HolyShitKorea!

I think things in my school could be organized differently. Granted, I am from a completely different culture with experience in only Western schools. I do not have an education degree or a psychology degree. (Does that mean I should just quit posting this now? Haha fat chance…) Here we go.

First, some background on our school. Gangneung Boys Middle School is the oldest school in Gangneung (50-odd years old, if I remember right). We have the lowest test scores in the city, as well as the reputation as the worst school in general. There are three grades (7^th – 9^th US), called 1-3 here. Each grade is divided into ten classes of between 36 and 40 students each. This means that we are also one of the biggest middle schools in Gangneung. Each grade has their own floor (1^st grade gets the 4^th floor, 2^nd gets 3^rd, 3^rd gets 2^nd). The main teachers’ room is on one end of the 2^nd floor. There are around 30 of us, all in our little cubicles arranged around the vice principal’s desk. There are two smaller offices on the 3^rd and 4^th floors, with 5 teachers each. The principal’s office is on the 1^st floor, for his convenience.

Every morning, the students come in, change their shoes, and head up to their homerooms. Eventually their homeroom teacher leaves her/his desk and goes upstairs or down the hall to their assigned classroom. They collect the kids’ cell phones (thank GOD), take attendance, and then as soon as possible get back to their cubicles. The day begins at 9:00am, when the teachers get up from their desks, gather up their materials, and go join the students in their various rooms.

A teacher might find the room in any state. There are a few classes who sit at their desks and are prepared when the teacher walks in. A very few. Most are all over the room, hitting each other or sitting on each others’ laps. They are almost always yelling, and their squeaky little adolescent voices can reach some astounding heights. I’m told it used to be the norm to stand up and salute the teacher when she/he entered the room, but in most classes this has been abandoned. Under the current circumstances the teacher’s first job is to calm the students and get their attention. This is no easy task, since they have already had free, unsupervised use of their room for at least ten minutes (sometimes half an hour) before the teacher barges in and tries to impose some order. Classes in middle school are only 45 minutes long…imagine how much of this short class time is wasted in that first centering period.

And this isn’t just a problem in my classes. I’ve had discussions on this in my general teachers’ English classes and across the board this is an issue. They blame a breakdown in the traditional education system, lack of respect for teachers, changing cultures, and the list goes on. I’m sure they know better than I do, but here’s what I think would help: get the teachers out of their cubicles and into some classrooms! Imagine the difference if a teacher who is already in place, prepared, with materials at hand (not in a bag she has to carry around with her everywhere) faces a class of students coming into HER space, using HER desks. Teachers need classrooms. Students do not.

It seems to me to be an issue of power and ownership, and while I hate to bring power into it, when you are dealing with young men who are trying to assert themselves and develop a pecking order, and who happen to be physically larger than many of their teachers, I think it’s a relevant issue. Something strange that I’ve noticed: when a student is punished beyond the simple “stop doing that/lose your chair/hands above head” (non-disruptive punishments) they are removed from the classroom (after class) and taken to the teachers’ room to be punished. When a student merits a “real” punishment, they are held up in front of all the teachers, rather than in front of their peers. They don’t associate punishment with THEIR classroom. That’s a safe, unsupervised place.

One of my friends (a Korean English teacher) was actually locked out of the classroom by her students yesterday, and she shrugged and said “they do this sometimes.” To me that is completely unacceptable. I would have invited the vice principal up to join in his students’ fun, but she just waited them out, and then tried to use the limited class time the students left her. They were able to do this because they own their classroom. Their marker scribbles are all over the desks, their bags are all over the floor; it is THEIR class. My friend didn’t even feel herself to be in a position to challenge that ownership. Teachers give the impression of holding their breath and diving in for 45 minutes (or less…sometimes they come to class quite late) and then getting back to their own space as quickly as they can. It just doesn’t work.

So there’s my take on it. There are, of course, other factors that come into play here, but this is a biggie. Thanks for sticking with me through the novel of a post I’ve just written. Now I’d be interested to hear what other teachers think about this. How are things done in your room? Do you have your own room? How do you handle discipline? Any advice for me? What do you think?

It seems that where money is concerned, things can never quite go smoothly. We were paid on September 25th via direct deposit, as promised, but did not receive the correct amount of 2 million won. We also didn’t receive a pay stub. We asked my co-teacher for one, and finally got it on Monday. As expected some money had been taken out for our insurance and pension, but over and above that we were 100,000 won short. I emailed our local program coordinator to double-check the amount that we were supposed to receive, and he confirmed that we had been shorted. So, we reluctantly took it up with my co-teacher. She pulled out a program manual from 2004 which gave the amount we had been paid as the starting salary for English teachers…4 years ago! We compared it to our contracts, and she made a call. By that afternoon, things had been straightened out, but we won’t get our missing 100,000 won until next month. We’ll probably have to ask for a pay stub then too.

