Inside a Korean classroom: stand-up desks and lockers

The picture below has two important features of a Korean high school classroom: the stand-up desks and the lockers.

Oh, how I would have loved to have these kinds of desks when I was teaching in Wisconsin. They would've cut down massively on the fidgeting students because they could have moved to the back and stood up to work if they felt themselves getting antsy. As it happened, my schools had none such desks and some students movements disrupted the classes and created problems that could've been avoided all along. To think of all the time that could've been saved if the kids had the option of moving to another desk!

My old teaching professor Tom Scott once lamented how students are almost always forced to remain seated in the classroom. He said, "There is nothing in the teaching standards that says students need to sitting down." I and the rest of the class couldn't help but agree.

Funny enough, the two English classrooms in the detached building that I teach in do not have these desks. This situation must change. Generally, the high school students behave themselves well, but these desks would prove useful at times. I've a few students who'd probably benefit from being able to stand up every so often.
The same thing applies even more to the middle school too. Those girls carry a lot of energy when they aren't sleeping. Perhaps I can have some moved into the classrooms or, failing that, get some myself.

The second thing to note about the picture: the lockers. Korean students have their lockers inside their home rooms instead of in the hallways like American schools do. This is so because the students tend to stay in their home room all day and change rooms only for special classes or events. The teachers themselves change rooms with every period.

Having the lockers in the classroom serves two purposes: reduces hallway traffic and keeps students from using the age-old "I left it in my locker" excuse so popular in US schools.

Side note: while I was taking this picture, Lyn, the pictured student, got curious about why I was doing so. I told him, "We don't have these in American high schools," to which he replied, "They're useful." Indeed they are.

The kind-of, sort of, almost, maybe bus strike last week

*I meant to write about this and it slipped my mind.

A bunch of news reports came out last week about a possible nationwide bus strike because many of the bus companies wanted to protest pending legislation that would classify taxi cabs as public transportation. The strike affected all the buses except the express (고속) ones. Apparently the express buses (ie, the ones that go from here to Seoul or Seoul-Daejeon) weren't involved.

As the strike almost happened on Thanksgiving day and weekend, it would've greatly affected our holiday plans. Not to take away from now this would have affected the country at large--such a strike would've brought the country to a standstill for a time given how many people depend on them. Alas, nothing happened here. The teachers who live outside of Gimhwa/Wasu--the majority of them here--seemed nonchalant about the matter. Their attitude told me that I shouldn't worry, and so I didn't. All the buses ran like normal here.

Did anyone see anything different? I'm curious if bus services did indeed stop in other parts of the country.

I don't normally get into politics, but I'm glad this strike didn't happen because it would've done more harm than good. According the the Korea Joongang Daily, an estimated 15 million people would've been affected by this strike, a number that constitutes a sizable chunk of the country's population. While agree that taxis shouldn't qualify as public transportation and bus companies have a right to get mad at this idea, but holding their own riders at bay is counterproductive.

See here for some more info:

http://koreajoongangdaily.joinsmsn.com/news/article/Article.aspx?aid=2962680

http://koreajoongangdaily.joinsmsn.com/news/article/article.aspx?aid=2962751

And a key passage from an editorial here:

http://koreajoongangdaily.joinsmsn.com/news/article/article.aspx?aid=2962754&cloc=joongangdaily%7Chome%7Conline

Update: 28 November 2012 posts and news links

Again, more Wednesday writing action for you.

Here's what went up today:

Eating dog in Korea - A long-delayed post about the time I ate dog meat at a teachers dinner.

We have a weight room now... A quick hit about the new weight/exercise room at my high school.

A partial reblog and commentary on a post called "I Got All Emotional About Leaving Korea," from a South African teacher/journalist's blog about what she liked the most about Korea. She said many of things I've said or been meaning to say and I thought I'd share her words with you. I'm not sure if she was EPIK or hagwon, but she taught elementary school.

In addition to the new posts, here are some links from the Korea Joongang Daily, the paper that arrives at school every day. It stopped coming for a while, but now it's resumed again. Look for more news articles in the future:

Jeju's been in the news lately: "City Transplants Are Changing The Face of Jeju" details how some Koreans are moving to or wanting to move to Jeju to begin new careers or phrases of life. The island's undergoing a rapid influx of new people and many are finding that it's not easy as they'd thought.

