Noodle Legs

Cities I've sprinted through to catch the last train/bus/magic carpet out of town:

Washington D.C.

New York City

Nara, Japan 

Paris 

Probably more I'm mentally blocking out 

And now, Seoul. 

Pictures from an amazing weekend vacation to come soon...

Chuncheon's Dak Galbi Street

Got seven hours to kill? Do you like spicy chicken and vegetables? Beautiful mountains? Your butt falling asleep on a surprisingly hard subway seat despite the paisley cushion?

Then it's time for you to head to Chuncheon!

Two hours of this, and the occasional pitch black tunnel.

Over the holiday, my friends and I had a stay-cation and hoofed it north of Seoul for the day to get delicious dakgalbi. The journey began by making our way to Seoul's Gyeongchun line, to the southernmost stop of Sangbong. While the Gyeongchun line looks pretty stubby compared to other lines, don't be fooled--the time between stops is double or triple what it is in the center of Seoul, so you're on the train for quite a bit to get to the last stop up north.

Luckily, the ride to Chuncheon is gorgeous. In just several stops, you suddenly find yourself in lush, green mountains dotted with lakes, streams, and--since we're still in Korea--the occasional apartment building. 

Once you get to Chuncheon, it's time to walk to the famous Dakgalbi Street. (Or you can take a taxi there for under 5,000 won. If you tell the driver 'dakgalbi', 99% of the time they'll take you right to the street.)

Just look for the happy chickens.

I question their pleasure; don't they know we're going to eat their brethren?

Or perhaps they are just happy they're not the ones being eaten?

These are life's questions...

All of the restaurants have women outside trying to wave you in. (Not 'women' like at Vegas casinos, I mean 'women' like your Great Aunt Bess who asks when you're going to get married and why your hair looks the way it does.) Chances are, whichever restaurant has the longest line or fullest tables has the best dakgalbi.

If you've never had dakgalbi before, you're in for a treat. Order for however many people are in your party, though you could always order more later if you're still hungry. A pan is set in the center of your table and loaded up with chicken, spice, veggies, and rice cakes. Let the ladies do the cooking for you and they'll give you the okay when it's time to eat up. Afterwards, ask for some rice so you can make a stir fry with your leftovers (if there are any) and give your tastebuds a round two. Yes, you will fight over the last bits of rice. Just accept this inevitability.

Step 1: Sit down and DO NOT EAT THE RAW CHICKEN.

Step 2: Let the ajuuma cook for you and await her signal to eat, 

much the same as wolves wait for the alpha to signal it's their turn to feast on elk.

Yes, ajuumas are the alphas of the pack.

Step 3: When you are full to the point of bursting, 

order some rice to make galbi fried rice.

It took us three hours by bus and subway to reach Chuncheon from Suwon, but if you're feeling more pressed for time you can take the ITX train or look for an express bus. If you take just public transport, the whole roundtrip will set you back less than 10,000 won. The major downside of this journey is that you'll be spoiled for dakgalbi forever. After eating it in Chuncheon, dakgalbi in any other part of South Korea just doesn't cut it.

It's a straight shot from the station to the dakgalbi street. Just keep your back towards the river, go past some hardware stores, through a large intersection, and walk until you see the sign at the top of this blog post on your right. You'll also see a Cold Stone Creamery just before the sign.

Korean War Museum

Statues representing types of Korean soldiers, personnel and civilians

serving during and affected by the Korean War.

So far my favorite place in South Korea is the Korean War Museum in Seoul, so much so that I've gone more than once. (Ok, so I've only gone twice, but I'll pretty much jump at the chance to go with anyone who has never been there. Seriously, just hit me up.)

Tile mural at the Korean War Museum in Seoul.

The museum is one of the few I've ever been to that is dedicated to one historical event. With four exhibits to one complex war, you will find yourself learning many details about the Korean War that you had no idea about, especially if you only ever glossed over it in a high school unit about the 1950s. Did you know that Ethiopia and Colombia sent troops over? No? Well, you would if you had gone to the museum.

The international flags are positioned in the order that the

nations agreed to help South Korea during the war with troops

and/or medical personnel.

The museum closes promptly at 6PM, so if you get there late, go inside before you get distracted by all of the vehicles outside. Especially the tank that you can 'drive' for a few coins out of your pocket.

Ok, so you can like only go forwards and backwards, but still.

