"Last" Day of School: Class Photos With Most of My First-Grade Students

To say that today is the "last" day of school is not accurate for two reasons: 

1. There are no classes held today. Students are just to come in in the morning to attend an official end-of-the-year ceremony. And clean the school grounds. 
2. Though today marks the end of the semester, students will continue to come to school to continue learning throughout the summer, everyday (Monday through Saturday, though with a bit more truncated study times from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m.). 

With these considerations in mind, today is the "last" day of school because it is the last day for me. It is the last time I will officially come in as a teacher at Yeongdo Girls High School. It's proving a bit difficult for me to feel the finality of the situation seeing as how students and other teachers alike are overwhelmingly continuing on with the educational grind. Despite the emotional disconnect, intellectually, I knew that the end of my contract was approaching, and thankfully managed to take photos with all 12 of my classes. Here they are, with the unfortunate exception of one class photo that didn't quite turn out. 

CLASS PHOTOS

Photos courtesy of co-teachers: Hye Gyeong, Mr. Seo, and Ju Mi Yeon

Thursday 1-1/2 A Class

Friday 1-1/2 L Class

Monday 1-3/4 I Class

Monday 1-5/6 L Class 

Thursday 1-3/4 L Class

Thursday 1-7/8 L Class

Tuesday 1-5/6 A Class

Wednesday 1-3/4 A Class

Wednesday 1-5/6 I Class

Wednesday 1-7/8 I Class 

I will miss my students, and more so when it finally hits me. While I am saddened that my time as a teacher in South Korea has come to an end, I feel an excitement, too, at the thought that a handful of  recently-graduated young Americans are currently gearing up to take my place and continue the mission of Fulbright as they start their own journeys as ETAs and U.S. cultural ambassadors.

Future ETAs, be excited for the next steps you will take! Whether you feel prepared or not, you are about to impact hundreds of young lives - make it for the better!

Fighting!

Renewing ETA Profile (AKA Reflections on My Year(s) Teaching in Korea)

THE RENEWING ETA PROFILE HANDBOOK
Just this afternoon, our Program Coordinator sent out a giant email containing application forms for leadership positions next year within Fulbright Korea. Yes, we've just returned from our winter vacations, but it's that time of the grant year again! Included among the many attachments was the Renewing ETA Profile Handbook, containing the knowledge, experiences, and insights of, well, ETAs who are in their second or third year here. The aim of the handbook is to help first year ETAs decide whether to likewise renew or not.

Because I tarried in submitting my survey, my responses were not included in the handbook. However, I did save what I typed up, (thinking I would later post them up here), and want to share them with you here now with some modifications.

SURVEY: LOGISTICS STUFF

Current School Name and Location: Yeongdo Girls High School, Yeongdo-gu, Busan
Current School Demographics: All-Girls
Did you change school demographics after your first (or second) year(s)? No
Did you change placement locations? No
Do you currently live in a homestay or apartment? Homestay

SURVEY: SHORT RESPONSES PORTION

What factors were relevant to your decision to renew? 

I chose to renew based on a wonderful first-year experience. The families, friends, and communities I formed during my first few months of arriving in Busan went to extraordinary lengths, above and beyond their job descriptions, to make my stay here smooth, comfortable, and delightful!

Because being a "Fulbrighter in South Korea" was only supposed to be a one-year commitment for me before diving right into grad school, I did touch base with former professors and counselors to hear what they had to say. The response was a resounding: Yes! Go be young, and live your life now! Grad school won't be going anywhere! (or something to that effect). This, along with the fact that my family back in the U.S. were doing well further encouraged me to invest another year in growing in a different setting.

How has your current year been different from your first (or previous years) as an ETA? How has it been similar? 

I enjoyed every aspect of my first year enough to request renewal at the same city, and same school! The advantages of staying were numerous, including: being able to witness the evolution of my students from first graders to second- and, now, third-graders(!); forming deeper bonds with the students, co-teachers, and administrators at my school; strengthening ties with a slew of foreigners I met at a couple of English services in Busan; and becoming better acquainted with the beauty of the island I live in, and with the rhythm of life in Busan - a place I would find more and more reasons to love.

