain games/new vocab, etc. in Korean. 

On Thursdays I arrive a little earlier because Thursday (and Tuesday) is a Broadcast English morning.  This means that my face adorns the screens of all of the classrooms from 8:30-8:40.  Don't freak out if you're considering doing public teaching – many schools don't do a morning English broadcast.  Also, it's really relaxed and the camera isn't on me most of the time:

Morning English Broadcast

Morning English Broadcast consists of me reading a children's book on camera to the students.  I go into a special soundproof studio (adjoining the teacher's lounge) and stand behind a podium across from a small video camera on a tripod manned by a student.  Behind me on the wall "Morning English" is spelled out in happy bright letters.  Across from me is another podium with three microphones for the three students who assist me in Morning English.

The children's books that we are going through all have accompanying music videos (the text becomes the lyrics and the images are scans of the book pages).  The music video plays on TV screens across the school, and when it finishes, I start my lesson.

I greet the students, ask how they are and how the weather is, and respond to the same questions in a super cheerful I'msohappytosharemylanguage voice.  I then pick up the book – we're currently doing "The Animal Boogie" and exclaim over the pretty illustrations.  "Wow" I say.  "Look at the juuuunglllle."  (My co-teacher instructed me to be very enthusiastic and say "wow" as many times as possible.)

I teach the children some new vocabulary from today's page (we read one new page per broadcast), and my three helpers listen and repeat the new words.  Unfortunately, because it's a children's book, some of the words are borderline nonsensical – thankfully no Dr. Seuss yet (though I have had to "translate" his books for my students back in Sweden). Don't hate on me – I adore Dr. Seuss.  It's just that he, and many children's book authors, did not consider the confusing implications their words might have in the world of ESL.  Explaining English words is difficult enough without having to define "thneeds" and "truffluas."

So, for morning English, I get to slooowly say words for my helpers to sloooowly repeat.

"Skyyyyy"
"Creeeeeature"
"Boooooogie Wooooogie Oooooogie"
"Flaaaaappy Flaaaaap"

Here's the video they watch:
 

I teach 23 sessions of 40 minutes per week, from 3rd-6th grade.  Each grade is divided into two or three classes: 6-1, 6-2, 6-3, etc.  This means that each lesson plan is repeated two or three times to the different classes.  On Thursday I have class from 9:00-9:40, 9:50-10:30, 10:40-11:20, 11:30-12:10, 1:00-1:40, and 1:50-2:30.  It's the only day I have six classes, and one of them is a special after school English class with advanced students.  I get paid extra for this class because the GEPIK contract signs a teacher up for a 22 class work load.  (I have the option of getting paid for this class or for using it towards vacation - 8 hours = 1 day of vacation.)

The curriculum our school uses consists of textbooks, teacher guides, CDs and a workbook with additional excercises.

A typical lesson

Each class begins with a song (which I shared with you on this post) to get the students seated and focused.  After the song, I ask the students: "What can you do?" and they shout back "I can study English!" (Yes, some good ol' repetition and phrase memorization.) 

After the song, I do greetings: "How's it going?" (useful phrase, eh) "Who's TIRED?" (make sleepy face, hand pillow), "Who's HUNGRY?" (point at stomach) – the kids are always hungry – "Who's ANGRY?" (stomp foot), etc.  And then we get to the weather.

Every single day in April my kids stubbornly (and loudly) insisted that the weather was "Hot!  Very Very Hot!" (with accompanying tugging at shirt and fanning face motions).  I, equally stubbornly and loudly insisted that it was COOL. Because it was.  Our average morning temperatures in April were under 68F (20C) and I would shiver in my jacket at the bus station, only to end up, an hour later, in a heated debate over the warmth of the weather.  To be fair to my kids, the afternoons often warmed up – but that wasn't the question.  I would point at their jackets asking why they needed them in hot weather, which got confused looks – not because of my logic but because of my using unscripted English words.  Sigh.

After the greetings, we start the lesson.  The textbooks we use are laid out in chapters, and each chapter has a theme and set of key expressions/words that the students should know after completing the chapter. The chapters are split into sections (called periods) which focus on a different aspect of learning English: speaking, reading/writing, listening, etc. 

So: currently we are doing Lesson (chapter) 4 in 6th grade.  This chapter is titled "When is your birthday" and revolves around dialogues about when events will be taking place.  For example:

"When is your birthday?"

"It's April 5th."

"What will you do?"

"I will have a cookie party/pizza party/barbecue party."

"When is Earth Day?"

"It's April 22nd."

"What will you do?"

"We'll pick up cans and bottles and have an Earth Day parade."

The students will be taught the questions and responses, and some accompanying vocabulary to play with.  In this unit, some of the new vocabulary is: bottle, parade, people, office, and the months of the year.

