Be Rad in Korea: First Impressions on Teaching

Its now Tuesday night at about 7:30 and I just got home from work. I’ve had 2 full days at BONO Language School and I love it so far. There is so much I have to say about it but there’s no way I’ll remember it all while I’m writing this. I’m not even sure how to begin explaining it. First of all, my school isn’t a public school, nor is it a part of any school system. It’s a private school, or a hagwon as they call it here.

The library at BONO

Typical Classroom

Hagwons here are a dime a dozen. I’ll bet there are tens of hagwons for every square mile here in Daegu. Why? Because Koreans are crazy about their kids’ education. These hagwons are run as businesses for profit. At first, you may be inclined to think negatively about this, but really it makes sense. What parents want is for their kid to be best prepared for their schooling, because how you perform in elementary school affects which high schools you get into, and those affect which universities will accept you, and so on… basically, how you are educated (or not) will ultimately define how successful you will be in EVERY facet of your life.

To Koreans, it’s worth big bucks to send your kids to a place of learning as soon as you can. Most of these hagwons are primarily English schools, and so is BONO, but we also have other classes like Chinese, art, math, sciences, ect… The kids we have from 9am-3pm are aged 5-7ish and aren’t in actual school yet. Then we get a different group of kids (8 year olds) at 3-5. These kids come right from their public schools. Also, you should know that when I say these kids’ ages, this is their Korean age. Yes, it is different. Koreans count the 9 months in the womb as a whole year and say that brand new babies are 1 years old. Then every lunar New Year, everyone changes age by one. So, myself, being born on July 23, 1989 makes me 22 in America until July 23, and then I’ll be 23. In Korea I’m 24 right now, and I’ll stay 24 until about a year from now, which is when the next lunar new year is. The point is, some of these kids are actually only 3, and none of them are older than 6 (the daytime ones). I got lucky and I got a 7-year-old (5/6 American) class, and I love it so far.

For those of you who either know of, or have been with me for the mission trips I’ve been on in North Dakota, it’s a lot like that. It’s also a lot different than that in that the schedule actually gets followed, and the kids behave so much better. Seriously… Sooooo much better, not to hate on my Native American kids though. I still got plenty of love for ND.

Cute kids.

ahhhwwwwww

I learned him good.

I’ve earned plenty of nicknames in my two days so far. In Korea, if someone is senior to you in age or rank, you’ll address him or her with his or her title as well. So my name to them is Brad Teacher. However, giant teacher, and bbang (said like bong) teacher are more popular. Bbang is apparently how you say bread in Korean and its quite hilarious to them that my name is so close to bread. So, Bbang Teacher it is… Every Korean I’ve met so far has had a tough time with it, so I decided last night to start going by Bradley.

Hey, these are real snazzy slippers

yet they're lacking in depth...

Brad Teacher = Giant Teacher

This is what I see when I look in a restroom mirror.

I’m sure as time goes on, I’ll have plenty more to add about teaching, but so far I love it and the kids are great. This week I’m just shadowing the teachers that are on their way out. The nights have been spent learning the ropes of the city and trying to learn as many Australian sayings as I can before Brett has to leave. I’ve learned a lot of good stuff. On another note, I’m pretty sure I’ve already lost weight. The food is great and I’m eating plenty of it, its just that its mostly rice and veggies so there’s not much damage done. The only other thing that’s new is that I have received details on my apartment. The details are that there are no more details until the 29^th, so that’s nice. So, it looks as if I’ve got another week before I can sort myself out (Australian, mate). Until then I’ll be on the floor at my co-teacher Don’s place. Its good we all get along so well already, otherwise this first two weeks would be a lot more difficult. I’ve truly been blessed by being placed at this school and with this specific bunch of people. I’m really looking forward to this next year. Peace and love to all back in the States!