The only change I made was in choosing a different homestay with which to live. My first homestay family was a great blessing! However, I saw how hard my host mom worked around the home and, with her continued insistence in doing everything for me even as she was recovering from a back surgery, I chose to leave, not wishing to pose a greater burden on her and her family. I also considered the fact that, for the whole year, my two younger host sisters had slept on the living room floor just so I could have a private room in their household. My stay with this family showed me firsthand how one can be "burdened" by the kindness and generosity of others.

My second homestay is made up of educators (host mom is a middle school English teacher and host dad is a statistics professor) and so feels less like "family" and more like colleagues. However, the advantage of this living situation is that my host mom (having also lived in the U.S. for 11 years) can speak English well, giving us the opportunity to have long, drawn out meals where we talk about anything and everything under the sun.

Has your second/third year met your expectations? Please elaborate.

My greatest expectation was to form better and deeper relationships with folks I live, work, worship, and hang out with. This goal has been (more or less) realized. I am satisfied with the friendships I have formed and been able to maintain, but have been a bit disappointed because some of the original friendships that had made this particular placement so ideal for me at the beginning have dissolved into thin air.

I can relate to another Returning ETA, who wrote:

"While I don't regret my decision to renew because it has forced me to grow in many ways, if I knew how much would change (even when I was staying in the exact situation!) I probably wouldn't have renewed."  - Stacey

Other goals I had were to earn a black belt in Taekwondo (thwarted by the onset of chronic cough in winter); to continue working with North Korean Defectors at the Busan Hana Center (check); to step up my YDAC game (check); and to apply for fellowships and graduate schools (the last application having been sent while hospitalized during my recent trip back to the Philippines for winter vacation). No big deal...


What advice do you have for first-year ETAs deciding whether to renew?

In deciding to renew, it's important to remember that you are not the only variable in the equation. I speak from personal experience when I say that family back home who may be doing "well" now financially or health-wise, may not be in a matter of months. If you are privileged with the responsibilities of being the eldest child in a [single-parent] household like I am, you will do well to consider the state of affairs back home before extending your teaching contract.

Also keep in mind that your decision to stay [at the same homestay/school/city for whatever ideal situation] does not necessarily mean things will remain as they are. That is the nature of seasons, of relationships, and of the Korean education system.

If you stay, decide to be present. As teachers, we are in the business of investing in young lives with the hopes they will become future world changers. Knowing this, if you do decide to renew, be fully present and do as Mrs. Shim has always told us: "Love your students!"

Believe it or not, a huge part of loving your students (or anyone, really) well is in taking care of yourself. Stay healthy, maintain your joy despite what your circumstance may look like; maximize the hours you are not teaching (legend has it that the former ETA at my school wrote a novel during her "down time" and later published after her grant year); and remember that, despite how it may feel sometimes, you are now living in "the real world."

Oh, and if you decide NOT to renew, I definitely agree with another ETA's advice who said to:

"...make sure...you have something good waiting for you back home, in Korea, or elsewhere." - David

You can contact me by email if you have unanswered questions or other concerns: mcagaitan[at]gmail.com

Fulbright ETA Ray Sawyer Guest Teaching at Yeongdo Girls High School!

ETA FROM AN ALL-BOYS SCHOOL GUEST TEACHES AT AN ALL-GIRLS SCHOOL

One of the coolest things I did during my first grant year was to coordinate with another teacher for a day school swap! I worked with Fulbright ETA Ray Sawyer from the all-boys Busan High School in finding a day where I was off and his school was in session and vice versa. The scheduling was a bit tricky to do, especially towards the end of the year when the schools are busy with all kinds of testing, but we planned it well ahead of time and added more fantastic memories to our year of teaching!

Knowing Ray's dynamic personality (he really was meant to be assigned in "Dynamic Busan"), and my students' excitement every time there is a guest teacher, especially a male guest teacher, I knew that this was about to be AMAZING. 

And it was. 

Here is a photo story of his time at YGHS as well as the email I sent him the night before! 

RAY TEACHING AT YEONGDO GIRLS HIGH SCHOOL

Ray Teacher graciously handling the attention of the girls.
Anytime a male teacher comes to Yeongdo, the girls are beyond themselves with excitement!

