or "13 of approxiamately 48"
or "What thinks you?"
or "My school, my principal, my vice principal and my fellow teachers"
or "What is it really like in SA?"
First of all, lets do a little thought experiment. Honestly think of ten things you knew about Korea before you started reading my blog. Say some stuff out loud (it's pronounced Teh-kwon-doe not Ty-kwon-doe), count them on your fingers.Think about whether or not you consider Korea to be prey to stereotypes and tropes. Think about whether any of the things you think might be purely out of ignorance.
In the beginning of the year I had the longest talk I have ever had with my principal. Her English is not very good and my Korean is not even worth mentioning so the grade four teacher was there to translate for us. The grade four teacher (the one with the secret child) has okay English, we can talk for a while without getting stuck but I still try to keep it monosyllabic. We were having lunch in the staff room, cause the kids all leave winter camp at 12:00 so the school doesn't offer them lunch, when the principal complements my nails and shirt (they match). This starts a two hour conversation that just blew my mind.
It started okay, she asked me if I am happy with my salary and my job. I explained that I'm happy that I'm getting paid a lot more than I would get paid in SA. Then she asked me if I was rich in South Africa, which led me to explain about the situation in South Africa. I explained about how we have lots and lots of poor people and the people who are rich are very, very rich so even though I am not in the rich group, I should be considered rich, and I consider myself rich because of how many poor people there are who are very, very poor. Then she said Korea is the same, which shows that she has no idea of how poor people are in South Africa, so I explained that people are still suffering from malnutrition because they cant afford to eat. She says that she doesn't understand that cause cant people just eat 'the fruit'. So I ask, what fruit? And she says, the fruit from the trees. The trees people! Why hadn't we thought of that...Africa! We live in Africa where fruit trees are lush and no one ever needs to starve. Breathe in, breathe out. Okay, so I explain that the fruit farms are owned by farmers and just taking the fruit would be stealing and that South Africa has the same 'buy your food' thing that Korea has. She gets it, and she says well then the government should feed people, and I just nod and explain that the government is trying.
Next she asks me if we have universities and if I went to university and I tell her yes I did. I also explain that I was privileged to go to university because not many South Africans are able to do so. She asks me why that is and I refer her again to the poverty and also the language barriers and the poor state of the education system and the gross inequalities that plague my country. She is most shocked at the fact that we have 11 official languages. To this she says, 'Your country will never be unified until you all speak one language, you should choose one so that your government can properly look after your people'. Really lady? Fo real, fo real? And you don't think we've thought of this? I tried to explain to her about languages being intricately connected to culture and having equal rights and equal value. I tried to explain that we have great minds dealing with these issues trying to find a solution. I tried guys, in my monosyllabic way I tried...
The thing is she says these things with the most sincere innocence. The innocence of the ignorant. No malice at all. She also told me that I would disgrace my family if I married before my elder sister and that I should wait for Petra to get married first. She said my mother raised me right and that I am different from other foreign teachers, and she appreciates my work ethic but it is unusual for a man to stay with a woman for so many years and not marry her, Sinclair is not really interested in me, she tells me. Does he have money, she asks, or is he after mine? Had I not doubted his character myself many times in our relationship, I would have been offended. But I checked and double checked and he's a good guy. He is in my mind another one who was raised properly, and thank the heavens he let his older sister get married before he did. A clear sign of good breeding.