I sometimes take issue with the phrasing of things in our books, because I don't know anyone who would say "I will have a cookie party" instead of "I'm going to have some friends over, and we'll make some cookies."  I've actually never the term "cookie party" used.  Or "Barbecue party" for that matter.  We also had a chapter where we taught the expression "I'm in the 6th grade" instead of "I'm in 6th grade." (Or even more realistically, when someone asks what grade you're in: "6th.")

Our class period consists of watching a few of the CD dialogues on the big screen TV at the front of the class (connected to a computer), and asking the students comprehension questions about what the characters are doing/saying.  The students also listen to and repeat the dialogues.  Often there are interactive questions on the CD that the students answer in their workbooks.  We then go over the answers together.

There are usually activities in the workbooks for the students to complete depending on the focus of the period.  If the focus is reading/writing, the students will be tracing or writing sentences/words in their books.  If the focus is speaking, students will create dialogues together based on picture prompts in their books.

Almost every period has a subject/vocabulary-themed game suggested in the Teacher's Guide at the end. We change many of these games because we know the types of activities our kids would prefer. 

During the lesson, my co-teacher and I tag teach.  She leads one section of the period while I a) get the next one ready b) walk around the classroom and make sure the kids are listening to her, or c) assist her. 

I lead the majority of the sections in 5th and 6th grade, and she leads the majority of 3rd and 4th grade.

Lunch

Our lunch break is 50 minutes, and I eat with the rest of the school in the cafeteria.  You have an option to bring your own lunches, which I would only recommend if you're a picky eater or have special dietary restrictions.  Even if you're a picky eater, you should see if you can try a lunch or two to see if you like it.

Reasons I eat in the cafeteria:

1) It's cheap.  The food is subsidized by the government, and I pay about 2 dollars per lunch. 

2) It's social.  All of the teachers and students eat in the cafeteria, and it's often the only contact I have with the other teachers. 

3) It's filling and decent food.  The lunch trays have five food sections on them, and there's always something that I like.  Meals always include kimchi, a ton of rice, a bowl of soup, some sort of vegetable, and usually some sort of meat.  Everything is eaten with chopsticsks and a spoon.

Sometimes there are some funky looking things on my tray which I don't try, (I am averse to the idea of eating anything with suction cups on it), but quite often there is a pleasant surprise - fresh fruit, yogurt, etc.

Afternoon classes

Two days a week I have no classes after lunch, two days a week I have one class after lunch, and on Thursdays I have two.  My second one is a special class which I get to design and implement by myself.  I really like this class because I get full control over the content and can throw in things that I don't have time for in my other classes. 

In my special class, we do a lottery every two weeks where I pick out the name of two students from a bag, and they win a small prize (pencil, candy, etc.).  If students have three strikes against them, their names aren't in the drawing. 

My special classes are usually grammar and subject themed lessons with funny youtube clips, games, and pop songs thrown in.  By the end of each lesson my students should have learned five new vocabulary words. 

I've heard of English teachers doing a variety of extra classes including teaching a class of other teachers at the school, teaching a creative writing class, teaching a song class, theatre class, or a sports class. 

The front of my school (view from classroom window).

The rest of my day

I usually have a few hours after class to prepare future lesson plans, etc.  Only a tiny fraction of this extra time is needed for school-related stuff, and I'm often online reading articles and books, or blogging (and yes, checking Facebook).  Sometimes the 3rd grade teacher in the classroom next to us has a lot of food from the students' parents, and she invites us over to eat and gossip.  Or, in my case, eat and watch them gossip.  I never take work home.

My bus drops me off around five, and I finish my evening with normal activities that aren't country/job specific - grocery shopping, dinner making, TV watching, writing, reading, socializing, etc.

Grocery shopping can be pricey here, depending on whether you to keep vegetables and fruits in your diet.  These tend to run higher than they did in the States, and they occasionally climb above Swedish prices too (which is just scary.)  Meat can also be quite expensive, as is cheese and nuts.  Nothing is too crazy though, except the occasional foreign item (one avocado will set you back five dollars), Skippys peanut butter hits six dollars (in certain locations).  A liter of milk averages about $2.10.  

Making dinner is a little depressing because I don't have an oven.  And guess what?  If you're coming to teach English in Korea, you won't have an oven either! (Unless you buy it yourself or get extremely lucky).  Also, the food you will be working with are different here, unless you're planning on funding the beach houses of the owners of the foreign food stores in Seoul.  Foreign food store = place to spend money when you're having a everythingisweirdhereandijustwantsomemacandcheeseinaboxtoremindmeofhome moment.  Not the best place for general groceries.

A TV came with my apartment, but it doesn't work.  I have friends who get some decent international shows though.  I prefer to watch TV on my computer regardless.

