Electronic Technical Engrish Teaching

Being an English teacher has been interesting work so far. I've actually never taught in a classroom before, so the experience has definitely been a work-in-progress. Overall though, I *think* I'm doing as well as one could hope to do with 15-17 year old boys at a vocational high school.

Most students, hell probably all the students, don't have any interest in learning English. Being a vocational high school, these students are not applying to college and so the study of the English language is pretty nonessential to them (in Korea, knowing English well is a must if you want to go to college). Nonetheless, the experience hasn't been as bad as I thought it'd be. I have free reign to teach whatever I want, just as long as my main focus is the practice of speaking the language. Surprisingly these students are pretty competent in English, especially reading. It's the speaking and listening that has been the difficult parts.

I do not have a single class that I teach the whole week. I'm actually teaching a different class everyday, all week. I probably have about 12-15 different classes at varying levels of competency (broke up into levels A, B, C, and D). It's a pretty convienent set-up, but can definitely be tiring at times. Convienent because I essentially only have to develop one lesson plan per week; tiring because teaching the same lesson 2-4 times a day, five times a week, can become very boring.

Also inserted into my schedule are two classes a week where I teach the teachers at the school (optional for them). These lessons are usually at a faster pace because I have less students to deal with and the students themselves want to be there. Overall it's been a good opportunity to try out different lesson material before unleashing them on the (high school) students. I also have four classes a week dedicated to group discussions with the other (Korean) English teachers at the school. These are very informal discussions in English about essentially whatever. My only real job is to listen for incorrect English, correct it, and to participate in the discussion.

Busan Technical Electronic High School is pretty different from my high school back in the States (or any school for that matter). The most obvious difference is the fact that you can't wear shoes inside the building; instead you wear slippers (there's a shoe cupboard near the entrance). I'm not sure if this for traditional purposes or because it helps preserve the wooden floors; it's probably both.

The building itself looks like a typical Japanese high school that you might have seen in anime or whatever. It's a really large rectangular building, 5 stories high with windows streaked across the side of the building on each floor. The main entrance of the building is, interestingly, only for teachers; the students have their own entrances near the edges of the building.

Each day I have to wash my hands and have my temperature checked before entering the building. The swine flu scare here is pretty bad, and rightfully so. Four students at our school have already been infected (no casualities though).

Overall the job has been not too stressful. There are benefits to not knowing Korean because you honestly don't know what these kids are saying about you in class, so it naturally can't bother you (too much). Also, as I mentioned earlier, discipline here is pretty tight. Students are generally very obedient and respectful to the teachers. I always get a nod of the head (or a half-bow) whenever I'm walking through the halls. Very few problems when I'm teaching. And whenever there is a problem, it's always my co-teacher who takes care of it.

The students' attitude towards me has been, not surprisingly, very positive. I don't say this out of arrogance necessarily, but more out of the fact that I am the very first foreign teacher at this high school and, for some, the very first American they've ever met in their lives. My presence also probably breaks up the monotony of going to school and I'm sure they welcome the change. I always get a "herro" in the hallways and some general excited chatter whenever I enter the classroom. This experience is by no means special because I know for a fact that most ESLers have the same encounters.

Korean high school boys are essentially the same as all high school boys, just less unruly due to the strict atmosphere of the school. Upon introducing myself the first week I, without fail, had the same questions asked me.

"Do you have girlfriend."
"How you get so tall."
"Handsome." <--- not a question but besides "herro" I always hear this said to me.

I definitely see myself having fun with these kids. They're (close) to being mature adults, so the topics of discussion can (potentially) be more interesting. They also just say the funniest things, sometimes when they mean to say something else (in English).

"I like hanging out with girlfriend. Bling bling!"
"He is my best friend. He is my pet." *strokes his friend's head*. "He is a guinea pig."
"My name is Harry! Harry Potter!"
"Conner...JOHN CONNER." <---we were picking English names.
"Teacher, you are delicious!"

There will probably be a lot more to come. If I feel like it I might make a text box on the home page collecting all the various quotes.

I suppose there isn't much else to say about school life for now. One thing to note is that Korean society places a lot of importance on rank, so I've been (encouraged) to be especially respectful to the principal and vice principals (and essentially anyone older than me, which is pretty much everyone). This includes nodding your head whenever you see them, saying good-bye when you're leaving (an-nyeong-hi-gye-se-yo), shaking their hand with both your hands, stuff like that.

I've been eating school cafeteria food for lunch, which hasn't been half bad. It's actually probably the most decent meal of the day for me since I fail at cooking.

Eating with co-workers is pretty important. Eating with a group in general is very important here. A typical question asked here is "Have you eaten" which loosely translates to "What's up?" Korean society puts a heavy emphasis on group mentalities, especially when it comes to eating (and other potentially social activities). Like most Asian societies, it is collectivistic. Doing what is good for the group overrules the individual need.

There's a lot more to say about this topic. I've been doing some reading as well as seeing the glaring societal differences day-to-day. This is part of the reason I call my experience here so far as a "scizophrenia" (the title of the blog). The society here is REALLY different from the States.

Anyways, this entry has gone on for far too long. I've uploaded some more photos via facebook. If you don't have facebook, I'm planning on using something like flickr to show pictures and link that. I might also just put up (most) of the photos on this blog in an entry one day.

An-nyeong-hi-gye-se-yo for now.