Guess who's back for Round 2?

I've gotta say, I'm thrilled to be back to Korea. Everything seems new again: I'm stuffing my face with kimchi and rice. I feel exhilarated after simple two-sentence conversations with new Korean coworkers. I'm snapping phone-camera pics of signs like this:

A lot of this is because coming to Korea the second time around is not scary like coming the first time is. I know how to use the subway and buses now. I've got enough Korean to get by and I knew what questions to ask when I moved into my new apartment (ie What day is compost recycling day? Koreans are excellent recyclers!) All of the hard stuff is already done, like bank accounts and phone contracts. The only thing left to worry about is the new job and it turns out, that it's a lot less stressful than last time as well! Hell, I've nothing to complain about!


So this year in Korea, it's a new job! Last year I was teaching in one of the private "cram schools," also known as, "hagwons," where students go to study in the afternoon after normal school hours. (Korean students are hard-core; many of them study from 8:30am to 7 or 8 or 9 at night!)  This year I'm employed by the government to work in the public schools assisting the Korean teachers.

There are many differences between the public and private school systems but one thing that stood out to me was the way they hire native teachers like myself. For instance, this year I actually got trained! For all the incoming teachers, the Korean government sponsors a 9-day orientation to Korean culture and teaching Korean students. And this was no week-long vacation! We were put through a rigorous schedule of lectures and lesson planning projects as well as cultural excursions and survival Korean classes!

We were issued matching grey sweatshirts for the duration of the training.

Much of the information was old news to me and the few others who had already lived here, but I think it was vital for the other 200 odd teachers just starting out. I was impressed with the organisation and money that went into preparing everything, but I was most excited to find out where I would be teaching. In public schools, we are not allowed to specify a location beyond a city name, so I was impatient to know where my new apartment was located and what age level I'd be working with. The organizers of orientation cruelly let everyone speculate until the very last day when we are each given envelopes with our new school name and contracts.

So where did I end up? At Choup Elementary School! I'm very pleased with my location this year: it's centrally located, close to my swing dancing venue and right next to an olympic sized swimming pool. I've got 3 fabulous new co-teachers and I'm teaching grades 3 through 6. It's been 3 weeks so far and I'm starting to settle in. Here's a little tour:

Haphazard shot of the front of my school. It's actually comprised of two 4-story buildings and one 2-story building which form a horseshoe around the playground. The whole lot is up a steep hill, about a 10 minute bus-ride from my apartment.  

Shot from my office. Before class starts in the morning, all the students walk in a big circle on the playground and they blast opera music from the loudspeakers. 

Some 4th graders outside their classroom. In Korea, everyone wears slippers in the house and the same goes for the schools. Their shoes go in little cubbies outside the homeroom. 

My classes this year are between 25 and 30 students. (They wear coats inside because the heating is not the greatest)

Typical school lunch: Bean sprouts, salty bean paste, kimchi, thinly sliced pork in chili sauce, rice and seaweed and soybean paste soup. This day we also had some lettuce which we ate filled with pork, rice and beanpaste. Delish!

Some of my new students! 

 Monday is the anniversary of the day our school was opened so we get the day off! It'll be a 3-day weekend for me so Sandra and I are planning a trip up to Seoul to sightsee a bit. I'll let you all know how it goes!