This conversation was held in all seriousness over a cup of after-lunch coffee, polite smiles and bows and servings with both hands included. On the flip side, my vice principle is a lot more fun. On the last day of term last year, before winter camp started, my co teacher comes into my room to tell me the kids are all leaving at twelve and the staff is going out for lunch; would I like to come along? Now, I am not obligated to go but the food is free and it would be impolite to refuse so I say yes, I'd love to join them. Even though I know I am signing myself up for over an hour of polite smiling while every one around me speaks Korean and laughs and gets drunk. Turns out, by "The staff is going out for lunch" my co-teacher actually meant the staff is "hopping on a school bus for a trip to the coast (three towns/an hour and a half away) whereafter we have a lunch consisting of a variety of raw/live ocean creatures. We will then look at some touristy things and take a staff photograph on the pier before returning back to school as the sun sets". Completely threw out my Friday evening plans. Any hoo, the fun game at the restaurant was 'make the foreigner eat things that are still squirming and watch her squirm herself', thank the heavens above for the delicious wine that accompanied the meal and the chance to tell this dramatic story that makes the trauma worthwhile. Throughout the meal, my vice principal, who's name I was told once but I have since forgotten and I'm too embarrassed to ask again, was drinking large amounts of Soju with the other male members of staff. He poured me a shot which I sipped on throughout the meal, so I was not at all drunk enough for the party on the bus to the coast. The vice principle bought us all drinks and chips. The chips were made of corn and the were small cone shaped things that were actually not too bad tasting (coming from someone who doesn't like chips). With his own chips, the vice principle placed one cone on each of his finger tips and walked up and down the isle of the bus making various staff members eat the chips from his fingers. He would just stick his finger straight at your mouth, I ate two before the grade six teacher intervened and asked him to stop. It was pretty hilarious for a completely inappropriate and uncomfortable situation. I also drank half a can of beer in one go, because the vice principle was playing a game called 'one shot' where if you don't finish your drink in one shot, he pours you another.
When we got to the place where we were gonna take the picture the vice principle was not in a good condition. So he sat on the floor, and the other teachers were grumpy about this but I thought 'shame give the man a break' so I plopped down on the floor with him. After the picture was taken, the vice principle grabs a scarf off of the school nurses neck and wraps it around his head, pulls me towards him and tell the photographer to take a picture of us together. The rest of the staff is laughing so I go with it, but after inspecting the image the vice principle is still dissatisfied and makes me give him the same style of head wrap as I am wearing, the one that's covering the fact that I have not brushed my hair in ages. So there we were, an old, thin, Korean man and young, chubby, South African girl, posing for a picture, arm in arm with matching headdress on the coast of a man made beach in Gunsan, South Korea. Oh the places I go! Who would have ever seen this coming? Not I! He fell asleep on the route home and gave us all some peace. A member of the admin staff had to drive him home. I'd pay for a copy of that picture.
My co-teacher, the one I have had a rocky relationship with is leaving my school. No tears shed! And the person who has been my temporary co-teacher has been wonderful to me and so much more helpful. Things are looking up for 2012. The staff at my school will be changing drastically. Four teachers will be leaving and five new teachers will join because we will have an extra grade five class. I'm very excited to meet new teachers, maybe some of them will have some more English and they can help me with my Korean. Apparently the grade four teacher really, really wanted to leave the school but she needs to get leave from the principle, a letter of release, and the principle doesn't want her to go. Begged and begged her to stay and won't sign a letter of release. The grade three teacher (my co-teacher) was in the same position, but she's leaving anyway. I don't think she was very happy in my school. I'm not sure she was meant to be a teacher. I know I wasn't meant to be a teacher for the rest of my life, but I'm not sure she wants to be a teacher now. Some people are, some people aren't, she's not. One time, at lunch I was telling her how tired I was cause I couldn't sleep the previous night, and how I really didn't feel like coming to school that morning, she told me that how she feels everyday. If that's not a sign that teaching is not for her then I don't know what is. Also, she shouldn't be a co-teacher and in her next job she probably wont be.
To end off, I would like to note that for all the dodgy things I thought about my principle after we spoke about South Africa I also stand in correction about a criticism I made of Korea earlier in my blog. It pertains to fan death, apparently it is a completely explainable phenomena and I just followed the hype of believing the worst of Koreans because it sounds so ridiculous. If you'd like to read up on the situation under which fan death is a danger please check out this link.
Now, I need to ask a favour of all my SA readers... please remind me what South Africa is really like. I have been gone so long and it has been cold for so long that I have been thinking back on my mother land with rose tinted lenses. I have completely romanticised South African summers, I imagine you all running around on the beach with the sun in your hair and joy radiating from your faces. I imagine good tans and cocktails and high fives while you relish in my misery... I imagine most of you trying to steal my man and laughing at the four layers of clothing I put on every morning. Tell me it isn't so, tell me you're happy but not so happy that I should waste my time being jealous of you... life is hard at -12 degrees Celsius. 'My East Asian Adventure' has slowly morphed into 'My Apartment Adventure'. So set me straight, with pictures.
