My first semester of teaching in Korea is officially in the books! To say it’s flown by is an understatement; I truly cannot believe that I’ve already been here for a semester and at times I still feel like a newcomer. Overall, my first semester was great! Between my co-teachers, conversation clubs, and students, I felt very welcomed at both of my schools. It’s only been a few weeks into winter vacation and I already miss some of my students :(
Over the course of the semester, I definitely experienced some growth as an English teacher. I was pretty nervous starting out mainly because I was uncertain of the level of my students and didn’t want to make things too difficult. When I compare my first few lessons to my last, I can see how much better my teaching has become. Eventually, through lots of trial and error, I found a good flow to my lesson plans that enabled my students and I to have a great lesson even when some Korean surprises were thrown into the mix (thanks COVID).
Other than teaching, the biggest highlights of my semester were the conversation clubs I was involved in. One of my co-teachers asked if I would be willing to be a part of a conversation club with teachers who were interested in practicing their English and I agreed! I was excited to meet more people and I thought it would be a good way to learn more about Korean culture/practice Korean. After our first few meetings, I was having so much fun that I asked my co-teacher at my other school if I could start a conversation club there as well. All of the teachers involved in the clubs are so nice and have taught me a lot about Korea.
Throughout the semester, I noticed a lot of differences about schools in Korea versus the United States. Some I may have already discussed in a previous post, but I thought I’d elaborate a bit more on them.
1. School Schedule
School starts a bit later than the schools in the U.S. or at least the ones I attended. Both of my schools started class at 9:00 and ended around 4:10. The students typically had 6 or 7 classes a day that were 45 minutes long. In between classes they had 10 minute breaks where they usually ran around the halls screaming. And I’m not joking, this is what actually happens during breaks.
2. Lack of Extracurriculars
From what I experienced, it didn’t seem as if there were many extracurricular or after school options for students that weren’t purely academic related. For instance, in the U.S. there are always after school sports or theater or band, but I never really heard of that happening in the schools. I don’t know if this was because of COVID or because most kids go to academy after school so they don’t have time. Academy was also a huge difference for me; essentially, this is a private school where kids go to study specific subjects like math or English. Whenever I ask my students what they’re going to do after school, they always say, “go to academy.” They’ll go for two-three hours after school and study even more. It’s impressive, yet scary.
3. School Lunch
I’m pretty sure I already talked about this, but food is such a huge part of culture so I’m going to talk about it again. The school lunches here are great even though most of the time I don’t know what I’m eating. Although sometimes I’m hesitant about eating the lunches, I always try the food because it’s such a convenient way to try new Korean food. And it’s really cheap too! I pay about $3-4 for each lunch and I get a lot of food. While teachers do have to pay, students eat free!
Each lunch usually consists of a main dish, a soup, and banchan (side dishes). Oh and kimchi! Always kimchi. Some of my favorite lunches have been gukbap (rice soup), bibimbap, carbonara, and jjajangmyeon. To be honest, I’ve usually liked the lunches although sometimes I am dying from the spiciness. Another thing I really like about our lunches is how long we get to eat. Teachers get about an hour for our lunch break which is very different from the U.S. It gives you a little time to take a breather from classes and regroup which is sometimes necessary. After lunch, I usually take a walk around the school with a co-teacher. I really enjoy these walks because it’s nice to get outside after teaching for half the day and it's a good way to get to know my co-teachers. Overall, in my opinion, Korean school lunch is way better than American lunches.
4. Bathrooms
I know this seems like a weird topic, but the bathrooms in Korea are a bit different.
Pros:
1.The bathroom stalls actually go down to the floor so there aren’t weird gaps and cracks where you can see through the stalls like in some bathrooms in the U.S.
2. There are different styles of toilets you can use including a bidet.
Cons:
1. There are different styles of toilets including a squat toilet (I haven’t had the courage to use it yet).
2. There isn’t toilet paper in the stalls; the toilet paper is outside the stall and you have to make sure you correctly predict how much toilet paper you’ll need. A risky game indeed.
3. They’re usually not that clean. It seems like they only get cleaned and restocked once every two or three weeks.
5. Shoes
A very big difference is the shoes you wear at school. Korea is great in a way because the shoes you wear don’t really matter because chances are you’ll be taking them off anyway when you get where you’re going. As soon as I get to school, I take my shoes off in the entryway, put them in my locker, and switch them out for slippers. Inside shoes and outside shoes are a big part of Korean culture and even some restaurants and cafes require you to remove your shoes before entering.
6. Playground
A very simple difference that I’ve noticed is the playground. Korean schools, both middle and elementary, don’t necessarily have a playground with swings, slides, and stuff to climb on. Instead they have a large dirt field where they can run around and play any sport they want. The only times I’ve seen a turf field is for high school and even then it’s rare. I think this must be due to the maintenance that grass or turf requires; dirt is much easier and cheaper.
7. Teacher's Office
I know I’ve talked about this, but this is definitely one of the things I had to get used to when working in a Korean school. Rather than each teacher having their own classroom, a group of teachers share an office and then go to each classroom. At first, I was in a teacher’s office at both schools, but a few months into my time at one school I was moved to the English classroom which meant I had my own room. In some ways this was nice, but I ended up missing the other teachers because it’s lonely when you have your own classroom. One positive aspect of sharing an office is that everyone would always bring food or drinks to share so it was a fun atmosphere.
8. Cleaning
The last major difference I’ve noticed is in regards to cleaning. While both of my schools do have janitors, the students are the ones who are mainly in charge of the cleaning. In the afternoons, all the students clean the bathrooms, hallways, and teacher’s offices. The pros of this are that it teaches students responsibility and how to clean, but the cons are that some things never truly feel that clean. Still, it’s something good for the students to learn.
Overall, my first semester was pretty enlightening! I have experienced quite a lot of culture shock, but over time I’ve come to embrace the differences between Korean and American schools and just enjoy the ride.
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