Pros and cons of teaching in a hagwon

In Korea, it is common for parents to send their children to hagwons (or private schools). As well as hagwons which specialise in teaching English (like the one I work in), there are also hagwons specialising in math, science and art amongst others. It is not uncommon for students to attend several hagwons as well as their normal school and I've heard of hagwons running classes until midnight! As an English teacher in Korea, you are likely to work for either a public school or a hagwon.
The benefits of working for a hagwon are that you will be working with other foreign teachers, so you will get to meet and work with other people who speak English (or at least American English!) which can make it easier to settle in. If you work for a public school, you are likely to be the only English teacher on the staff. There are many horror stories on the web about unscrupulous hagwon owners, so it is important to do your research before signing anything (do a google search for "hagwon blacklist")!

You may end up doing more teaching hours in a hagwon than you would in a public school, but on the plus side, you are teaching from a set curriculum and there is much less prep work and lesson planning to do. Public school teachers theoretically get more holiday time, but they may have to teach English camp during the summer holidays. Teachers at hagwons may have to work more unusual work hours (eg after school classes). Luckily for me, I teach 9.50 to 6.50 on Monday, Wednesday and Friday, but finish teaching at 2.20 on Tuesdays and 1.20 on Thursdays.

The main downside to working for a hagwon from my point of view is the parents! Korean education is very competive and the parents (or at least the mothers) take a very keen interest in how their children are doing at school. Fair enough, I hear you say, after all they are paying for their children to attend the hagwon. But some of them do take it too far.

I teach art to my preschool students in a 35 minute lesson on Mondays and Tuesdays. Last week, one of the mothers rang to say she was extremely disappointed because her daughter wasn't showing enough development in art and that she thought the teacher (ie me) wasn't paying her enough attention as her daughter did not know what to draw in art class. Also her daughter was far too advanced for her preschool class and should be moved up a level and how could teacher not see this as she can speak and write in English fluently at home! The main problem for the daughter regarding art is that she has absolutely no imagination when it comes to drawing as I think her competitive parents have drummed all imagination out of her in order for her to concentrate fully on her education.

I was able to show the preschool manager the drawings done by the other students in the same class which were imaginative and full of colour - just like a normal 6 year olds drawings should be. Although said daughter is one of my brightest students, she is by no means fluent in English and is not ready to be moved up a level, not by a long way.

Having spoken to some of the other teachers, this sort of thing is by no means uncommon as some parents are just so pushy and competitive, they will try anything to get their child ahead of the game and you just have to laugh it off really as it happens countless times. It seems a bit sad to me though that young children can't just enjoy themselves (as well as learning, of course!)

Rant over....

My day was brightened up though when I got into class this morning. One of the students handed me a letter he had written for me over the weekend which said 'Hello teacher. Are you happy today? I am happy and surprised"! Not sure what he was surprised by, but it was really sweet and reminds me that nearly all my preschoolers are happy, bright young children!

Post Office

The last time I went to the Post Office in Cardiff I stood in a queue for over an hour waiting to post a couple of parcels. On Tuesday I went to the Post Office in Bucheon for the first time to post a letter and some presents to my mum. When you go into the post office, you take a numbered ticket from a machine by the entrance and sit down until your number flashes up on the screen. Very civilised. They also provide free tape and parcel paper for you.

It cost 2,000 won (£1.00) to post the packet by airmail to the UK and it arrived 4 days later. When I had to send my degree certificate, transcripts and criminal record check to Korea from the UK, it cost me over £50 to send via International Datapost (the quickest service according to Royal Mail). It also took 4 days to arrive.

I'll leave you to draw your own conclusions about the relative merits of the postal service in the UK and in Korea.

Botanical Gardens

Yesterday we had a field trip to the Botanical Gardens on the outskirts of Bucheon for the preschoolers. It was lovely to be out in the sunshine rather than in a classroom, although being responsible for 10 overexcited 7 year olds took the edge off. Koreans count age differently - age is counted from conception rather than birth, so the students' Western ages are actually 5 or 6 years old. It must have been field trip day as the park seemed to contain every preschooler from the whole of Bucheon. Luckily the worst to happen was a clash of heads between two of the students. It made me realise how much their English has improved, especially when one of them came up to me and said "Teacher, explain glacial"!

I didn't notice a huge amount about the botanical gardens, partly because all the labels were mostly in Korean and partly because all my attention went on keeping my students in check, but I do remember some turkeys who were fighting in their cage and some cut bunny rabbits! Afterwards we ate gimbap (Korean version of sushi) for lunch in the park, but then hurried back to school when it started raining!

