New Experiences

Our school

We've had two days of training so far and everyone seems wonderful.  There are 4 staff members and currently 16 teachers (including us).  We are replacing 2 of those teachers (one leaves next week and the other leaves next month) leaving only 14.  Seven are Korean while the other seven are foreign (6 Americans and 1 British).  The kids are unbelievably adorable!  I knew before coming here that I love Asian kids, but seeing so many on a daily basis will be amazing.  :)  Yesterday, Andrea and I had the opportunity to observe different classes of various ages.  The amount of English the students know at such a young age is impressive.  We talked with a few middle school students about the school system in Korea and learned a lot about the pressure they are under to learn the English language.  Getting into a good high school is almost as important as getting into an established University so middle schoolers are under immense pressure to study and excel on the placement tests before high school.  Once in high school, the pressure for greatness continues and many students stay at school until midnight studying.  They have a motto that says "sleep 3 hours a night and you pass, but 4 hours you fail."  Here's a breakdown of a typical student's schedule:

Elementary:  Korean school 8:30 am - 1:00 pm

                        English academy 3:00 pm - 4:30 pm

Middle: Korean school 9:00 am - 3:00 pm

English academy 4:00 pm - 9:45 pm (3 nights/week)

Math academy 4:00 pm - 9:45 pm ( 2 nights/week)

High: Korean school 9:00 am - Midnight

When we asked what the students do for fun, they were hesitant to answer.  Most students do not have time to play or explore other interests.  They were interested in hearing about the different school clubs Americans are involved in, because on average they are unable to participate in extra-curricular activities due to their heavy schedules.  Obviously Americans and Koreans are at two different ends on the spectrum, neither one having a good balance in their educational efforts.

Shopping

In desperate need of food, Andrea and I stopped at a small market on the way home from school.  The selection was dim while the cost was surprisingly high.  We left with Pringles, cookies, milk, orange juice, cereal, grapes, and paper towels with a total purchase price near $30.  After talking with some teachers at school, we learned of a store called Home Plus.  We still needed food and decided to make a brave attempt at taking a taxi for the first time. Getting there was easy.  The taxi driver pulled up and knew exactly where we wanted to go when we said Home Plus.  The store is a short distance from our place and a sight to see.  It has 4 levels with everything imaginable.  The first level contains a food court similar to those at most U.S. malls.  Our jet lag was settling in making us cranky and we were starving so we settled on KFC instead of the Korean food options.  

The grocery store is located on the second floor so we headed there next.  Surprisingly, they had some American food options.  We picked up some bananas, yogurt, cheese, lettuce (we forgot to get dressing), and various other non-food options before we were simply too tired to search for anything else.  Before leaving, we had to make an important trip to the third floor. That morning (our first one), I plugged my hair straightening iron into the power adapter and blew the fuse.  It smoked for a bit, but luckily did not cause a fire.  Needless to say, my expensive Chi was ruined and the power adapter melted.  Luckily, Koreans use those too and I found one in the electronics department!  

Getting home wasn't quite as easy as finding Home Plus.  Mr. Kim had written down our address in phonetic English, but the taxi driver seemed unable to read it.  He kept saying something to us in Korean, but we could only respond by repeating the name of our apartment. After awhile, another taxi driver came over to assist.  The two men stood arguing for bit before waving us into the van.  We were not sure if they had figured it out, or if we were going to drive around the city.  Luckily, he pulled into the complex in less than five minutes.  We have since had our address translated into the Korean characters so hopefully we won't have that problem again!

Communication 

We have no idea what people are saying to us.  So far, we use hand gestures and pointing to get what we need.  Paying for items isn't hard if the cash register has a display.  Otherwise, we cannot understand the person when they give us the total so we get out the credit cards. 

Tonight we are making our way into Seoul for a going away party.  We're either taking the subway or a bus so I'm sure I'll have a story to post!