The museum, if you follow the exhibits in order, sets the scene for the war and leads you through the tense years before all hell broke loose, the battles, and the aftermath. The first two exhibits in rooms I and II reads a bit like an essay about how the war was a result of North Korean aggression. Dates and facts are presented in Korean, English, Chinese and Japanese using a variety of media and new interactive technology that makes you feel like you're in Star Trek. Room III pays tribute to the UN nations that entered the fray on South Korea's side, and is the room most packed with foreign visitors who linger over their nation's display. 

"Computer. I'd like to know how many Patton tanks were used in the war

and I'd like a cheese sandwich."

As with any conflict, the museum presents just one side of the story. Surely if you were in North Korea, there would be a very different narrative. For instance, one of the first statues you see when you enter the grounds is of a well-muscled South Korean soldier desperately clutching his younger, smaller North Korean brother. The visual representation isn't particularly hard to decipher. Also, the exhibits tend to give the impression to the uninformed foreign visitor that Singman Rhee, leader of South Korea at the time, is remembered as a father of the nation and all-around stand up guy, when many Koreans remember him, actually, not that fondly, like, maybe at all. I also failed to see anything said about what happened when the Han River Bridge was blown up by the South Korean forces, killing their own civilians and troops. Thankfully, we all know that war is messy business and know when to take information with a grain of salt. At the very least, the museum is a good primer on the Korean War and a gateway towards reading further about the subject if it intrigues you.

To get to the Korean War Museum, head to Seoul's Samgakji station on either the brown or light blue line. From exit 11, follow the signs--the museum is only a two minute walk and quite easy to find. Tours are available in English at certain times and there is no fee to enter.

Children's Day (어린이날)

May 5th is a holiday in Korea, specifically Children's Day. The day has been around for decades, and it was recognized as a holiday off from school in the '70s. (Not everyone gets the day off, especially if you work someplace parents would want to take their kids..!) Children's Day is also celebrated, off the top of my head, in Japan, China, and many other Asian countries. On the holiday, parents take kids to zoos, theme parks, mountains, beaches, and celebrate kids being kids. Before the actual date, schools put together fun activities, such as games, movies, and field trips. 

My school made yummy sponge cakes, which we got to decorate...

...and then we promptly threw up all of the icing we ate.

It's Gonna Be MAY

May is going to absolutely fly past. This upcoming weekend is a much-needed holiday, if the general attitude of my students is concerned. I've been almost bitten, hit a few times--all out of love, because for some reason a few kids under the age of 6 think that acting like dicks gets positive attention. Reality: In terms of biting, all it gets you is a chair in the corner and a lot of tears. Honestly, I don't remember everything from when I took Child Psychology in college, mostly because I only paid attention to the teenager chapters while thinking, "There's no way in hell I'll ever teach kids under the age of----" Anyway, I seem to recall something about a child's brain being made of blueberry muffins until about age nine, so maybe that has something to do with it.

So as I said, this is going to be a much needed vacation for the entire peninsula. I've had my share of dealing with mass Asian holidays and am actually staying put. An entire nation on the move for beaches and mountains with their kids in tow means I hide in my own city, so I'm doing a stay-cation in Seoul. Mid-May I'm heading down to Jeju Island with a few friends, and between that I have a baseball game to go to with a co-teacher, and then another wine gathering. May is really, really going to disappear fast.

After that, hey guess what--I'm going to Boracay Island in the Philippines for our summer vacaion at the end of July! Which means lots of fun in the sun, and lots of not doing anything on the weekdays leading up to it so I can pay stupid amounts of money to become PADI Open Water certified to scuba dive. So I aplogize for any forthcoming posts about, uh, knitting or reading in the park.

I have five months left, so I'm starting to make a list of things I've wanted to do. The end of living abroad has a real way of sneaking up to bite you in the ass. Example: My last week living in Tokyo, I remembered I'd never been to the island of Odaiba or the original Pokemon Center, which lead to some hard decisions, my friend, let me tell you. (Pokemon Center won out because I am a gigantic nerd.) In China, I went on a whirlwind tour of Shanghai, Beijing, the Great Wall, and Sujou in a week's time and slept like the dead on my plane home to the USA.

So, I've learned my lesson. Probably.

On my to-do list:

• Jeju Island (May)
• DMZ (June)
• Train ride up to Chuncheon for delicious dak galbi (This weekend!)

Not planned, but I know I have to get off my ass and do it:

• Seroksan, a gorgeous mountain maybe 4 hours away, and the neighboring park adorned with penises (Yes, you read that right.)
• Busan, the second largest city in Korea with a beach down south

...other than that, I truly have no other musts. Really I'd just like to get around Seoul a bit more and explore areas I haven't been to yet. It's a gigantic city--the second largest in the world after Tokyo, so cut me some slack!