Its traditional here for parents to give presents to teachers. So far this week, I've received a huge box of gimbap, 4 cakes, 6 doughnuts, iced coffees and fruit. I know this is not a purely philanthropic gesture, I'm fairly sure the parents do this to try and ensure their son or daughter receives preferential treatment (education here is hugely competitive). It won't work, I'm not going to pay extra attention to any student just because their parents gave me some cake, but as far as I'm concerned they can keep on giving me presents anyway!

Insadong by night

Last night I met Annie at Jonggak station and we headed into Insadong for food and a wander round the shops. We had yummy pork ribs in sauce with tteok (rice cakes, they look a bit like tubes of pasta) and veg. Afterwards, we went to Samziegil Market which is very pretty at night, lit up by Buddhist lanterns. Its quite funky for a shopping centre - instead of stairs between each level, the shops wind upwards in a spiral (as you can see from the photo below) overlooking a central courtyard with bars and restaurants on the roof.

Samziegil Market

Some very practical sunglasses for sale
I think Annie perfected her model pose better than me!

Namsan Seoul Tower

Yesterday was a beautiful, sunny day so I decided to head into Seoul to do a bit of sightseeing. I had been told that the views from the Namsan Seoul Tower were amazing, so jumped off the subway at Seoul Station as my Lonely Planet guidebook told me it was around a 30 minute walk. They lied, it was more like a 90 minute walk, all uphill. If it wasn't for the subway map, Lonely Planet would now be in the bin.

It was worth it when I finally made it to the top though. Once I had recovered from jelly legs and gasping for air, I was able to take in the amazing views over Seoul. I paid 7,000 won (around £3.50) to take the lift to the observatory at the top of the tower and took about 300 photos (luckily for you, Blogger only lets me upload 5 photos at a time, but you can see the whole collection on Facebook). From the observatory, you get a panoramic view over Seoul and the mountains of Bukhansan National Park, but the smoggy haze over the city makes it clear just how much pollution there is in the city.

After taking my fill of views and vertigo, I decided to try out the restaurant on the floor below. For 33,000 won, I stuffed my face with pork ribs and a taste of just about everything (bar the shellfish) from the buffet bar. Quite expensive for Korea, but the eat as much as you can aspect and the views (although they should have taken a tip from the TV Tower in Berlin and had a revolving restaurant) meant it was worth it.

I decided to give my weary legs a rest and take the cable car down from the top of the mountain so that getting down the mountain took approximately 88 minutes less time than climbing up it.

View of Seoul Tower from just outside Seoul Station. Doesn't look that far does it?!

One of the many flights of steps to climb to the top.... View from the top of Namsan Park

View from the observatory of Seoul Tower
Even the toilets have a view...

Easter

Good Friday and Easter Monday are not public holidays in Korea, so no long 4 day weekend for me. We took the preschoolers to the park for an Easter Egg hunt in the morning. There isn't a tradition of chocolate easter eggs here, so the children hunted for hard boiled eggs, they didn't seem to mind though. They found all their eggs and ate them with lunch. If there had been chocolate eggs, I'm fairly sure some of them may have disappeared into teacher's bag...

Although today and Monday aren't public holidays, we do have a long weekend coming up at the start of May. Children's Day ("the day on which to esteem the personalities of children and plan for their happiness") is held on 5th May which is on a Tuesday this year and our boss has given us the Monday off work as well. Fingers crossed that the weather is nice...

Wonmisan Mountain

Earlier today, I decided to explore a bit more of Bucheon and headed over to Sosa (3 stops from Songnae) and headed north towards Bucheon Stadium. I walked up part of Wonmisan Mountain. I didn't make it all the way to the top as I wasn't really wearing the best shoes for walking (and it was a bit embarrassing being overtaken by all the ajummas in their natty little tracksuits and HUGE sunvisors). I will definitely come back another day. The views over Bucheon were still pretty good from the first uphill section.

Start of the climb

View over Bucheon

Some beautiful flowers on the mountain

The next summit to be tackled...

Korean barbeque

Tonight, after work, we all went to a barbeque restaurant. It reminded me of when Estelle and I went to the Korean restaurant in Grangetown and the waitress said that the thing Korean people miss the most when they leave Korea is barbequed meat. We had samgyeopsal which is belly pork barbequed on a grill in the middle of the table. We also had kimchi cooked in a trough at the side of the grill (which burnt the roof of my mouth!). To eat, you wrap the cooked meat in a lettuce leaf and add vegetables and sauces. Delicious! When you eat out in Korea, you are bought a selection of side dishes, almost always including kimchi. Kimchi is a national dish and is most commonly made with cabbage, which is pickled with chili and spices. I don't mind the cabbage kimchi, but radish kimchi smells and tastes foul!

