More on Life in Korea
Posted by ~Ray @ 2008-11-13 11:49:12
My students:Most of my students come from middle class families. The majority have both parents working. Because Seoul is so populated there are schools every couple of yards (on the 10 minute bus ride from my apartment to my school. I pass 2 others that I can see from the main road). In elementary school students go to the one that is closest to their home. In middle school and high school there is a lottery system in which students get divided up into a school that is within a certain distance of their home but not necessarily the closest one. With the way this is done this means that all my students live within walking distance and I walk past many of their homes every day. The area the school is in is fairly nice. It is kept very clean and it is obvious that the people take pride in what they have. However many of the houses and apartments are a bit run down and rather small (even by Korean standards which are much different than American standards!). The area is not the poorest I have seen in the city but far from the wealthier areas. Another way to judge wealth in Korean neighborhoods is by the number of children sent abroad and the number of children who go to hogwans. Out of all my students (about 450) I have 2 students who have lived in America. A very small handful of others (maybe 20 or so) have been there for vacation or to visit family. I know of another student (who is in 4th grade) who lived in Australia for 6 months. One of my friends who works in one of the wealthiest areas of the city has at least 5 or 6 kids in each class who have lived abroad for at least a year each. Moving to America. Canada. Australia or England is extremely popular. If you are able to do this it is seen as a sign of wealth and rank. In the wealthier Korean communities many moms move with the children for a couple years while the dad stays in Korea to make money. Children who have lived abroad are at a great advantage in the schools here and for getting into colleges. Parents who have sent their children abroad or have moved abroad with them automatically gain social prestige. It is however expected that both parents and children (sometimes not until after college but normally by middle school or high school) will return to Korea to stay. For the families who can't afford this or for when they are living in Korea hogwans are a must. A hogwan is basically an independent school and tutoring center that runs before or after public school hours. Going to a hogwan cannot replace being enrolled in the public schools (as a private school could). Hogwans teach everything from English to math to taekwando to dance. English and science are the most popular things to go to Hogwans for. The number of children in a community that attend hogwans is another way to measure wealth. Most hogwans are expensive. Families have been known to give up new clothes electronics and even food to have their children enrolled in hogwans. The government has tried a couple times (mostly without success) at regulating this. Probably a little more than half of my students attend hogwans on a regular basis. (They also run summer and winter programs for when the public schools aren't in session. Even more of my students attend these). This is pretty low. In the wealthier areas every single student goes to hogwans. Hogwans are considered a necessity in Korean life despite having some controversial aspects. Many hogwans run classes until 10 or 11 at night meaning students aren't getting home until that late. This obviously results in very tired students in public school classes. Teachers often have problems with students falling asleep in class. Many parents also believe that hogwans are more important than the public schools. This results in parents caring much more about grades from hogwans so students only put in effort there and not in the regular schools. (The stereotype about Asian parents putting tons of pressure on their children to do well in school and not caring about anything else is pretty accurate for most families here.) I deal with less of this than some of the other native teachers because fewer of my students are in hogwans. It also gets worse as students get older and closer to taking the University Entrance Exam. From a teaching perspective hogwans can go either way. I know people who teach in great hogwans who love it and those who teach in horrible ones. There is very little regulation of the hogwans so it is not uncommon to hear of native teachers not getting paid not being given a place to live having the hogwan go under. Generally working in the public schools means better pay better hours (classes until 10 or 11 at night means teachers have to be there even later!) better benefits (most people at hogwans get 2 or 3 sick days and 5 vacation days. I get 15 and 21 respectively) etc. The hogwans most often have better behaved students students who want to be there and parental support. Working in a hogwan is a bit more of a gamble although that does also mean there are really awesome hogwans out there that do pay better still have good hours etc. Working in a hogwan also almost always means you aren't the only native teacher there and that you have other people to speak English with during the day. Sometimes that would be nice! Overall. I am really glad to be in a public school because it is a much more secure and guaranteed position and moving here was enough of an adventure for me!Korean medicine:Last week my friend Jess started throwing up in school. There was blood in the throw up so her school wanted to take her to the hospital (they don't have doctor's offices here everything is in the hospital. Going to the emergency room is like going to the emergency room in America but going to the hospital most often means just going to the doctor. It is easier to get in without an appointment here though!) Before they took her the school nurse insisted on poking a needle into each of her thumbs by the nail. Apparently bleeding from your thumbs cures stomachaches. Once at the hospital the doctor gave her a shot (she still has no idea what was in it and her coteacher didn't know either) and told her to eat nothing but rice for 2-3 days. Eating rice helps you get better. Interesting medical advice... One of my coteachers is pregnant. We were talking today about it (the students just figured it out today despite the fact that she has been showing for quite a while now!) and I was asking her about how long women stay in the hospital etc. She said if there are no complications you stay for 3 days and 2 nights. I think this is similar to in America. However you aren't allowed to shower or touch cold water for a week after giving birth. You must also wear a lot of clothing no matter how warm it is out. Doing these things helps the body heal. They also have special centers here for women who have just given birth. It is common to go stay in one for a couple of weeks and then to go home. My coteacher has already arranged to be in one for 2 weeks after her baby is born. I asked what they do at these places and she said help you not take cold showers or touch water. This is the coteacher that doesn't speak great English so I'm not completely sure what this all entails but still different than America. I've had a cold for about 2 weeks now and it has been pretty bad the past few days. My coteacher could tell I wasn't feeling well today and offered to take me to the hospital. I said no thanks. I didn't think I was that sick but if I got worse I would take her up on the offer. I asked what they would even be able to do. She said give me a shot. I asked what was in the shot. She said she didn't know paused and looked perplexed and then told me she had never thought about it before. I get the impression they trust doctors as absolute authorities more than we do in America. I also asked her about buying cold medicine here. I am almost out of the stuff I brought from home (although between all the Westerners I know we could open a massive pharmacy and people are very willing to share if you don't have something). I know you can get regular Tylenol so I was hoping for Tylenol Cold. When I asked she said you can only buy medicine after the doctor writes you a prescription (actually this went more like coteacher: you go to doctor he writes you take to pharmacy; me: a prescription? coteacher: maybe doctor writes down medicine) I know this isn't true because I know people who have bought things in the pharmacy that you didn't need a prescription for. I'm not really sure at this point what she meant but I may have to go try to figure it out soon. Given these three instances of Korean medicine in the past week. I am really hoping to avoid going to a Korean doctor while I am here! If I do have to there are a few hospitals that specialize in treating foreigners (aka the doctors speak English and they know and practice the latest Western techniques) so I will be heading to one of those![ADVERTHERE]Related article:
http://acw81186.livejournal.com/14513.html
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