In other news, I had an amazing experience last night. After Korean class (which is really hard and not even a little enjoyable and full of people debating the proper terms of address IN THE US/UK AND NOT IN KOREA EVEN THOUGH THIS IS A KOREAN CLASS) I met up with the ethics teacher from my school and another American teacher for a facial/massage extravaganza. Hyun Ju, the ethics teacher, is a good friend of the owner of the establishment, so we were given a discount and lots of personal attention.

First we had tea and looked through a book of services, and finally agreed on Hyun Ju’s favorite, for 30,000 won (right now, that’s just under $25). We were then given little green sandals and green strapless dresses that felt like hospital gowns, and ushered into a little alcove to change. We were reminded to remove our underwear, though I have no idea why. Then they laid us down on comfy tables and the owner prodded our faces and presumably outlined a strategy. She asked us the cause of our breakouts and if we used any depilatories or waxes, and then seemed satisfied and called in two adorable employees in matching dresses. My face was washed, smoothed, washed again and I swear she even poppped pimples. This woman now knows my face better than I do. It was unnerving and fantastic all at once. Then she washed my face again and gave me a ten minute ear, face and neck massage with lotion. It was one more wash after that, followed by a steam towel, and at last a light mask which she covered in wax paper, leaving only my nostrils exposed for breathing. I didn’t mind, as she proceeded to use the strongest hands imaginable for such a tiny person to massage my back (without rolling me over!), chest, and arms for 15 minutes or so.

Next it was off with the mask and another wash, massage, steam towel, and wash again. There was even some sort of exfoliator, followed by another wash, and then more lotion. She left for a moment at that point, returning to apply soft, wet gauze strips that smelled like green tea over my entire face. Then she smoothed a thick mud mask over everything - even my eyelids and lips. I couldn’t move my face. After that she abandoned me for a while, which was okay. I sort of dozed for a bit, and woke up to her saying “han-duh massa-gi.” Ok, ma’am. Hand massage it is. She did lovely, relaxing things to my hands, wrists, and arms for ten minutes or so, and then removed the gauze strips. “Hello!” she said, as I blinked at the lights overhead. Hello. I love you. Don’t ever stop massaging me.

She washed my face one last time, and applied some moisturizer. I got one more neck massage and a head rub, and then she pulled on my arms for a while, and massaged my armpits (which felt weirdly good). Then she had me sit up and she bent my back and pounded on my shoulders with her fists for a while, and finally said “Thank you.” Thank me? Thank you! I told her over and over, in English and Korean, how grateful I was, but she seemed kind of glad to be rid of me. Maybe she’s showered with gratitude by pleasure-doped clients every day. Or maybe it’s just that my skin holds untold horrors that you can only see at close range.

Run! Save yourselves!

The whole thing took about an hour and a half. I changed my clothes and hung out in the lobby with the owner, Stephanie, Hyun Ju and Hyun Ju’s gorgeous three year old daughter (who decided I was a scary monster but liked me anyway) for a while, then blissfully pedaled home. I slept great and today my skin is all glowy. I’m tempted to do this monthly.

Today, as a result of the unfortunate false positive on our drug tests (heroin, anyone?), we had to test again. It was made very clear to us that we would not be testing for HIV this time, since we had already had our blood tested and proclaimed negative. Now, I am not a fan of having my blood drawn, let alone here where no one wears gloves (seriously) and they don’t even give you a cookie afterward. The first time was horrible. I am still bruised. I worked through Mr. Hyun, our co-teacher du jour, to explain to everyone (when we payed, before the urine test, every time in between) that I would not be taking an HIV test today. I was assured that they were only doing the drug test. Fine, I said. Fantastic. No blood. No needles.

Imagine my surprise when I came out of the bathroom with my steaming plastic cup and was told to sit. Sit by the stern, gloveless woman with the needle.

No, I said.

Please to sit.

No. Absolutely not. No HIV. Already tested. NO.

I had to call Mr. Hyun over and explain it to him again. He explained it to needle woman. She disagreed. He then had to call yet another co-teacher. She verified that we had already tested negative and had the paperwork to prove it. So poor Mr. Hyun went to bat for me again. Apparently this is an immigration issue…the terms of our visa state that we have to pass these two tests. Great. I understand. I already passed. Just ask the other hospital. So they did! They called the other hospital and verified that I am indeed virus-free. So no needle for me! Mr. Hyun even got my money back for the HIV test (I didn’t ask him to do that…that was definitely above and beyond).

I thanked him profusely and told him he was my hero. He laughed and said it was his pleasure. So YAY for Mr. Hyun! YAY for un-tapped veins!

Also, YAY for the brand new cellphone that I love like a newborn! It is the coolest cellphone I have ever owned. I even got my students to help me program it. It can’t receive calls from the US, but if you’re in Korea and want to call, let me know!

More pictures to come, I swear.