Shopping heaven

Today after work, I headed into Seoul to check out Myeongdong, one of the main shopping districts in Seoul. I fell in love with Forever 21, a huge clothes shop, to me it seemed like a cross between New Look, Dorothy Perkins, H&M and Top Shop (all good!). There is also a Zara, Uniqlo and a Mango which was either about to open or in the process of closing down (hopefully the former). I heard a rumour that H&M will open a shop there next year!

I committed a slight faux pas in Uniqlo - I took a couple of t-shirts to the changing room to try on and walked into the cubicle with my shoes on. Apparently you have to take your shoes off and leave them, along with your bag, in a little basket outside the cubicle. Will have to remember that one for the future...

I also stumbled upon a Grand Opening for a new cosmetics store called Nature Republic. Bought a lipstick and a nail varnish and was given several free gifts including a make up bag, moisturiser, shower puff and cotton wool pads. Result!

Afterwards, I went to Cafe Pascucci for a reviving cup of coffee. Here, when you pay for your drink, they give you a little black coaster. When your drink is ready, the coaster flashes and vibrates (hmm, that sounds rude!) and you take it to the counter to exchange for your drink.

Deoksugung

Its currently the height of cherry blossom season and apparently the Seoul palaces are amongst the best places to see all the trees in bloom. Yesterday, I went to Deoksugung which is opposite City Hall Plaza and is a little oasis of tranquillity in the middle of the city.

The Palace was occupied by Korean royalty until the Japanese occupation around the beginning of the 20th Century. The grounds also contain two Western style buildings designed by an English architect housing the National Museum of Art (see if you can guess which ones).

Marmite

There are lots of things people tell you to bring to Korea - deodorant, make up, bedding, towels, coffee, tea, chocolate and so on either because you can't buy them here or that they are hard to find or that you will almost certainly pay over the odds for them. With just a 30kg luggage allowance, there was no way I was going to load up my suitcase with towels and bedding. After all, Koreans must use some of this stuff themselves.

• Deodorant - they sell Rexel, which judging by the tick on the can is Sure under another name, in Watsons (sort of like Superdrug) in the Mall.
• Bedding - I bought sheets, pillow, duvet etc in Emart when I moved into my apartment. Reasonable prices and the sizes seemed roughly equivalent to UK sizes. I've also found a whole shop selling nothing but bedding near Homeplus.
• Towels - again, I found them pretty easily in Emart.
• Make up - some well known European brands are sold in Korea, for instance, I've seen my shade of L'oreal Minerals stocked in a cosmetics shop. I even bought a Korean brand foundation and it suits my skin tone (and I am pale!)
• Clothes - I'm a UK size 12, so no problems so far. I've seen people of all shapes and sizes here, so presumably there are clothes available to fit all?
• Bras - likely to be a problem as all the ones I've seen so far only going up to a B Cup! However, I've seen a Triumph concession in one of the department stores (I think it was GS Square?), I'm fairly sure they will have bigger sizes. Plus, there are a few branches of good old M&S in Seoul which I will have to hunt out.
• Coffee - most of the instant coffee seems to be sold in sticks with sugar (and sometimes milk) already added. They sell fresh coffee in Emart. They have lots of different types of tea here, but not the type that we Brits call a cuppa. The world food shop in Hyundai sells English Breakfast and Earl Grey etc, a bit pricey, but if you need a decent cuppa, you've got to have it!
• Coffee shops - are everywhere. There's even a Starbucks in Hyundai.
• Chocolate - I have a craving for a Twirl! In the aforementioned World Food Shop they sell Cadbury Dairy Milk and Picnic bars (I haven't seen Picnic bars for years!). Apparently, Cadburys use different recipes for anywhere outside Britain. I don't care, chocolate is chocolate!
• Alcohol - Korea is not called the Ireland of Asia for nothing. Sadly, they don't seem to sell much in the way of decent beer (the best lager is OB, I'm never drinking Cass again as it tastes like soap) and definitely no cider (sorry Lisa!)

Turns out, the only things I regretted not bringing with me were Marmite and tea bags. Luckily for me, a parcel arrived today containing a big tub of Marmite, a big box of PG Tips and a selection of Cadbury's finest. Yum!

