First day teaching

Today was my first day as an English teacher. We've been going to the schools everyday this week, and Katie doesn't have her first class until Monday, but I had to start today. Five classes, and four different levels of English proficiency. There is a big difference between the top level students, who seem to understand me, and the low level students, who need everything translated.

I didn't have any real instructions on what to do, so I spent the 45 min class time introducing myself to the students, and letting them introduce themselves, I also wanted to get each student to speak individually so that I could gauge their proficiency, and I ended each class with a quick slideshow with pictures of family.

I began by having each student write down 2 true things and 1 false thing, and then had each student read them aloud to the class, and had the class help me decide which was true and which was false. Most were very soft spoken, and most of the phrases were very simple. I was surprised at what some of the girls wrote. Several said, "I am fat," or, "I am stupid," as their true statements. The boys were louder generally.

Then I had them write down five questions that they wanted to ask me. I had them work in pairs. Most of the questions were what you would expect, "How old are you?" "Where are you from?" etc. Some were disturbing, "Have you had plastic surgery?" because my eyelids recede, and my nose isn't flat, which shows the impact of western ideas of beauty in Korea. And similarly, a group of four girls came up with the oddly worded question, "We love you, do you?" by which I think they were asking me if I loved them. I didn't really know how to respond. Finally, I was asked if I've ever eaten Dog-meat soup, to which I simply responded, no.

Unfortunately, my co-teachers didn't really give me any input about whether or not I met there expectations, or whether or not I was doing a good job or a bad job. Though they did seem to be disappointed in the ability of the students to understand me. Apparently they expected the students to have a higher level of comprehension than they exhibited. But I thought I did an o.k. job. I tried to be lively and friendly and spoke clearly and loudly. I think my teacher-personality was spot-on, though at times it felt very artificial. I hope this is something that I just need to get used to. I just wish that I could have gotten more feedback.

...

Tonight, Katie and I walked a little ways down the main road toward central Seoul and found a much more lively part of town. There is a Starbucks, McDonalds, KFC, Outback Steakhouse, and TGI Fridays, not to mention 100 Noraebangs (private Karaoke room places) and countless bars, all studded with a million flashing bright neon signs that make the grey night sky glow in muted pastel colors. We ate at TGI Firdays for a change of pace. The average price of a dish was about 15 dollars, so we won't be doing that very often. And even though it is American food, you can still taste Korea.


-Richy.