Polly want a cracker

Well I've finished up my second week of teaching (well it's really only my first week of teaching, a week of introducing myself doesn't really count) and I'm starting to get a better feel for things.

My week starts at Hyan-Lim Elementary School where I teach grades 3-6. My co-teacher, Mrs. Lee, is very nice and a dedicated teacher. So much so that she want's to teach the actual lessons. As such she asked that I to an introduction at the beginning of each class and then to lead the game that ends each class. It's not really all that much, especially given that they stick to a textbook that gives you everything, including the game. So my first day of actual teaching and in the end I was little better than a trained parrot.

Once the intro was over, Mrs. Lee would lead the lesson which included the heavy use of a CD-Rom program. The students would hear the CD play 'is this yours?' Then they would repeat it. The teacher would point at me (this was my cue!) so that I could say 'is this yours?' The students would repeat it again. Nine lessons, forty minutes a lesson. How incredibly boring. I just kept reminding myself that they are paying me good money to do the job of a CD-Rom that they already own. Seems like a waste, but I'm not going to point it out.

After it was all done, my co-teacher and I spoke about things and she feels that perhaps over the course of a month I could progress to teaching more of the lessons. Really? Wow! Thanks.

Wednesday through Friday is spent at Sungnam Elementary School, where I teach grades 5-6. This is a larger school, but I still only have 10 classes over three days. Five grade 5 classes and five grade 6 classes. Unlike Mrs. Lee though, my co-teachers (yes I have three altogether) don't want to teach English (I can't blame them, one is a converted art teacher and the other is a converted music teacher), so I do everything. They are helpful with translating instructions and for some class discipline issues, but I do everything. Given the fact though that I only teach grades five and six, I only need two lesson plans as I teach the each lesson five times. Again, pretty easy.

For the most part the kids are fine. The grade sixes at Sungnam aren't all that interested in English class though. I can't blame them. I probably felt the same way about learning French. The thing that I am having to work through though is how to keep not only their attention but keeping them in line as well. So far having them stand up for a minute or two is working fairly well. Hopefully their behavior in class will either improve or this form of correction will remain effective.

Later today I will host my first English workshop for the teachers. I don't forsee any problems. At least not this time around. It is the day before a long weekend and the workshop is during the final hour of the day. I'm not planning on anything too strenuous, mostly just giving them the opportunity to learn about me, for me to learn about what they want from me in these workshops and perhaps a game. I'm aiming for open and casual.

I started taking Korean language lessons this week. They are free on Tuesday nights at the local education office. At the very least it won't hurt anything and I'll meet a few more foreigners. Hopefully I will gain some grasp on the language and I can become more independent. A lot of it will be practice.

On Wednesday I was taken by my two co-teachers for tea with some other women. It was rather interesting. The women seem really shy about speaking English in front of me. There was a lot of back and forth talking with my co-teachers about a question they wanted to ask before actually asking it. Of course what they really wanted to know was whether or not I found Korean women attractive and how old I thought they were. Not too surprising I guess. Of course the answer is 'yes' and 'younger than I really think'. They were very much pleased with my answers. There was a lot of smiling and giggling on their part. It should make for an interesting year.

Wednesday was also my Korean sporting debut. I played both 'kickball' (baseball where you kick the ball rather than hit it with a bat) and volleyball. I apparently impressed a few people with my catching ability and my ability to place the ball where I want it when kicking. I also managed to make more than a few people laugh, myself included, when I wiped out in the dirt trying to get to a fly ball. I'm not too used to running in sand. My team lost, but for me it's just a way of having fun and interacting with the other teachers.

From 'kickball' we moved on to volleyball. They tested me out, checked my form and decided that I should be playing at the net as a spiker. I think that they made a bit of a mistake there, as I can barely get my hand above the net, but that is where they wanted me. The game was fun, my team won both games and with it a bar of soap. Yay! I made a few decent plays, nothing too special, but I didn't make any big mistakes so I think it all went well. A few of the male teachers seemed to be pleased with my performance, so that is good.

Afterwards we went inside for the traditional post-game drink and food. This week we had some spicy chicken which was quite good, some raw fish cut into strips served with red pepper paste and grapes. The fish was surprisingly bland, so that helped me to put down a few pieces to the approval of my tablemates. I was also lucky in that I managed to get out with only having to choke down one shot of straight soju. I'd drink more of it if I could mix it, but they frown on that so shots it is.

On Thursday I made my first venture to the Korean version of Wal-Mart: E-Mart. I feel that this will be the beginning of a beautiful friendship. I found actual spaghetti sauce there. Spaghetti sauce! I was never so thankful to see it before in my life. I also managed to finally get my Principal and Vice-Principal some gifts. I bought my VP a Chivas Regal gift set that included a bottle of 12 year old Chivas and two glasses. For my Principal I bought him a Johnny Walker gift set that included a bottle of Johnny Walker Black and two glasses. Gift giving is big in this culture, so hopefully these will go over well. Next time I'm going to try the other big department store in town, Home Ever, and see if they can be as pleasing as E-Mart was.

Things have started falling into place now. I've gotten a feel for what my job will entail and I've finally gotten my financial house in order. Having been forced to surrender my passport for my Alien Registration Card, I was living on about $10 a day, which had to pay for food and transportation. Now that I've got both my ARC and my passport, I've been able to exchange the rest of my travelers cheques and open a bank account. With the bank account came the potential for repayment for my flight and my settlement allowance. These both came in yesterday. So now I'm flush with cash and used to living cheap. I also received some good news in that my first paycheque in September will be for both August (from the start of my contract on the 21st) to the end of September. I was anticipating it only being for August. So now with some cash in hand and more on the way I feel much more confident about my situation and I'm already planning my first trip for next weekend; Ulsan to visit a friend.

Some observations:

- I've really got to get used to the busses here. They cram people on there with a shoehorn and they are not shy about pushing their way into every little nook and cranny.

- Unlike in Canada where pedestrians are fairly safe, here vehicles rule the road and everything else for that matter. It's not out of the question to see someone riding their scooter or motorbike down the sidewalk. In fact I've seen cars driving down the sidewalks here. Cross walks are seemingly suggestions for the most part. If a car can go it will go, whether you are walking there or not.

- They have an affinity for English language shirts, but they don't really pay attention to what the shirt says. I guess it's simply enough for it to say something, whether or not it makes sense or even insults the wearer is secondary.

- The smells here are something to get used to. I'm not saying that they are bad (although stall after stall of fish can get to be a bit much), just different.

- I wasn't holding out much hope, so I'm not really all that surprised to find out that the majority of the westerners that I've seen around town here seemingly treat living here like living in Toronto. They are all members of insular little cliques that have no interest in new people (a generalization to be sure, but not inaccurate). I'll walk down the street, see a white person, wave and have them simply ignore me. I had had a small hope that in going to an eastern culture where the individual is subservient to the group that the people drawn here would be more group oriented, more inclusive. Unfortunately, in my experience, this simply isn't the case for the most part.