Category Archives: Teaching English in Korea

A year in photos – Day 16

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Monday, March 12

Student Elections

I forgot how cute the 6th graders are during student elections time. They get their friends together, make campaign posters and march around the front of the school. Today, as I walked into school, this group of boys made sure I knew to vote for #4 (I don’t even get a vote). Later, when I stepped back outside to take more photos, these girls ran over with their signs. So today you get two photos because I couldn’t pick just one.

The boy in the center is running (obviously). Update: He won the election.

The girl on the left is running. You can also see some of the campaigning madness in the background.

School Lunches

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My school has started sending out messages each day describing the day’s lunch. Once translated, it is probably more confusing than not knowing at all.

“Please note that from meals room>1. Food and Health News No. 4 exit. (“Stress too hard come harderchungonjeung received”)2. Today, my kids are too like boiled.
Suddenly you’re feeling better this year for things to “loin” was prepared.
Please enjoy delicious.3. Lettuce, carrots, cucumber prepared by Eco.
May worry that you have folded like sigo.
To eat plenty of vegetables and fruits, especially in the spring.(Chungonjeung Prevention)4. Talking theology students have a lot of changes in the amount of pear is often lacking.
If you have jeonchulip It’s yours when you blow a note to the meals room will be modified.Lunch today was more alert.”

I wasn’t sure what we were having until I walked into our lunch room and it all made sense. Up until today, I hadn’t taken pictures of any of my school lunches because I was pretty sure I’d look silly doing it in front of all of my fellow teachers… but the interesting thing about a new school year is that half of the teachers I have lunch with are new to my school (teachers in Korea rotate schools every 2-3 years). None of them know me or talk to me (only about me) so I decided to go for it today.

Across the top is boiled pork (수육), dipping sauce (쌈장), water kimchi (물김치). Across the bottom is rice (밥) and lettuce for wrapping (상추). They also served soup, but I rarely ever eat it because it’s usually fishy or made with some sort of fish based broth and I don’t really care for seafood. This lunch is like a treat for me. There’s a good mixture of protein and vegetables, which is usually lacking in the lunches at my school. The lunches at my school aren’t that amazing and occasionally I find myself only able to eat the rice and kimchi (if it’s good that day).

A year in photos – Day 11

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Wednesday, March 7

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I get instant messages (in Korean) on my work computer all day long. I usually translate them because I’ve found it’s the best way to stay informed. The translations are really butchered, but I can usually tell what’s important and what isn’t.

Today I found this gem waiting for me when I got back from lunch…. Apparently only 8 out of 10 Koreans fart. Who would have known? Haha

A year in photos – Day 9

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Monday, March 5

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Today was the first day of classes for the school year. I got a schedule at the end of the day on Friday and on that schedule it said I teach 5th grade on Mondays. Even though neither of my new co-teachers had spoken to me directly, I assumed that’s what I’d be doing today.

When I got to class, my co-teacher explained that she forgot to tell me that she was going to be teaching alone this week. As I was walking back to the office I just had to shrug my shoulders and laugh. That’s how life as an English teacher goes here.

I have spent the rest of the day doing what we guest English teachers in Korea like to call “desk warming.” I actually had a bit of work to be done at my desk so it wasn’t so bad, but it’ll definitely be an interesting week as I’ve just learned that my schedule is being changed yet again.

Today’s photo is just something I spotted after lunch. Apparently the back of my school is where desks go to die.

Opening Ceremony

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Today is the first day of the school year. The first day last year was a crazy day. First, all of the new teachers were introduced to the entire school through the morning TV announcements. Later, I was introduced to an auditorium full of parents. In both situations I had no idea what was being said. I just waited until I thought the principal was done talking about me and bowed. The actual opening ceremony was outside and I was asked to hand balloons to the 6th graders (who would later pass them on to the new 1st grade students). I was given a giant bundle of balloons and had to pass them out, one by one. I was terrified of accidentally losing one or all of my balloons and was passing them out slower than they liked. I knew this because about 3 teachers rushed over to help me. I was proud of myself. I only lost one balloon.

