A plug for holyshitkorea.com
I know most of the people who read my site also read Erin’s, but I thought I’d link to her most recent post anyways. She’s written an excellent post about the way classrooms are used in Korea. For those that don’t know, each class has it’s own room, and the teachers move to different classrooms throughout the day. It seems like a fairly insignificant difference, but Erin and I both think it’s a source of much larger problems.
You can read her post here: Some unsolicited advice…
Small victories
I’m learning to be pleased with the small improvements I see in my students. When we first arrived, our students already knew the question “How are you?” When asked, they would demonstrate their excellent memorization skills and rattle off: “Finethankyouandyou?” The shy kids would simply answer “fine”.
After more than 2 months of teaching, about 50% of my students will respond with something other than fine. Some are good, some are so-so (they love that expression), some are bad. A few are even terrible or great. It makes my introduction/greeting slightly less boring.
On a related note, Erin’s efforts are also paying off. When we started, the students already knew “nice to meet you” (nicetomeetyou). They said it every time they saw us. I’ve “met” some of my students hundreds of times. Erin has gone to great lengths to remedy this, and her students have mastered the more-appropriate “nice to see you” (nicetoseeyou).
I suppose that counts for something, right?
Sometimes Korea is a little strange.
It’s been a while since I’ve posted. I don’t have any excuse, except that not much has happened. Teaching is pretty much the same, the economy still sucks, life marches on.
Last week, however, the Korea Herald reported on two Constitutional Court cases that were too interesting to pass up. A little background might be helpful.
The Constitutional Court is a specialized court that deals primarily with constitutional review. It also handles impeachments, party dissolution and some other odds and ends. Like the US Supreme Court, its decisions cannot be appealed. Judges are appointed differently, however. Three are appointed directly by the President, three are selected from candidates that the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court nominates, and three are appointed by the National Assembly (the legislature). It’s an interesting system.
Case 1: A victory for blind masseurs!
In Korea, only the blind can become certified massage therapists. You read that correctly. An entire profession is reserved for the blind. This is Korean law.
This is a fairly contentious issue among the parties involved. In the past, this was a government directive, rather than a law. In 2003, the Constitutional Court upheld the restriction, but a 2006 court declared the directive discriminatory. This upset the blind massage therapists, who protested until the National Assembly passed a law restricting certification to the blind.
In September 2008, a group of sighted therapists appealed this law to the Constitutional Court. The Court upheld the law, and issued the following statement:
It is true that the corresponding clauses restrict the freedom of choosing a career for the non-blind. [...] This restriction, however, is an inevitable one, necessary to secure a minimum level of social support for the blind who have few other career options than massage therapist. It, therefore, does not violate the petitioners’ constitutional freedom on careers and equality.
An interesting footnote to this story is the method of protest that both sides have used. They gather on bridges, and threaten to jump off. Sadly, some of them have followed through. I don’t know why they jump off bridges. It seems like there would be a dozen other ways to protest, but bridge-jumping seems to be the chosen form of civil disobedience.
The New York Times published a good story on this back in September (here’s the link). I can’t link directly to the current Korea Herald story, because of their crummy web page.
I don’t even know what to say about this one. It just seems weird to me. The original policy goes back to the years of Japanese colonization, but I don’t know the reasoning behind it. If it’s a modesty thing, it seems archaic. As a social welfare system, it just seems odd. I guess it guarantees at least one career for the blind, but there there are hundreds of thousands of illegal sighted therapists because of it. I welcome your comments on this one.
Case 2: A setback for adulterers.
Adultery is a criminal offense in Korea, punishable by up to two years in prison. This actually isn’t that uncommon; adultery is still illegal in many US states. Hell, in Michigan, it could get you life in prison. I don’t think these laws generally get prosecuted, however. In Korea, they aren’t often prosecuted, but it still happens. The Korea Herald reported that 47 cases were prosecuted in 2007, down from 103 in 2005.
The Constitutional Court upheld this law, as it has done on three other occasions (1990, 1993, and 2001). Interestingly, 5 of the 9 judges ruled that it was unconstitutional, but it requires six votes to overturn a law.
