It’s the first day of the school year at Yecheon Boys’ Middle School. I’m currently sitting in the computer lab, typing this post, because my primary co-teacher isn’t sure where my desk is. To make matters even more interesting, my previous co-teacher – who now teaches at a high school in Yeongju – informed me that my school would be completely restructuring classes by sorting students according to ability, not grade. I have no idea if I have class today, nor what grade/ability levels I’m supposed to teach.
Welcome to teaching English as a Second Language in South Korea – an exercise in equal parts joy, frustration, confusion and inebriation. I didn’t think it would be right to reboot this blog without getting at least one post in about life as an EPIK employee, so here we are. But where do I begin, really? I guess every good journey begins with a beginning, so we’ll take it from the top.
Incheon Airport is one of the best airports in the world. Its wide open terminals, comfortable seats, and pristine shops paint a picture of a country with endless possibilities. A country where the people are relaxed and time moves to the slow beat of a Sade track. A country that makes Singapore look like a giant landfill.
Unfortunately, the airport, like almost everything else in South Korea, acts as a delicious frosting masking the bitter chocolate cake below. South Korea is Wonderland, and you, the unsuspecting Alice, are about to leave the safety of the normal world and enter a world where up is down and left is right. Is South Korea a horrible place? Nope. I wouldn’t have spent a year of my life here if I didn’t love almost every minute of it. Is life in this country different from almost everything you’ve known prior? Yes.
Let’s dispense with the paragraphs for a minute and make with the lists. The following are some truisms about life in South Korea. I’m offsetting them from the rest of this post because they’re important. If you read only one part of this post, read this list:
- Strike the words “in advance” from your vocabulary. You will never be told anything in advance. I was only given warning of a single event – Sports Day – during my entire time in Korea. Classes will be canceled (or added) without notice, teacher dinners pop up as if they were magicked into existence by Merlin himself, and weekend English Camps will probably spoil countless trips to Seoul.
- Learn to love carbohydrates. Koreans eat a lot of rice. A lot of rice. It’s in countless dishes and comes in many forms, be it plain old rice, rolled rice cakes, sweet rice cakes, rice cakes covered in red pepper sauce, etc. In Korean cuisine, the ideal ratio of vegetables to meat is 8:2. Consequently, meat will be a rare treat at lunch. You’ll have to choose between filling up on rice or bringing your own lunch to school. The second option might not go over so well with your co-teachers.
- Make a good first impression. First impressions are everything in South Korea. If you are rude on the first day of school, you will be eternally regarded as rude. If you dress poorly on the first day, you’re a sloppy dresser. If you show off your horrible tattoos and piercings on the first day, you’re forever a gangster. If you don’t eat your lunch on the first day, you’ll have to endure countless queries about whether you like Korean food.
- Keep a smile on your face. This is crucial. Consider this: if you’re teaching in a rural area, you may be the first foreign face your co-teachers ever see. How do you want that face to look? Do you want Koreans to think that all foreigners are scowling, slouching buzz kills, or would you rather they think that all foreigners are jovial, personable, and easy on the eyes? You are an ambassador/diplomat. Act like one.
- Learn to love soju. Soju is the national drink. It costs about $.80USD a bottle, and almost every Korean loves to drink it. For the recent college graduate, South Korea is paradise, a 24-hour fraternity party. For the alcohol averse, South Korea is a 24-hour documentary on the effects of binge drinking on an entire nation.
I might be stating the obvious here, but South Korea is a foreign country. You should be prepared to deal with cultural differences, but knowing about them in advance is half the battle. If all else fails, just remember three simple words: Kim Yun-ah Fighting!
Post a Comment