10.18.2012

"Teacher, Teacher!"

"Teacher, teacher!" are words I never expected to hear but that daily bring me pleasure.

For many years I had planned to become an English teacher. I went to college with that goal in mind. It wasn't until my senior year that I chickened out because of the circumstances surrounding high school education in the USA. But now that I'm in a foreign country, teaching English to those who have not been raised hearing and speaking the language, I am enjoying the job more than I likely would have in the States. My favorite part of conversational English with foreign speakers is noting their common mistakes. Koreans tend to say "This days" or "these day" very often, as well as "in my case." They leave out prepositions and articles and have a difficult time with plurals. Now that I'm studying Korean, I know why.

Koreans laugh when they make mistakes. I don't know if that's their natural coping mechanism, or if they really find their mistakes humorous. In any case, I enjoy talking with them and looking at life from their unique perspectives.

One day one of our conversation topics was "Western Culture." A question stated something to the effect of, "What Western practices do you find strange?" One of my ajummas answered, "I can't understand why they don't take off their shoes when they enter their homes and why they don't separate their trash." These are simple things that make you and me laugh. But that's because we know why we do these things. For students here, they take off their shoes at the door because the streets are dirty--not as filthy as those in third-world countries, but still less clean than an average street in the States. Therefore, taking one's shoes off is a necessity to maintaining a clean home. Koreans also separate their trash for recycling purposes because pollution is such a problem here. They're trying to reverse, or at least prevent, greater problems down the road. While the States have started instituting recycling programs, no one is required to participate.

And so I was thinking, why do we criticize so many of other people's customs or cultural practices? Oftentimes we are lacking information and make harsh judgments because we simply never thought to ask for the reason behind the practice?

One really cool traditional custom here is the celebration of the 100-day birthday. Several years ago, when South Korea's economy was bad, and the people were suffering, newborn children would not live for very long. A new practice began as a result. When children are 100 days old, they have a special party celebrating their lives--especially since by this time, they are "in the clear" to live a long life.

I'm starting to get attached to my students and form relationships with them. I'm giving Bible studies to one older man, and I'm meeting with three older women once a week to go out for food or beverages and just talk. Yesterday was actually my first day to spend time outside of the class with Jenny, Jasmine, and their friend Eunice. We went to Ediya, which is a coffee shop below the institute, and they bought me a grapefruit slushy (that they were surprised I wanted in this cold weather). We talked for about an hour, and I realized that Eunice and I have A LOT in common. Jenny and Jasmine are my students, and Eunice (who speaks excellent English) helped them explain that they don't skip my class as often as they do because they don't like me. In fact, they want to fail this term so that they can have me as their teacher again next term. I laughed. Little do they know that I won't be teaching their class next term.

Then there are my children. They are . . . wild and crazy to say the least. But I'm learning to love them, too. It's not very difficult. :) Silver's and Aileen's students are my favorite. They are well-behaved and responsive. And they always have big smiles on their faces. The most common words I hear from my children are, "Teacher, teacher, game, game!" or "Finish-ied!"

But lately I've been meeting students in the hallway, on my way from class to class, and stopping to chat with them. Harry (a girl) and Jenny enjoy it the most. They are in my WiseMaster Starter 4 class. My students in that class range from age 8-11, I believe. Jenny and Harry are always eating snacks in the hallway before their classes start. Harry always has tteokbokki that her grandmother has made for her. Jenny has fruit rollups, actual fruit, cookies, or tteok (rice cake). Each day when I walk down the hallway, Jenny will run up to me with her snack and hand me a piece before I can speak a word. We talk for a few minutes, and I go to my office for a few minutes of recouping before my next classes begin. Yesterday she came into my office unannounced. All of a sudden I heard, "Teacher, what are you doing?" and turned to see her staring directly at my computer. I was on FB, of course, and so I told her I was looking at what my friends have been doing lately. "Your friends?" she asked--not really out of surprise but moreso out of interest. So I went to the pages of some of my best friends and showed her some pictures. When her curiosity was satisfied, she ran out of the room. "See you later!"

Another day when I was coming down the hallway, Harry, Jenny, and Dana greeted me, and since I had been studying Korean, I naturally responded with "Anyeonhaseyo!" They gasped in amazement. "Teacher speak Korean?" they asked, in those very words. I explained to them that I was learning and knew a few words and how to read some. So they started quizzing me! They pointed to posters and said, "Read this!" "Wow!!" was their response at my slow, but correct efforts. Later I heard from their Korean teacher Silver that they had told her that I was learning Korean and were pleased.

Although I have troubles teaching from day to day, I think that, all in all, I am more than content teaching English as a foreign language. I am happy.

2 comments:

  1. Awww, I loved hearing about your young students. They sound so precious! The older ones sound quite interesting, too. I'm glad you're really enjoying teaching English in Korea! Sounds like you're doing a great job of learning the language, too!! Awesome!

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  2. I don't know what to say that Ali has not said except that I think you'd be a great teacher based on what I know of you, and I'd love to see you in a classroom.

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