Oh yeah. I moved to Korea because there was a job here, a job I hoped would be a good one for a year and offer some new experiences. I think I have mentioned before that Korea has greatly exceeded all of my somewhat cautious expectations. I have a good job teaching mostly engaged students. There are a few things that bother me- I wish I could communicate with more colleagues at school. Hell, I wish I could communicate with Jenny at all at school... I wish it didn't take 30 seconds more than it should to calm the class down and begin (it sounds like such a short time, but in teacher time that is an age). It is not that they are badly behaved, far from it. They are just very noisy and I am speaking in a language some of them don't quite fully grasp (to put it loosely).
Some of you not in Korea are no doubt thinking "calm them down?" They're Asian, surely they just sit there in silence listening to me extrapolating the nuances of the English language for them. But of course this is not the case. Korean teenagers are still teenagers are still teenagers, and while they are quiet and respectful during my lessons, during the 10 minute passing period they are loud, talking and texting, listening to MP3s, and arriving after the bell. Things you would never see, especially in an American school, are normal here. And my perception is the kids are more or less left to themselves during this time- not that I would understand the words, but I don't think more than once this year has a member of staff come out of their office or classroom to tell students to be quiet. What a change from England then. So for me, there is some disconnect between seeing Korean teenagers acting like "normal" teens (what teen, anywhere, is normal, I ask you...) and the silent and respectful young adults in my classroom. So this brings me to my school's festival.
Over the course of a day and a half, lessons were suspended at my school while all manner of games, competitions, performances, and other fun things took the place of the normal, staid day. It felt like a culture I belonged to, like an American school. Certainly any English readers are now confused, as schools across prisons are merely youth prisons. And although I know one teacher put in a huge amount of time to organize a successful festival, when the day finally came, it seemed like the students were running everything themselves. I have no idea if or when attendance was taken; certainly it didn't seem like all the students were present. I don't think anyone cared. For a country obsessed with testing, and one that uses what I don't feel bad calling outdated pedagogical methods, it was so strange to see students assuming leadership and being so proactive. In a strange way, although I couldn't understand a word anyone was saying, it was the day I felt most connected to my school, because the culture that day was one I understood. When a couple of very brave teachers did some amazing singing and even some outrageous dancing, and all the students clapped and cheered them on, you could have been anywhere in the world (except Britain). Students danced and sang in front of a full gym, and their peers cheered and encouraged them.
So what? I have proven Korean teenagers are not automatons, which logic would finally show anyone, no matter what sort of prejudices they might hold. I suppose this is a good example of the warmth and happiness slightly below the surface that so many Koreans have. Actually, once again, in the end, it is simpler and more personal than that. Every day, I show up on time, teach my classes, thank my students and co-teachers, and go home. I teach good lessons, plan when I must, and spend too much of my day on facebook and soccer websites and blogs. Even though I eat lunch in the staff canteen every day, most days I might as well be dining alone. But for one day, when the lights dimmed and the lessons went untaught, for that I day I was blissfully the same as my Korean colleagues, just another face in the crowd. I was normal. Just like Korean teenagers.
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Good post. It wraps up nicely by tying back to your initial observations and the festival day experience, serving to systematically "de-alienize" a culture about which many people may have erroneus preconceptions. I know that I certainly didn't understand Korea or the Korean people at all before arriving here, and have likewise been consistently surprised by my experience here, and pleasurably so.
ReplyDeleteThe writing has just enough sensuality in it to make the material engaging, and while it's small arc that it describes, it's done with subtlety, and the little twist at the end really makes it work.