Some things have changed since my early posts about crazy administrative decisions. Well, the administration continued to make crazy decisions, but meanwhile I was actually teaching the curriculum that I'd developed. Here's a glimpse at the first day:
I met the teachers (my students) in the afternoon and conducted a placement interview with them, deciding what level of fluency they had attained. It was determined before I had arrived that they were essentially beginner to pre-intermediate learners and I was given a corresponding text to use for exercise material. Based on the hesitation and lack of comprehension during the interviews, I agreed that the text was appropriate to the class average.
Day 2:
I walked up the stairs and stepped into my classroom--a new teacher walking into a room full of teachers--teachers who had given up their five week winter vacation so that I could teach them to speak English. Do they scrutinize me before chewing me to pieces? Do they dismiss me outright because of my youthful appearance? Do they just sit there and wait for the lunch bell to ring?
"Confidence... Just remember to be confident. Win them over early, build a rapport right away, and it will make all the difference!"
I began the lesson by going through a carefully planned out review of the alphabet, introducing oneself, and exchanging phone numbers. The class was going very smoothly. Very smoothly. Too smoothly... ... They already know all of this. And yet no one said anything. They sat there politely, followed instructions and participated in role-plays whilst I insulted their abilities by trying to teach them the alphabet.
And no one said anything. So much for early rapport...
So now I'm in a panic. I have two hours left to teach, and my materials and lesson plans are virtually useless. Then I realized that I had been trained for all this, and it dawned on me that, while I apparently knew nothing about their grammar knowledge, I now knew about said ignorance, and was equipped to remedy it.
So, diagnosing their real weaknesses and then re-designing lessons on the fly, coming up with remedial activities to address the problems, I managed to make it to my first weekend, which I spent in my studio apartment, retooling my lesson plans, syllabi, even my curriculum. Everything had to change, right away. That weekend, I managed to rework three days worth of lessons--I was struggling just to keep ahead of the calendar! And so it was, for five gruelling weeks.
And it was gruelling for the students, too. Once I'd keyed into their real needs, they were being put through the paces regularly. They really had to focus, and the lower level students were working fiendishly to keep ahead of the curve. But day by day, things were getting better.
I took a page out of my CELTA training experience: "You want to learn how to teach? Ok, teach! Show me what you've got!". On day four of the course, they taught their first mini-lesson. The goal: to show them that, even if all they do is stand in front of the class, introduce themselves, and establish the topic for the day, they have done it in English, and they have done it in front of a whole crowd of people.
They were starting to rally together to support each other, and I could see that some of them were really bonding--it was like watching a family come together...
Flash forward to week 3:
John, the class captain, has organized a dinner for me and the other two teachers in the math department, and he wants to know what kind of food I like, so that he can choose a suitable restaurant. Everyone of our students was in attendance, and they toasted us, fed us, and laughed with us (which often meant taking the time to translate a joke, so that we could share in the laughter)...
Then, at the end of an after hours remedial tutoring session (held on my own time, because the school wouldn't pay for it) the Math 2 class invited me to one of their clandestine dormitory "meetings" which involved take-out, certain potables which were not allowed on campus, and a lot of relaxed discussion. We talked a bit about school, but mostly about life. They asked me lots of questions about what North American life is like, about my girlfriend (it was a room full of women, and I think a couple of them were angling...), and about why I was in Korea. And they shared a lot about what themselves, their culture, and what they thought of my class and me as a teacher. And they were honest about it....
So, I was actually getting to know my students in a meaningful way; they were teaching me all about Korean culture, and moreover, they were inviting me into their family...
Flash forward to the last week of work: Week 5
I should really start by saying that on Saturday, Chloe, one of my students, offered to show me some of her favorite places in Seoul--places that foreigners are rarely told about. We spent the day looking at cultural centres and small boutique museums, and then she took me to her very favorite place--an area of Seoul where all of the houses are built using traditional Korean woodworking. It was stunning. Then she accompanied me to Sun's house (another student), where I was invited to spend the night. It was a great opportunity to meet Sun's husband and kids, and get to experience regular Korean home life for a moment.
