Developments in Korea

To any one who reads my blog.
Its been awhile so let me update you on my situation.


To begin with, I studied Cultural Geography in College and one of the Lessons Talked about a thing called the W Curve.
The W Curve is something how people handle Cultural Shock.
I still haven’t any idea what Cultural Shock is because I just don’t feel Shock. This is supposedly the Model: THE W Curve

Honeymoon In Sync Back to Normal

W


In Shock Reverse Cultural Shock Return Trip

Let’s discuss my Job. I work 6 days a week. I teach 30 classes each week and have at least 8 hours of prep work. In other words, my free time is from 8:30 pm until 1 pm the following day. I can stay up late and sleep in if I wanted too.
My lesson plans are scant and the kids don’t truly understand what I am saying. It’s a honorary babysitting service. The kids in my opinion don’t learn they memorize what I want to hear and only answer if they feel like they have something to gain from this.
My boss says I need to give more homework but I give to much and I go to fast. Some of the kids lie to me and always seem to pretend what I am talking about even when they don’t. I don’t know how I can go slower. I ended up teaching one chapter 6 times in one month. (chapters are only a page). The kids don’t listen to me well enough to understand what I want. They know when I am angry and this doesn’t seem to help).
I am stuck in a job that isn’t rewarding as far as teaching is concerned. I have 2 classes where I feel happy about what we accomplish and the rest of them are a complete waste of time. Currently, I have a girl who doesn’t talk to me anymore and won’t let me check her homework. There is absolutely no point. My boss is too busy with 3 jobs so trying to talk to him is a waste of time. When I do talk to him I am criticized. The kids tell my boss that they don’t understand my teaching style. I am adaptable but some kids have driven me up the wall. I speak in the simplest terms possible and ask them if they understand and they don’t. They are the third highest class (TC1) in the academy but some of my younger classes understand better than they do. There are 6 girls and a boy in the class. The girls gossip and complain and the boy is too quiet. It’s a headache for me to get through this class, and when I happen to look at the window and my boss is staring in the window he makes it worse. He is a controlling uncle who can’t put himself into anyone else’s shoes in order to understand a situation. Kids mean money that’s all.

The best part of the work day is from 1 until 2:30 and 8:30 until I leave. During this time I have lunch and “prepare for my lecture” there isn’t much to prepare and so I spend most of my time just relaxing and waiting for the inevitable the coming of the kids. I have only yelled at the kids one time in the office.
Some kids were discussing my private life and also asking for candy and then yelling at Christina when they couldn’t understand what I was saying. I exploded and told them all to get out of the office.

What did I come to Korea for?
When I left America I thought I could clear my mind. I thought that I could be putting things into perspective and find some new things to build on. Maybe I could fix strange relationships.
I could fulfill promises of visiting my old friends.

Since Coming to Korea my views have changed quite a lot again.
I have become more open minded and continue to believe that anything is possible. I also know feel like I want to find a way to create a positive change. The only way I can do this is by being a teacher. More on that later.


My Daily Life… Habits
On a regular basis I now go to McDonalds mainly for breakfast. I go every Tuesday in order to meet some friends who speak Japanese. World Languages are important to me because it’s a gap that divides people. I don’t like that division. I want to work on a way to end this. Language is a reason why people have hatred.

Paris Baquette is another place I go to frequently. This is the local bakery and two minute walk from my house.
For dinner, Gim BoB is a great place. The food is cheap and there is always a lot of food. I often go there for a lunch with Christina before work. The other favorite place is the Lunchbox, which is also very cheap.

The Seraf around the corner is the local version of Albertsons and my new grocery store. Sometimes I miss the type of food I ate in America like tacos, and a good steak dinner but most of the time I don’t even realize what I am missing.

I go to Seraf usually once or twice a week. E-mart is the equivalent of Walmart.
I just got back from there today. I bought some coffee and milk and hopefully I won’t be going back for a few days. I am spending so much money these days.

So this is some but definitely not all of whats going on in Korea.