Hello Ray!

I apologize for giving this to you so very late. Please do not be anxious about tomorrow’s classes. The best thing for everyone concerned would be if you just showed up and had fun with the students – whatever that may look like. They will be ever so excited to see you! Like I said before, my classes were recently switched up after the midterm results came in, so I will give you the observation notes I have taken on my Monday classes below, as well as other information about the day ahead!

Teaching a word association lesson that had the students very alert and engaged!

• This Monday, June 9^th, you can take either bus 71 or 508, both of which will deliver you right across from my school. You will hear, “Yeongdo Yeoja Godeung Hakgyo” over the speakers, indicating where you should get off. This will take you approximately 20 minutes from Nampo Station, so time yourself or just ask the bus driver or other passengers where you should get off for the school. The first class starts at 10:40 a.m. Please feel free to arrive about 30-40 minutes before the first class begins. This will give us time for a mini tour of the school, (which is a lot smaller than your school), meet the principal and vice principal, and head to the class and get a feel for it.

·         The principal is a woman; she is serious-looking but kind, and has expressed a desire to talk to me in Korean as she does not know how to communicate in English very well. If you can, please feel free to squeeze in as much Korean as you can when you meet. I think she will appreciate it. No pressure though (this coming from an ETA who has not really spoken much to her principal this year at all, except through my Fulbright co-teacher).

·         The vice principal is a man, who was hired this March. We have not interacted much at all. His English is also very limited, so my co-teachers do all the talking for me.  Both of these introductions will probably be very brief, so don’t worry!

Ray was confident and energetic, easily taking the students along for the ride with him

You can see our names on the board written in Hangeul

I had to fight off a twinge of jealousy seeing how incredibly attentive the students were to him in the front of the room!

                                    

Class 1-1/2 B (If you want)                                  10:40-11:30 a.m.

·         Past Topics: Learning the 50 U.S. States; answering the question: “What did you do this weekend?” using Who, What, Where, When, How, Why in complete sentences at the beginning of class. Also, covering a lesson on “First Impressions” using photos of different people who may or may not be famous or infamous (Ted Bundy, Trayvon Martin, Debra LaFave, Oscar Pistorius, Maya Angelou, a former Filipina “comfort woman” during WWII, etc.). The “First Impressions” lessons definitely reveal a lot of prejudices, which was quite interesting.

·         Class Personality: This class is generally very loud. There are mini groups of girls who are very talkative and are usually immersed in their own conversations as I teach. I have to often shush the whole class and remind them to work or keep working. I am more brusque and sharp when dealing with this 

     I will introduce you at the beginning and ask them to give you their full attention and keep the chatter to a minimum. With this in mind, I have no problem stepping in and shushing the class if they get too out of line while you’re teaching a lesson. If my doing that would be too distracting for you, then I will refrain and support you in whatever you do in the classroom! Remember, they are girls, but you can definitely be firm with them.

·         Co-teacher: Kim Eun Yeong. She is very sweet and the students adore her. She will usually do her own work in the back of the classroom, and will cheerfully help out, walk around class, or translate for you if you ask her! 

The class in session

Free period/Lunch + Free Period                       11:40-2:20 p.m.

·         We have a couple of hours of free time, during which we can eat lunch at school, outside, take a walk around the grounds, chillax at the gyomushil, or do whatever you want! I can show you a bit of the island, too, if you’d like.

Ray divided the class into two teams and had them compete!

Class 1-5/6 C                                                         2:30-3:20 p.m.

·         Past Topics: Same as above

·         Class Personality: This class is lower in their English abilities, but is a generally good class. Students in this class request for me to play the “50 Nifty United States” song I think partly because they like it and partly to try and derail my lesson plans. Haha. This group of students has a good, responsive attitude, which I love them for!

§  Sleepy students: Lee Yu Bin, Kim Yu Bin

·         Co-teacher: Yun Suk Hui, my awesome Fulbright co-teacher! She spells her name “Yoon Sookhee” but I like to stay true to the Revised Romanized Korean version. Haha!

