So, the vacation buzz has worn off a bit, and I'm starting to sink into the real swing of things at school. Which I think is going to be fine for 12 months.

There are ... 9 foreign teachers? And probably about the same number of Korean teachers. All women. In one room, during our 10 minute breaks every 2 hours... there are 20 women (with the head teachers) in the same room. Waaay too much estrogen if you ask me, but I'm sure we'll make it work.

During the week, I have 12 different classes that meet two or three times each week. The kids range between 6 and 15 years of age and are grouped by English level. I'm given a set curriculum that needs to be taught by the end of the month. Basically, I press play and help the kids answer the questions from the (boring) books they're given.

Most of the kids are great. I was given one class of "trouble makers", and the first day I spent with them was just great... because the one main trouble-maker was gone. Well, he came back today. Justin is a pain in the ass. And I'm still trying to figure him out. After only having spent 90 minutes with him... I can't quite tell what his deal is. I'm thinking that his English just isn't as good as the others', so he needs to misbehave to detract attention from that. I pulled him aside after class to have a little chat, telling him that I have high expectations for him and that I know he's a smart kid but that if he really wants to learn, he needs to start paying attention in class and doing his homework. "Sorry teacher, sorry teacher." I wanted to scream, "Don't be sorry, just don't misbehave!" It's never that easy, though. He's going to be my project. Hopefully I can get to him.

In one of my other classes, we're writing haikus! How fun! The kids think it's lame. Haha. I definitely thought haikus were lame when I was that age, so I'm trying to spice them up a little bit. I've written some good ones to illustrate what they are. Good stuff. We're having a "poetry slam session" on Thursday to share our poems. I'm gonna turn the lights down and everything. Haha. Yeah, that's right. I might even bring a beret or something. :D

Today in class, because it was Wednesday, I taught them all "Hump Day". They thought it was funny. I drew camels to illustrate humps. Haha. And I'm sure you'll all aware of my drawing skills... :D But they were able to recognize the animal as a camel, so that was the important part. They got a kick out of it. I'm gonna set up some trivia games soon and teach some more English slang. "Creepy" is on the top of my list. Scary + Crazy = Creepy. Reminds me of one kid in particular from McVay. :D

So, school is good and all, but what I really want to write about tonight is the plight of the Korean woman. We went out to WaBar after work tonight with most of the foreign teachers, and a few of the Korean teachers came, too. It was fun to talk to them. One of the foreign teachers, I don't remember who, started talking about love or marriage or something... and then one of the head teachers joined in. She was saying how naive we were in thinking that the men we were going to marry wouldn't ever stray or would be faithful forever. According to her, she said it was very common for men to solicit sex workers for a bit of "fun" outside the marriage. This, however, is much more "expensive" (financially and socially) for women who sometimes have to pay 10 times more than men would for the same services. She was saying that if she found out that her husband was paying for sex that she wouldn't divorce him, that she would be sad, but that she wouldn't do anything "irrational". The foreigners, we were shocked. We all said that we would be out of there immediately. The head teacher went on to say that "But you are all so young. You'll see things differently when you're my age." What... we'll tolerate our solicitous husbands' adultery? Doubtful. She called us naive, saying that we're definitely going to change, that we don't know anything about love and marriage. And as much as that may be true, that is also a huge cultural difference.

She explained to us that, like in so many other parts of the world, women are mainly kept in the home with no economic independence to free them from disastrous marriages. They can't get out of a bad situation if it comes. She was saying that this is why most women tolerate it: they don't have any choice. This is something I definitely understand. It's interesting, though, how money and privilege don't go to counteract these differences. She herself would be financially independent enough to take care of herself and her children because she has a good-paying, full-time job, yet she still would rather save her marriage to a cheating (with prostitutes no less) husband.

She was also saying that she would absolutely have to take care of the kids because men cannot successfully raise children alone without the help of their mothers. Basically, there must be a mother figure in the child's life. Men cannot develop those nuturing relationships with their children. That is a role for mothers. When we said that we had seen successful single fathers, she just kinda laughed in disbelief. "I've never seen it." There are such strict gender roles here... I could never actually do it.

Going along with gender roles is the standard of beauty. I learned tonight that South Korea is one of the capitals of plastic surgery. Lots of women have procedures done to thin out their faces or define their eyes (among other things). There is a huge emphasis on being thin. Right when we sat down at the bar, I was going to order a Baileys, and one of the Korean teachers asked me if it was any good. Milk, chocolate, liquor, why wouldn't it be good? "Well, doesn't it have a lot of calories?" I wanted to say, "Well, probably not as many as the 4 beers, fries, and chicken wings you'll be having tonight, but yeah, I guess it does." That didn't really seem appropriate, so I just smiled. And she proceeded to consume what I had mentioned. One of the foreign teachers said that she was going home to eat some food. A different Korean teacher asked, "But why now? Isn't that going to make you fat? Eating before bed?" The foreign teacher said that she would be up for quite awhile, so she wasn't too concerned. In class in one of the books, there is a girl with a "medical problem" and the kids have to circle the picture that went along with the description. "I have a problem. I'm fat! I am very stressed froms studying so much, and when I'm stressed, I eat. It makes me even fatter." And the picture they had to circle was a young overweight girl.

Quick! Start the socialization young or else they'll figure out that we're making them feel bad about themselves from day one!!! It's hard to see that it starts so young! I've heard stories from the kindergarten teachers about how their girls say things about their weight. They're 6! It's unbelievably sad. This is gonna be another one of my missions. I want to have some sort of ... something to talk about this with the girls. Maybe if there are no boys in class some day, we can talk about those types of things... And I wish I could do more of that... but alas.

I'm so intrigued by all I'm learning about this culture. And while I don't agree with a lot of things that I'm hearing, I still find it fascinating. I'm surrounded by great people all the time, and that makes everything okay. :D

I'd love to hear your comments! Email me or comment on the post! Bisous!