On Thursday 8th January I was harassed by a drunken creep in my apartment building, which not only put an end to my belief that Korea is a relatively safe place but also reinforced the fact I am simply an English monkey for my hagwon. Christina demonstrated this with her “don’t go outside” reaction and the way in which she has shown no genuine concern for my welfare. I am just glad that I have some good friends both here and at home who helped me through it. Thank you.
Not surprisingly then, 2009 has got off to a very mixed start. I arrived back from Japan on New Years Eve and had a fabulous evening with Viro and Killian in Hongdae. Mexican food in Itaewon, plenty of bottled water and dancing in my trainers to Nobody by the Wondergirls with my favourite South African chica made for good start to the New Year.
After two months of only working 2 hours a day I was actually looking forward to getting a new schedule. It’s just a shame the new schedule has to be changed every five minutes. The new academy is managed by Christina (see previous entries for some of the troubles she has fuelled), and is an all English academy-as in the only subject taught there is English. On the 2nd January there was a meeting to discuss the schedule and plan for the academy. Despite the fact all the teachers, and the manager, speak remarkably good English the entire two hour meeting was in Korean and in order to get any answers I had to quiz Christina repeatedly. When the academy opened the next week one of the teachers had already quit and there has been no search for a replacement for her. Instead the workload has been split between me and Charlie, with Christina popping in to teach the occasional class and to change the schedule to ensure that she can work in the pharmacy unhindered.
It’s a complete joke-on the enrolment day I just sat around greeting children and their parents, who kept asking me questions in Korean…which I couldn’t answer. The manager, yep that’s you Christina, was no where to be found and poor Charlie was expected to deal with everything. From teaching 2 hours a day I am now teaching 7 hours a day, despite being contracted to only work 6-apparently I will get paid extra for the adult class that was sprung on me after (seriously) the last minute. But in order to ensure I don’t suffer from complete exhaustion I am having to fight Christina every step of the way. Those of you with so-called “proper jobs” will be thinking seven hours Jo, don’t strain yourself! But the hours are split throughout the day, and the seven hours does not include preparation and planning time. The adult class is from 10-11 in the morning and I teach the kids from 2.20-8.30pm. In order to make her life easier Christina keeps trying to move my finish time later and later, so I have to keep putting my foot down and explaining that it’s too much work. Those are the time Christina conveniently forgets that she can speak English.
In addition, I am the “conversation” teacher-and resource wise I have just slightly less than bugger all (particularly as the folder of flashcards and worksheets that I spent hours making has mysteriously disappeared) ...The series of books that we do use is the one I had problems with when I was just teaching Angela, Sonia and Branden-the ones that had been mangled though an antiquated translation device. For two of my classes I have “Power Speaking” books which are actually quite useful. But for the others I was initially given reading comprehension books-to teach speaking skills! I have found and adapted a number of educational activities/games…which are much more productive. One in particular cheered me up after the creep in the apartment block incident, and actually stopped me running away to the airport to get the first plane back to England.
The name of the game is Animal Fight Club, and there are only two rules (ok so none of the kids have heard of, let alone seen the movie, but it’s fun for me). Number one, who will win? Number two, why? All the resources you need-flashcards with animals on them and some kids with lots of imagination. Pick two flashcards to get you going and then one of the kids has to decide who will win and why. Depending on the level of the kids you can decide whether their answer is acceptable in terms of grammar, inventiveness, or just based on whether it’s funny or not. Some classics-Monkey vs. Turtle….Andy-the monkey will win because it will shake the turtle out of the shell and then kick it. Hippo vs. Dog….Angela-the dog will win because it will bring a knife to the fight. I love these kids, despite their violent imaginations!
Not surprisingly then, 2009 has got off to a very mixed start. I arrived back from Japan on New Years Eve and had a fabulous evening with Viro and Killian in Hongdae. Mexican food in Itaewon, plenty of bottled water and dancing in my trainers to Nobody by the Wondergirls with my favourite South African chica made for good start to the New Year.
