Six months down, six to go. I'm officially half way through a year teaching in South Korea, here are some of my expectations prior to arriving and how they've worked out so far:
Teaching
Teaching has never been my thing, I didn't really want to be a teacher, I had no desire to get TEFL qualified, it was Ric's idea to do TEFL courses and come here. I didn't expect to love it but I figured it was a job, a well paid job, and that it wouldn't be any worse than my job as an editor at home.
Six months in, I adore my job. I love the children. They each have such strong personalities it has been so nice getting to know them; like Andy in my kindergarten who is always moody for the first 45 minutes of school (he's not a morning person), or Elin, also kindergarten, who draws vegetables when all other girls in the class draw princesses (she's a non-conformist).
I love seeing how their English skills improve as the weeks pass. This is most noticeable in my beginners classes who 6 months ago couldn't even read the alphabet. Now they can read, write and answer questions. It amazes me everyday that it's all because of me! (and it kind of scares me that I'm responsible for such a massive part of their development!)
Being a teacher, no day is the same. You can be the best prepared teacher in the world but the children will still manage to surprise you. Here are some of the surprises I've had over the past 6 months:
- Andy, in 1st grade, walking to my desk and projectile vomiting over me, himself and most of the classroom.
- Students handing me drawings they'd made featuring me, Ric and our [non-existent!] baby inside a big heart. Who knew 6 years olds were so romantic.
- Andrew, one of my kindergarteners, having a full blow melt down when Ric scared him at Halloween. He screamed so loudly that they could hear him four floors up!
- One student bringing her baby sister into my class because their mom couldn't find a baby sitter.
- Being told my colleague Alex, can't possible be America because his nose is so big.
- 6 year old Korean students liking The Beatles and The Killers.
Some of the surprises are more to do with Korea than to do with the students, such as:
- Having school cancelled because of a typhoon.
- Having school cancelled because of a blizzard.
- The school's director setting off fireworks to mark the beginning of sports day and aiming them directly at his feet.
- Being told we were to take the students on a field trip to a mountain, and that they were to hike to the top in the 40 degrees heat of summer. Bearing in mind that these students are aged 3-6 years old. They almost collapsed from exhaustion and dehydration.
- Being slapped on the arse by the school principal as she shouts "GO TEACHER GO". (This happens far too often for my liking, she really ought to learn better English!)
- Being told that my 6 year old students each have to prepare a 10 minute power point presentation and speech about a country of their choosing. I didn't even know what power point was until I was 16!
Home Sweet Home
I knew I'd be living with Ric in Korea but we had no idea what the apartment would be like. For all we knew we'd be in a one bed studio and we'd have no space to get away from each other. I was also worried about the pressure of living together "officially", as this can be make or break for many couples. Would he expect me to do all the cleaning? Would he leave his socks on the floor?
When we were shown our apartment I almost cried with happiness. It's huge by Korean standards and has a spare room where I can send Ric when he wants to watch English football at 4am. It's new and modern and I love it.
As for living with Ric; yes he does leave his socks on the floor, but so do I! Moving in together has been a walk in the park; for the first few months I was holding my breath waiting for a big argument or something but it never happened. He is actually lovely to live with. Which is a good job really as we work together, live together and spend all of our free time together, if we didn't get on so well life would be pretty miserable.
Expectations About Korea
I'm not really sure what I expected Korea to be like as I knew so little about the country before I came here. I remember being slightly shocked about all the different customs: bow to say hello, give with two hands, receive with two hands, pour your beer with two hands... there was a lot to remember but now it all seems second nature.
One of the things I was most excited about were the
magic toilets, now it's winter and -12 degrees outside I'm unimaginably grateful when I find a place with a heated loo seat, it's bliss. I just wish out school would get some!
It's been interesting learning about Korea in the six months I've been here, it's a pretty crazy place. Here are just a few facts that made me raise an eyebrow (some adapted from
the CIA World Factbook):
- population of 49 million people and only 16.5% arable land to feed them with! Korea relies on imports from other countries, mainly the US and Australia.
- Cheonan is considered a small rural city, yet it has the same population as Manchester - England's 3rd most populated city!
- The predominant religion is Christianity. Until the Korean war (1942-1945) the predominant religion was Buddhism, this changed due to all the [crazy bible bashing] Americans that came over to fight in the war and "maintain the peace".
- Korea is one of the richest countries in the world, it's education system is one of the top three in the world, as is it's healthcare system and it's economy is still growing at 3.6% (compared to England - 0.8% and the USA 1.8%).
Here's to another 6 months!
