WELCOME TO THE NUTHOUSE

I am not getting upset. I am not getting angry. I laugh about it because it’s so absurd. These people are crazy ignorant and stupid. Not all Koreans, not most Koreans, but the 2 clowns who run this school. I can’t really fight them and win, but I guess I’m going to try. I don’t want to give up my job and be jobless. I don’t want to go back to working at an academy (hagwon) which is a choice I have. Jobs for native English speakers in Korea are plentiful but I’d rather do the public school system. There are too many kids in a class but the hours (8 to 4) are better than 3 to 9.

Yesterday was my first broadcast. I felt it went well. I’m sure it was incredibly boring for the kids in the classroom, but for me and my 6 students it went fine. I was pleased by the participation of all the students. I felt that the 4 students who do not know English well asked and answered questions so everything wasn’t left up to the 2 students who can speak English. I had the English speaking students translate some of the more difficult things to Korean and some of my instructions to Korean, but for the most part it was like a regular class without the hassle of throwing people out.

When the broadcast was over Min Kyung told me that she was summoned into a meeting with the principal and vice-principal and she would let me know what happened. She came to me about an hour later and said she couldn’t talk about it right now as she was too upset but we would talk later. I wondered what could they possibly have to complain about. But there’s always something.

At 3:30 Min Kyung came to my room to talk to me. She brought me a coffee which was nice of her and I had donuts in my bag so I could give her a donut. I had escaped for lunch and went to Dunkin Donuts for coffee and donuts. I needed special permission to leave the school property during school hours. Lunch time is considered school hours. I’m told this isn’t normal by my friend Yoon Soo but that’s the nut asylum they run here.

Min Kyung said she was very upset during her meeting with the “bosses”. She really hates them and they’re driving her crazy. She said she can’t look at them. When they speak she looks everywhere but at them. She told me that they probably don’t like her for that as it’s disrespectful to not look at someone when they’re talking to you. She feels she can’t because they annoy her too much. After the meeting the “bosses” yelled at Min Kyung’s supervisor for her behavior and Min Kyung had to apologize to her supervisor because the principals yelled at the supervisor. It’s crazy. It seems these 2 excuses for men cannot talk to the people they need to talk to but would rather use intermediaries to avoid confrontation.

Anyhow, the principal and vice-principal were not happy with my broadcast. They watched it and had several comments and demands. Remember, neither of these men speak or understand English. Neither of these men have ever taught because they were gym teachers. But they feel competent enough to tell me (through an intermediate) how to teach a foreign language.

The vice-principal said I wasn’t prepared and I was just copying things out of the textbook onto the board. What I was doing in reality was getting the names of the categories of description (height, hair, age, etc.) we were discussing. I would then ask the students for some words that you would use in describing these things. I wrote the students verbal answers on the board. If the vice-principal would have been able to understand English and read the textbook, he would have known that.

I was told that I talked too much and my explanations of the vocabulary was too long. They felt that I shouldn’t spend time explaining the words properly. They want most of what I say translated to Korean by the students who understand English and Korean. The reason this is a stupid idea is that if you speak Korean to explain English, the students won’t listen to the English and wait for the Korean. I explain most things in English and if it’s too difficult for me, then I use my dictionary to give them the word in Korean. (i.e. architect).

They want repetition used a lot because that’s how they feel students learn. That means that I say something like, “The man went to the store” and then all the students watching the broadcast will repeat what I said. No they won’t. And if they do, they can say “The man want the store” and no one is there to correct them. It’s not important that they understand what they said, it just matters that they say it.

This is the way English was taught in the old days and that’s how you get a principal and vice-principal who can’t understand English. They want me to use the methods that failed them all those years ago.

So I’m accused of things that aren’t true because they don’t understand what they’re seeing, and I’m told to teach in a way that the Korean government doesn’t want taught. They don’t invite all these native speakers here to teach in the Korean style. If they wanted that, they’d stick to Korean English teachers.

