Winter Camps and Orthodontics

I've been working for less than two weeks and already I have days off. It's a little weird getting my vacation time at the start of my contract, but that's the ways they want to do it, so why the hell not? I'm getting my vacation days in chunks, interspersed with winter camps.

I've decided I'm going to get orthodontic work done here in Korea, which may or not mean that I will be here for two years. Right now I'm looking into Invisalign, which is a new kind of orthopedic treatment, which uses invisible plastic trays that you can take out to eat, drink and brush your teeth. Even if I am a candidate for that kind of treatment, which I understand is quicker than with conventional braces, the treatment schedule may go on past my contract term.

It turns out that trying to find an English speaking dentist in South Korea that does Invisalign, or it's cheaper Korean equivalent, is quite challenging. I have asked for the help of both my recruiter and my co-teacher. I have been scouring and posting on online forums, and today I even did some personal investigation by going to clinics in Jinju. So far the official report is that there are no orthodontics that do the Invisalign treatment in Gyeongnam Province. I suspect, however, that there is at least one or two people doing it in Changwon, and I'm sure there are orthodontists doing it in Busan (although technically, Busan is it's own region).

My research has turned up the website of a practitioner in Seoul who offers the treatment, but I've read one positive review of the office and one bad. Also, it's in Seoul, and I get the impression that the pricing of this particular office is on the higher side. So, I'm going to look into it a bit more before I make an appointment, but it's still my only lead a week or ten days from now, then I'm going to make the journey to Seoul, and try to get the treatment started before February.        

I've got four more days off after today and I'm not sure how I'm going to spend them. My best Jinju buddy is out of town, so that sort of closes off my portal to the Jinju social scene. I'm going to try and get a hold of my buddy Matt in Hadong and see if he has any thrilling plans for New Year's Eve. I'm going to look into what's going on in Tongyeong as well. I wouldn't mind going to Seoul or Daegu for New Year's Eve, but basically, if I'm not stuck in my apartment, I'll be happy.

I'll yet y'all know how it goes.

Public School for the Win

I'm beginning to realize how much good of a deal working at a public school is. If anyone out there is thinking about teaching in Korea, but doesn't know if they should choose a public school or a private academy (hagwan), let me tell you, public school is the way to go. The following comparisons are based on my year at a private academy based on the ECC model vs. teaching public school in Sacheon.

First off, your class sizes are larger, but you have a Korean co-teacher working with you at all times. This basically means that if there are discipline problems, you have someone to take care of it. Also, if the students don't understand something, you can get them to explain it to them.

You have to be at your public school for a half hour longer...but you get a proper lunch break of one hour. At my hagwan job last year, we had 10 minutes to cram down our lunch and then get back to class.

English teachers at public schools are usually expected to teach 22 "hours" per week (an hour of class time is actually a 45 min block)...or less (I'm not sure what the final number will be for me). I only had to teach 6 hours per day at the hagwan, BUT that constituted eight 40 minute classes, (two back to back and then a 10 minute break).

In public schools, you don't have to do time consuming student evaluations or mark tests. Instead, you make your own lessons--which is great, because you have enough time to do it, and it prevents things from getting boring. In the private academy, they don't want to pay you for lesson planning, so to maximize profits, you just "teach" students repetitive lessons out of the same damn book day after day. Also, the classrooms in public school are equipped with a giant media screen and mini cinema. In the academy, you only have a whiteboard. 

Finally, instead of dealing with an evil, money-grubbing director, your go to person in public school is your Korean co-teacher, who listens to you, helps you, and is not even a little bit evil.

Other perks include: getting a decent apartment instead of a rat-hole, getting far more days off, getting extra money for working at extra schools (this doesn't mean you do any more work) and being secure in the knowledge that your employer isn't going to fire you at the last minute to avoid paying you your contract completion bonus (this didn't happen to me, but it's happened to a friend), or otherwise try to screw you to save a buck. 

The only reason to choose a hagwan over public school as far as I'm concerned is that it allows you to sleep in and main your night-owl lifestyle, if that's your deal.

What I Know About Trent Grindle

My predecessor's name is Trent Grindle.

I know this because they haven't changed the name tag on the footlocker where I store my boots, when I go to teach at Yongnam Middle school.

Trent has a master's degree and lives in Winnipeg, Manitoba. I know this because he wrote about it in one of the power-point presentations that he made for his students.

I know that Trent was liked by at least one student, and loved by at least one woman. I know this, because while plugging in the TV, which he conscientiously unplugged (along with all of the other appliances), I saw a battery behind the set. I looked under the TV stand to check for more junk and I found two small folded paper envelopes. Inside one was a note from a student named Cho Min Ji  wishing him a  "Happy Christmas". In the other is a note from a someone named Sylvie. She loves him, and he is her favorite person in the world.

