Toddlers and Tantrums, oh yeah, Teaching

Ah, the post you've all be waiting for. Teaching!!!

You've probably wondered why its taken me so long to write about my teaching experience. Well, I'd be lying if I said it was solely because I wanted to get a few pictures of the kids to go with the blog. Yes, that is part of the reason. But the other part is that I've wanted to run away from this school screaming "I can't do this!!!" for two weeks straight. In fact, that is most of the reason I haven't blogged about my teaching experience. Up until now, I was seriously considering trying to find a new teaching job or just come home.

I found out very quickly, I am not equipped to teach kindergarten. Eh-hem, let me rephrase that, I'm not equipped to teach preschoolers. You see, Koreans calculate birthdays differently than Americans (or any other country I've encountered so far... I want to check China cause I think they are doing the same funny math -- remember those "14" year old Chinese gymnasts!). Well, a child is considered 1 years old on the day he/she's born. On Jan 1st, everyone turns a year older. So, technically, a child born Dec 31 is two years old on Jan 1st in Korea. In America he's a day old. Get it? So, they say I'm teaching kindy... but really, these kids are preschool.

So, back to the part about me being ill prepared. Per my contract, I was to receive two or three days of orientation. Well, yes, I did go to school for two days before I started teaching but since it was graduation time, there were no kindy classes. I observed a total of four elementary school classes and received no instruction on how to teach kindy, what resources were available to me or even what was expected of me.

I'm sure right now you are thinking, what an awful school. Of course you should leave. Well, in fact, this is pretty standard for all private schools in Korea. Its just the culture. Very fly by the seat of your pants, info is on a need to know basis, and everything is rushed and last minute. You just have to roll with it because you can't change it.

So, I receive my schedule and found out I'm teaching 6 classes of kindy in the morning and 2 classes of elementry school in the afternoon. Three of the kindy classes are with a group called Dallas (all the classes have English speaking city names, London, Boston, New York, etc). Well the Dallas kids consist of 7 year olds (that's 5/6 year olds in America) and they are 1st year English students. I only have two students: Troy and Sophia.

The second group is called Atlanta. Atlanta kids are 5 years old (3/4 - yeah... toddlers!) and also 1st year English students. Their names: Sally, Jinny, and Henry (Henry is the boy who knows the word "Burberry" but doesn't know that he's a "boy")

So, I've got the newbies. Hmmmm... let's get this straight, someone thought sticking the new teacher with the new kids was the best plan. Really???? Really???? I have no experience teaching and these kids have no experience learning. Does anyone else smell disaster?

Needless to say, I've been struggling.

I can roll with the Dallas class (the older ones). They pick things up quicker, they understand English a little bit already, they can do worksheets and play games to pass the time. Tic Tac Toe is the latest game of choice.

But Atlanta, I'm clueless. And unfortunately, since they don't know a word of English (I mean NOT ONE WORD), and I don't know a word of Korean... it's like the blind leading the blind. Or the illiterate teaching the illiterate. It's been two weeks and only two of my three kids know the difference between the words boy and girl. I do have a book but trying to get them to stay on one page long enough to have them look at a picture and repeat the English word is nearly impossible. And trying to come up with a lesson plan... seriously. This is my dilemma: fill 3 35min classes with learning, games, activities. So, I think...

• Easy games like I Spy... can't do it. They won't understand me and don't know the English words for things in the room.
• Flash cards... marginally successful. But they are shy, bored, scared, not sure what I'm saying... you name the reason but repeating is like pulling teeth
• Songs... well, they can only handle songs that are slower and have physical motions.
• Coloring... YES! Coloring they can do!
• Read a book... ha! They don't understand me. Oh, and reading only takes up like 5minutes... 30 more to go!
• Cut and paste projects... yeah, 3 year olds can't cut. And Jinny tried to eat the glue yesterday. Ugh.

Oh, and I have to have like four activities planned per 35minutes because they have attention spans of a chipmonk. And they are in school all day - 9:30am - 2:20pm. It's a long day. They are tired. Cranky. Bored... Blah Blah Blah. But none of this is their fault. There is just a lot being asked for these little ones and I totally understand when they just shut down in the middle of the day.

So, yeah, I've had a rough first few weeks. I've talked with my director and head teacher about switching classes. No can do! They insist that in a month, these kids will be my favorite. Sure, the are cute. But I'm not now, nor will I ever enjoy being a performing monkey!

