Observations
Almost a full week as an ESL teacher. It's been fun so far, and I've met so many wonderful people! Actually, I've experienced so much that is new, that I feel as if I've been here much longer than only a week.
Today I taught 4 classes...3 in the morning and 1 in the afternoon. I was done teaching by 2:40pm. I spent the rest of my day at school doing research.
I'm still in the motel, but should be moving to my apartment early next week. I'm looking forward to being able to unpack everything and make myself a home.
Speaking of next week...Christmas vacation is from Dec. 20-25. I've been invited to
- hike in the mountains
- go drinking with a bunch of teachers
- a picnic with a teacher and his family
My heart almost broke today...the first class of the day. There's this little girl who sits in the front of the class...she's so tiny, and terribly, terribly shy. The other kids make fun of her because she doesn't wash and smells bad. But that really isn't her fault. I asked about her and her parents, especially her father hates kids. Literally! If she were in Canada she would be taken away by children's aid. But here the family is everything, more important than individuals and I'm not sure there's an equivalent to children's aid here. Unfortunately there's nothing I can really do about this except pay attention to her. The kids make fun of her and don't include her in anything, but they like me and if I treat her as I treat them, then maybe things will change for her.
Some other observations ...
1) As I was being driven to school this morning I noticed a building with a 'swastika'on the door. I thought to myself, 'Oh no, if there's a bunch of Nazis in a small town like this, then maybe I've been wrong about Koreans and their apparent innocence.' I asked my co-teacher about it and she said it's the symbol for a buddhist temple. I was surprised, but relieved.
2) They have spent what I consider a lot of money to bring me here, and are spending a lot of money to keep me here. I've been staying in a $300/day motel while my apartment is being prepared. Then, there's the cost of all the furniture, the rent and my salary. So, you would think that this would be an indication that they regard English as something important, however, I can't give the children homework and there are no marks for English. This surprises me, but provides a less daunting, softer target to aim at. My goal then is for the children to be speaking, reading and pronouncing substantially more and better than they do now.
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