Movement around the classroom was good

I sat in the back of the classroom with my co-teacher - both of us just absorbing another teacher's teaching style.

Class 1-5/6 B                                                         3:30-4:20 p.m.

·         Past Topics: Same as above

·         Class Personality: A very talkative class, but one where there are individually attentive students, making the class not only bearable but actually good. During brainstorming sessions we’ve done in the past, they have been enthusiastic and creative! I am easier going with this class and can often joke around with them (possible on an individual level). There are many students who if you don’t talk to individually are so shy that you will miss out that they actually know how to read, write, and speak in English!

·         Co-teacher: Kim Eun Yeong again  

Students laughing and smiling!

RAY TEACHER'S CELEBRITY STATUS

At the end of class, another group of students streamed inside the classroom and happily and immediately crowded around Ray

The girls were both super shy and super aggressive, all at once! Hahaha

Students had some time to say hello, introduce themselves, and ask Ray some important questions before the next period began

A Few More Things to Note:

• Each class will have roughly 12-25 students. This is a huge gap, but I can look up the exact number on the roster tomorrow at school!
• My co-teachers are very awesome. They will be very shy and timid, so please don’t match their shyness, and feel free to chat them up!
• The gyomushil is definitely a lot smaller than yours, made up of women teachers. They are all very friendly though so there is nothing to worry about here! 

Requesting some photos

And here we go! Celebrity status

This moment made me wonder why I hadn't done a school swap earlier AND with more teachers

Ray found one of his past colleagues working at Yeongdo! What a truly small world!

Ray perhaps a bit exhausted after teaching two classes at my school

Some shots in front of the main school building.
My school is definitely smaller than Busan High School, where he teaches!

One last pose before heading out together!

THE AFTERMATH: TOUR & COFFEE

Before he left, I took Ray up to Kosin University so he could see just one of the awesome views of the island. As we went, people looked at us out of curiosity. We ducked into a coffee shop and grabbed something to drink and something to snack on before he left to go home for the day. My island pride was definitely on full display. It was just a shame that the day was cloudy/foggy so we couldn't see very far out. However, we did have time to briefly reflect about our grant year and share future plans. He is going back to the U.S., while I am set to renew for a second year in Korea. 

TIPS FOR ETAS PLANNING TO SCHOOL SWAP/GUEST TEACH

• Ask your Fulbright co-teachers for your semester schedule, including holidays, testing days (when you might be off), etc. WAY AHEAD OF TIME
• Think of a few ETAs who you'd like to swap with and exchange semester schedules with them also way ahead of time!
• Plan at least one swap, but the more, the better! 
• Notify your co-teacher/administrators of your plan in advance so they can prepare whatever paperwork (if any) for the other ETA's visit
• Send out an email chock-full of information (class levels, class times, lunch/break times, co-teachers' names, previous topics you've already covered, class personalities, etc.) at least 1-2 weeks in advance (not the night before like I did - sorry Ray!)
• You don't necessarily have to bring your most involved lesson plan the day you guest teach. Something simple, interactive, and fun will be perfect for a 50-minute lesson! 
• Expect and be prepared for students to swarm you. Welcome their curiosity about how old you are, where you are from, and, most importantly, if you have a boyfriend or girlfriend
• Arrange your schedule so that there is time for you and the guest ETA to debrief over coffee or lunch before or after the actual teaching!
• Take lots of pictures, and blog about it! I'd love to see how other ETAs' experiences go with their school swaps!  

MY QUESTIONS FOR YOU

If you have done a school swap before (or something similar), what worked and didn't work for you and your guest teacher? What were the highs and lows of your experience? Share your ideas and experiences in the comment box below!

Celebrating My Korean Sister's 16th Birthday in the Midst of Her Midterms

Last night, I went to bed hours before my Korean sister did. 

Already feeling under the weather, Juhyeon had to stay up until 4 or 5 in the morning to study for her midterms - ones which last for three days and test her on every subject she is taking (so, about 10 subjects total). Needless to say, as her sister and *ahem* teacher, I felt a bit guilty as I quietly tiptoed to my room. My guilt was definitely not assuaged by the fact that, because all of my first grade high school students would be preoccupied taking their midterms, I had no classes to teach and had three days off work.