I hope that no matter where you are you're well, safe, happy and thinking of me :-)
Liefde
Bashti Teacher
PS. Happy birthday Yumna!
or "What thinks you?"
or "My school, my principal, my vice principal and my fellow teachers"
or "What is it really like in SA?"
First of all, lets do a little thought experiment. Honestly think of ten things you knew about Korea before you started reading my blog. Say some stuff out loud (it's pronounced Teh-kwon-doe not Ty-kwon-doe), count them on your fingers.Think about whether or not you consider Korea to be prey to stereotypes and tropes. Think about whether any of the things you think might be purely out of ignorance.
In the beginning of the year I had the longest talk I have ever had with my principal. Her English is not very good and my Korean is not even worth mentioning so the grade four teacher was there to translate for us. The grade four teacher (the one with the secret child) has okay English, we can talk for a while without getting stuck but I still try to keep it monosyllabic. We were having lunch in the staff room, cause the kids all leave winter camp at 12:00 so the school doesn't offer them lunch, when the principal complements my nails and shirt (they match). This starts a two hour conversation that just blew my mind.
It started okay, she asked me if I am happy with my salary and my job. I explained that I'm happy that I'm getting paid a lot more than I would get paid in SA. Then she asked me if I was rich in South Africa, which led me to explain about the situation in South Africa. I explained about how we have lots and lots of poor people and the people who are rich are very, very rich so even though I am not in the rich group, I should be considered rich, and I consider myself rich because of how many poor people there are who are very, very poor. Then she said Korea is the same, which shows that she has no idea of how poor people are in South Africa, so I explained that people are still suffering from malnutrition because they cant afford to eat. She says that she doesn't understand that cause cant people just eat 'the fruit'. So I ask, what fruit? And she says, the fruit from the trees. The trees people! Why hadn't we thought of that...Africa! We live in Africa where fruit trees are lush and no one ever needs to starve. Breathe in, breathe out. Okay, so I explain that the fruit farms are owned by farmers and just taking the fruit would be stealing and that South Africa has the same 'buy your food' thing that Korea has. She gets it, and she says well then the government should feed people, and I just nod and explain that the government is trying.
Next she asks me if we have universities and if I went to university and I tell her yes I did. I also explain that I was privileged to go to university because not many South Africans are able to do so. She asks me why that is and I refer her again to the poverty and also the language barriers and the poor state of the education system and the gross inequalities that plague my country. She is most shocked at the fact that we have 11 official languages. To this she says, 'Your country will never be unified until you all speak one language, you should choose one so that your government can properly look after your people'. Really lady? Fo real, fo real? And you don't think we've thought of this? I tried to explain to her about languages being intricately connected to culture and having equal rights and equal value. I tried to explain that we have great minds dealing with these issues trying to find a solution. I tried guys, in my monosyllabic way I tried...
The thing is she says these things with the most sincere innocence. The innocence of the ignorant. No malice at all. She also told me that I would disgrace my family if I married before my elder sister and that I should wait for Petra to get married first. She said my mother raised me right and that I am different from other foreign teachers, and she appreciates my work ethic but it is unusual for a man to stay with a woman for so many years and not marry her, Sinclair is not really interested in me, she tells me. Does he have money, she asks, or is he after mine? Had I not doubted his character myself many times in our relationship, I would have been offended. But I checked and double checked and he's a good guy. He is in my mind another one who was raised properly, and thank the heavens he let his older sister get married before he did. A clear sign of good breeding.