In its ruling, the Court stated that “[t]he law is intended to safeguard marriage, which is the bedrock of family life. Adultery, thus, cannot be a purely ethical or moral issue which the law cannot meddle in.”
Socially, Korea is pretty conservative, so this isn’t really a surprise. In my opinion, no matter what the Court said, this is clearly an ethical/moral issue. Laws governing such things always disappoint me. I suppose my title is incorrect, as this really isn’t strange. Especially after three more US states passed constitutional bans on same-sex marriages. In Korea and the US, social conservatives continue to fight for a government small enough to fit in your bedroom.
Thoughts on the Korean educational system
After a few weeks of teaching here, I’ve noticed some interesting things about the school and the educational system. My experience is limited to one middle school in a rural province, but these observations seem to hold true in other places, according to other teachers.
Korean students work hard.
Our kids are in school by 8:30am. Most of them have classes until 4:30pm. After school, they go home for dinner. Most of them spend the evenings at private academies, learning English, math, science, or music. If you’re on the streets between 9pm and 11pm, there are kids everywhere returning home, still in their school uniforms. They live and breathe school.
This is less than ideal, in my opinion. Erin’s co-teacher has kids, and says that they have no time to learn anything but school. They can’t cook, they don’t work part-time jobs, and they hardly see their family during the week. Hell, a lot of the kids are at academies during the weekend, too. I might be seeing things from an overly American perspective, but in my opinion, it’s hard to call that a childhood.
On the positive side, they take school seriously. Middle school boys are a handful no matter where they’re from, but I can’t help thinking that these kids get a lot more out of school than I ever did.
Grades/test scores matter, and they matter young.
In Korea, high schools are competitive. You don’t simply go to the school in your district. To be admitted to a well-ranked high school, you need good grades and test scores. I think they typically take an entrance examination as well. This means that young kids are seriously worried about their grades. The kids at my school are 14, 15, and 16 years old. (In Western ages, they would be 13, 14, and 15.) Even the 13-year-old kids take midterms that can determine their future. Poor grades in middle school, and you end up at a vocational school. It keeps them focused, but I imagine it’s rough on the late-bloomers.
Rote memorization is still the norm.
This is something that everyone says about Korean education. It’s important to note that I haven’t seen many classes, and this is a pretty broad generalization. However, I think it’s often true, especially with older teachers. Our co-teachers often stress group call-and-repeat exercises, rather than individual efforts. The kids have memorized responses to typical phrases, but often don’t understand them. It’s interesting to see.
As I said, this is often considered a common attribute of Korean education. In my opinion, this is overstated. I certainly can’t say that US middle school and high school stresses critical thinking. Even at university, it was often clear that students learned to fill in the blanks, rather than think. But overstated or not, education here is often a rote processes. I think this is due in part to the emphasis on good test scores. These kids test amazingly well, but it doesn’t necessarily indicate real learning.
Corporal punishment is still common.
Yes, some of the teachers hit the kids. I’d even say that a lot of teachers hit the kids. This one is changing quickly. I’ve heard that it’s illegal in Korea now. I’ve even heard that in the bigger cities, it’s not tolerated. Parents will complain or sue. In Gangneung, especially with older teachers, it happens. Usually it’s a token sort of punishment, a quick rap to get their attention. Sometimes it’s a bit more. I’ve seen a few teachers really smack the kids hard.
I have mixed feelings. I’m sure the educational purists are dead set against it. I’m sure there are other disciplinary measures that work as well or better. But here, it seems to be part of the culture. The kids obviously don’t like it, but they don’t seem traumatized. It seems to be commonly understood that it might happen if you really screw up. After it happens, they’re generally very well-behaved, and even good-natured about it. They don’t seem to hold it against the teacher at all.
As I said, it’s changing rapidly. The younger teachers don’t do it, and the kids know that it isn’t really accepted. If I had to venture a prediction, I’d say that this will completely disappear in the next 10 years.
Things really aren’t that different.
All-in-all, I’ve been more impressed by the similarities than the differences. Boys are boys, no matter where you go, and teachers seem to have a similar outlook. There’s the same sense of community (maybe commiseration) in the teacher’s lounge. Just like teachers back home, there’s always food being shared.
The more places I go, the more they all look the same.
