My first week in Korea has been a most unique & exciting experience. Beginning with the 14 hour plane ride (we arrived 30 min ahead of schedule) everything went smoothly. The staff of Korean Airlines were very hospitable and most accommodating. They fed us and gave plenty to drink throughout the entire flight. I couldn’t believe how quickly the time flew by and felt as if I was in a time warp when we arrived in Korea. The first 2 days didn’t really feel like we were in Korea because we were housed at an extremely modern campus (even more impressive than many campuses back home) and we were surrounded by many English speaking people.
Upon arriving at Incheon International airport, we were greeted by a representative of our EPIK program and taken to dinner. Orientation was held at the University of Korea and was a great way to meet other native English teachers from around the world; mainly from Canada, USA, England, Australia, New Zealand, etc. The staff of the EPIK program was most hospitable, generous, and welcoming. They really treated us well and welcomed us to their country in style. On Friday, after the closing ceremony, 15 of us boarded a bus heading to Gyeongnam Province (south east corner of Korea) where we eagerly awaited the meeting of our co-teacher (the person we will be working/teaching side-by-side with during our one year contract).
My co-teacher is a wonderful, sweet, warm, soft spoken young woman who is married with two little boys (22 mo & 2 ½ mo) She picked me up in Changwon (the capitol of the Province) and drove me to the Miryang Board of Education Bldg. where I was able to pick up the keys to my apartment and get the address of where I would be living. She took me out to dinner at an authentic Korean restaurant where we had to take off our shoes and sit on little cushions on the floor. At the restaurant we ran into a few Directors from the Education District who were very excited and very pleased to meet me. I bowed and introduced myself to them as they warmly greeted me and welcomed me to their city. I’ve been simply amazed at how excited, enthusiastic, grateful and appreciative all the Korean people are to have us (native English speakers) here teaching in their countries. They seem to be so enthused, impressed, and grateful to have us here.
On Saturday morning while waiting for my co-teacher to pick me up so we could go buy household items to help me get settled in, Jo, a teacher from New Zealand stopped by my place to introduce herself to me. She welcomed me to the city and gave me some info on the other 14 or so other teachers who are living in town with us. She told me of extra soccer tickets she had for the game that night. We saw a great match btw. Seoul and Gyeongnam Province in the pouring rain. The stadium was packed & no one left at half time (even though I had enough and was ready to leave). Gyeongnam won 1 – 0. I really enjoyed seeing some of the young Korean children approach us by waving and saying: “Hello, How are you doing?” and “Nice to meet you” It’s basically the only English that they know, or at least that they are comfortable saying to us. The other teachers said that happens all the time and it gets old after a while. I really enjoyed it though. I thought it was quite charming and found the children very endearing. (plus I kinda like the attention) Later that night we went out for pizza and a drink. Pizza was great, they put sweet potato on their pie (a delicious topping). The town was surprisingly quiet for a Saturday night, it’s definitely not like Hoboken, more like Washington Township I’d say. (even though there are 130,000 ppl living here)
The first day of school was really great… as I got off the bus and was walking onto the school grounds, I saw all the young lil Korean students hurrying off to school, I all of a sudden got welt up with emotion and almost began to cry as thought of the amazing impact that I will have on these children teaching them English. The Korean students are all so cute, innocent, respectful, and very well behaved (more on this later). My co-teacher took me to meet the Principal & Vice-Principal. They are also very nice gentlemen whom seemed to be excited and very happy to have me there in their school. What really impressed me most was seeing a young lil girl, probably about 8 years walk into the principal’s office and hand deliver a newspaper to him placing it in from of him on his desk and then leaving. This type of respectful, service-oriented attitude and behavior continues to amaze and impress me more & more each day. The children seem to keep the entire school clean & tidy looking by themselves. They have tasks (it appears) and they all are responsible for the upkeep (cleanliness of the classrooms, hallways, bathrooms, etc. There are no custodians at all in Korea. That has been impressive to witness. But THE MOST IMPRESSIVE thing I’ve noticed so far (after the first 3 days) has been how the children can be/are trusted to be on their own in the morning during homeroom before class begins, during breaks, and during lunch recess. On Monday the entire faculty and staff of the school was in a meeting with the principal welcoming everyone back from summer break, introducing me as the new teacher, etc. And all the children were safely & freely waiting/playing in the classroom totally unsupervised. It’s like that all day here in Korea. The children are free to talk, play, go on the soccer field and playground, etc. all by themselves!!! This really impressed me a lot; especially since the children cannot even go the bathroom in Hoboken without having a teaching escort them. There is no fighting, no yelling, no name calling, etc. (all problems that we seem to rampantly have back in the States) It made me wonder… is it that the kids are so well behaved here, or that the teachers simply trust, respect and grant them the listening of being capable, responsible children. I’m sure it’s a combination of both. I know in NJ the vice-principal made it a point for me to “watch these kids like a hawk” b/c they (evidently) cannot be trusted. Totally different world, mentality, culture here.
On Wednesday it was great b/c I walked by a 2nd grade class of 30 students that were in a room all alone, playing, occupying themselves, etc. as I stopped by in amazement, I peeked my head in and they all ran up to me saying “hi, how are you doing?” And being SO EXCITED to see/meet me. I kinda did love the attention (I must admit).
The first week as been great so far. Every day after 2nd period we have “Tea Time” from 10:40 – 11:00am. The children get to play & we get to drink coffee, tea, and enjoy delicious snacks that the teachers bring to school each day. This is a really cool thing about Korea as well. (it was a little odd & a bit amusing to me at first, but I’m sure I can find a way to adjust & get used to it) Rough life huh?
OK the final great thing about teaching in Korea is that tradition of having the entire school staff of teachers, admin, cafeteria workers, Principals, etc. get together every Wednesday afternoon at 2:40pm to participate in a fairly competitive game of co-ed volleyball in the gym. This tradition/custom is just way to cool for me!!! It was 11 on 11 with others keeping score and watching from the sidelines. Can you imagine the lunch lady’s from your school playing volleyball with the gym teacher & the principal??? Simply amazing. I played on the 2nd, 4th, 6th grade teacher’s team. We won the best out of 5 set. One teacher said that their team is: “powered-up because of me” I tell you being in Korea certainly does wonders for one’s self-esteem and would be a good getaway for anyone looking for love, respect, appreciation, and tons of admiration from others on a regular basis. All I have to do is go outside and someone will notice me and pay me attention right away.
Other than that though, Korea doesn’t really have that much more to offer. (I can’t even find a good dry cleaners and there doesn’t seem to be any good nail salons anywhere around here. I guess I have to go back to the US for those amenities. Until next time Anyeong hi- kay-seyo (Goodbye)
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