The one in which I bow

Well my first week of classes has finally finished up, as has my first full week interacting with Koreans on a daily basis. For the most part it has all been good. There have been some frustrations, but they have been outside of the classroom and for the most part settled.

My first day of school started off well, when I had confused the directions that I was given by my co-teacher and ended up being late for my ride. He was not happy about that. I was supposed to meet him at 0810 but unfortunately didn't meet with him till 0815. For five minutes all he did was point at the clock in his car, shake his finger and say something in Korean. I think I figured it out. The problem, as always at this point in my Korean adventure, is the language barrier. There was no way for me to appologize or explain as he understood no english. I of course understand virtually no Korean, so we were at a stalemate.

When I got to school, I was shown my classroom and told that there would be no classes. Fine, that is what I was anticipating. Then I was told to sit in the classroom and that my co-teacher was going back to her office till noon, when she would return to take me to lunch. Great. Three hours of sitting by myself in a foreign classroom. Well, at least the classroom is nice. It's a new school so it was air conditioned, had a computer for me to use, a projector and screen.

So after being told that there would be no classes for me, I set in at the computer and tried to figure out the cd-roms that I am to use for my lessons. At one point a couple of students poked their head in and said hi. I said hi, they giggled and ran away. I was afraid though that they might get in trouble if they were found in the halls during class time, so I decided to lock the door so that if anyone happened to come by, they would find the door locked and go on to class. That of course didn't deter a determined grade four class. They were sent to english class by their homeroom teacher and after banging on the door for a while, which I was ignoring, not knowing it was an entire class, one of the kids carded the door and 35 grade four students filed into class.

So there I was, me speaking nothing more than 'hello' and 'thank you' in Korean and the students not speaking much more than 'hello', 'goodbye', and 'how old' in English. So for the first minute I just sat there staring at them, and they at me. Akward! Then I tried talking with them but their vocabulary and understanding is so limited (as should be expected really). So after a few minutes of me trying to explain that I was from Canada and that I liked to play rugby, I got on the phone to my co-teacher who told me to send them back to their class. At the very least I got them to understand that.

Of course it was just before lunch that my co-teacher informed me that the teacher that drove me that morning would not take me home or drive me to school the next day. I was left with the impression that I had really pissed him off. Wonderful. First impressions are everything and I didn't like the idea of one of the senior male teachers at the school not liking me from day one. Luckily I found a ride home with another teacher and it was all good.

The rest of my first day was spent sitting at the computer alternating between facebook, work and wikipedia. Not the most productive day perhaps, but man was it boring sitting in a room all by myself for 8 hours. I did manage to create a slide presentation to introduce myself to my students as well as a set of classroom rules. I wasn't going to have another debacle like earlier in the day happen for the rest of the week.

For my second day I spent five classes 'introducing' myself to my grade five and six classes at my first school. Over and over again. How boring, but I guess it had to be done. Plus it had the added benefit of not having to come in and teach right off the bat. The kids had varying intrest levels. Many were completely indifferent to me and my presence. Some, while interested, were too shy to ask any questions. My co-teacher though made sure that everyone asked at least one question. At the very least, in this way, the time went more quickly then the group of us just sitting there staring at one another.

Wednesday, Thurday and Friday were spent in much the same way, but at my second (and I think my main) school. Introducing myself to numerous classes, getting asked much of the same questions, time and time again. All in all, it went by okay. There were two questions asked consistently by every class: how old was I, and was I married. Confuscianism dominates here and how old you are matters a great deal. Other consistent questions centered around whether I had a girlfriend, did I like kimchi, did I like Korean food, could I speak Korean. And these questions were not only asked by the students but by the teachers as well. I think the strangest question I was asked was what blood type I was. Apparently here in Korea, they use blood type as a horoscope for your personality. Sort of like the Chinese zodiac. It appears to be a remnant of the Japanese occupation of Korea for several decades at the beginning of the 20th century.

Wednesdays here are going to be fun. My school closes down early and all of the teachers get together to play a game. Not all teacher's participate but they at the very least show up and watch. I didn't have anything to play in, so I was a spectator this time around, but it looks like it could be good fun. The event was also used as a means of introducing myself to the teaching staff of the school; unbeknownst to me. After all of the teachers had gathered in the schools court yard / play area, I was told to go stand in front of everyone and say hello. Great. So I go up and do a deep bow (better to be too respectful I figure) and say anyeung hasayo (hello). The vice-principal said something and all of the teachers applauded. I was then asked, of course, how old I was and whether or not I was married. Oh, your not married? How about a girlfriend? No, no girlfriend. This brought about some giggles from the women. I was then told I could resume my spot in line.

The teachers who were participating then went a played a game of kick-baseball. It all looked like a lot of fun. There were about 12 teachers a side, both men and women. The men were to kick with their left foot, the women could kick with their right. There were a couple of men that were competitive about the whole thing but overall it looked like they were there just having some fun together. After the game they went and played some volleyball. They all look pretty good, far better than me at the very least.

