(no subject)
So I might work two times a week instead of three, it is not too bad, better for my schedule. My first day will be this coming Tuesday; we shall see how that one goes.
I have the same feeling when I first taught English to a class in Korea. I was pretty scared that I would screw up, these parents have such high expectations it's not even funny. Originally, my class had 5 students which was really good, though it got a little hectic for me, the age ranged from 6-9, the age gap was a problem and some students came without knowing their alphabets; they just threw bunch of kids into my class and figured I will create some magic. After the first day, 2 students were pulled out by their parents (apparently they complained that I didn't engage them in a fun activity). Hello! It is the first bloody day; we were just getting to know each other. Secretly I was glad of it, those two girls spoke little English, and one barely knew her alphabet! I was pretty damn discouraged that day, wondered why I even took up this job. On top of that, I had a good amount of stress, even though this job looked like piece of cake at first. How wrong I was, those 3 remaining kids were the most obnoxious mix, two boys and one girl. Two boys named Ho-Dae and Sung-Hoon were both nine and Tina was eight. I was glad there was not much age gap. Ho-Dae was obviously the gifted one for this class, from the first day he was able to engage with me in simple conversation, and he would finish his assigned work in matter of minutes, while other students struggled to answer their first question. Ho-Dae’s mom is an English teacher in a Korean public school, thus much attention was put on her son. Ho-Dae is outspoken, engaging, and full of energy and confidence. He was the leader among his peers who had to get things his way or compromise none-the-less. Sung-Hoon is very reserved and shy; my aim for him was to become much more confident in his English and himself. He came to my class without knowing much English, his alphabets were out of order, and letters were confused. I had to explain to him about capital letters and small letters (which created even more confusion in him) but I made him practice and practice. He was a model student; he did what he was told. I was very proud of his progress! I remember the first time I heard him speak English, he sounded like he had marshmallows packed in his mouth. I knew he was trying hard to imitate the sounds I was making, yet his tongue would not relax. I had to laugh at that one. Tina is the silent one, but soon the charms of Ho-Dae broke her timidity. Tina seemed a little resilient, I was never sure if she understood what I was trying to teach. Like Sung-Hoon, her alphabets were out of place. Tina was easily influenced by Ho-Dae’s energy and spirit (a nice way of saying it), and Sung-Hoon soon followed. It seemed as though, my “nice teacher” technique was not working, they were like penguins slowly planning their escape. (Note to Madagascar) To take my iron fist back, I did not use punishment (or I tried but failed), I did not use high tone (I tried, but failed), I used what most mothers tend to never think to use… utter silence. I sat their, steady and head up, my eyes observing them with a cold stare. Yup, that got their attention, they slowly sank back down to their seat, and I continued my lesson.
A month of class passed like this, each with their own personality. We played endless games of “Guess Who” which we all got tired of playing. Along the way, I invented few games, we sang songs, and we would read out loud, overall it was a merry class.
When I first received this job, I expected a lot of hours, but I was a bit disappointed because so little students applied, and a second class was assigned to other new teacher. Unfortunately for them, the other new teacher was suspected of being a fraud, his English was a hideous- they all knew, I should have been the one to take a second class. No bitterness here.
Ho-Dae, Sung-Hoon and Tina are forever engraved in my memory. Three smiling faces… From the day I started I prayed for the last day, but I didn’t know I would get so attached to these fellow teachers, the school and students. I surprised myself. On the last day my class, after saying goodbyes to my students, I felt so empty yet so full of spirit and knowledge. The strangest thing about being a teacher is, I’m not the only one learning, because the students teach you so much more about life, about patience and spirit of being human. Ho-Dae surprised me with a gift (which I think his mom prepared), but the way he gave it to me exposed a sweet child hidden behind a mischievous one who put me in quite an over-haul of patience throughout the month. I was very touched.
Three days after my last class, I bid goodbye to everyone and resumed my life in Canada.