Maple. Zion. Smiley. Speed.
You're probably thinking, "He must've had a stroke!"
Actually, I'm fine, thank you. I'm simply calling role in my
classrom. Yes, these are literally the names of some of my students.
Apparently the students can get creative when choosing their English
names. I can't blame them, I'd have done the same. I also have
students with typical Korean names such as Miyool, Dowon, and Jun
Yeoung. And then there's Caleb and his older sister Arielle. They
only slightly stick out.
There are oh so many ways
that Korean school differs from American school – some seem like
welcome changes while others would be utterly preposterous in the
States. All of my students are extremely smart. I have 7 year olds
that are reading better than kids in the States do at that age. And
this is not their native language, it's their second or third!
Pretty impressive. Oh, and one thing about age - Koreans are 1 year
old when they are born, not 0 like back in America. They also don't
age on the date of their birth, they age on January 1st of each year.
So my 7 year olds are actually 6 year olds which makes their reading
skills all the more impressive.
In between each class
periods, the students have a 10 minute break to release some energy
and move around. As of right now, I'm intruiged by this idea. It
seems like it would help the monotony of what could possibly be a 12
hour day of school for some students. What I've observed however is
that the children run around like maniacal animals jumping, climbing,
and balancing on any and everything while the Korean teachers just
walk through the chaos in the hall. Any school nurse, or medical
insurance company for that fact, would be absolutely appauled during
these 10 minutes. It seems to be perfectly acceptable behavior
though and after a minute or two, the students actually do calm down
for the most part so that the next period can begin.
"Wow, that is
different and slightly odd" you must be thinking, "but to
claim some things are 'utterly preposterous' is very bold." Oh ye
of little faith! Example #1...there is no door to our school's
bathroom, you just walk into one of two open rooms divided by a wall.
One for the boys and one for the girls. The boys room has 2
urinals, one large and one small, and a toilet in a stall. This
bathroom is for both the students and I. So it's completely
acceptable for Dowon and myself to stand side-by-side at the urinals.
I think I'll stick with locking myself in the stall...it's humorous
how I'm the one acting like a frightened little child. As for
washing your hands afterwards, there is a horse trough with a few
faucets in it. That's different but fine. What isn't fine however
is that it's 1 foot from the ground. Perfect for Caleb who is 3
years old, not perfect for a 6 foot 1 inch monster like myself.
Example #2...I just missed arriving in time for our school's field
trip to a public pool. After the swimming session, all of the boys
and girls went into their respective locker room shared by everyone.
It's the teacher's duty to make sure the students shower, dry them
off, and get them dressed. I think I'll sit this out with the other
American male teacher Mike.
While I have much more I
can write about, I'll leave you for now with a photographic tour of
the school as well as questions from the students on my first day.
"Teacher, what are
you?"
"Teacher, what is
your name?"
"My
name is Ryan."
"Lion!
That's an animal!" (hilarious laughter ensued)
"Ryan
teacher, Ryan teacher! What is neutered?"
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