A bunch of hiking pictures
I’ve been lazy about uploading pictures lately. Today I don’t have to teach elementary, so here is a big batch of hiking pictures.
The first gallery is from our first real hiking trip. We went to Seoraksan National Park with Ben (a Canadian English teacher) and Mihyun (his girlfriend, also an English teacher). We hiked to Ulsanbawi, a rock formation in the park. When I say hiking, I mostly mean stair climbing. The heavily-traveled trails are pretty tame, for the most part. Certainly strenuous, but not technically difficult.
The giant buddha is a bronze statue near the entrance of the park. The other statues are at a shrine on the beach that we visited on our way home.
These pictures were taken from a hill near our apartment. It’s wooded and there are some trails going up it. It was a hazy day, so you’re not necessarily looking at smog. The city is a bit smoggy, but I think it’s usually a mix of exhaust and smog. It’s not the prettiest city I’ve ever seen, but also not the ugliest. (This is an unattractive angle, however.)
These pictures were taken on our second trip to Seoraksan Nat’l Park. Erin and I went alone, and it was insanely busy. We should have known better than to visit a popular park on a holiday weekend. We hiked a an easy trail up to a cave in the mountains. It was a beautiful walk.
These pictures are from last Sunday. We went to a small mountain near Yongpyeong Ski Resort with Ben, Mihyun, and another teacher. It was a gorgeous walk, but we got a late start and the trail was a lot longer than we anticipated. We turned back about halfway up. I didn’t take many pictures, but the changing leaves are gorgeous. Korea is pretty if you can get out of the cities.
More writing to follow soon…
The photo speaks for itself
So I’ve officially eaten dog. Puppy, to be precise. I’d better explain things before I start getting hate mail from the PETA types. Dog is a fairly common food in Korea. It seems less popular with the younger generation, and less popular with women, but it’s certainly not unheard-of.
On Monday we had a half-day because of midterms, and afterwards all of the teachers were to go hiking. Prior to the trip, they asked us what we would like to eat. The choices were chicken and dog. Being the adventurous (and perhaps callous) type, I opted for dog.
The hike was a nice relaxing walk up a hill next to a stream. After a couple hours, we re-convened at the restaurant near the base of the hill. Side dishes were served, and before long the waitress brought out a steaming platter of puppy.
The meat was surprisingly tasty. A bit chewy, and with an interesting flavor. Maybe a touch gamey, but not in a bad way. Just enough to make it interesting. Unfortunately, there wasn’t much actual meat on the plate. Most of it was skin and organs, which Koreans eat without hesitation. I, however, am not a big fan of skin or liver, regardless of the source. The entree was a big bowl of puppy soup, which was excellent. Not much meat to be had, but excellent flavor nonetheless.
Apparently, Koreans believe that dog meat is good for regaining strength. They suggest that women eat it after childbirth. Men seem to eat it to increase their manliness. Erin said the younger female teachers seemed to regard it as a silly male thing.
It caused quite a stir among the teachers when I sat down at the dog table. Apparently they were very surprised that I had chosen it. Maybe that’s just because I’m a bit of a picky eater here. (I still can’t stand the sight/smell/taste of squid.) They didn’t seem offended, just surprised. I don’t really know what to make of that.
Lots of people are really offended by eating dog because they have dogs as pets. This doesn’t really bother me, provided I don’t think about it too hard. In my mind, there’s a certain distinction between pets and farm animals, and these dogs weren’t raised as pets. Maybe people object because they think dogs are smarter than sheep/cow/goats/etc. Maybe that’s true, but I’ve met plenty of stupid dogs. I’m just going to assume that I ate a dumb one.
It wasn’t the best meat I’ve ever had, but it certainly wasn’t the worst. I’d give it a B- overall. One question remains, however: What do they use to herd the flocks on a dog farm?
Drug Test, part 2
One of my readers reminded me that I hadn’t posted the new drug test results. All clean! That was a relief; I think a second positive would have been difficult to explain. Now I even have my insurance paperwork. If I get run over by a cab driver, the Korean government will actually help pay for my medical bills! Pretty sweet. Sure beats my (mostly) uninsured status back in the US.