It was at this point that some of the cultural gender/age roles started to come through quite clearly. Any time the ball got away from them it was always the youngest male teacher that ran after it. The first time it got away, the closest man started to go after it, but the younger man told him that he would go get it and ran after it. After that point there was no question. It wasn't until the second game, and they were tired of losing the ball that the VP told the youngest female teacher Hyun-Jin (one of my co-teachers) to simply stand at the end of the court and stop any more balls from escaping. She dutifully ran over to her post without a word.

Towards the end of the third game, many of the women who weren't playing told me to come with them as there was food inside for us to eat. I was ushered in, given a prime location and all of the food was offered first to me. I don't want to paint the picture of them waiting on me, they weren't, but it was obvious that they were making sure I was taken care of. So we sat at a few tables and ate. Had some orange juice. I had noticed at a couple of other tables that there was some soju. When they seen me looking at it, they asked if I wanted some. I said sure. So of course they got it for me and poured me a glass (one never fills their own cup here in Korea). I offered to pour for them, but they all refused. I mixed my soju with orange juice (so good) but they frowned and said no. Shortly after the volleyball players joined us.

All of the men sat at the tables with soju, the women were at tables without soju. Once the men were situated the VP began talking. Apparently he was talking about me, and then everyone raised their glasses and cheered my name. Pretty neat moment to be sure. As soon as this was over I was ushered over to the principals table by the women. Men and women are seperated socially at such functions I'm told. So then the Principal, whom I'm told likes me (can't be a bad thing that is for sure, these guys rule everything concerning the school), offers me some soju, which I of course accept. I now figure that I'm to drink it straight, so I sip it down. Of course as soon as it's empty another male teacher comes and fills it up. Finish that one and it's filled yet again. Oh, your cup is too small, here is a bigger cup, filled with soju of course. After a few I managed to excuse myself, but overall it was a positive experience.

My schedule is pretty good. My contract calls for 22 'hours' of teaching. In reality this means 22 classes, which are only 40 minutes long. On Monday I teach 4 classes, Tuesday 5, Wednesday 4, Thursday 4, and Friday 2; 19 in total. All of the classes are in the morning and only on Tuesday do I teach a class after lunch; directly after lunch. On Friday's I will be hosting a teacher's workshop at three in the afternoon. Hopefully these will go over well.

As for the two schools, I was told that I was going to have a country school and a city school. In fact I have two city schools. One is in the north end of the city near Suncheon University, while the other is near the downtown. The M-T school is quite new, air conditioned classroom and I will be teaching grades 3-6. At my W-F school I'll only be teaching grades 5-6 but it is an older school, so there is no AC. I dread next summer.

Lunches here will be interesting. All of the teachers eat with the students in the cafeteria. You file in, grab a tray and they serve up the day's meal. Each meal includes soup. Usually made from fish and has chunks of tofu floating in it. Rice comes with every meal, along with a meat dish, a vegetable dish and something else. These are all dished out for you, so you get a limited amount. Of course the kimchi is left at an entirely different table so that you can take as much as you want. So far I've eaten squid, anchioves, curry, fish soup, kimchi, lots of rice, spicy beef, chicken, pork, grapes, an orange, and a potatoe (which you break open and peal yourself). I'm trying to make a point of trying everything at the very least. This seems to satisfy them. I also think that I've come up with a plan for eating successfully. Eat the stuff I don't like first, with lots of rice so that the meal finishes with what I do like. So far so good.

One odd thing about the schools here is that the students clean them. There are no custodians, just the students. I was a little surprised the first time two little girls came into my classroom and started wiping down all the tables and sweeping the floor. This takes place all over the school. But, despite what you've probably heard about how strict Korean schools are, or how disciplined the students are, one can imagine what a school cleaned by a bunch of first to sixth graders looks like.

Then there are the students themselves. The boys are incredibly violent. Is another boy sitting in your desired chair? Why not go over and punch him in the head or grab him by the throat? That should get him to move. Of course all of this happens in front of the teacher, who doesn't bat an eye lash. That brings us to the times when the teachers do step in. I've seen mild things like having students stand at the front of the class facing the wall, or having to hold their hands in the air. Then there are the times that the teacher gives them a pinch or a flick. Which escalates to a rap on the head or a punch on the shoulder. Nothing of course to the time I watched my co-teacher punch a kid in the stomach or give one a rap on the head with a stick. All of this in just one week. I have a feeling this could make the year a bit long.

Everyone has been extremely nice. My co-teachers helped me to open a bank account, exchange travlers cheques, get a bus pass, arrange an appointment with the gas man, find a ride to school, in addition to constantly translating for me everywhere we go. All three of them are extremely nice, helpful women. I look forward to working with them this year.