The job

I teach kindergarten by day, from 10-3. I realize this might seem at odds with my last post, so this is one of the many reasons this blog is anonymous. It is what it is. In the abstract, it seemed like a really good idea. But, I guess I really didn't know a whole lot about kids, until, you know, my first day in this country, when I had to figure out pretty much everything on my own.

It's a frustrating job, but also a rewarding one. I can't exactly articulate what the rewards might be at this moment, but I'm sure they're there. At least the kids are really honest if they think you suck as a human being, and about half of them don't think I suck. I really thought there would be serious communication barriers between me and the kindie kids, but this isn't the case at all. These English-speaking Korean 7 year olds (Western 6 year olds; life truly begins at conception here) sound like 5 year olds back home, except perhaps with not as extensive a vocabulary.

I really enjoy myself from 3-7, when I teach anywhere from first through sixth grades, at a variety of levels of proficiency. Essentially, I teach at a private academy for kids whose strict parents make them attend ancillary English classes between their cello lessons and soccer practice. Today, in a unit on household chores, I introduced the phrase "sweep the floor" to a roomful of Asian 10 year olds. I'm pretty much Mr. Miyagi in whiteface. Also, all 10-12 year olds here draw me the same way, with gigantic poofy hair: "Teacher, your hair is like a bird nest."

I could bitch and moan about the hours - and probably will sometime - but when I made the somewhat impulsive decision to move to Korea I was days away from seeking employment at a temp agency and filing for the next several months. So, it's all relative here, yo. And in Korea I've got relative Jew-fro.