Today’s events were much more relaxed for me because it’s my second year and I no longer qualify as a “new teacher.” Also, the opening ceremony was indoors and didn’t involve any balloons (thank goodness!). The school’s auditorium was full of 6th graders, 1st graders and the parents of the 1st graders. One of the mothers that attended my summer and winter camps was so excited to see me. She came up, shook my hand and said, “Long time no see!” It was cute. I really like her.

I’m not really sure what the opening ceremony consisted of. The 6th grade students each escorted a 1st grade student into the auditorium. Later, each 1st grade student was called to the stage and they were given some sort of necklace and a hat. It was really difficult for me to see because the auditorium was full of proud parents with their cameras at the ready. JuHye and I sneaked out a bit early, but I did manage to snap a few pics.

Here are a few of my 6th grade girls.
They were too amused by my iPhone to pose for the picture.

Some of the 1st graders at the ceremony.
Also in the picture are my principal and new co-teacher.

I have to wear indoor shoes at school. When we have events, the parents are allowed to wear their outdoor shoes, but the school provides little booties for everyone to slip over their shoes. I found these little girls to be extra adorable in their booties.

One More Year

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It’s official. I’ll be in Korea for one more year.

I found out last week that the new drug test results were normal. I guess whatever medications I was taking that were messing with my results were out of my system. I was very relieved!

I was supposed to go pick up my contract on Friday, but I got a call from the office of education saying that there were protesters outside their building (not sure why). They closed off the gates and weren’t letting anyone through. I had to overnight my medical results to them and they mailed me my contract this week.

I got my contract on Wednesday and on Thursday I went to the immigration office to extend my visa. It was a very simple process. I was in and out in 10 minutes. The visa extension was 30,000 won, but all of the medical checks and additional drug testing was 120,000 won. Basically, I spent about $140 to stay in Korea for another year.

I had the weirdest thing happen to me on the subway last night while I was on my way home from the immigration office!!

I almost passed out. It was really scary. The immigration office is pretty far away (14 stops and one transfer… about a 45 minute trip). I was in the subway… I was standing and I was all layered up because it was quite cold out. The further we went, the subway kept getting fuller and fuller. I started getting really hot until finally I decided to take off some of my layers. I started feeling weird so I just decided to put my coats and scarf on the little shelf above the seats. I probably should have gotten off and sat down, but I thought I could make it until the transfer station (3 stops away).

So as I stood there, I was getting really light headed. My vision started getting really fuzzy and dark. I could barely see at all. I put my phone in my purse so I didn’t lose it when I fell and then braced myself. Fortunately, we stopped before I passed out. I managed to grab my stuff and stumble out the doors. There was a bench right in front of me so I basically threw myself down and held my head in my hands. The Koreans were probably like WTF?!

So anyway, it was really, really scary for me. I think it’s kind of scary anyway to think about passing out in a public place (or at all), but especially on a crowded subway where no one speaks English. Plus, I was wearing a dress yesterday. Awkward! And I think sometimes Koreans would rather ignore things than get involved.

Good news was that I didn’t pass out. Bad news was that I was still 6 stops and a transfer from home. I just had to buck up and get back on the subway. I made it home okay and I feel pretty normal now, but it was kind of a crazy night.

Problems!

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I have had a lot of stress in my life lately. Most of it has to do with the renewal process. After the original medical check, I was informed that I hadn’t been tested for all of the drugs that the Office of Education (BMCOE) requires. The problem was that I found out on a Friday afternoon and the results were supposed to be due by Tuesday (impossible). I went for the drug test on Saturday and was told to pick up my results on Thursday. Because I hadn’t turned in my drug test, I wasn’t given a contract on Tuesday at the renewal meeting.

At the meeting, I was told that if I was asked to come to the meeting then it meant my position was secure so I wasn’t worried about it. My school was under a different impression. On Wednesday they received an official document from the BMCOE stating that due to budget cuts, any Native English Teacher (NET) that hadn’t turned in all documents wouldn’t be renewed. My vice principal was in panic mode because that also meant that the school may not get a NET next year. She had us call the hospital to see if we could pick up my results early. As it turns out, my results were back, but there was a problem.