"English Schools Migrate To Jeju" is about international schools setting up shop on the island. [Should've posted this months ago]

"Jeju International Schools See A Boom In Business" is a longer article focusing on how some well-off Seoul mothers have been moving themselves and their children to Jeju so their children can attend prestigious schools. It also mentions the idea of the "goose father" staying at home and earning the money while the mother goes overseas with the child(ren) to oversee their schooling. Like I've noted here, schooling is a big deal here. Perhaps too much?

"With Gamification, Banks Build Profit By Adding Fun" caught my eye because it's about banks building promotions into games. For instance, one game allows patrons to boost their interest rates by getting high scores

Eating dog in Korea

Into the animal rights maelstrom...

I held off in writing this post for a long time because I thought it might offend some people. It's something that I heard about before coming here and knew would come up sooner or later. Frankly, I thought I'd give it a try because of the cultural experience. Doing so went against my big love for dogs and eating dog goes against my upbringing as a Westerner, but I had to give it a try. My attitude in living here has been be a good sport and try new things. It's 

I had the opportunity at a teachers dinner and I went for it. There was one table with the dog meat and one table with pork or chicken (I forgot which). I took my place at the dog table to show that yes, I could handle it. The Korean teachers had been more than considerate in asking if I'd want to opt out because the knew the cultural differences at work, but I said no and took my place at the dog table with the other men and gave it a try. I knew that at any rate doing so would bolster my already excellent standing among the teachers for willingness to partake in Korean culture.

I ate dog grilled and as part of a soup. The grilled meat tasted like plain pork and the soup was merely okay. That's about it. I ate it to satisfy my curiosity and to be polite, but I mostly concentrated on the side dishes (and the soju) for that night. Dog didn't taste that good. Months later, that's all the mind remembers: the lack of defining taste.

Some things to bear in mind here:

Eating dog is not at all common here. As an American friend who's married to a Korean put it, "Dog eating was high during Korea's Great Depression but it has died out." This would make sense given how Korea was once quite an impoverished country.

There are indeed a couple restaurants that serve it, they're far from popular. Many of my students dislike dog meat and few, if any teachers actively go for it. Eating dog's a remnant from the past here. I've never seen any places that serve it in Seoul, Chuncheon, or Daejeon.

Yes, there is cruelty to dogs here. It's going away because of changing cultural attitudes to toward dogs.

*Finally, it seems that some people out there have a misconception about where meat comes in Korea. I've seen everything from "Watch out! Your beef may be from a dog" to "Be ready to eat dog every day" and the truth is, that is not true here. Most restaurants I've been in explain where their meats come from on the menus. Grocery stores label the kind and origin of meats just like they do in the States.
**Most beef eaten in restaurants or sold in grocery stores/butcher shops actually comes from the States or Australia. Korean beef (Han-u/Hanwoo) costs more.
***Pork's usually Korean or Australian

I thought of giving this post a clever title, but nothing came to mind. Sometimes what sounds boring works the best. I'll leave you with this:

Sacred cows may make the best hamburgers, but man's best friend doesn't warrant a second helping.

We have a weight room at the (academic) high school now

* I almost said the high school, but then I remembered that saying would probably slight Kirsten, as Gimhwa has two high schools instead of one.

The exercise equipment arrived a couple of months ago, but I forgot to write it about it until today. (There's been some extra free time because of the upcoming exams) the room's open to teachers and students at certain times of the day. I plan on using this room soon. It's one of those things that got put off for a while.

If you look closely, you'll see a Marshall guitar amplifier and a drum kit. Some of the kids practice at night. Again, I probably should ask who's in on this because it might lead to some quality jams.

Linkage: This one time...: I GOT ALL EMOTIONAL ABOUT LEAVING KOREA

This page has one South African woman's long of reasons why she likes Korea. I came across her blog when Rochelle found her page about eating at Braii Republic, a South African restaurant in Itaewon, Seoul.