Winnipeg is the capital city of Manitoba. According to Wikipedia, it's a twin city to Jinju, although it has almost seven hundred thousand people, compared to Jinju's three hundred fourty thousand +. Winnipeg is very cold in the winter; much colder than Jinju. I know because I went there one winter for the National College University Press Conference. My first girlfriend was from Manitoba (though we me in Ontario). She hated it when I called Winnipeg "Winterpeg," but it's a fitting name.

Although I've never met Trent, I know that he is a good teacher. I know this because he left notes, and created a ton of materials, which he conscientiously left on the English teacher's computer in Yongnam.

I've been wondering why I came back to Korea, just as I was starting to rebuild a life for myself in Vancouver; just as I was starting to etch out a place for myself. But now I'm back, in a new city, where I don't know anyone. I've taken over Trent's job, and I've taken his apartment, but his name is still on the door of the shoe locker, his materials are still on the desk, and little remnants of his life in Korea still cling to the apartment. 

I Have Returned!

Well, I’m back in Korea, and am beginning another year of teaching. The familiar sights and sounds inspire more comfort than nostalgia. There were some large prints of photos on the wall, coming out of the arrival gate in Incheon International Airport, and two of them were of islands off of Tongyeong. Seeing them made me smile. Oddly, it feels like home.

         I’m now in Gimpo Airport and am waiting for a jet that will bring me to Busan, where I will meet my recruiter, Alistair and drive to Changwan. The only thing threatening to spoil my mood is the nagging voice in my head telling me that I’m getting older, and that I should be starting a career back in Canada, instead of fucking around down here. I turned 30 years old two days ago and now that I’m in Korea, I’m suddenly 31.

         Despite these pestering thoughts, I know all ready that I may be here for at least 2 years. I’ve decided to get braces while I’m down here, and figure it will be better to complete the treatment before I come home. I’m guessing that it may take longer than a year. I’ve also been considering trying to pay off my student loans completely in the next two years…which is possible, but it won’t leave me with much in my pocket after those two years are up.

         On the bus between airports, I had the thought, that I shouldn’t have been in such a hurry to leave Tongyong in the first place. After a bit of a reflection though, I remember how I felt at the end of my contract, and I needed a break. Nevertheless, I’ve been lazy these last few months, and I am looking to forward to being busy and engaged in something again.

         I think more than anything, I’m looking forward to having my own space again. Living with my last roommate was good for the most part, but we were sharing a space about the size of an average bachelor suite. It was tough to concentrate there because Nick was in the habit of playing video games during the day, and the TV dominated our tiny common area. At night he was usually at work, and I got into the bad habit of playing video games for hours on end in the evening.
         Well, it’s time to start fresh, yet again, and I am very much looking forward to it. I am happy however, that this time I will already have some friends in the area when I arrive. Here’s hoping it’s a good year!

Soon I Shall Return

A fair bit has happened since my last post. I got my interview with EPIK, but to my surprise, was not accepted. For a couple of days I was not sure what I was going to do, but I found out that there were other options besides EPIK for getting into public schools. I have since secured a contract working for a public school in Sacheon in Gyeongsangnamdo, not far from Tongyong, where I taught last time.

The interview I had with the recruiting company I chose to represent me for EPIK went really well, because I was open, and honest and treated the interview like a friendly chat and I think I failed my EPIK interview for the same reasons.

I was a little surprised when I saw that the person interviewing me was younger than I was (she looked to be in her early 20s). I remember thinking that it was odd that they would give someone who clearly didn't have much experience with this sort of thing with such an important job. Upon reflection, it makes more sense. There wasn't any real dialogue in this interview: just her asking stock questions and me answering them. I suspect she had a list of acceptable answers and just followed the criteria given to her.

A warning to anyone trying to get a job through EPIK: don't try to be funny or quirky or philosophical. Just answer the questions as you think they want you to answer them. Ask them to clarify their questions if you're not sure how to answer and hopefully they will lead you in the right direction.  

This failing of the interview turned out to be a blessing in disguise. After about a day of personal reflection, I decided to go on Dave's ESL website, and it quickly became apparent to me that EPIK wasn't the only way to get a job at a public school in South Korea, especially if you want to teaching in the southern provinces. After going through one recruiter that didn't seem to know what the hell she was doing, I found Korean Horizons, which was able to get me a job for the following month. In fact, because I went through Korean Horizons, I will get to start a month and a half earlier than I would have going through EPIK, AND, I will be working in the province that I wanted to be in.

So, if you're following this blog, expect the updates to be a little more frequent. And if you didn't pass your EPIK interview don't give up! There are other options out there.