The Life and Times of Zach in South Korea

So I have posted about Korean life but nothing about the real reason I am here.  As many/all of you know by now, I am an English teacher in Yeongcheon, South Korea.  I teach at Yeongcheon English Town, or YET, which is part of the public school system in this town.  It was formally a normal elementary school but was converted into YET a few years ago.  The concept of our school is that it is a building dedicated to the teaching of life skill lessons in English.  We have each room set up like a different building that one might need to visit when living abroad, i.e. clinic, bank, department store, etc.  They are complete with props to mimic what these places look like.  We are viewed almost like a field trip for the students; they come for two days to enhance their English abilities and then return to their normal classrooms after the short stent at YET.  Only on Wednesdays do we have the same students on a weekly basis, for that is our advanced elementary class.  We will also be teaching an adult course on Wednesday mornings starting next week.

I have only been teaching for one week now, but I can honestly say that I love it.  The students are great for the most part, but there is the occasional child I would like to send home permanently.  Some of them are excellent speakers for their age, and at this rate they will be fluent before they graduate high school.  The opposite also holds true, though.  There are some students that have difficulties with I, it, me, and anything other than hello.  This can be a hindrance to classroom participation due to the possibility of embarrassment in front of peers, but with a little coaxing most of the students will at least try.

Although I only have one week of formal teaching experience under my belt now, I feel that I have been successful thus far in reaching the students.  At the very least, they seem to enjoy being in my classroom.  They might finish the day not knowing a word I said, but they wave bye very enthusiastically.  Students have asked me to pose for pictures, autograph their textbooks, and today a group asked me for my phone number.  Side note: one of the students actually called me a few hours ago, which is pretty cool.  It's like being a celebrity on a very small scale.  I have been teaching the Post Office and the Police Station and will continue to do until two months have passed.  I received some postcards from my students, and they are pretty adorable.  Here they are:

It is difficult to read, so it states:

"Dear Zach.
Hello Zach.  My name is Park-woo-hyun.  Your blue eye is very You look handsome.  I learned English 5 year.  But I can't English very well.  So, good bye."


She must be related to my immediate family because my name was spelled on the board and still chose to misspell it...


This last one is easily my favorite.  This kid is really nice and very polite; he is also a pretty good soccer player.  This is the student who called my house phone about 30 minutes after I returned from work.

Also, the other day I was returning to my classroom in the Post Office, when a child came running out of the Clinic and stopped me in the hall.  She was like "Teacher, this for you."


That's right.  Fruit by the Foot.  If that doesn't mean she approved of my teaching methods, nothing does.  It's like the equivalent of a salary bonus except sweeter.

Today I taught the Police Station, and everything was running smoothly until I got to class A.  This was the last period of the day, so the kids were visibly excited (I was, too).  I was trying to teach them different types of crimes, and we got to #4.  It was robbery.  One of the girls stood up and pointed at me and said, "Teacher is #4.  You are stealer!"  I was obviously taken back by this comment, until she elaborated further.  She then informed me that I had stolen the heart of one of the other female students.  So for the remaining half-hour, I was called #4.  During closing ceremonies, we had to re-introduce ourselves and after I went, she stood up again and called me #4 in front of all of the other students and faculty.  I had to laugh and say "No #4" in front of my peers, but it was totally worth it.  The kids in that class loved it.

So in short, I really like my job, the people, and pretty much everything about here.  Of course I miss everyone back home and wish the best to everyone.  Until next time.

+ 6 points to everyone who gets the title reference (no, it's not me being arrogant).