After all that ranting, I will concede that this week has been a bit better. I did insist that the head teacher spend time helping me develop lesson plans (that is her job actually!). She gave me some good ideas. Also, let me know that it is okay for the kids and I to just play together. So, in the afternoon, half of our class is play time. I speak English to them and try to make it semi-educational but really, I need a break too! I got some CDs with songs so I don't have to sing as much anymore! And the kids are warming up to me. I get hugs (and sometimes kisses... which is apparently cool here) before the kids leave.

So, let me officially introduce you to my little ones...

Dallas Class:

First we have Sophia. Each morning I say "Hello, Sophia. How are you today?" She always replies "Hello, Emily Teacher. I am angry today." And it's quite true. She comes to school very pissed off. She's a moody little girl but for the most part, very well behaved. So, I can dig it. And if I tickle her, she will laugh.

Next is Troy. Troy started off school screaming "NOOOOOO" at the top of his lungs. He's got a bit of a temper and can get into funky moods where he just refuses to do anything. But he's gotten used to school now and when he gets into his funk, I just pull his book and any sharp object away from him, let him cool off for a minute, and then he's usually ready to join class again.

Atlanta class:

On the left is Sally. Sally is very very very shy. She will do whatever her neighbor is doing except if her neighbor is being naughty. So, she's a follower but at least when the other kids jump off the bridge, she probably won't.

Next is Jinny. Jinny can be very loving and then very very naughty. She'll take something she isn't suppose to, then hide it behind her back, and look at me with these eyes that say "I know what I did, I know it was wrong, and I'm not going to give it back without a fight." She's probably my least favorite child. But then she has these moments where she runs up and is so happy to see me so I can't stay angry with her for long.

On the right is Henry. Ah, Henry. Mr. Burberry pants. Henry is clearly the youngest. But very very bright. He is extremely cute and can get away with murder (and he knows it!). I wish I got a picture of Henry smiling because he usually is. In this picture it looks like he's thinking, "ah, another F-ing worksheet. I want to kill myself with this pencil" ... Me too Henry, Me too!

So, as of now, I'm just taking one day at a time. Hopefully I'll get into a groove and things will get easier. I seriously doubt I'll ever say "I like teaching babies". It's just not my cup of tea. But I do like teaching so hopefully someday this will feel more like teaching and less like babysitting!

BaBye. Em

Grandma's voice

So, I'm officially sick. I've got a nasty cold which started about Tuesday of last week. This weekend I just about lost my voice all together and when I can talk, it is extremely raspy and scratchy.

But sick days aren't really an option here. I do have 3 sick days in my contract (for the whole year) but I need a doctors note!!! I mean really, do you want me coming to school spreading my germs. I didn't think so. But in fact, I feel fine in terms of my energy level. It is just the constant runny nose and sore throat that is a bummer.

So, why am I sharing all this loveliness with you? Well, it is because I visited the doctor today and thought you would enjoy the story. I went to school this morning and of course, everyone noticed my horrendously bad voice. I asked my director what doctor I should see since my cold has lasted almost a week and isn't getting better. She suggested two options.

1. Go to the pediatrician which is right next door.

2. Go to a grown up doctor in another area.

The reason she gave me two option is that I don't have my health insurance card yet. So, my doctor's visit won't be subsidized and I'd have to pay the full amount. But once I get my health insurance card, I can go back to the doctor and pharmacy to get a refund for the difference in cost. If I chose option 2, I could borrow a friends insurance card and pretend to be her. (this is my director telling me to impersonate someone else and steal insurance!!! haha!)

What makes this story so ridiculous is that doctors visits and medicine are extremely cheap even without insurance. I chose option 1 being the honest person I am.

My diagnosis: tonsillitis and laryngitis (aka - soar throat and a cold ... duh, now hand over the drugs!)
My drugs: couldn't tell you... but I think there is an antibiotic in there somewhere!

Total bill: Doctor's visit 11,900 won. Medicine 6,000 won. In US dollars: $12

yeah, that's right.... $12 dollars! What the hell does it cost with medical insurance? Honestly, I can't even go back for the refund. I would be too embarrassed to ask for a measly $6 or whatever it will come out to be.

Moral of the story, next time you get sick, I think a flight to Korea to receive treatment might be cheaper than getting it in the US (with your medical insurance!)

And the reason this blog is called Grandma's voice is because one of my students today kept saying "Grandmas voice, Grandmas voice" (in Korean of course! God forbid he use the English I'm trying to teach him) all day. Lovely, I sound like this kid's Grandma and frankly, the old women here scare the shit out of me. They are mean little women so I'm probably freaking this kid out!