Ferry disaster

Many people around the world have heard the horrifying news of a ferry sinking off  the coast of South Korea. The ferry was  carrying hundreds of high school children from a school in my province.

The official mood  in Korea has been somber thus far. Out of respect for the families (and perhaps as a precaution) all public school trips have been cancelled for the rest of the semester. My hagwon cancelled a simple picnic excursion as well, which was probably for the best. Therre's no reason to give parents anything to worry about this week, even if we were only going to be on a bus for 10 minutes.

Additionally, many festivals and events are being postponed and cancelled. Charities are taking donations of clothing, snacks, toiletries, and other items to deliver to the families who have gone to Jindo Island and wait in a school gym for news of their loved ones.

In my school, life is continuing, but I can't imagine the mood at the affected high school.

Lesson idea: Numbers & Sports Jerseys

Need an idea for teaching kindergarteners number order and recognition, yet also hoping to indoctrinate them with love for your favorite sports teams? Fear not, there's a lesson for that!

Print out pictures of jerseys for the numbers you want taught, then have students pin them up on a clothes line in the right order. Educational AND sneaky? Sign me up!

Is it fog or smog?

Luckily, there's a website to tell you how bad the air is in Korea on any given day!

Most of the smog comes from China, the gift that keeps on giving. 

I WILL HELP YOU WIN A PRIZE IN THIS INCREDIBLY INFORMATIVE POST

DO U NO A PRETTY LADY? SHE  WITH NOW? OF COURSE SHE IS, YOU'RE VERY ATTRACTIVE AND HAVE A GREAT PERSONALITY. 

IF U SEE TILES... YOU PAY A KOREAN MAN, TO BREAK TILES. NO, IT OK; THEY NOT REAL TILES, THEY BREAK IN HALF, IT OK DON'T BE SCARE.

THERE STACK OF 5, STACK OF 15, STACK OF 25. DON'T BREAK THE 5, IT TOO EASY, SHE WON'T BE IMPRESS. THAT PRIZE TOO SMALL FOR PRETTY LADY, TRUST ME. DON'T TRY 25, 25 TOO HARD, U FAIL. U FAIL BAD AND PRETTY LADY WILL SEE. SO DO 15, 15 GOOD NUMBER.

THEY GIVE YOU GLOVE. YOU PUT ON GLOVE. GO, 'Hnnnnnnngg!' AND SMASH TILES LIKE ANGRY GOD. 'Hnnnnnnng!'

THERE YOU GO, NOW U GET PRIZE. BUT YOU HAVE TO GIVE IT TO PRETTY LADY, SORRY ABOUT THAT, I SHOULD HAVE MENTIONED THAT CATCH. GOOD LUCK!

Letters to Superheroes

Asked my oldest class to write a letter. I--to their utter dismay--used Loki as my example. Most students wrote to Iron Man and Mickey Mouse. Except Aron, who shares my sympathies and just earned an A.

'My Family'

When we learn about family member vocab, I like to get the students to make a family tree and present it to the class. It's pretty easy and fun; what kindergartener doesn't like talking about her family?

However....

"My god," the English teacher said under her breath. "I hope that's hair and not a headwound..."

Half-way point

I'm here, I've made it: I am half way through my contract in South Korea.

When I arrived in Korea in October I was:

• Broke and saddled with credit card debt
• Pretty desperate to get out of America and begin traveling again long-term
• Exited to start teaching again
• Interested in learning Korean
• Ready to get my shit together!

Now, six months later, I am:

• Not broke, but still paying off debt because of LASEK (No regrets!) 
• Ready to move on to the next thing after Korea
• Pretty over teaching in a hagwon (private school)
• With ten Korean words in my vocabulary because so many people speak English here
• At 13% Shit Togetherness, by my best scientific estimates

About that:

☞Some advice: I really, truly would not risk coming here with credit card debt unless you absolutely can at least make the minimum payments for a few months. Most teachers get paid monthly and you'll have a lot of 'set up' costs to cover your first month. This could be anything from paying for your health screening and food to furnishing your apartment and going out to meet new people. I actually had to pay for the previous teacher's utility bill because I arrived at a weird time in the month but, at least, the next teacher will pay mine. (Yeah, bullshit, I know.)

