We are obviously finding it hard to keep up with the blog. So much goes on and it is hard to write about all of it. So I thought I’d just write about my average week here day by day. I’ll start with Monday.
Our Morning routine is pretty much always the same, up at 7ish. The first one out of bed makes coffee, the people before us left a French press, and feed Kimchi the rabbit. We shower, dress (with no dryer I have to iron everything first) and if I am lucky Laura makes a snack, toast or fruit. We have to be out the door at 8:20 and at work by 8:40, usually I ride my bike and Laura taxis (about $2.50).
Monday is a three class day, grade fives and six. Grade fives are great, decently behaved, smart and will participate in most things. They don’t dance and sing like the younger kids but they still become excited for Simon says and power point games. 6-3 is the only grade 6 I see on Monday and easily my worst class of all. They are almost teenagers now so all they want to do is chat, preen and pout. Still I like them (most of them) and there are some great kids. Lunch is at 12:20 everyday except Friday and my next class at 1:30. On Mondays I am finished teaching by 2:10 and have to stay at school till 5:00. This time is generally called ‘desk warming’ by the foreign English teachers. It’s unsupervised time that I am sure the school is hoping you put to good use. Every teacher has a different amount of it and everybody uses it differently. I generally use it to plan lessons but I also do a fair amount of web surfing, chatting and watching tv shows and movies on the computer.
At 5:00 I take off my work slippers and put on my outdoor shoes and bike back home. Mondays are orphanage nights and we have to be there at 7:00, so we don’t have much time for dinner or relaxing. I like to change, since it is more casual at the orphanage, and then we usually head to old downtown for a quick bit to eat. Last week it was pizza. You can get a pretty decent pepperoni pizza for 5000 Won (easy conversion approx. 5.00). We taxi to the orphanage which is about a 5 -10 minute ride, it is somewhere between old and new Mokpo. Laura and I each teach with a partner, Me with Lindsay and Laura with Nadine. My class has six students around grade 3 & 4 (it is difficult to tell ages because of the Korean system). We teach for an hour and the topic and style is totally up to us. Materials are supplied by the orphanage program set up by foreign English teachers. My kids can be quite a handful. Their English ability is varied and at times it can be difficult to keep their attentions. But like my grade sixes they are still good kids.
Orphans anywhere are a pretty sad story but Korea has a unique take. Some of the orphans actually still have parents. When Korean parents divorce the husband automatically gets custody and has no obligation to give the children to his wife. If the father is looking for another relationship the kids will be a big determent and he can give them to the orphanage. Even if he does this the mom still can’t claim them. In addition to being abandoned by your original parent these orphans cannot be adopted since they technically still have parents. This will be an anchor around them for their entire lives since family ties are very important in Korea and play a factor in future education and employment opportunities. So part of the idea of English teachers coming in is too try to give them a leg up in their future. Pretty sad eh? However you can let go of your images of a bleak Charles Dickens orphanage filled with cruel nuns. The kids are well cared for, the building is new and roomy and the nuns seem caring and warm.
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