1) Having lived overseas before, I know that living in a transitory environment will always end in sadness when it comes to making friends. I've made some amazing mates, from all over the world, and I will miss them the most. Living in a very foreign country, you tend to open yourself up to people you might not befriend at home, and you become a better person for it. It opens you up to dispelling prejudices, being more open-minded and learning about people you might have dismissed in a more comfortable setting....

Ditto. I never knew anyone from Scotland, Wales, South Africa, New Zealand before coming to Korea. The EPIK program has a great way of bringing a diverse group of people for the common purpose of teaching English. Meeting everyone's been, and continues to be, a hell of a time. Living here means you have to be ready to say hello. It's reminiscent of college only on a larger and more serious scale: by saying hello to everyone and keep an open mind; I'm making potentially lifelong friends. Not only that, living in a rural area like Cheorwon means I dang near had to keep an open mind about meeting everyone because they're people I live with and see every day. They're only 11 of us in the entire county.

With that in mind, all good things come to an end. She writes about the possibility of never seeing many of her friends again and that's something we as ex-pats must understand. I'll always remember meeting Paula and picking her brain about all things England or celebrating Diwali with Lisha and Isha. With any luck, we'll meet again after our time in Korea is up.

2) One of the things I love most about living here, and something that could keep me here for another year all by itself, is the internet. It's the fastest in the world by a long way, and there are few places you can't get it. It's on phones, in airports, in shops, on the subway and in every single household. It costs practically nothing for unlimited broadband, and I will miss it insanely when I'm in South Africa....

The same goes for the USA. My Internet connection's half of what I paid in Wisconsin and more than 3x as fast. Korea's about as wired a country as you can get.

4) Cheap utilities. I've never paid more than 10 000 won for electricity in a month. That's not even R70. Usually it's closer to 5000. And we use lights, appliances and computers all day long. It's going to be a big adjustment turning all the lights off at home. And gas is so cheap, and we don't pay for water. It costs practically nothing to live here.

Yes, to a point, for it appears that she's never had to run the ondol much during the winters. LPG and electric ondol can can cost you a good chunk of change. Otherwise, utilities do come cheap here: in 15 months I've never paid more than 3,000won for water and 15,000 for electricity. The water's practically free, which makes having to go to the bank to pay the minuscule bill slightly irritating, actually.

6) Being able to WALK places without fear of being mugged. At night. The feeling of safety is something I will really miss, not having to worry about my handbag or my life. To be fair, you can't walk around alone at night in pretty much any other country, so it's not an indictment of South Africa. Here we leave our handbags on a chair in the bars and go and do our thing, without anyone watching over them. It's just not a worry, and it's very liberating. We might be blase about safety, but so far nothing has proven us wrong. In fact, if you leave your phone on a train or in a taxi, someone will usually make an effort to get it back to you. Koreans don't generally keep things that do not belong to them.

Once I left my phone on the coach bus from Pocheon to Wasu. It was there at the terminal the next day when I stopped by on the way to school. Neither me nor any of my friends have had any trouble at night here too. I feel safer here than I ever did in the States.

7) Public transport. I can't wait to be able to drive again, but I really love that taxis, buses, trains and subways are so plentiful and cheap. We never have to worry about driving after a night out, or how we're going to get home. Taxis are super cheap, they all have GPS (even though the drivers are usually watching TV on them as they drive) and it's hard to find a place that isn't connected to a bus route....

Aside from wanting to drive again, I couldn't agree more. Korea has excellent and reasonably priced public transportation and taxis. Some taxi drivers do watch TV, but in my experience most are just lead foots. Once I made it from Dongsong to Wasu in under 25 minutes. It ordinarily takes 35 minutes by car and at least 45 by bus.

9) Service! I've never been given so much free stuff as I have here. I went grocery shopping the other day and got a free 2 litre bottle of orange juice. If you buy washing powder you might get a free pack of noodles. We went for dinner last week and got a free dessert. A lot of places, like doctors' offices and sports venues have free coffee machines.