After two months of only working 2 hours a day I was actually looking forward to getting a new schedule. It’s just a shame the new schedule has to be changed every five minutes. The new academy is managed by Christina (see previous entries for some of the troubles she has fuelled), and is an all English academy-as in the only subject taught there is English. On the 2nd January there was a meeting to discuss the schedule and plan for the academy. Despite the fact all the teachers, and the manager, speak remarkably good English the entire two hour meeting was in Korean and in order to get any answers I had to quiz Christina repeatedly. When the academy opened the next week one of the teachers had already quit and there has been no search for a replacement for her. Instead the workload has been split between me and Charlie, with Christina popping in to teach the occasional class and to change the schedule to ensure that she can work in the pharmacy unhindered.
It’s a complete joke-on the enrolment day I just sat around greeting children and their parents, who kept asking me questions in Korean…which I couldn’t answer. The manager, yep that’s you Christina, was no where to be found and poor Charlie was expected to deal with everything. From teaching 2 hours a day I am now teaching 7 hours a day, despite being contracted to only work 6-apparently I will get paid extra for the adult class that was sprung on me after (seriously) the last minute. But in order to ensure I don’t suffer from complete exhaustion I am having to fight Christina every step of the way. Those of you with so-called “proper jobs” will be thinking seven hours Jo, don’t strain yourself! But the hours are split throughout the day, and the seven hours does not include preparation and planning time. The adult class is from 10-11 in the morning and I teach the kids from 2.20-8.30pm. In order to make her life easier Christina keeps trying to move my finish time later and later, so I have to keep putting my foot down and explaining that it’s too much work. Those are the time Christina conveniently forgets that she can speak English.
In addition, I am the “conversation” teacher-and resource wise I have just slightly less than bugger all (particularly as the folder of flashcards and worksheets that I spent hours making has mysteriously disappeared) ...The series of books that we do use is the one I had problems with when I was just teaching Angela, Sonia and Branden-the ones that had been mangled though an antiquated translation device. For two of my classes I have “Power Speaking” books which are actually quite useful. But for the others I was initially given reading comprehension books-to teach speaking skills! I have found and adapted a number of educational activities/games…which are much more productive. One in particular cheered me up after the creep in the apartment block incident, and actually stopped me running away to the airport to get the first plane back to England.
The name of the game is Animal Fight Club, and there are only two rules (ok so none of the kids have heard of, let alone seen the movie, but it’s fun for me). Number one, who will win? Number two, why? All the resources you need-flashcards with animals on them and some kids with lots of imagination. Pick two flashcards to get you going and then one of the kids has to decide who will win and why. Depending on the level of the kids you can decide whether their answer is acceptable in terms of grammar, inventiveness, or just based on whether it’s funny or not. Some classics-Monkey vs. Turtle….Andy-the monkey will win because it will shake the turtle out of the shell and then kick it. Hippo vs. Dog….Angela-the dog will win because it will bring a knife to the fight. I love these kids, despite their violent imaginations!
Aside from the fact I get to teach again, I am also getting school dinners-something I had mentioned that I was missing. Apparently though I have to start paying for them, which is strange as it was never an issue when I worked on the third floor, and I know that Paul and Rachel have never had to pay for theirs. But it was a lovely surprise when I discovered that there were some more familiar faces among my students-Jenny and Ann-the grand-daughters of the fabulous cook in my hagwon. Jenny as in my favourite grade one Jenny, and Ann her frequent crier sister-who has thankfully calmed down on the tear front and is actually very bright one-on-one (picture above). It’s a family affair among the students as a family of five siblings (four excellent, bright girls and one funny boy) are spread through five of the classes. Their aunt is………wait for it……Christina. In my youngest class there a cute set of twins (top picture), and their older brother is in one of the more advanced classes that I teach. I am just glad that I will have a good set of kids to say goodbye too when I go home. They have even given me a Korean name-Jo Su Jin (조수진)-which definitely goes with my new haircut!The other annoyance of January was the cancellation of my internet which occurred “by mistake.” I am still having trouble understanding how you can accidentally ring up an internet company and cancel someone’s connection, but on the plus side I now have both the internet and TV (it’s only been broken since August). Given the month I was having I was starting to think it was a conspiracy to get me to quit, so imagine my surprise when Christina asked if I would fancy staying in Korea. Once I had fully suppressed the urge to laugh I politely declined. Aside from the simple fact I miss people, I think that 12 months will be more than enough. I have loved this whole experience and in some ways hated it, but I am so glad that I have done it.
Next time on the Travels of Jo: ladyboys, massages, Tuk-Tuks, Khaosan Road, lots of shopping…that’s right kids Thailand the Rerun: This Time it’s With Viro!
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