New school and an excellent chat with Sister Pia

First test shot on my new camera... incredible! That's my teddy bear Roz...

Tuesday was my first day teaching at Gonggeum Elementary School. I was so stoked to have elementary students! It puts me in an interesting position too, because I think there are very few native teachers who actually teach elementary, middle and high school in the public school system. I'm going to get an interesting look at the education system at all levels. This morning an adorable pregnant teacher picked me up and drove me to school. She doesn't speak a word of English, and so far my progress with Korean is crawling along, so she just pointed to things and giggled most the way. I really need to get serious about studying Korean. I will feel so much more connected if I can just understand even a quarter of what's being said to me.

The school is relatively small, maybe 10-15 kids in each grade level. I teach two hours with the 6th grade in the morning, and one hour with 1st and 2nd graders in the afternoon. Elementary school is different from my experience with middle and high school in that they have a nation-wide standard text book and they stick to it pretty religiously. Also, the teachers do not have to be English majors in college. In other words, my coteacher doesn't speak English at all, at least not conversationally. Most of the class he spends hitting the "play" button on the corresponding lesson on the CD-ROM and letting the t.v. teach the class. It seems like such a shame since I'm there, and a far better resource than a machine, but I only ended up reading a few things for him and spent most of the 2 hours counting tiles on the ceiling. I think eventually I might be able to wiggle my way into the lessons a bit more, it was my first day after all, but the previous teacher at this school said that's about how it went for him every day. Luckily, the kids are far more eager to talk to me than their teacher, and during every break made a point of chatting me up, asking me questions, and getting my help with lessons.

The female teachers were also really excited to befriend me, and spent the entire lunch hour talking to me through the translation of the one teacher in the school who can actually speak English. After lunch I went to "English Town" (their special English classroom) to teach the little ones. My coteacher in this class was the polar opposite of the last, and introduced me to the kids and then abandoned me with eleven little 7 year olds. They don't speak any English at their age, and I realized that this class will be more about babysitting than actually teaching. These kids are lucky they're so cute.... actually, I have to say that I think Korean little kids are the CUTEST little kids in the entire world. 

I popped in a Sponge Bob Square Pants DVD, which held their interest for about the first 30 minutes, and then spent the second half of class desperately trying to keep them from standing on their desks, typing on the computer, running up and down the halls, screaming, hitting each other... At one point I had a little boy book it out the door of the class; I opened the door to call him back just in time to watch him run smack into the Principal. He grabbed the kid, looked up at me, and I tried to give my best "Woops, my bad" face, but he did not seem amused. He walked the little boy back to my class and I felt like a royal jackass. They do NOT prepare us for this type of shit at orientation.  Oh well, it's only one hour per week. I'll just have to get lots of alphabet flash cards and coloring books. :)

Despite being lost and starting from square one at the elementary school, I'm finally starting to feel comfortable in my abilities as a teacher at Sangi Middle/High School (my main school).  I absolutely love my middle school first graders! I see them three times per week and am starting to learn their names (finally).  They're so eager to learn, which makes it easier to come up with lessons for them and to get them engaged in the class. This week we learned about telephone etiquette, and the past two days we called Nick (with Eric) and Kacie on Skype so they can practice. They are obsessed with Nick's blonde hair and blue eyes, and say that Kacie has "big deer eyes" (being told you have big eyes or a small face is quite the compliment here).  They really put Nick on the spot, asking him if he's going to marry me and making him and Eric sing a song.

Wednesday I was at Euncheok Middle School, out in the country. It's yet another location where cows and chickens live outside my classroom window. Most of my classes were canceled for a nation-wide listening test, so I took the opportunity to take a walk and get to know my surroundings. I realized for the first time how nice it is to be a bit rural. It's definitely a different experience than a lot of other people are getting. I was "talking to" (and by that I mean sign language and my three-word Korean vocabulary) a farmer who was planting some seeds and he eagerly showed off his cows to me and babbled about god knows what for half an hour.  There were some beautiful cranes in the river, and I watched as a group of old women were cutting down and collecting reeds.  I broke down and bought a new camera this week, a Nikon D3000 which is absolutely incredible, so I started my new hobby as a photographer by photographing the farms in Euncheok.

The farmer I talked to is on the left, such a sweet man

My principal and vice principal at Euncheok are the same as Asan, because the schools are branch schools, and they made me spend an hour and a half listening to a 5 page apology/run of excuses for the incident with their school. They had a reason why EVERYTHING bad that happened was somehow a misunderstanding or an accident. I was so annoyed by the end because I realized this is just how they deal with things like this here. Instead of making someone man up and take responsibility, everyone runs around pushing the blame around to the person subordinate to them. The funniest part of the letter was toward the end, when she said "You better not tell anyone about this". Now, I know she didn't mean it to come off the way it did, because Koreans don't get aggressive like that, but I thought it was fitting because she had accidentally used words that expressed how I'm sure she really feels.  All I could do was smile and agree with the b.s.  When I asked for a copy of the letter, she said I couldn't have it, possibly because she knows its a pack of lies. What's worse is that I know that both principals are pissed at me because I reported them to their superiors and made them look bad. Yet, they were adamantly saying that we should "be friends" and I should "go shopping" with them.

I was venting to Sister Pia this afternoon about how frustrating the whole experience had been. Sister Pia is a truly interesting woman, because as she said herself, she's "not really Korean". And it's so true. She flat out told me that she thinks there are things that are seriously wrong with Korean culture, and unfortunately I had experienced all of them as a result of this whole ordeal. She said that no one ever takes responsibility. It may trace back to Confucianism, trying to maintain harmony, and not wanting to single anyone out and make every person/organization connected to that person look bad. But at the end of the day, Sister Pia believes it's because people are too concerned with protecting themselves, and don't care about others around them. It was interesting to hear her say that, because she felt that when she was in America people cared more about each others well being.  My counterpoint is that we may actually just fear lawsuits more, and work to remedy a situation before someone takes legal action. Regardless, at least back home the situation is addressed and solved, instead of avoided and swept under the rug.  She also commented on the fake attempt at being my friend, saying she preferred the American way of telling people to "buzz off" (which you know is nun speak for "f*ck off") if you don't like each other.  Oh Sister Pia.... what would I do without you?

Sister Pia... the woman.... the legend....

She concluded an excellent culture clash venting session by telling me about how much Sister Tobia drives her nuts and she hates living with her in the convent.  I told her, if there's one thing living in the sorority taught me, it's that 40 women should not live under one roof.... ever. She laughed and said she wished she would have learned that before she entered the convent.