Yeah, free stuff's always good. All of us in Cheorwon can attest to these stories. We gotten plenty of alcohol service in bars and restaurants too. I like the customer service model here because stores and owners know about creating customer loyalty, which is something that seems lacking in the States.

10) Having my bank balance in the millions. And being able to save half my salary. This isn't the real world as far as work and money is concerned, and I will miss being so carefree about money and monthly costs....

Yep, I made the millionaire jokes too. We get paid well out here and I'm always thankful for that. I disagree with Korea not feeling like the "real world" when it comes to money because I don't like profligate spending. The money I (and others) are saving here will surely help down the road.

11) Being able to walk down the road holding TLG's hand without anyone batting an eyelid. Bizarrely, because Koreans in general don't have gaydar and don't even think people can be gay, we attract no attention....

Indeed, most Koreans I've met lack the gaydar of Western people. My students are always amused when I mention I've gay friends. They find it interesting because it's alien to their experiences.

Some of Kirsten's students actually play up their "gayness"--one kid jokes that he's the "Number 1 gay" in school, too.

12) Jimjilbangs and 'love motels'. I've never stayed in a jimjilbang (a kind of dormitory for travellers/drunks/old men, usually at spas, costs less than 10,000w) but I do frequent love motels when travelling. For those not in the know, a Love Motel is a place where people can meet up for a good time, if you know what I mean. Given that most people live at home until they're married, they need somewhere to canoodle, be it for an hour or a night. We tend to stay at the nicer places (60 000 for the room, still not expensive), because skimping on cost will result in bedspreads that glow purple under a black light. Gross! Also, love motels are often the only time I can have a bath, as Korean apartments rarely have them!

Ditto. I've always had an okay to good experience with love motels and have never seen anything that looked too funky in them.

13) Very cheap health care. As mentioned in a previous post, I've undergone surgery in Korea, stayed in hospital and seen many a doctor. A visit for a check up, provided you have insurance (all foreign teachers do) will cost you around 5000w.... Where would you pay that anywhere else? And these are fancy doctors' offices, not crappy clinics....

Indeed, it's true from what people have said. Having health and dental insurance played into taking this job here. I've never been to a hospital or clinic save for the mandatory health checks because I've never gotten sick enough to need to see a doctor. I've never felt healthier since arriving here.

Dental care's good and decently-priced here. The Boston Dental Clinic in Seoul does excellent work and they charge about 60,000won for a cleaning, by the way.

14) Koreans. The way they greet you so loudly when you walk into a store, and then everyone says bye and thank you when you leave. The way they're so willing to help you, and how excited they get when you speak even the most basic Korean. How well behaved the kids are, compared to other countries, and how they dress in identical clothing when they're part of a couple. Their quirky sense of fashion, their gorgeous black hair, and how they'll come up to you and say hi just to practice a bit of English, even if they've never met you before.

Yeah, she knows the score here.

15) Mandu, sachet coffee from Family Mart, iced tea for 1000w/R7, cocktails in a bag, drinking on the street being legal, beer pong and free pool in bars, ramen, japchae, bulgogi, free lunch at work, travelling on weekends, autumn in Korea is so gorgeous, snow, Korean babies/toddlers, hundreds of kids being excited to see me EVERY SINGLE DAY for two years.

While we do pay for our school lunches (it gets deducted from the paycheck automatically), the other stuff's true. Korean babies and toddlers are much mellowed than their American counterparts. They don't cry or act up nearly as much, though parents do seem to give them a lot freedom to move around on their own.

As for the snow? Screw it. 25 winters in Ohio and Wisconsin have withered away any love I may have fostered for snow. It does nice on the mountains though...

Check out her blog; it's got some good stuff on it. Stand by for more commentary on her site, for she's written a page detailing her complaints about Korea that will get posted here soon.


This one time...: I GOT ALL EMOTIONAL ABOUT LEAVING KOREA: Having been in Korea for two years, it was inevitable that I would come to love many things about living here. As the time draws near for T...

Moon over Wasu

I snapped this while walking home from school. The skies get vividly blue and clear here. Note the rising moon.

That's 85% of Wasu as seen from the northern side in the picture. Our apartments lie on the southern edge of town so Kirsten and I walk by it every day.