March: new beginnings

Let the new school year begin! This month, Jared and I started our new teaching job at Hwarang Elementary, while Ty returned to teach exclusively at BCM, with a new lineup of adult classes. We met our new staff members (6 Korean English teachers and 9 foreigners, including us) as well as the staff coordinator, Lisa. For the first week we administered speaking tests to every student from the grades we would be teaching. Each day after school, we sat in on interminable meetings with management (both Hwarang and BCM) to address school protocol, watch presentations by P.R. reps of the new text books, listen to BCM and Hwarang give subsequent criticisms and tell us what they wanted us to do with the text books instead, practice applying lesson plans in front of our co-teachers, watch a presentation on teaching philosophy, sit in on the classes of former teachers and fill out observation reports, write a test on school protocol... you get the picture.
Classes started the following week, and things settled into a state of normality. I have to be at the school every day from 8:00am - 4:00pm, though my classes always finish at either 2:oopm or 3:00pm each day. The remaining time is for planning and prep, as well as weekly meetings with our Korean co-teachers. Like at Kwangwoon, regular classes are divided into three groups of 10 students each, according to their ability: Sun (high) Star (middle) Sky (low). I teach two grades: grade 4 Sky and grade 1 Sun. I was fortunate enough to have a break this month: Though I'm teaching some unruly grade 4 students, the start of English classes is delayed for all the grade ones untill April, in order to give them a chance to warm up to the rest of their curriculum first.

After the second week of classes, Ty, Jared, and I met Nick and Shannon in the square down the road from Hyewa station, near CulCom. It turned out that every foreigner in Seoul had decided to visit the same spot, drink Guiness, wear green, and gripe about their jobs. Of course, the fact that it happened to be St. Patrick's day might have had something to do with it... In any case, it was a sight to behold. I was flabbergasted to see that many caucasions in one place. We toyed with the idea of starting an impromptu English teacher's union on the spot. And to paraphrase Jared's immortal words, "you are looking at the people responsible for the dissemination of the English language in this country."

Jared and Ty, with the massive tower of free Guiness on the left, mostly obscurred. Unlike most of his pictures, Ty couldn't help smilling.

An hour or so later...

They even had Koreans doing river-dance, or Celtic-hopscotch, as I like to call it.

A few snapshots of Hwarang Elementary:

Outside the front entrance. (For staff use only - students have to use the doors on the far right!)

Just inside the main lobby.

The entrance to the Hwarang English "Edu" Center located on the fourth floor of the building. All of the English staff's classrooms are located here. I was told by BCM I would have my own classroom, but it turns out that they were short a room, and Jessica and I were the unlucky ones. We were given the smallest room to share at opposite times. While one of us is using the "Shadow Live Zone", the other teaches downstairs in the students' homerooms.

Taerung subway station, line 7 . Returning from work. Strangely quiet. Usually these places are bustling. At rush hour, its an organized stampede.

There was a large diorama on display at Nowon station when I arrived one day after school. A bunch of professors and students were being photographed in the lobby outside, for one of the local newspapers. I inquired about the project and was told by a student representative that the government had commissioned the engineering students of S.N.U.T. (Seoul National University of Technology) to design a plan for a greener, pedestrian friendly space soon to be vacated by the pending demolition of an old train track running through Gongneug district. I pass by this University (and through this district) everyday on my way to work, just before arriving at Seoul Women's University and Hwarang. It was encouraging to see the support for the project, though whether the government adopts it as their game plan for 2010 is still in question. And on a completely irrelevant side note, S.N.U.T. is the funniest sounding acronym I've heard in a long time.

Another galbi joint successfully ransacked by a large group of hungry foreigners. Booya!

On the last weekend of March, Ty, Jared, and I went up to Uijeongbu to meet Sean and his girlfriend, whom we had not seen or heard from since he left BCM two months ago. It was encouraging to hear that he had successfully negotiated his new position for a satisfying after-school program in a public school just south of Seoul, despite leaving BCM on bad terms. Since Nick, Shannon, and Kaitlin also lived in the vicinity, they joined the party as well, inviting their friend Jeff, a Korean-American teaching English in Seoul. After galbi, they took us to one of their favorite haunts, a little place called Radio Clock.

February: a change of pace

Upon my return from Japan, I signed a new contract with BCM, similar to the one they had made with Jared a couple of months earlier. The contract comes into effect in the beginning of March, at which point I am no longer required to teach adult classes at BCM, and instead start teaching full time at a new elementary school called Hwarang, for the duration of the full school year. So, assuming that there are no major surprises at the new job, I won't be home until February 2010! I also accepted a pay cut as part of the contract, and then discovered that BCM had been planning to send me to the new school all along. Kwangwoon had dropped their contract with BCM; they wanted to get rid of a (possibly unreliable) middle-man and hire their foreign English teachers directly. Also, because Sean had just left BCM for greener pastures, the management needed someone to fill in the gap, so they switched my February adult class schedule from evenings to early mornings (6:30am - 8:30, Mon - Fri). It wasn't altogether surprising, though it was still a shock to my system, at first. For the first two weeks of February, I had to catch the bus to Kwangwoon, immediately following my morning free talk classes. However, the elementary school year ended on February 18th. Which meant two weeks of "spring" break...