I will say, if you look on Craigslist and Facebook groups, you can usually find cheap or free things to get for your new apartment. I was lucky enough to just buy everything in my apartment off of the teacher I replaced, saving me from a lot of hassle.

☞Korea is a very comfortable place to live and it's easy to see why people end up staying here year after year. I originally came over with the idea that I was only going to stay for a year, but I'm looking into staying on this side of the world for a bit longer. Hopefully in another country, but if a job opportunity came up in Korea, I would have to sit down and seriously consider it.

☞However... I have very little desire to teach kindergarten and preschool again! I like my students and the job isn't particularly difficult, but my god is it exhausting. Think of the drunkest person you've ever seen. I mean falling out of chairs, slurring their words, sobbing in the corner--that kind of drunk. Then think of ten miniature copies of that person in a room. That is the best way I can describe teaching preschool. They are adorable and easily entertained but I go home bone-tired.

Also, as I previously mentioned, hagwons are typically businesses first and schools second. Most hagwons are franchises that use the same materials and lesson plans. For some reason, the franchise--or at least the branch--I work at does not have an actual rubric for the English teachers. We were only just given teachers' manuals for the (randomly selected?) textbooks we teach out of. There was never an outline, core, or rubric for teaching distributed at the beginning of the semester. The 'rubric' is, "Go, teach English. And make sure the kids are happy." There's homework (in kindergarten, I remind you), yet no tests. Although, I suppose the 'test' at the end of the year is the final performance were students have to sing and dance amidst laser lights and a professional MC, then read an English speech that has been meticulously picked apart by the director.

Teaching in some of these hagwons is like buckshot; you do many things and hope something will stick. I have no idea how 'real teaching' in the 'real world' works as I've not done it, but the hagwon set up does not align with what I learned in college about education. Granted, I knew from secondhand stories that this was what I could expect at a hagwon, and I figured I had the fortitude to deal with it for a year. I can make it another six months, but the teacher in me is going to be burnt out by the time September rolls around.

Whadd're you gonna do.

☞I am embarrassed to say this, but I just don't have a passion for the Korean language. Added to the fact that every time I try to speak it, the other person responds in English, my motivation has been quite low. I can read and write the alphabet no problem--after learning two Japanese alphabets, Korean letters make so much sense--and I can actually understand about 15% of what is being said. Korean has a similar grammar structure to Japanese and uses a few similar words as both Japanese and Chinese. I actually need to remind myself to stop answering the students in English when they speak in Korean, though, this is a really bad habit I have. A few classes are under the impression that I'm fluent in Korean and my co-workers have had to tell students many times that I am, in all actuality, a dumb foreigner.

Sorry, Korean. It's not you, it's me.

☞Ha-HA! I lied. I don't have my shit together at all.



I like Korea, but this was only ever meant to be the beginning of an adventure.

Link: 50 Beautiful places to visit in South Korea

It saddens me that I'll likely not have the money or time to visit most of these places, but perhaps you will: 50 Beautiful Places to Visit in South Korea

Uh Oh

Oftentimes my school goes on fieldtrips to let the kids play in mini gymnasiums. Usually this is fine, but when you give Batman both a chainsaw AND a trampoline... Well. Bad things may happen.

X-mas Throwback: Hand reindeers

A nice project for kids is to make reindeers from hands. 

Oftentimes this is more fun for the teacher than the students:

Angry as hell because he only has one antler.

Jay Leno reindeer.

Casually reaching for scissors....... Not suspiciously at all.

Seoul cafés

CNN: Leading the world in fluff news stories, silver foxes under the age of 40, and Americanos.

There are cafés EVERYWHERE in Seoul and the surrounding areas. I think a little of this comes from the classiness associated with the cafés of Europe--particularly Paris--and also that it's a way to get out of the apartment. Most young Koreans live with their parents past the age of 18, some even up until they get married. Heading to a café is a good way to meet friends, study, or canoodle with your significant other in the corner without Mom and Dad peeking around the corner.

Perhaps due to this, it's a bit rare to see people in a café by themselves. You may get a few strange looks, but just set up your laptop and most people will figure you're just waiting for a friend.

The Americano is the closest beverage I can regularly find that comes close to American-style drip coffee, but I've been getting really, really sick of them for some reason. Besides an Americano, Dutch coffee or drip coffee is the next best thing, but be warned--there's no such thing as a bottomless cup unless you're in really good standing with the waitress or owner. Each cup will cost you, leading many expats to purchase a French press or--if you have around $40USD to drop--a coffee maker. (I'm finding appliances to be really expensive here...) But take heart; when you put it up for sale on a foreigner flea market, you're almost guaranteed to find a buyer!