His and Hers

Korean fashion is interesting and really not too bad. Women are very very trendy and Men dress extremely metrosexually. Right now, the trend for women is very large oversize tops with big belts and then skinny pants (not really jeans - Americans still have the market on that) or mini skirts with leggings. All women wear heals... all the time! And the Koreans are all so skinny with no breasts, no hips, no butts - they'd look good in everything. The men on the other hand are way to fashion conscious for my taste. They wear shimmery business suits, bedazzled ties (I'm not kidding!), very very skinny pants or jeans. I promise to get some pictures to go with this blog so you can see what I'm talking about.

But there is one fashion trend which I hope never leaves this country. His and Her matching underwear. It's a huge thing and people who are boyfriend/girlfriend (which is a big deal here) will buy matching underwear.

Apparently they will also buy matching outfits!!! Koreans don't do PDAs (public displays of affection) which includes holding hands so they show off that they are a couple by wearing matching clothes. I'm definitely going to take a picture the next time I see one such couple.

More to come on this blog... :) Em

My Hood

I live in an area of Busan called Haeundae. (pronounced like its spelled - Hay Un Day). The best part of Haeundae is the beach. The weather right now isn't quite warm enough but the blue skies makes it hard not to wonder there on the weekends. Today, I sauntered down to Haeundae beach to do a little reading and soak up some warmth from the sun.

This Little girl was just the cutest. Running to and from every time the tide washed in and out.

Please note her fashion. Kids here are dressed like little dolls. Well, the wealthy kids are! My kids at school come in with designer outfits that cost hundreds (I checked it out at the mall after work one day!). One of my little kindergartners said, "Teacher, Burberry" (as he's pointing to his plaid pants). Great, you know how to say Burberry but you don't know the difference between boy and girl yet. Ugh.

The picture on the left is of the Haeundae and the picture on the right is of Jangsong (the area of Busan to the east of Haeundae)

~Em

Care to Send a Care Package

Hi Friends!

If by chance you get the urge to send random things to the other side of the world for shits and giggles, then by all means, send away. And while you're at it, let me suggest an address... :)

Emily Tharpe
Kids Club Fun Language School
Centum Feel Bldg 2F #203
1221 Bunji Jaesong-Dong
Haeundae-gu, Busan, South Korea 612-050

I have no idea the expense so please don't feel obligated. And from what I understand, standard shipping can take anywhere from 1-2wks but a friend told me that even some things take longer.

And in case you are wondering what one might need (or miss) while living in SKorea, well....
For me:

• Mac 'n cheese
• Granola
• Granola bars (anything chewy, chocolatey, peanut buttery, appley, stawberryy, etc)
• Energy bars (powerbar, odwalla, etc)
• Gum (they of course have gum but their sweetener is weird)
• Good Beer (but you can't ship that so no worries)
• Toothpaste (the stuff here also has a funky taste - travel size is nice)
• Books and Magazines! (in English preferably! Send me an old paperback or old US weeklys, yoga journals, etc. I have a TV but I'm not using it so I'm reading anything and everything I can get my hands on!)

For the Kids:

• Stickers (I brought some small ones but the bigger ones are a hit... about the size of a quarter. The kids have a sticker book to fill up and it's kind of bragging rights if the stickers are bigger)
• Fun erasers (I swear the kids eat them off the end of their pencils. So they are constantly going, "teacher teacher, eraser eraser"... I think it's the second phrase they learn after "potty please").
• Any fun game you can find at the dollar store. I'm constantly trying to find ways to entertain these kids so the sillier the better! (think jacks, dominos, race cars, whatever!)

That's all I can think of at the moment. But as things come to mind and are missed, I'll update the list :)

I promise I'll blog about my teaching experience soon! I just want to get a few good pics of the kids in action first!

Miss you all!!!! Love, Em

Buddha Buddha Buddha

This weekend brought two new adventures. Saturday was spent meandering through Nampo-dong's street market for food and fashion. Nampo-dong is west of where I live in Haeundae (but just about everything is west of where I live). The area boasts the best shopping from high end boutiques to side street markets peddling everything from knock off Louis Vuittons to t-shirts, scarves, jewelry and second hand vintage shops.

There was also a plethora of street food vendors which I found extremely fascinating. I tried a few things but really can't tell you what I was eating. One thing looked like a sushi roll, another looked like a dumpling and the last was a really spicy sausage and noodle thing. Local food is always good so I haven't really encountered anything I haven't liked to some degree.

Although there were a ton of fish options, I didn't try any on Saturday. There is a huge and very famous fish market which is also located in the area. I plan to head back to check it out another time!