This conversation was held in all seriousness over a cup of after-lunch coffee, polite smiles and bows and servings with both hands included. On the flip side, my vice principle is a lot more fun. On the last day of term last year, before winter camp started, my co teacher comes into my room to tell me the kids are all leaving at twelve and the staff is going out for lunch; would I like to come along? Now, I am not obligated to go but the food is free and it would be impolite to refuse so I say yes, I'd love to join them. Even though I know I am signing myself up for over an hour of polite smiling while every one around me speaks Korean and laughs and gets drunk. Turns out, by "The staff is going out for lunch" my co-teacher actually meant the staff is "hopping on a school bus for a trip to the coast (three towns/an hour and a half away) whereafter we have a lunch consisting of a variety of raw/live ocean creatures. We will then look at some touristy things and take a staff photograph on the pier before returning back to school as the sun sets". Completely threw out my Friday evening plans. Any hoo, the fun game at the restaurant was 'make the foreigner eat things that are still squirming and watch her squirm herself', thank the heavens above for the delicious wine that accompanied the meal and the chance to tell this dramatic story that makes the trauma worthwhile. Throughout the meal, my vice principal, who's name I was told once but I have since forgotten and I'm too embarrassed to ask again, was drinking large amounts of Soju with the other male members of staff. He poured me a shot which I sipped on throughout the meal, so I was not at all drunk enough for the party on the bus to the coast. The vice principle bought us all drinks and chips. The chips were made of corn and the were small cone shaped things that were actually not too bad tasting (coming from someone who doesn't like chips). With his own chips, the vice principle placed one cone on each of his finger tips and walked up and down the isle of the bus making various staff members eat the chips from his fingers. He would just stick his finger straight at your mouth, I ate two before the grade six teacher intervened and asked him to stop. It was pretty hilarious for a completely inappropriate and uncomfortable situation. I also drank half a can of beer in one go, because the vice principle was playing a game called 'one shot' where if you don't finish your drink in one shot, he pours you another.
When we got to the place where we were gonna take the picture the vice principle was not in a good condition. So he sat on the floor, and the other teachers were grumpy about this but I thought 'shame give the man a break' so I plopped down on the floor with him. After the picture was taken, the vice principle grabs a scarf off of the school nurses neck and wraps it around his head, pulls me towards him and tell the photographer to take a picture of us together. The rest of the staff is laughing so I go with it, but after inspecting the image the vice principle is still dissatisfied and makes me give him the same style of head wrap as I am wearing, the one that's covering the fact that I have not brushed my hair in ages. So there we were, an old, thin, Korean man and young, chubby, South African girl, posing for a picture, arm in arm with matching headdress on the coast of a man made beach in Gunsan, South Korea. Oh the places I go! Who would have ever seen this coming? Not I! He fell asleep on the route home and gave us all some peace. A member of the admin staff had to drive him home. I'd pay for a copy of that picture.
My co-teacher, the one I have had a rocky relationship with is leaving my school. No tears shed! And the person who has been my temporary co-teacher has been wonderful to me and so much more helpful. Things are looking up for 2012. The staff at my school will be changing drastically. Four teachers will be leaving and five new teachers will join because we will have an extra grade five class. I'm very excited to meet new teachers, maybe some of them will have some more English and they can help me with my Korean. Apparently the grade four teacher really, really wanted to leave the school but she needs to get leave from the principle, a letter of release, and the principle doesn't want her to go. Begged and begged her to stay and won't sign a letter of release. The grade three teacher (my co-teacher) was in the same position, but she's leaving anyway. I don't think she was very happy in my school. I'm not sure she was meant to be a teacher. I know I wasn't meant to be a teacher for the rest of my life, but I'm not sure she wants to be a teacher now. Some people are, some people aren't, she's not. One time, at lunch I was telling her how tired I was cause I couldn't sleep the previous night, and how I really didn't feel like coming to school that morning, she told me that how she feels everyday. If that's not a sign that teaching is not for her then I don't know what is. Also, she shouldn't be a co-teacher and in her next job she probably wont be.
To end off, I would like to note that for all the dodgy things I thought about my principle after we spoke about South Africa I also stand in correction about a criticism I made of Korea earlier in my blog. It pertains to fan death, apparently it is a completely explainable phenomena and I just followed the hype of believing the worst of Koreans because it sounds so ridiculous. If you'd like to read up on the situation under which fan death is a danger please check out this link.
Now, I need to ask a favour of all my SA readers... please remind me what South Africa is really like. I have been gone so long and it has been cold for so long that I have been thinking back on my mother land with rose tinted lenses. I have completely romanticised South African summers, I imagine you all running around on the beach with the sun in your hair and joy radiating from your faces. I imagine good tans and cocktails and high fives while you relish in my misery... I imagine most of you trying to steal my man and laughing at the four layers of clothing I put on every morning. Tell me it isn't so, tell me you're happy but not so happy that I should waste my time being jealous of you... life is hard at -12 degrees Celsius. 'My East Asian Adventure' has slowly morphed into 'My Apartment Adventure'. So set me straight, with pictures.
I hope that no matter where you are you're well, safe, happy and thinking of me :-)
Liefde
Bashti Teacher
PS. Happy birthday Yumna!