When I went in for the drug test, I had a meeting with the doctor to let him know I was on some prescription medicine for a cold that I had. He didn’t know what effects it would have on the test. He advised me to wait until he could talk to the lab on Tuesday, but I decided to take my chances with the test. He took a copy of the medications. Well, as it turns out, the medication I was on caused a false positive for marijuana. JuHye was amazing in helping me communicate with the people at the hospital and the people at the BMCOE.

To make a long story short, the doctor noted on my test the reason for the positive and JuHye took the results to the BMCOE as a filler until I could complete another drug test. The BMCOE seemed fine with this so I went this past Monday for my drug test. If all goes well (cross your fingers), I should get my official contract on Friday.

So between that, Christmas and preparing for winter camp, I’ve had a hell of a time lately! It’s a good thing I’ve been spending a lot of time with some really lovely people that make me forget about all of my problems.

Renewing My Contract

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I finally made up my mind to stay in Korean for another year. The problem was, I didn’t know if my principal and vice principal would want me to stay or get a new Native English Teacher. Every day I would see all of my friends talking (online) about their schools asking them to say, signing contracts and getting medical exams. I didn’t hear anything from my co-teacher.

I already knew that our applications to renew were due on December 5 and I also knew that included the medical exam results and it takes up to a week to get those back. I was starting to stress out so I started asking my co-teacher a lot of questions about the renewal process. It turns out she was pretty clueless. She didn’t even know that I needed a medical exam (so it’s a good thing I asked).

The vice principal of our school was supposed to be out all week so I had to wait around for a week not knowing if my school wanted to keep me or not because it’s basically her decision. The following week, I kept asking my head co-teacher if she had heard anything from the vice-principal. She said there was a meeting with the vice principal and the head teachers about me, but she hadn’t heard anything.  On Friday, I decided to ask my other c0-teacher to see if she knew anything. She told me that she really wanted to tell the VP that they should keep me, but she hadn’t because she doesn’t want to teach English next year.

I’m not sure how it came up, but my co-teachers spoke to the VP at lunch that day and she told them that all of the head teachers wanted me to stay so I could stay at the school if I wanted to. I was so excited to hear the good news!

Since then it’s been a whirlwind of paperwork… and I had to go get another medical check. That was an adventure.

Step 1. Check in at the front desk

Step 2. Escorted to a dentist chair where he looked at my teeth for less than 10 seconds then said, “Your dental condition is very good!”

Step 3. Take a number.

Step 4. My number was called so approached the unknown desk and was asked to pay 60,000 won (about $55).

Step 5. Walk back to the front desk and then escorted into another room.

Step 6. Height/Weight check

Step 7. Blood Pressure

Step 8. Chest Measurement (Does anyone know why they only measure our chests??)

Step 9. Color blind test. The woman opened a notebook. Inside they had glued some of those dotted pictures with numbers hidden in them.

Step 10. Hearing Test

Step 11. Eye Test

Step 12. Chest X-ray

Step 13. Urine Test

Step 14. Blood Test

Step 15. Instructed to sit on a bench outside of some closed doors. Sat there for half an hour as the two men inside chatted in Korean.

Step 16. Go into the room and sit in front of a doctor for “counseling.”

Doctor: Do you have any problems with your body?
Me: No.
Doctor: If you have problems with your body, you have to come back here.
Me: Okay.
Doctor: I don’t want to see you again.
Me: Me too! Bye!

I picked up the results yesterday. I passed!

Today I turned in my medical check results. My co-teacher had a meeting with the principal and vice principal. The principal asked her to translate his words to me. She typed it out and gave it to me. I thought I would share it with all of you.

First of all, thank you for last 1 year.
Your face looks so good than first time I saw you. getting brighter and brighter.

I think it maybe you spend good time at this school and Korea life.
Thank you for your passionate teaching. Student’s English ability getting rising and they like English.

I want to recontract with you and please make sure you do your work (teaching English, broadcast, Morning English, etc) with sincerity & passionate.

I wish I expect good result.

-principal

Open Class, BIFF, Scavenger Hunt… Oh My!

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Sunday, October 9

I never left my apartment on Sunday. I was fairly productive though. I did a lot of laundry, cleaning and organizing. I bought a new comforter on Saturday and I was worried that it would be too small for my bed, but it fits. It’s quite warm so I’ll have to wait until it gets colder to use it, but it is incredibly soft and I am very excited about it.

