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. ...

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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...

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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...

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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...

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Quirky Korea

There have been many incidents that have happened to me in Korea that aren't enough material for a blog post, but that definitely add colors to the picture of my life here.  I've decided to start putting these into Quirky Korea lists. Quirky Korea 1) Metro announcement music. At the subway in Seoul, when your train is about to pull into the station, it is announced with trumpety fanfare over the PA system.  Kind of like the president is arriving.  Every 8 minutes.  2) This month I accidentally ate jelly fish legs.  How does one accidentally eat jelly fish legs?  The same way you accidentally eat anything - someone sticks a plate in front of you, doesn't tell you what it is, and...

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