Hangul (the Korean alphabet)
Erin and I have started taking the free Korean class offered in town. It seems like it will be helpful, but the textbook and handouts are printed completely in the Korean alphabet, Hangul. This is forcing us to actually learn the alphabet, something we’ve both been putting off. I don’t have to teach today (standardized test day), so I’m studying. It’s actually a very simple alphabet, with an interesting history.
Hangul was invented in the mid-1400s by King Sejong, who seems to be pretty darn famous here (considering that he’d dead). Prior to it’s invention, Koreans used Chinese characters (hanja), and only the elites knew how to read and write.
Sejong sat down and planned out a written language that the commoner could use. One of the ancient texts says: “A wise man can acquaint himself with them before the morning is over; a stupid man can learn them in the space of ten days.” I must be stupid, because it’s taking me more than one morning. Still pretty darn easy, though. Hangul is fairly unique in that it was invented at a specific time, by one party. It didn’t evolve over time. Because of this, it’s very logical. Unlike Chinese, it’s very easy to type on a keyboard or cellphone. My students certainly have no problems text-messaging under their desks in class.
There are 14 basic consonants, 5 double consonants, 10 vowels (or semi-vowels) and 11 diphthongs (combined vowels). These letters, or jamo, are combined into syllable blocks. Each block contains two or three jamo. It seems pretty strange at first, but it’s really quite logical.
Here is a sample word. (I’ve made the text larger so the letters are easier to see. Note: Some users may have trouble seeing this. You might need a language pack of some sort. I don’t know for sure.)
컴퓨터 = Computer
The Korean pronounciation is slightly different, sort of like “come pew taw”
1. The first character block consists of three jamo.
-
The first is ㅋ (hard “K” sound) — in the upper-left.
-
The second is ㅓ (sounds halfway between the “O” in “come” and “aw”) — in the upper right.
-
The third is ㅁ (”M” sound) — on the bottom.
2. The second block consists of 2 jamo.
-
ㅍ (”P”) — on top.
-
ㅠ (a semi-vowel, “yew”) — on the bottom.
3. The third block has 2 jamo.
-
ㅌ (”T”) — on the left.
-
ㅓ (sounds halfway between the “O” in “come” and “aw”) — on the right.
It’s really not as complicated as it seems, and once you know it, the rules are constant. Not like English, with hundreds of difficult exceptions.
(Note: I pulled the quote and some of the information from the wikipedia page on Hangul.)
Apartment Photos
As promised, here are some photos of the apartment. There’s an entire room I don’t show, because it’s currently empty (except for recycling). As soon as we find a use for it, I’ll take a picture.
Enjoy!
Teaching in Korea — a Typical Day
This is a typical day of teaching in Korea:
- 8:20am: Arrive at school.
- 8:30-9:55am: Free time. First period is 9:00-9:45, but I only teach that on Tuesdays. Usually I’m preparing a lesson in the mornings (printing worksheets, etc).
- 9:55-10:40am: Second period. Teach second grade (8th grade in US) for 45 minutes.
- 10:50-11:35am: Third period. Teach first grade (7th) for 45 minutes.
- 11:35am-1:35pm: Free time. Work on lesson plans, write blog posts, eat lunch, etc.
- 1:35-2:20pm: Fifth period. Teach first grade for 45 minutes.
- 2:20-3:45pm: Free time. The internet is a good time-waster.
- 3:45-4:30pm: Seventh period. Teach “English Club”. Today we’re watching an episode of the Simpsons, because I can’t think of a better lesson plan.
- 4:40-5:25pm: Eighth period. Teach the “Teacher’s Class”. This is a conversation class with 7 or 8 Korean teachers. I find this quite stressful, but I only do it on Thursdays.
I’ll be home and drinking a beer by 5:40pm. Actually, this is one of my longer/busier days; most days I’m actually home by 4:40. Unfortunately, Korean beer is officially The Worst Beer in the World®. I’m working on a brewing operation, but it will take time.
My Twitter- hunter186: So far, twitter has proved useless and annoying. I'm going dark.
- hunter186: Hell yeah! observing a demo class today! no morning classes.
- hunter186: No teaching today! Hooray for standardized tests! (when I don't have to take them)
- hunter186: The Wire is f-ing sweet. Hooray for our Korean fiber-to-the-door internet!