Fan Death

Picture from the instruction manual of a fan I bought a few months ago.

It's a widely held belief in South Korea that sleeping with a fan on could kill you, but this has generally been debunked: http://www.snopes.com/medical/freakish/fandeath.asp

It's a belief also held in Japan and I have young friends in Asia who believe in it. The long and short of it is, in this Junior Scientist's opinion from reading about fan death and sleeping with her fan on many a night, it's not true. Unless! You have a plain ol' fan in a room that doesn't have any windows open and it is excruciatingly hot that night. Because there's no breeze, you can cook yourself. Maybe. Possibly. If you have the worst luck in the universe. 

More and more, younger Koreans don't really believe in fan death, but I do, on occasion, meet someone who will defend the theory. Whether or not they really believe it or they're just defending a cultural aspect is another thing. Korea has a lot of national pride that can extend into many, many other aspects of life (sports, art, testing, etc) including urban legends! 

Typically if someone believes in fan death I just kind of shrug and change the subject. It's so often an ingrained belief from childhood that they're not going to change their mind any time soon. And, frankly, you can come off as quite the douche who is trying to 'educate' the poor, misguided Korean, adding further insult.

Besides, every culture has these little quirks. As far as I know, I never went cross-eyed from sitting too close to the TV or caught a cold from going out in the winter with damp hair..!

'I like cheese'

The students were confused as to why their English teacher skipped ahead to Unit 7, but appreciated her enthusiasm nonetheless: 

Season of Change

Long time no see. March is the season of change for many expats in South Korea. It marks the beginning of a new school year and the ending of many teaching contracts. The bars are doubly packed with both freshman teachers fresh off a plane and veterans vying for one last beer before taking off to parts unknown. Compound this with the usual influx of military recruits and Samsung workers, you'll likely be meeting three new people for every one you say goodbye to. 

March is the season of change and it hits hard. It hits you in your wallet after your seventh going-away party, hits you in your stress receptors as new students grace your classroom (heaven help you if they are three-year-olds who have never seen a foreigner before), and it shrinks your social network. Even for those of us staying, March can be rough.

I've had several classes and responsibilities added to my workload this semester since, I was told, the director was beyond pleased with my work teaching English. Unfortunately, this doesn't mean my salary has increased. Only my downtime has decreased, by quite a bit, as has my sanity some days. Also, one of my side jobs has been scaled back quite a bit and I've lost a source of income, adding to my stress as I count pennies (Wonnies?) and refresh my student loan statements online. But then a warm day comes, one where I don't need to even wear a jacket, and I just kind of forget about it. 

I'm hoping that April will be back to business as usual and I can re-establish a daily routine. Maybe I'll even update this blog once a week! (...maybe.)

Happy season of change to you and yours, wherever they may have gone.

Teaching In Korea

There are plenty of blogs out there about what type of job to look for. And I'm going to be one of them:

1) If you use a recruiter, do NOT let them pressure you into signing for any job. I was hounded by my first recruiting agent to take a job I didn't want and cut him loose. They're making money off landing your butt in a school, don't forget that. While many recruiters are great, there are those who are in it for the money and just want to place you as fast as possible. And if you find out a recruiter is lying about anything--how to get a visa, how health insurance works, standard number of sick days, that everyone in Korea is losing their English teaching job and you should be grateful for the shitty one he just presented you--forget it. If you don't use a recruiter, a safer bet than Craigslist or Dave'sESL is to find someone advertising their own job, looking for their own replacement. Chances are, if they're helping out their school like that, it was a nice gig.

2) Even before you know what you want out of a job, join a Facebook group for the area you want to teach, preferably a job-seeking one. Keep an eye on salaries and benefits offered, criteria schools are looking for, etc, so you know what the industry 'standard' is.

3) Research the ever-loving crap out of your school and the city you're going to be living in. Ask on Facebook if anyone has worked there before or lived in that city. A recruiter will likely give you the email of an English teacher working there if you ask nicely, but there's always the very slight chance that teacher is telling you everything you want to hear because if you take up her contract, she gets to leave a shithole of a school. And then you're the one stuck.

4) Gather your 'documents' before you even decide for sure that you want to go to Korea. It's a long process--and different every year for every nation, so I'm not even going to bother listing them--and you don't want to be left out in the rain if a really nice position comes along and the school goes with another candidate because you didn't have something notarized.  