The worst of it [for Juhyeon] was that the following day was her 16th birthday. Because she would be at school until at least 9:00 p.m. that day, I wasn't sure how the family would celebrate, so I just laid low. 

And by "laid low" I mean I hopped on a bus and stumbled around Lotte Department Store looking for a suitable gift to give to my sister later that night. I must have visited 20 stores total, tried on over 20 different outfits (we're not the same size, but close enough), and took the escalator at nearly every floor level. At the end of nearly four hours at the mall and with the aid of every store clerk ever, I finally had a complete outfit for Juyheon. 

Exhausted, I went home. This is what met me when I arrived: 

THE CELEBRATION

Korean dad setting the table for a special celebratory meal in the middle of the living room.

I absolutely love seeing how involved dad is in the household! Whenever he is home, he is either enjoying mom's cooking noisily, folding laundry with her, massaging her shoulders, or reclining on the couch with one of his daughters using him as a pillow while they watch a show together. 

Korean dad lighting his daughter's candles

A very rare picture with mom looking on, as opposed to her usual bustling back and forth between the kitchen and the living room.

Do not be fooled. This ice cream cake is 0% cake, and 100% ice cream.

Juhyeon blowing out her candles. She couldn't blow all of them out, so Seoyeon swooped in at the last second and finished the job, effectively reminding me so much of Emily and her impatient habit of blowing out other people's birthday candles. Hahaha

We sang the Happy Birthday song in both English and Korean, and, after, we spoke a blessing over Juhyeon before digging in.

Seoyeon bought her sister a new EXO album, which was probably the highlight of Juhyeon's celebration. They know each other very well...

For a couple of hours, we all lounged about the living room, eating, talking, watching a fascinating show about extreme makeovers (via plastic surgery), and listening to K-Pop trivia from Juyheon and Seoyeon. As if operating by an internal clock, the two girls slowly got up and shuffled off to their various study spots, not to be seen by me again for the next 12 hours as they immersed themselves in books and under the glare of red-eye-inducing lamp lights.

Even more amazing to me: mom stayed up with them - especially Juhyeon - doing various housework and preparing for the next day by ironing out her daughters' school uniforms and cooking their breakfast hours in advance.

Dedication. Sacrifice. Family.

I appreciated how simple Juhyeon's birthday celebration was. It was simple yet very comfortable and intimate, my kind of atmosphere. It felt familiar, like I had been celebrating her birthday with this family for many years.

Classroom Logistics & Working with the High School English Textbook

The textbook I am not required to follow

I have a lot of freedom as far as the content of my lessons! There is a textbook that Sookhee, my co-teacher, uses and which she says I could also teach from - especially in the areas of Speaking, Listening, and Writing.

Seeing me casually flip through the book in front of her, she quickly added that I was, by no means, beholden to tying my lessons to this book. 

NOT THE MOST INTERESTING TEXTBOOK EVER

Sookhee: It is...hmmm...kind of boring! [smiles] It's okay if you don't

Me: Oh? It looks....interesting!
Sookhee: Haha!...No, not really. Students are not very interested. I have trouble making them interested.
Me: Ah, okay. I understand. 

With this established, I have decided to loosely follow the units in the book, starting with one on Personalities. I have a lot of ideas, and I am so excited to follow up my introduction from last week! Because I started my "first" day of school on a Thursday, I won't actually get to implement my next lesson plan until this Thursday. Until then, I will still be doing my self-introductions.

The fragmented nature of my workweeks already feels strange, but I am sure I will become accustomed to it.

CLASSROOM LOGISTICS 

I only have two co-teachers: Top: Sookhee Teacher
Bottom: Yeonghee Teacher

Number of classes taught per week: 8 
Number of English workshops for teachers: 2
Number of extracurricular classes taught: 3
Number of classes taught per day: ~2-4
Number of students per class: 27-35
Total number of students: ~ 300
Number of co-teachers: 2
Technology (computer/projector): Yes

Number of sleepy students per class: ~5
Number of loud students per class: ~3
Number of times I have my students sing: Every class

Total hours I am at work each day: 8

Having eight classes a week is on the low-end of teaching. It definitely ranges, but I hear from my fellow ETAs that they are teaching 15-23 classes per week! 