Sunday was a great day for hiking and a little temple time. A few new friends and I headed to spot in northern Busan to hike up a little mountain and find the "hidden" temple. The temple isn't really hidden but more of a b*tch to get to.


The Korean hiking experience is like nothing I've experienced. First of all, Koreans have all the necessary (and unnecessary) equipment - hiking poles, hiking boots, the proper mountaineering tear proof pants, wicking t-shirts, insulated vests, huge backpacks, hats to protect against the sun, etc. If the product is sold at Patagonia, North Face, or any rink-a-dink trekking store, these people have it!


Along the way to the mountain, our group was approached by a group of Romanians looking for the same temple. I have to mention that you don't have to actually climb the mountain to get to the top. There is a cable car which would transport you up at a mere cost of 3,000won (about $2.25). We told the Romanians we were heading in the same direction and could point out the cable car for them. As we walked to the foot of the mountain, we chatted with the men about what they were doing in SKorea (they are in shipping apparently. I didn't ask what they were shipping...).


At the base, we waved goodbye and began to walk toward the start of the "trail" (stair master would be more accurate). The men asked what we were doing. We told them that we intended on walking up. (however, after seeing the Koreans in all their gear, I was suspecting that we were in for more than we bargained for). I later found out that the hike was a vertical assent straight up the mountain. The path consisted of thousands of stones strategically placed as steps.


Anyway, the Romanians decided to join us for the walk up. I tried to explain that it was going to be steep and they might not have the proper attire but my message didn't seem to translate. Anywho, the guys made it but not without a lot of breaks (which I happily took as well!) and some heavy duty sweating!


As we climbed up, there were some highlights. Picturesque views of Busan and Buddhist figures carved out of the side of rocks.


Eventually, we made it to the top. It was a great view and we stopped to take a few pictures of the city.




Next stop was the "hidden" temple. So, the temple isn't so much hidden as it is misleading. You would think that after the 1hour climb to the top, the temple would be there. I mean, why else would everyone be climbing up this godforsaken rock? Oh, no. I couldn't be more wrong. The temple was located another hour climb. We had to go down the backside of the mountain and then up another peak to finally reach the temple.


While at the temple, we gave offerings to Buddha statues and witnessed many Korean praying to the stone carvings.

Last but not least, we found the holy grail of Buddha shrines. A small room in one of the temples held a few hundred gold Buddha statues. Not sure why it is important to have so many statues in one room? Maybe so they don't get lonely? It was pretty stunning!

Buddha Buddha Buddha - Em

Home Sweet Home

So, I moved into my apt about a week ago. I was surprised that it was quite modern and, for the most part, clean. The bathroom still needed another scrubbing in my opinion but otherwise, not too shabby. I'm not good with dimensions but basically you can see by the picture there is one main living space with a bed (hard as a rock), hideous orange chair, desk and closets. Off the main room, is the kitchen and short hall which leads to the bathroom and door to the apt building. The bathroom is a western style bathroom. Which means it's a luxury. Typical Korean bathrooms do not have a separate shower stall. The entire bathroom is tiled and so you shower in the same space you used the sink and toilet. I haven't seen one like this yet but I'll be sure to take a picture when I do so you can have a visual.

According to my contract, my apt was to be furnished. Which should include bed, desk, TV, linens, appliances, utensils, dishes, etc. Well, let's run down the check list, shall we?

• bed - check!
• linens - (eh, comforter - yes. Sheets - no) -so, half check.
• TV - check! (but I'm keeping it in the closet for now)
• desk - check!
• chair - check!
• appliances - ?????? there is a toaster oven and a stove. I guess that is what they mean. (no oven and no microwave) I don't cook so when you take away the microwave, that means I can't even fake cook! - half check.
• Utensils - three pairs of chop sticks, one spoon. No knives (butter, steak, etc), no forks, no spatulas, no large spoons to stir things on the stove. This only deserves a quarter check.
• dishes - three plates, one bowl, three mugs. Well, I will give it a full check b/c the basics are covered (barely) but I still need to go out and buy a real glass (drinking OJ and Milk out of a coffee mug actually feels weird!
• Pots and pans - check!

Anywho, you get the idea. For the most part, things were provided but I still have a bit of shopping to do to make it feel like home. (at least a striped down, save my pennies for travel rather than spoons, skeleton version of home!)

Okay - hopefully you've got a decent idea of my place. I'll leave you with one last image. Sunrise view from my apt window. I'm on the 18th floor so it's a nice view for sure. The weather has been a bit dreary since I got here but the sun shines right through my window so I have to say I feel pretty lucky right now!
That's all for now - Em