5) If something seems fishy, inconsistent, or you have just a bad feeling about something... Go with your gut. You're moving half way around the world; don't risk it. You will find another job, one that makes you eager to get on that plane.

I don't really know what to say about my job in Korea. I can give you the facts; I work 9:30 - 5:30 Monday through Friday in a private kindergarten. My students are between the ages of three and six, and I have about 80% of their names memorized, so that's like 60 kids right there. I teach English and, as just sort of happens with this age group, I also teach how to be a functioning human being on a basic level where blowing noses and cleaning off tables is concerned. I teach twenty-two regular classes per week along with one cooking class and six special extra English tutoring classes. On Fridays, I could be doing anything from leading four basic yoga classes to chaperoning a field trip or helping cook kimchi or cut birthday cake. 

You should know that I'm not so passionate about my job as to stay at it for years and years, but I am damned good at it. 

However, I'm not paid to be passionate. I'm paid to be in the school from 9:30 - 5:30 regardless if my butt is merely warming a desk chair. (This is a big part of work in Korea for foreign teachers. Your butt will be so good at sitting by the time you leave that you should just try out for the Olympics.) I'm paid to make my own lesson plans, follow directions, and not offer a dissenting opinion. In return, I have an apartment that is only kind of shitty with no rent to pay, free tasty lunch, and a boss that pays me on time and doesn't deign to interact with me beyond a few pleasant greetings as she doesn't speak English very well. All in all, I've gotten a pretty solid deal and I'm pleased.

This is the way teaching English works in Korea; there is no cookie cutter for schools, public or private. As many different directors and principals as there are, that's how many different types of schools you will come across. Some of my friends work four hours a day and have all of the material prepared for them, and outside of report cards there's little paperwork. Some of my friends have bosses who work them sixty hours a week. Some have even had bosses scam them and nearly get them deported out of South Korea. Some people work in amazing schools where they're treated as educators with equal skills and talent to bring to the table. You just never know what you're going to get unless you inherit the job from a friend.

On the flip side of that coin, the schools get what they pay for. Most of the English teachers here are not teachers. If you want to become an English teacher in South Korea, you must be a native speaker, have a clean background check, a bachelor's degree in anything, and a pulse. Being a white, young female helps a lot, too. (If you have more qualifications and experience beyond this, you can find a school more to your liking or negotiate for a higher pay. However, as of 2014, if you make 2.4 million won or more, your tax gets hiked up from 3% to 15% so be careful when you sign that contract.) Many English teachers here are not teachers, that's just facts. People have written interesting articles about how this has affected English education in Korea and how the job market has changed and remained the same over the years. As I've only been here a few months, I have little right to wax whimsical on these points.

From what I hear from the veterans, one major thing has changed and one major thing as stayed the same. The salary has not risen with the cost of inflation and living; my predecessors 10 years ago made what I make today. There also, the grizzled vets claim, are a lot less knuckleheads over here to drink and be douches and show up at school hungover. Some veterans tell me teaching has gotten better, others tell me worse. It does feel, somedays, with all of the farewell parties that a lot of people are abandoning ship. But there are always newbies to replace them, to take over their contracts and apartments just a few days after the 'garage sale' where I can pick up cooking pots and chairs on the cheap. 

"There will always be jobs in Korea," someone said to me before I came here. But until you step into your first school, you may not be wise enough to figure out which ones to avoid. It's a learning experience, one that you pick up fast.

My school is a business, there's no two ways about it. When I asked what was expected of me, I was told just to make sure the kids are happy and have fun. Whether they learn anything takes a back seat, was the message I really took from that. Again, this is a private kindergarten, and there's no curriculum. The textbooks I was given were selected without any real guidelines, and from these I make my lesson plans. But, really, in the back of my mind, I'm less of a teacher and more of person for students to practice speaking with. The way I see it, my real duty is to foster an enjoyment of learning English (or at least not fuel a hatred of it) and give the students practice with talking to a native English speaker. They'll need it; for the rest of their education, emphasis will be on grammar and reading, much to the detriment of their oral abilities.

My job could be a lot worse; as I said before, I know people who have worked insane hours and been cheated out of pay. I really, truly, only have stressful days from Monday to Wednesday, then Thursday and Friday are something of a cakewalk. My coworkers are great (even though I'm pretty sure they're sick of me forgetting textbooks and props in their classrooms) and my boss is trustworthy. For a first time job in Korea, I did alright.