  

Monday, October 10

I have taken it upon myself to teach one of the 4th graders to read. His name is Tae Gyun (sounds like Gyoon).  During class I told my co-teacher that I think he’s very smart, but he can’t read so I want to help him. After she explained to him, he looked at me and said, “Thank you, Meagan Teacher!”

He was in my low level summer camp class and he is one of my absolute favorite students. He is just the sweetest thing.  His listening and speaking level is normal, but he doesn’t know how to read or even basic phonics. I will be tutoring him for about 15-20 minutes every day after lunch. It’s on a completely voluntary basis. I don’t get anything out of it except the personal satisfaction of helping out a great kid.

Tuesday, October 11

On Tuesday, I watched a movie at the Busan International Film Festival (BIFF) outdoor theater. Read this blog post to find out more about the festival and see more photos.

BIFF Busan Cinema Center

Wednesday, October 12

I had my open class on Wednesday. In the morning as I was walking out of the secretary’s office, one of them ran out to me and said, “Meagan! Today your open class day??” I said yes and then she held my hand and said, “You be a good teacher. Cheer up!” It was so sweet and so sincere.

I wasn’t nearly as nervous as I was last semester. I didn’t feel like it went that great, but my co-teacher said it was good. After lunch she sent me an instant message on the computer that said, “Principle said you did a good job today. and keep up teach passionly.” He observed for about 60 seconds. But hey… at least he enjoyed every minute of it.

After work I was walking through my neighborhood when I saw a group of middle school boys on their way home. They were racing each other down the sidewalk and when they stopped, I noticed that they were all instinctively fixing their hair. They had to make sure each piece was in its place. It was quite humorous.

Thursday, October 13

After school I met up with my friend and neighbor Jamie to get some dinner. We wanted to venture out into a new area for dinner so we walked about a mile to see what there was to eat near the baseball stadium. We ended up eating a spicy chicken fried rice meal that I loved, but it was a bit to spicy for Jamie’s liking. The great thing about it was that it was only 4,500 won per serving. Afterwards, we did some wandering about and stumbled upon some lovely finds.

  

Friday, October 14

6th grade girl: You have a very white face.
Meagan Teacher: Is that good? (even though I already knew the answer)
6th grade girl: Yes.
Meagan Teacher: Thank you!

Saturday, October 15

On Saturday I participated in a scavenger hunt with 4 other friends. We had 2 lists of challenges, one for pictures and one for videos. Each challenge was assigned a point value and the top 3 teams at the end won prizes. There was also a prize for best costumes. My team didn’t have time to go all out on costumes so we just decided to color coordinate. We wore black and red and called ourselves the Red Hots. We ended up coming in 2nd place (out of at least 15-20 teams) at the end and we had an amazing time! I have so many pictures and videos that the Scavenger Hunt will get its own post in a few days. Here are a few pics to hold you over until then…

Take a photo of your team performing in an airband

Bonus Challenge: All 5 team members must do a human pyramid and take a shot at the same time

Take a picture of 4 team members with at least one body part in the ocean

Arm wrestling students CAN be educational…

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Sorry for the lack of pictures in this blog entry. I promise there will be pictures next week!

Sunday, October 2

I had a lazy Sunday. I stayed in the apartment all day, did a few loads of laundry, finished season 5 of Dexter and watched a few movies. It was nice to have some down time. My stomach was upset all week and seems to be doing better now so I think the rest was exactly what I needed.

Monday, October 3

Monday was the National foundation Day of Korea. I’m not sure what that means exactly, but it’s a national holiday so I had a 3 day weekend. Jamie and I went to Shinsegae, the world’s largest department store. I guess it’s technically a department store, but it’s more like a mall. There are tons of stores within the department store, like Louis Vuitton, Hermes, Gap, Banana Republic, etc. I needed to go there because I had a few gifts I needed to pick up. On the way out, we stopped by the international foods area of the grocery section of the store and I picked up 2 cans of Hormel Turkey Chili and a box of 8 Kellogg’s Nutri-Grain Bars for 17,050 won (about $15!). Afterwards, we went to Seomyeon to get a burger at TGI Friday’s. We sat by the window… across the way we saw a bar called COOL and another one called OOPS.