Now, I can’t walk up to them and tell them what I think of them personally. That would solve nothing and I’m not looking to get fired. On the other hand I would like to have a little self-respect. I spoke with some Korean people about this and they say, “just do as they want and enjoy the other things in your life”. I can understand that. And if no one really cares about the students then why should I. Just turn off and do what they want.

Most of the native speakers say I should complain. The whole idea of what the bosses want and how they want to dictate teaching style offends them and contradicts the reason we are here.

So I had until this morning to decide what to do. I told Min Kyung (and she told me I’m her best friend) to tell her boss that she told me what the principal and vice-principal said and I may not follow orders. This can protect her (I hope) because she’s giving advanced warning. I’m quite tired of them harassing her because they aren’t men enough to talk to me. I went to bed last night thinking I’ll just do what they want and ignore everything.

I didn’t sleep well. I didn’t keep waking up thinking about it, but it wasn’t a normal sleep so obviously it was on my mind. I did the broadcast this morning pretty much in the same way as yesterday morning. I threw in a bit of repetition but that was it. No Korean except for the difficult to explain parts. I did not strictly follow orders.

After class I saw Min Kyung and she saw the broadcast today. She couldn’t yesterday because she had an advanced class to teach. She said that after 20 minutes no one was paying attention. That was no surprise to me.

I came back to my classroom and I don’t have any classes until later this afternoon. I phoned the Education department to make a complaint about the principal and vice-principal. Yoon Soo says it will do no good, but I figure I have to try and let them know what’s going on here. It’s not just me that’s unhappy. Min Kyung is miserable and I can see on the other teacher’s faces that they’re unhappy. In May there was more smiling and laughing in the teacher’s room. Now there is none. Moral is sinking a little more every day.

I made my phone call and repeated my story to the liaison person between the native speaking teachers and the school powers. I did it calmly and I threw in that the principal had let me know that he didn’t care about anything I said because I couldn’t speak Korean. I accused him of prejudice. I said that ideally I wanted to move to another school where they wanted a native speaker. This school just wants a Korean English teacher, or a Korean-American who is bilingual.

I was told that my complaint would be presented to the higher powers and they’ll call me back within 2 hours. I hope they do. I either want to be left alone here or move to another school where they want someone like me. I didn’t travel here to fight people. I’m a guest here, and I can bend to the rules, but I cannot bend to the wrong way of teaching. I know I could use some help, but it has to be useful help and not methods that have been proven to fail over the years.

I had coffee with Yoon Soo last night to discuss this. He told me that I should accept it and just think about my nice apartment and other things. He also told me that the principal (who he had dinner with last week) doesn’t like me because I feel asleep while showing a movie. My other major crime was insisting that my trip to Leah’s wedding was not vacation time, but a leave of absence as the principal agreed to. After I came back I was told that he never said that (he did) and I argued it with him. So regardless of what I do I really have no future here.

However, Yoon Soo also told me that the principal told him that he should arrange a dinner for the principal, Yoon Soo, and myself. Very strange. Why would he want to have dinner with me? Yoon Soo says it’s kind of a personal contract where we agree to compromise and get along but this man isn’t interested in compromise and only wants strict obedience. It’s very strange and I don’t understand.

So I wait for a call back to see if anything will happen. I don’t know if the principal and vice-principal watched the broadcast today. I don’t really care because I’m going to try to get them in trouble by going over their heads, and try to get myself into a better situation going through the proper channels.

My job should be easy from a political standpoint. My only problem should be getting through to the kids. I know the world doesn’t work like that, but for some reason I thought that coming to a new country where you’re needed would keep the focus on what’s important. Fooled again.

All this crap is making me a little tired. I know life isn’t fair but it’s bothering me because I didn’t sign up for aggravation here. I laugh about it and joke about it but it does bother me. I’d like to not give a damn about anything, but why work with kids and not give a damn. That makes no sense.

I can’t save the world. But maybe I can be a positive influence on one or two lives. Even that would be something.