Okay, I admit it, I totally underestimated all the work my teachers did over all my years in public school. Teaching is so much more than just standing in front of the class talking about a certain subject. In my case English, and half the class is spent playing a game, in English. Teaching itself is so much fun!! But...then comes the rest of the day, when I am confined to my desk breaking my head over how to make the kids' rather dull textbook lesson interesting for the next day. Lesson planning...it's hard people!! I have been told, and do believe, that it will get easier with time. But for now, I spend 4 hours a day thinking about creative ways to make grammar and vocabulary fun. Only now am I truly beginning to appreciate the tremendous effort my teachers put into teaching me.
School officially started back last Thursday. For the next three weeks I will be teaching 5th grade, then 3 weeks 4th grade, and then 3 weeks 6th grade, and then switch back to 5th, and so on. Teaching itself is so much fun, and relatively stress free. So far the kids respect me, and I have not been confronted with the need for discipline. My work situation is also good. All my co teachers are very friendly, and the other teachers are polite and welcoming as well. Still, I think the knowledge that I am the only foreign teacher in the school, as well as the least experienced one makes me feel a sort of pressure in and of itself. I know that the teachers and principal expect certain standards from me and their watchful gaze makes me anxious. Especially because I do not speak their language and can not actually understand their communicated expectations.
In Korea, once or twice a semester, depending on your school, all teachers including the principal and vice principal go out to dinner together. Last Thursday this happened, and it was great fun! These dinners are largely designed to create a feeling of community and belonging. It is also a chance for co-workers to drink together, something that is accompanied by several cultural traditions. Pouring a drink for someone is considered extremely polite, and the younger should always pour for the elder first. When you pour, you must pour with two hands, and you must be kneeling (everyone is sitting on the ground, as is custom for Korean restaurants). When you receive a drink, it is also with both hands, and when you raise your cup to your mouth (with both hands) you also must turn away from your elder, because it is not polite to drink directly in front of someone. It was so interesting watching this happen at the dinner on Thursday. During the course of the dinner all teachers eventually made their way to the principal to pour him a drink. It all seemed like a well-choreographed dance, as people moved between the low tables, greeting each other, drinking together and then moving on.
As a foreigner people did not expect me to join in the tradition, and so I was left to observe quietly. It was a lot of fun, and my only regret is that I do not understand enough Korean to really know what is going on....maybe next time?
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