Socializing in Korea is not too difficult, depending on location.  Other  native English teachers are in the same boat as you - in Korea for a limited amount of time and looking to make friends. In and around Seoul, there are bars, clubs, restaurants and other forms of nightlife like noraebongs (Korean karaoke rooms).  For daytime, there are many clubs - sports, hiking, cultural, Korean classes, writing, book clubs, taekwondo, etc -  you can join which can be found on meetup.com, facebook, and by asking around. 

Reading is something I do on my kindle.  There are English bookstores in Seoul, but as I live an hour+ away, it's much more convenient to download books.  Also, they weigh a lot and you probably won't reread most of them.  I made a very hesitant transition, but am extremely glad that I did. 

**

That's about it for a day in the life of a public school English teacher in Korea.  This post is for my detail starved mother. :)

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Day 23 - Welcoming my new co-teacher

My new co-teacher started working with me this last Monday, the 19th.  If you recall, I wasn't too excited about switching from my previous co-teacher. He was the first person I met in Korea (besides the enthusiastic taxi driver), and we had worked well together. Also, he had ten years of teaching experience and has been at my school for a few years. She is new to the area, to the school, and the teaching profession. As in, very new to the teaching profession. As in, a 22-year-old who graduated in February. Not that I mind – but it's my role to be the confused newbie. I need help navigating the area, the school, and the classroom. Or I thought I did. (OK, literal navigation, yes, I definitely do.)

During the final days before my move, my mom and I went out to fika, the Swedish version of a coffee break (except with quality coffee and tasty treats). Actually, the term "fika" gets thrown around quite a bit, and is often used as a term for any sort of quick meal outing/get together.  Kind of like when you're catching up with an old friend and say "Oh let's do coffee sometime," but you mean "let's get together at a cafe or restaurant and catch up."  Actually, pretty much exactly the same.

Semla (not my picture)

So we fika-ed (possibly not how you're supposed to verb it), and I had a divine semla, a sandwich and a salad. Semlor are out in hordes during lent – they line the store fronts of cafes, restaurants, and supermarkets, and they often look better than they taste. Anyways we sat and chatted, and my mom suppressed her nervous fearoverherdaughtermovingtotheborderofnorthkorea long enough to tell me that she was excited for me to learn more about myself and what I'm capable of. When you're surrounded by people who are taking care of you, you can forget what you're capable of accomplishing on your own.

All of which ties back into my original point: when I arrived here, I landed into the comfy situation of having a co-teacher who took charge and helped me immensely. Now I'm on more equal footing with a fellow rookie (besides the fact that she has an actual education degree:P).  It's a positive thing to be pushed.

So: my new co-worker SH.  She is petite (5'4?), slim like a fairy, and has the adorable Asian cute thing going. She looks down and covers her mouth when she smiles or laughs. She has limited, but decent, English, which makes for quite a few misunderstandings and funny phrases.  She had been working as a substitute in her hometown for 15 days before she took this job. Her hometown is a couple of hours away and contains her family, friends, and boyfriend (who was not thrilled that she left), and she is planning on visiting every weekend.

As we spoke throughout the week, I discovered that she had met her boyfriend at her last school. Which means she has only known him about a month or so, but she seems quite infatuated.  Well, I suppose that's not odd for the one month phase, but I had thought that relationships moved more slowly here. Also, she's extremely soft spoken and shy.

"Wow, that's fast." I said when she told me about their romance.
She laughed shyly. "Yes, it is. But he said he likes me very much."

Later, I teasingly asked her if he was cute. Pretty safe question, because most people don't date people they don't find attractive, and cute is quite a fluid term.

"No," she replied, smiling. Weird. Maybe she didn't understand what I was asking, or took "cute" to be a literal baby look.

"Ah.  OK. But is he handsome?"

"No. But he loves me very much."

"No he doesn't!  He only worked with you a week," I laughed to make this less blunt as per my excellent social skills.

I think she averted her eyes and giggled at this, and I'm not always sure what she means by that reaction. Is it reflex? Non-confrontational? Not sure what I said?  In any case I really enjoy working with her, though I do find the relationship to be a bit strange.  If someone I didn't find attractive started immediately hitting on me and telling me he "really liked me", I would find his motives suspect. (I would even if he was attractive, but I thought that was an odd piece of her puzzle.)

Happy weekend:) I have met about twenty people every weekend I've been here. Hopefully I'll start narrowing it down soon.

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Photos - My first weekend in Seoul

On my first weekend here, I went with a Meetup group on a hike along Namsan Fortress Wall.  I had been in the country for three days and was jet lagged and disoriented (my body decided to wake up for the hike at 4:30 in the morning:P), but I wanted to meet people and be productive, so I went.  On the meetup description, it said the hike would be 3.4 km.  I quickly googled "How many km do you walk in an hour" and discovered that the hike would be about 45 minutes.  No problem.  "Lies!" I believe was shouted out halfway through the decidedly not 3.4 km hike. It was much longer, and mostly uphill. Ah, but it was nice to get some exercise, speak in English and see the city.

Click photo to enlarge.

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