The Daegu-ba System

I wrote my last entry from a dorm room at Jeonju University on the verge of an intense but worthwhile 9 day training camp. I was nervous but excited to see what the week had in store for myself and my 50 classmates. I now sit in a smoky room surrounded by wide-eyed Korean teenagers that haven't stopped to blink let alone ash their cigarettes lest they take away from their furious clicking. I am in PC Incubator, one of many 24-hour PC rooms where locals come to game and I come to stand out and send some emails. A lot has changed in the last nine days.

Our training consisted of four lectures a day from experienced ESL teachers from across the country. Their insight and experience of life both in and out of the classroom was invaluable so many notes were scribbled down. They taught us all sorts of ways to communicate, co-teach, interact, survive, and prosper in the next year to come. I learned so much in a short period of time and now as I sit at the starting line of this journey with all of the tools I need to succeed. It's just a matter of knowing when to use which one and putting a personal twist on them.

My week as the class leader was great as it allowed me to meet a lot of other teachers that will be spending their year in Daegu and the surrounding province. My assigned tasks were menial at best but served as a good way to learn a bit about everyone. They were a great group of fun people that I hope I will get to see more of this year.

On the Monday, we were all bussed to a local village and cultural centre where we learned traditional dancing and drumming, got to make our own paper fans, and partake in the national dish Bee Bim Bop. It's equally as entertaining to say as it is to eat as we were hunched over low tables with knees crossed sampling spicy octopus tentacles and mixing everything with kimchi. After a stroll around the village, we then moved on to a Buddhist temple in the mountains. It was a gorgeous area surrounded by steep heights covered in trees. The only downside to this part of the day was the fact that there were 500 other teachers there milling about. It was the kind of place that you'd want to go to in a smaller group to really appreciate the serenity of it all. Nevertheless, I was able to bow three times to Buddha with one of the monks which was a really cool experience.

Afterwards we were led to a particular part of the river that snaked by the temple where the rocks were smooth and you could slide down and plunge into the fresh water. I didn't hesitate to pull off my shirt and empty my pockets and jump right in. There were only 8 or so others that did so which I couldn't understand. Everyone didn't want to be wet for the bus ride back....but the way I see it, if I wanted to stay dry, I would have stayed in Canada. It was great and refreshing considering I hadn't stopped sweating since I touched down in the country. Total bliss.

As training came to a close we had to prepare fifteen minute mock lesson plans in groups of three. It was a chance to put to use the methods we had learned in the previous week and get feedback from an experienced teacher. We had to teach about Occupations at an elementary level and my teammates Eli and Lucy were great to work with.

As closing ceremonies loomed, everyone found out on the last possible day what grade levels they would be teaching and what the names of their schools were. I have been placed at JiSan Elementary School which I was really happy about. I'm looking forward to picking my own mother's brain for ideas and collaborating with her as she teaches her junior primary class back in Halifax.

Our closing cermemonies were a great end to a long week. The food was fantastic and each class was able to strut their stuff in a talent show. We showed off our Taekwondo skills to Eye of the Tiger, moved swiftly to a rendition of It's a Small World and finished things off singing Mustang Sally. It was a lot of fun and gave me an opportunity to pull on my Canada hockey jersey.

The next morning, after a fun night at the bar and karaoke room (nori-bong), we were bussed off to meet our co-teachers for the year and move into our apartments. I met two of my co-teachers Jinny and Bo-kyung who I will be teaming up with this year. They took me straight to the school where I had a meeting with the principal. I found out through translation that she thought I was maybe too young to handle the job and that she feared the kids would see me more of a friend than a teacher. These were hardly encouraging words, but I'm framing it as a challenge to prove my worth and establish a good teacher-student relationship that will be both fun and respectful. My role is going to be mostly conversational and I will be teaching grades 3 through 6 starting Monday. I hadn't been in Daegu more than an hour and I had already been challenged to a game of badminton by one of the older male teachers.

