What is My Job Exactly?

So I have written 4 times about food and nothing about what it is I actually do here in Korea (you can see where my priorities are), so I thought it was about time I wrote a little bit about it  show you a little video and put up some pictures.

Cheongryoung Elementary

My official job title in Korea is “Native English Speaking Teacher” and as this implies I teach English. I work a 40 hour work week but I am only in the actual classroom about half that time. The rest of the time is spent planning or blogging or what ever else I can do to distract myself from the hundreds of kids who scream “hello Mr. Trebun!” I actually work in two separate elementary schools, one called Boonyung and the other (my favorite) called Cheongryong Elementary. All of the pics and the video are from Cheongryong. These schools are dramatically different in economic status, education level, and what my role is.

One of my 5 classes

At Boongyung my job so far seems to be little more than a novelty act. I sit in the front of the classroom at a desk while the Korean English Teacher – I use this term loosely as his English is somewhat lacking – and do nothing unless he calls me up to read a list of words or to explain how to play a game. This school is a very old school in what seems to be a poorer part of Cheonan. I really enjoy the student and find the hour long journey to get there, the inability of my teachers to understand me, and the lack of an actual job to be frustrating; it’s a learning process for me. I think it is the place where I miss my ability to communicate the most. Often I will read directions to a game that have been translated from Korean to English, then my co-teacher will explain in Korean and what follows seldom resembles anything I thought I read. But what can I expect? When I first met my co-teacher I told him that I would be having my first day on Wednesday. He stared at me blankly and said “what?’ I repeated. He said he didn’t understand what a Wednesday was; and this is the fulltime English teacher!

Yes it is alive.
Yes she threw it at me after the picture.
Yes I screamed like a girl.

My other school is completely different. I only teach 5^th grade and many of the teachers are very competent English speakers. The school is in a wealthy neighborhood and is only 4 years old. The resources this place has are incredible. Every classroom comes with smart boards, plasma TV, and state of the art computer equipment. The best part about this school is my job. I am a full-blown teacher. I create my own lessons, games, worksheets, and I teach alone most of the time. The homeroom teacher is there of course in case I need something translated but other than that I get to run the show and it has been a lot of fun so far. Some confusing things happen, like the sanitizer and a crazy bathroom story that will be in my next blog.

The girl on the left is constantly following
me around asking me to do things for her
 or to give her candy.

I am thankful for the contrast though because it gives me a wider perspective on life here and how it differs within as much as it differs from my culture. I am also learning just how tough it is for most of the children. Education seems to be everything in Korea, kids go to school from 8:30 until 2 and then after that they go to after school programs for math or English at places called “Hagwans”. Most get home at late and then are up late doing homework for school and the Hagwan. I am told that high school students are often up until 1 or 2 a.m. studying. I couldn’t even imagine going to school all day (no real recess) and then going to school after that! Some even have early morning lessons. Oh and did I mention there is school every other Saturday? I only work during the week thank goodness