The Internet is a grand thing. When I was here in 1997, I went to an Internet cafe about once every two weeks to check email. I rarely visited any websites. It was a new thing for me. My news source was the Korean Herald, an English language daily that was usually a day and a half late with news from home. Princess Di died when I was in Korea that last time and I didn't hear the news until the manager of the gym I went to told me about it the night after her death. Now, my news reader feeds me news constantly just like it did when I was in the states. I'm just as plugged into world events as I was back home. I think this will help when I return. When I returned the last time, I felt I had lost time.
In a lot of ways, the Koreans are so much more technically advanced, particularly in their mobile phone technology, than we are. I don't really know all the ways how, yet, but here's an example. I went to see Spider Man 4 tonight (the good parts are really good, the bad parts really cheesy -- loved the Spidey pose in front of the U.S. flag frame) and the girl in front of us handed her cell to the clerk, who waved the phone in front of a scanner (I think) and handed the phone back to her with a ticket. I didn't even see her sign anything. I didn't see a receipt. It looked like a completely paperless transaction. She didn't have to dig into her wallet for the correct credit or debit card -- nothing. I wanted to ask her to verify what I thought I had just seen, but there's the language barrier (which seems a bit more difficult to overcome for me this time around). I definitely need to research this.
I have not bought a cell phone here yet. There are so many different kinds of phones that do so many different kinds of cool things. Usually, when I'm about to make a big purchase -- and this is a big purchase, regardless of the price -- I get intimidated by the technology and end up getting frustrated and buying the cheapest one or the one that I know the most about. I'm definitely going to investigate first, then I'll take a Korean person with me to help me buy it. I'll buy her dinner or something in return.
So, about what I'm doing...
I am one of about 15 to 20 native English-speaking teachers and 6 Korean English teachers who teach at Seongnam English Town (SNET). SNET has a number of situational classes ranging from a bank and post office to a cooking class to a fast food restaurant to global connections room, where children learn about world music and other aspects of different cultures. The major draw for me was that the curriculum is based on environment and social justice issues. Sixth graders from all the schools in the local "county" come to SNET for one week, one or two schools at a time. They come on Monday morning and leave on Saturday morning. We're based in three buildings at a community college. Our meals are free on days that we teach. Though it's cafeteria food, you really can't beat free food. The other teachers, the SNET veterans, have been great. They've been quite instrumental in helping to smooth the transition. The hardest thing to get used to was the living conditions. Each teacher has to share a dorm room with another teacher. My roommate, Matt, is a great guy whose easy to get along with, so I kind of lucked out. However, given the choice, I'd much rather live alone. Oh well, it's only six months.
We're set in Bundang, which is a suburb "county" about 40 miles southeast of Seoul. It's an affluent area, a millionaire's playground. Many of the kids we teach have spent some time in the States, Canada or England and aren't too phased by us "foreigners." But, those from the less affluent parts of Bundang probably see a real live non-Korean person only three or four times a year and don't get to establish any kind of relationship with him/her no matter how short. Because of this and because of the general camp-like atmosphere, on Friday, the last day that the kids will see the teachers, they scramble like crazed fans hunting down teachers as if we were rock stars and try to get our autographs. "Teacher, teacher. Sign." Here are some pictures that illustrate the mob scene taken on our nice treetop terrace (an "amphitheatre" of a sort on our roof) after some of the teachers performed for the whole camp during the last class of the day one Friday.
My roomate Matthew. I don't know what I was thinking taking the picture with the sun behind him, but I think the effect is sort of cool.
My boy, Colin, who actually is kind of a rock star. He has hip hop aspirations.
Stephen and Greg
1 comment:
Damn man, they already have Spiderman 4 in Korea?
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