I was taken to my one room studio apartment that's really close to the school. It's cosy and small but has everything I need to get by. My co-teachers took me to the department store to buy all my essentials like bedding and kitchen supplies which was great. I'm all unpacked now and have just figured out the bus system so I will be heading into the city centre to meet up with some of the other EPIK teachers.

This has been a pretty long post but that's because a lot has happened in a short amount of time. Things are overwhelming at times but that's to be expected. I take comfort in having a family that has done this countless times and know exactly how I am feeling, especially my sister Roisin. Once I establish a routine and find my feet, everything will be great and I will have a new definition of normal. For now, it's just a matter of being a sponge and taking it ALLLL in.

Take Care,
D

AB INITIO

Well folks, my next adventure has begun. I have entitled this post Ab Initio which means "From the Beginning" in Latin. I did this for a number of reasons. Firstly, because I feel like this trip and these decisions I have made to come and teach English in South Korea have started me down a new life path of which my destination is unknown... but will hopefully be a happy one. When my own parents decided to take the leap and move to Japan in their early 20's, that single decision started them down a path that has led them to where they are today; the happy, healthy parents of four living on the sea in The Head of St. Margaret's Bay, Nova Scotia. Who knows where this path will take me! This is only the beginning.

Also, it marks the beginning of a steep learning curve for me. Learning a new language, the intricacies of a foreign culture, how to be a caring and effective teacher....these are all things that I will begin learning from this point forward.

I will be living in Daegu and teaching at a public school through EPIK (English Program in Korea). Thus far, it has been an incredible experience. I left Ottawa early on the 17th of August after a great last night with close friends. I was seen off at the airport by two of my best friends; Moises and Brock and of course my beautiful girlfriend Louise. It was an emotional goodbye but comforting to know I had such great friends to see me away in the absence of my ever-supporting family.

Touching down after a long haul, we had a four hour bus ride to Jeonju University. It was comforting to come off the plane, grab my bags, my guitar, my longboard and right away have my co-ordinator James there to show me where to go. Completely exhausted we were shown to our dorm rooms where I met my roommate for the next 9 days of training; Dan Keller. He's a great guy from just outside of Washington DC. We seem to have similar reasons for being here which is great.

Day 1 in South Korea happened to be my birthday. It was strange going from being surrounded by friends to being on the other side of the world in a matter of hours and having no one there to wish you happy birthday. But I got on with it, heading to my medical check-up and opening cermeonies with the other 500-odd Guest English Teachers (GETs) from Canada, USA, UK. South Africa, New Zealand, and Australia. The opening ceremony had traditional dancing and drumming as well as an incredible Taekwondo Expo that included back flips, board breaking, forms and of course a K-pop Taekwondo rendition of LMFAO's power-ballad SHOTS! featuring Little John. Unreal.

From there, we split up into our classes whereby I was elected Class President. My campaign involved a 30 second speech to introduce myself and explain that I thought they should vote for me because it was my birthday. It must have pulled on a few heart strings as I took the seat with a rocking 19 votes. From there, we went to our opening dinner. Unexpectedly, before everyone got up for the buffet, the orientation co-ordinators pulled me up in front of everyone, sang happy birthday, had signs with my name on it, gave me a pendant and a big cake with a candle. I will never forget this experience and it really made it a special one for me. From thence forward, everyone knew my face as the Birthday Boy and a lot of us went out for some drinks after dinner. The bar scene, of which I'm sure I will be able to elaborate further on as this blog continues, is nothing like Canada's (duhh). For starters, the waitresses can be summoned by pressing a small button in the middle and they just pop out of nowhere asking if we want more beer or Soju (a nasty watered-down liquor which I was forced to take three shots of). After that, I was back in bed by 11 ready for the real training to begin the next morning.

I can't express really how I feel as it's a lot to take in. Once I get my own place and a bit of permanence and finally find out what age and what school I will be teaching, I'll be able to take stock of it all. Right now, I'm enjoying every minute of it and trying to live it up as much as possible. Hope everyone at home is doing well.

Much Love,
D