On Monday night I taught another after-hours remedial session--2 hours of additional fluency exercises, and counselling time to help them iron out the language for their final exam practicums. It during this session that I was informed that I would be accompanying them to a
noraebang (karaoke) on Thursday, and that I would be required to learn and perform a Korean traditional song. How could I say no??
Tuesday I stayed with them for two hours of practicum work, then some of us went to the gym for an hour to get our daily dose of badminton, and then I came back to help out the diehard workers (which was more than half of my class) until about 12:30AM.
Wednesday I normally go skiing with the staff, and my students organize their own trip to coincide with the staff trip, so that we can all go together. Well, this week, I was the only one on the sign-up sheet, so the staff trip was cancelled. My students made special arrangements to include me in their trip instead, made room for me in the carpool (it was a squishy ride) and worked out my ski rentals and everything for me.
Thursday was the big night--noraebang night. It was the last night of the programme--Friday is the big send off. So, we did it up right. We feasted on twaeji-bulgogi, [a marinated pork (similar cut to bacon) that is grilled table-side and eaten with lettuce and many small side dishes and sauces] and toasted each other liberally for about two hours. And then gifts were presented to me and the other two Math teachers. I was given a really nice hooded sweatshirt which I can only describe as being stylish and distinctly Korean (more on that later). We each made an impromptu speech, and while I was talking, I was already getting a bit tearful about our inevitable parting; I wasn't the only one. After our speeches, each of the students stood up and gave a speech. (I remind you that these are the same students who, in an interview five weeks ago, convinced me that I needed to teach them how to greet each other!) The sentiments were truly overwhelming; occasionally one of the students would had to leave the room for a while to calm themselves. I barely kept it together myself... We all felt the same: we wanted 5 more weeks together...
Then was the noraebang. I sang a song called "Bu Cho Kohn", which was a big hit (although had to find about 12 hours in three days in order to learn and memorize the song by rote). We danced, we sang, we banged tambourines, and we shook off the sadness of earlier. We then went to a hof (pub) where there would be more carousing, and an opportunity to further cement some friendships, especially with Chloe, Sun, and John. On the way to the pub, Jenny (who was not secretive about having a bit of a crush on me, and in fact announced in her speech at the restaurant that she had finally 'given me up'), told me that she had picked out the hooded sweatshirt that I was now wearing. I told her that she had good taste, and that I liked it very much--she seemed perhaps overly pleased (more on that later).
The programme ended today, as did my contract at the Gyeonggi English Village - Yangpyeong Camp. I conducted final interviews with my students to assess their progress over the past 5 weeks, and then we had a closing ceremony for the math and science departments combined. Speeches were made by the directors, a student representative from each department, and each of the math and science teachers. I was glad that I had scrawled a roughly prepared outline before I was called up to talk, because I was in no shape to talk off the cuff and try to summarize the events, experiences and triumphs that we had shared, or the relationships we had forged.
As closing ceremonies go, it was fitting. Our students showered us with more gifts, and we said our official student-teacher farewells. Then we met in the cafeteria for one final meal together, as friends. Jenny was beaming, and I couldn't figure out why. Then she explained to me that the hooded sweatshirt that she was currently wearing was the matching set to the one I was wearing (couples in Korea often wear matching outfits). At this point, two other women said that Jenny was a liar for saying that she had 'given me up', and insisted that Jenny buy them the matching sweatshirts as well! We all laughed...
We've already agreed to have a re-union on April 8th, so I'm going to have to stick around at least that long, I guess! I can't imagine missing it... Until then, I've already started making other plans to meet with my new yoh dong saeng (little sisters), nuna (big sisters), and
hyong (big brothers), some of whom now refer to me as nam dong saeng (little brother) or opa (big brother). Several of my students have offered to open their homes to me if I should need a place to stay for a while, or if I just want to visit for a couple of days. I am luckier than I know...
It's been a little over 12 hours since they all went home, and the English Village feels like a ghost town to me now--like I no longer belong here. Time to move on to the next, whatever that may be...