Tuesday, October 4

My students are pretty funny. They notice everything… while I was walking down the hall, some students yelled, “Hi, Meagan! You’re so beautiful!” while running past me. Later on, two girls were amazed by the rings I wear (I usually get asked if they were given to me by my boyfriend). Finally, a 6th grade girl seemed very frustrated with English when she couldn’t think of how to tell me that she noticed I have my hair parted on the opposite side of my head as usual. She did a great job with hand gestures though!

After school I went back to the doctor. It was my first time in since Friday and it was also the longest I’ve gone between visits. I got great news from the Doc! He said that my ear is 70-80% healed and he doesn’t want to see me again until next week. Also, he took out all of the packing so now the only thing I have stuffed in my ear is a single cotton ball.

Wednesday, October 5

Wednesday was our school’s evaluation. Everyone was dressed up. I made sure to wear dress pants rather than just jeans. I tend to avoid wearing my dress pants because they’re all too big and way too long. My jeans are too, but they don’t look as silly when I roll them up.

The evaluation took place in the library, which is on the same floor as my English classroom. Instead of the kids coming to our classroom, we went to the students’ classroom for classes.

After school I went to the grocery store and stocked up on all things breakfasty. That night, I went home and cooked a breakfast casserole (eggs, onion, bacon and broccoli) so I wouldn’t have to go without breakfast anymore. Not only is it the most important meal of the day, but my school lunches have been pretty inedible lately so breakfast is more important now than ever.

Thursday, October 6

Thursday was an interesting day. Our schedule was slightly interrupted because there was a classical music concert during 2nd period that extended halfway through 3rd period.  The concert was lovely. The students yelled en-core at the end so they played “O Christmas Tree.” My co-teacher said that in Korea the song is about a pine tree.

During 4th period, I had my best class. The were playing “Go Fish” with some vocabulary cards from the book. A few students finished the game before everyone else so I went over to talk to them. Somehow arm wrestling got brought up and I ended up arm wrestling 3 girls… left arm, right arm, and then one on each. They were some strong chicks! One of them beat me. I decided that I needed to at least teach them the English word for arm wrestle so that there was some educational purpose to it. They returned the favor and now I know that arm wrestling is 팔씨름 (pal-shil-um).

After class, the girls told the tale of our arm wrestling match to another boy. He was very interested in arm wrestling me. The girls warned me (in their own way) that he might be short, but he is very strong. They were right! As I was arm wrestling him, the girls told me that my face was getting pink. In my defense, so was his. I could see that he was getting tired so my strategy was to hold strong until he gave up. It eventually paid off. And that is my story of how I beat a bunch of 5th graders at arm wrestling.

Friday, October 7

Quotes of the day:

There is a 4th grade boy that has started yelling “What’s the meeting you here? What do you think so?” at me and then running off. Friday was the second time it happened so finally I made him come back so I could try to make sense of what he was saying. He said is slower then skipped off (yes, acutally skipping). I had to figure out a way to make sure this didn’t become a habit. I went back to the office, wrote down what I thought he might be trying to say (“It’s nice to see you. Don’t you think so?”) and took it to his classroom. We’ll see what happens next week.

6th grade boy: “Teacher, your ear have ouchy?” (because he saw the cotton ball in my ear)

My 6th grade lessons were about comparative adjectives. We did a survey to see who was stronger, luckier, taller, etc. We got to arm wrestle for an educational purpose (to see who’s stronger) and many of the students wanted to arm wrestle me. After beating one of the boys he said, “Teacher, you have man power!” So much for girl power…

Saturday, October 8

There is a Korean man named Charles that organizes cultural trips for foreigners in Busan. On Friday night I went on my first “Charles Trip.” I went with my friend Jamie and made a new friend named Nicole. We went to Jinju to the Lantern Festival. We met up at 8pm and didn’t actually leave Busan until close to 9pm. We took a bus to Jinju, walked around for the lantern festival and then headed back. The festival was gorgeous! I ended up getting home around 4am, but it was definitely worth it.

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