Tapgol Park

Yesterday, I also went to Tapgol Park (a busy day) which is the origin of the March 1st Movement and was where the first reading of the Declaration of Independence took place in 1919 (Korea was occupied by Japan until the end of the Second World War). There are various statues dedicated to those who opposed Japanese rule and a monument to the Declaration of Independence. The park is also home to National Treasure no. 2, a 15th century Buddhist pagoda. (National Treasure No. 1 is Namdaenum Gate, one of the gates which was part of the original wall which surrounded Seoul during the Joseon dynasty.) Unfortunately, the appearance of the pagoda is marred by a rather unsympathetic glass structure built to protect it.

The 1919 Declaration of Independence

Korean men ('adjoshis') sat underneath the Declaration of Independence Monument

Pagoda commemorating the site of the first reading of the Declaration of Independence

National Treasure No. 2

Pagoda protecting 15th C Joseon era monument

National Folk Museum

After leaving Insadong, I headed over to Gyeongbukgung Palace and the National Folk Museum of Korea. My first glimpse of the Palace with the mountain behind through the Palace walls was so beautiful that it took my breath away. I took a photo to give an idea even if it was impossible to capture it just right.

Gyeongbokgung Palace

It was too late for me to take a tour of the Palace, but I had time to look round the National Folk Museum which was also in quite an impressive looking building.

The National Folk Museum of Korea

In the grounds of the museum was an open air exhibition containing traditional buildings, statues and other artifacts, including these Joseon era statues -

Ye olde kimchi storage hut

Insadong

I got up early this morning and headed into Seoul to do some sightseeing. I took the subway to Jonggak and had a browse around the Bandi & Lund bookstore (it has a foreign books section) in the basement of the Jongno Tower. I then walked down to Insadong which is an area of Seoul which is famous for its tea shops and antiques shops and is a lovely area for browsing around. The main street, Insadong-gil, is closed to traffic at the weekends and there are lots of little stalls and shops selling souvenirs and street food. I bought some souvenirs (a silk purse, some traditional Korean art coasters, chopsticks and silk scarves), drank a glass of iced plum tea and ate dolsot bibimbap. I think bibimbap is my favourite Korean food so far - its rice served with vegetables (sometimes meat) and a fried egg on top which you mix together with gochujang (pepper sauce). Probably tastes better than it sounds!

Taco night

Last night Keith (one of my fellow teachers) had a taco night at his apartment. Everyone's apartment that I've seen so far is nicer (and bigger) than mine. I'm hoping to move out next month as there is a rumour that one of the other teachers is leaving. Keith's apartment is furnished with stuff he found out on the street. Apparently here there is a lot of "Keeping up with the Jones'" or should I say "Keeping up with the Kims"? People are constantly updating their apartments to show they can afford new stuff and they just leave the old stuff (often not very old) out on the pavement (I so almost said sidewalk then!) and you can just help yourself. I'm going to keep my eyes peeled! Anyway, Keith had a settee, nice armchair, coffee table - all of which he had found out on the street. We had a nice evening, drinking beer, eating tacos and watching Discovery (one of the few English language channels) on tv!

Using the subway

It is very easy to use the subway in Seoul, especially as all the signs and announcements are in English as well as Korean.

A subway map and route search can be found in English at the Seoul Metropolitan Rapid Transport Corporation website or SMRT for short. Bus routes, timetables and maps in English can be found on the Korean Public Transportation Guide.

My nearest subway station is Songnae which is on Line 1. From Songnae, you have the choice of taking the normal subway train which stops at every station, to Seoul and beyond in one direction and to Incheon in the other. There is also a rapid train which runs from Dongincheon to Yongsan which cuts a good 15 minutes or so off the journey time from Songnae, but you have to change trains at Yongsan to get into Seoul city centre. The rapid trains run from the inner platforms and the regular trains run from the outer platforms. If travelling from Seoul to Songnae, one of the benefits of changing trains at Yongsan is that you get onto the train first and can therefore always get a seat!

The buses and subway are incredibly cheap (especially compared to the London Underground). Its costs around 60p to get from Songnae to Seoul. Last weekend I bought a T Money card, the Korean equivalent of the Oyster card. It costs 2,500 won (around £1.35) for the card and you save 100 won on each journey when you use the card. It can be used on buses and at some vending machines as well as on the subway. Cards can be bought at subway stations and are easy to top up using recharging machines at stations. You can also buy T money chips built into mobile phone attachments, watches, MP3 players and I heard that some Korean credit/debit cards have T Money chips embedded in them so that you don't have to worry about topping up.