Since my assignment to Busan, the second largest metropolis in Korea, I expected many classes, with many students. As it is, being assigned to Yeong Island actually creates a different reality for me. The island is small, and my school is also quite small with only about 900 students from the first to third grade. 

As you can see on the right collage, I have two co-teachers, who help me with tech set-up, as well as minor disciplinary issues. They are both very gentle and sweet women, and I have not witnessed any corporal punishment in the classroom by their hand (or any other teachers' hand, for that matter). 

QUALITY TIME AT HOME WITH HOST FAMILY

This evening, I was in my room working with the door closed. Hearing my family members stirring outside, I opened the door remembering what the OCs had told us about the more communal style of Korean living. 

A sweet night of fellowship, complete with midnight fruit snacks, singing in the living room, counting games, and tucking flowers behind our ears

My family was seated in the living room, talking and laughing together. Once in a while, I would look up from my work and take a peek at what they were up to. Their laughter, freely mingling with the others, was quite inviting. I half-hoped that they would notice I wasn't actually working anymore and invite me. 

And they did! 

Opening a letter from Mama - almost a ceremonial process

Juhyeon looked at me, quickly ducked out of the photo I was taking, and invited me to join them in their singing and hand-clapping. They taught me many games involving counting numbers and making facial expressions, and - at the end - they taught me two songs that were meant to bless me.

The gesture was so sweet. I was so moved. Even without the Google translation, I could tell that they were giving me something very special. Later, Juhyeon translated the lyrics for me and sent it via Kakao Talk (KaTalk).

One is called: God Bless You, and the other: You Planted the Trees at the Creek (again, this is Google translate, so I don't know if these titles are accurate).

I smiled and laughed so much tonight that I felt like a different person when I returned to my room, and resumed my work. In the midst of this joy, I felt like there was something missing.

I opened a letter from Mama (one of the precious ones that I keep close at hand, but try not to open until either very special occasions or very lonesome moments).

Ma, I can hear your voice, and I savor the strength you give me from afar! 

The Desk Warming Saga Continues: No Observations & No Teaching

Brace yourselves for the mundane details of my everyday life here in Korea. (You know you like reading about it).

Last night, in the middle of shoveling food in my mouth, I told my host mom that I would be happy if she served me the same rice and special egg omelet side dish combo for breakfast every day. And, of course, I woke up for my second day of school with just this very thing on the table - plus more side dishes! 

When I went to deposit my shoes in "my" cubby (aka Andrea's old shoe cubby), I noticed that they had replaced the name placard bearing her name to one with mine. Just this tiny gesture made me feel a little bit more like a part of the school.

The day passed without anyone showing any willingness to let me observe their classes. Like the day before, I spent over six hours loitering about the Teachers' Office, mustering up all sorts of energy and mental exercises to stay awake.

Although I had done nothing particularly taxing, I was exhausted when I got home. I walked zombie-like back to our apartment, and slowly sank down on a chair in my bedroom not understanding what to do next.

Before I could formulate a decisive thought, Seoyeon, my younger host sister, knocked lightly on my door and came in bearing this super tasty drink. The concrete cement that my face had turned into over the course of the day warmed at the thoughtful gesture, and cracked into a slight smile seeing the cute, color-coordinated tray.

Enjoying this milk + strawberry yogurt drink constitutes my last memory before I passed out for another three-hour nap.

When I woke up, I waded through the contents of both suitcases and gave everything its temporary home. I got to the bottom of one suitcase, and found this letter embedded there. I was ecstatic! And then I choked up seeing the careful cursive of my mother's handwriting. I didn't touch the letter - letting it rest where it was - as I kept my hands moving, folding clothes, patting the creases out of my blazers, and lining up the seams of pants and jeans.

And then - as if meeting her for a few brief seconds - I took the envelope, held it up to the light, and savored the feel of its unopened contents. I've been trying to convince myself that I am not homesick but this letter slowly cracked that facade; slowly, because I am still in a whole lot of denial about just how much I miss my family.