My Life in Korea, Thus Far

Although I haven’t actually been here that long, and haven’t seen much of my dong (neighbourhood) other than that immediately surrounding my apartment and the school, here’s a brief rundown of what I have experienced, and how I feel about it:

1) My apartment.
It’s small, which I expected. My shower is a shower head in one of my bathroom walls, and a drain in the floor – also expected. The location is pretty good: close to the subway, the school, Kyle and an awesome French boulangerie-type place.

2) My job.
I love the kids, they’re really sweet and cute. I teach kindergarten from 9:45 to 2:15 everyday, and the schedule is CRAZY. It’s very structured and well organized, but very different from what I’m used to. The school uses an American curriculum designed to teach native Spanish speakers English, so it’s “tried and true”, but that doesn’t make it any less confusing! It’s all going to take some getting used to.

In the afternoons I teach anywhere from one to four classes of slightly older students, which is a lot of fun. Although we’re all usually exhausted by the time these classes start, I love being with the “older” kids. I’ve known for a while that I love ESL and, so far, this experience is confirming that fact.

That being said, I’ve also quickly realized that I will never, ever be a kindergarten teacher. It takes a special kind of person to be able to do that job; they are Saints. I am not. Already I have stood in the middle of a classroom, with ten five year-olds running around, singing, dancing and screaming, and realized that I could do absolutely nothing to stop them. That’s when the principal walked in. THAT’S when I wanted to crawl in a hole and never come out. I’m sure that part of it is the fact that they have their reading and phonics classes immediately after lunch. I know that a lot of it is developing a rapport and a routine with them, and I also know that things will get better. But I’m also confident that when I get home, I will not be working in a kindergarten class!

There is a silver lining... The great thing about primary students is that they love their teachers—they’re always hanging off of you, and yelling “Hi Jacquie Teacher!” as soon as they see me. In Korea, it’s expected that you hug the students and basically show affection towards them. This is WAY different from the North American “don’t-even-try-to-touch-my-child-or-I’m-calling-the-cops-you-dirty- paedophile”. On the first day, one of my students ran up and hugged me and I almost had a fit! While I realize that we do have to protect our children, after having been here for a mere week I’ve began to see exactly how ridiculous and paranoid Canadian (Western?) society is... but more on that later.

3) The cost of living.
Everything is REALLY inexpensive. Three of us went out for dinner the other day and it basically cost the equivalent of $10. I bought a case of 6 2 Litre bottles of water for $4 from the convenience store down the street. A twenty minute cab ride was $6. It’s pretty crazy.

4) The language.
I was hoping to teach myself some Korean before I left home, but no matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t seem to retain anything! Now that I’m here, it’s not much better. Once I get settled I think I might try to find a course or something to take. Most people speak at least a little English, but it would be nice to be able to go to a restaurant and order in Korean, or at least be able to decipher the menu!

5) The food.
So far I really like Korean food! I haven’t had a ton of it, but what I have had has been really good. I’m pretty much in love with kimchi (pickled cabbage in a spicy sauce that is served as a side dish with every meal). There’s also a lot of international food. Last night we went to this AWESOME Mexican restaurant and I had the best burrito I’ve ever eaten!

This weekend I’m going to visit Julia and she’s going to show me a bit of Seoul. I’m really excited about that, and I’m sure I’ll have more to write about when I get back!