Dinner and drinks at Mr. Kim's place, with Ty and three of his former students from BCM. The young guy next to Ty is an Olympic level swimmer. I regret that I don't have pictures to show of my own adult classes at BCM, despite dinning out with them on several occasions. Many of them were lively and inquisitive, and I will miss the atmosphere of respect, casual conversation, and personal stories that characterized many of my adult classes.

There are hysterical English (not to mention Konglish!) signs all over Seoul. You just have to keep your eyes peeled. Maybe this clothing store really does cater to the new generation of Korean children whose health is being adversely affected by American fast food chains. However, I have to say that most Koreans fall way short of any description using the word "porky".

Here are a few pictures from the top of our local perch, in the first week of February. It was the most beautiful, clear view I've had from Buramsan since arriving in Seoul.

My final days at Kwangwoon; many goodbyes were in order:

The picture above is of the wall in Monica's homeroom on the third floor, where I'd keep my books and prepare for classes. I had wondered for some time about the mysterious presence of the little squiggle following the "I like English" motto, until my girlfriend starting sending me all sorts of text messages with little squiggles after the comments. Apparently, squiggles are universally used to imply elongation and intonation of the phrase in question. Thus, the more squiggles after a text message, the more enthusiastic/amused the tone of voice. They've got text messaging down to a science here.

Grade ones posing with my juggling balls: Rebeca , Lisa, Jane, Katie, Tom. Jane wanted to keep the ball as a parting gift, and she practically made me pry it out of her hand. So sad.

I'll miss you guys!

My grade fives were a really good natured bunch, even when they were misbehaving, so I rarely had to threaten them with serious consequences. I found joking around with them more effective most of the time anyway. I was also lucky to have a couple of the biggest brains in the school in my classes (both girls - no coincidence). I really hope my future students at Hwarang can measure up!

I dinned at a place called Crazy Pepper with Jihyun. You can see the menu and meal below. I requested spiciness level 2 (see below), which was none too cautious, as my eyes were watering for the duration of the meal.

On the first weekend after finishing teaching at Kwangwoon, Jihyun and I went to a place called Giocat in Hongdae district. It's a "cat cafe" with more than two dozen cats roaming and lounging freely about the place. You order your drink and you get to pet your furry feline friends. There were even small shelves bracketed at intervals against the back wall, so a cat could be snoozing right above you as you sip your coffee or slurp your smoothie at a table. Strangely enough, most Koreans don't like cats (they usually prefer dogs as pets) and some people even harbour superstitions about them. I've heard stories about people afraid of getting the evil eye from cats in the dark. Of the cats that I see on occasion in or around my alley, some look a little thin and make awful noises after dusk. There are many strays around Seoul, and Jared even told me of an encounter with one on the mountain! However, the cats at the cafe were well-fed, happy, and playful. Jihyun used to have a cat herself, but the last time she went to visit her parents in her home town, she discovered that her mom had given their pet away to a new owner!


Jihyun has been on my case for not reading the books fast enough that she borrows from the library for me. She would always finish her Korean edition of a recent English bestseller in a matter of days. Last time it was Girl With a Pearl Earring; this time it was A Thousand Splendid Suns, by Khaled Hoseini. I did finally finish, and it was a fantastic novel. I'd enjoyed the Kite Runner a year earlier, and I found Hoseini's second book, about the friendship through hardship of two women who end up married to the same cruel man during the most unstable period of Afghanistan's political history, even harder hitting than his previous book, as well as an intensely beautiful depiction of people's attachments to their home and family. The picture below was taken by Jihyun, while she studied for her classes in my apartment, and I took the opportunity to catch up on my, um, reading...


There was a mustache party going down at Culcom the next weekend. Both Ty and I tried to grow our mustaches out for a few days, but my girl friend did not approve, so I had to shave mine. Luckily they had these great fake adhesive ones for a few bucks at the door. Ty however, still decided to sport the real thing...


There was even a best hair contest to cap off the night. People improvised and made eyebrows, goatees, ear fuzz, & chest hair:


The party was followed up with a late night dinner at a local restaurant, hosted by the manager. We got schmooze with a few of the band members and Culcom staff.

Midweek, Jihyun and I went to the Body Works exhibit that has been traveling the world for the last decade or so. It just happened to be in my neighborhood for the past few months and I'd never had the chance to see. It was something else. They even had a display of petrified fetuses at various stages of development. All those organs, tendons, bones, and veins really serve to remind one that we are fragile beings: temporary organic clusters of cells with a definite expiry date. I think I was more squeamish than Jihyun, a nurse in training who wants to work in the ICU with the fine people who do organ transplants.


Soup brewing, Korean style, in the window of a small but popular restaurant. Good dinner for a cold night. I have my own hotpot now. They're great for cooking up one or two servings and keeping the meal warm as long as necessary.


For the last weekend in February, Jihyun and I reserved a small pension house near some botanical gardens an hour or so north of Seoul. We arrived by train, and even though it was winter, with nary a living flower to be seen outside, there was a stark beauty about the place, and the relatively fresh air of the countryside was a godsend. We explored the grounds, serene in winter's chill, and returned after sundown to witness the winter light show, when the trees and shrubs are draped in lights of all colours...

The smallest church in Korea. Considerably more quaint and less imposing than the garish mega-churches with the pink neon crosses which you can find all over Seoul.

Jihyun, posing with some fake flowers. We may return one day to see the real ones in bloom.

An ancient Juniper tree in the background, at dusk.