A day in the life of a hagwon teacher in Gwangju

(This is a post I've been meaning to write but haven't had the time)

We've been here for almost a year and things are finally going in a routine manner. We work 5 days a week with the weekends off. Working in a Hagwon (aka English Academy) means we work late. So here's a snapshot of a typical Monday morning.

Morning

Neil usually starts the day off by waking up anywhere between 8am and 9am and then heads to the gym that's a block away from us. I'd wake up and spend about half an hour to an hour on my ipad, catching up with the west coast and playing some games. Eventually I'll get up and wash the dishes (if it hasn't been washed the night before). If I hadn't packed lunch the night before I'd start prepping breakfast and lunch. By the time Neil gets back, breakfast is usually ready and lunch is cooling down. Typical breakfast includes dumplings, eggs and toast, congee or if I'm feeling fancy then french toast. On extremely lazy days Neil will have oatmeal and I'll have nutella and peanut butter on toast. Oh and we always have either coffee or tea in the morning that Neil makes. Our lunches are usually leftovers from the night before or I'll make something easy like fried rice. 

We'll watch a short Netflix TedTalk or episode of something funny while having breakfast. Then I'll usually take a shower first because it takes a lot longer for me to get ready in the morning. I'm usually still finishing my coffee or tea. By the time we're both ready - dressed and packed - we'll head out the door by 12:30pm. On Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, we have to get to work by 1:00pm. On Tuesdays and Thursdays, it's 2:00pm so we'll spend an extra hour watching tv or leave early to run an errand like pay bills or buy something. 

Afternoon

By the time we get to work, most of the other teachers are just trickling in as well. On Mondays, all the Korean teachers have a meeting so that usually runs from 12pm-ish to about 1:30pm. I usually begin my lesson planning. There are 8 classes in one day that are paired up into 4 blocks. Korean and Native teachers share half the classes and students are generally here for 2 hours. The first block is usually the youngest students ranging from 7 years old to 10 years old. We teach them course books - which are designated books with a set curriculum. There's a pattern to these and eventually you'll get the hang of them and it's fairly simple to teach. The next block are a bit older but still in Elementary school. But again, still course books with set curriculum. In the third block, we have the older students, either in the last few years of Elementary school or first year Middle school. Native teachers focus mainly on teaching reading and writing books. Reading two times a week and writing once a week. Our last block are the Middle school students. There tend to be less of those students and some teachers have more breaks at this time. Once students have graduated from Middle school they no longer come to us and goes to a different type of hagwon.

I digress. Mostly planning is a bit robotic. I have a notebook where I write down what I plan to do with the kids. Usually the first thing I do is check their homework then we review vocabulary. Depending on the type of lesson, we read or do an activity. I also note down what homework I'm assigning for the day. For my younger students, I always give them special stickers for homework and if they've done well in class, I'd give them a certain amount of the school stickers. They all have sticker books that they'll collect and claim a prize from the receptionist. 

After planning my lessons, it's about 2:30pm and Neil and I head to the break room and have our lunch. Most of the other native teachers also eat around this time so we all sit together and catch up. Shortly before 3:00pm we can hear kids running and talking in the lobby and know we'll have to get back to our desk soon because classes start at 3:00pm. After each block of classes, we'll get a 10 minute break, which is nice to give us time to sit down or use the bathroom. On Mondays I teach 7 classes and get to leave at around 9:00pm. 

Night

Since March, Neil and I both get off at 9:00pm on Mondays so we'll head home together. Depending on what we're eating for dinner, we sometimes stop by the grocery along the way to pick up stuff. After getting home, we'll put our stuff down and get out of our work clothes. I start prepping dinner. Usually dinner is ready in about an hour. I specifically choose easy meals so I don't have to spend so much time cooking so late. A typical dinner includes black bean pork over rice, chicken curry, tomato noodle soup, shanghai udon fried noodle, pasta, or a chicken salad. After eating we'll usually watch an episode of something on Netflix to relax and digest. Then we'll get ready for bed. While in bed, I'd play on my ipad some more and Neil would be on his phone reading. Then we'd call it a night and start the day all over again. :)  

House (No. 3) Warming

At the end of the month, after settling in we decided to invite our co-workers over for a house warming and get together. Unlike Christmas, I only prepped snacks this time around. Veggies and chips. Everyone bought some drinks and dessert to share. There were raspberry sponge cake and cheesecake!

Most of the native teachers showed up and had no trouble finding our place because we are so much closer now. Two Korean teachers showed up! One even bought us a box of strawberries and toilet paper. Apparently a Korean tradition when someone moves into a new place is bring toilet paper. Interesting...

Rather than dancing, we opted for Cards Against Humanity game instead. It was great, especially when I was doing so well. It was great just socializing and talking with each other. As this was at the end of the semester, we had a lot of stories to share about our students and classes. We all dolled out advice on how to manage certain students and classes. The next month, we would have a whole new schedule and new classes and new students (obviously).

There are two major breaks in the Korean school semester: summer and winter. And also two new semester starts: September and March. Korean students graduate in February and move to a new level in March. So every March we would get a whole new schedule and change classes and students. In September, nothing really changes. But this is a busy time for new incoming foreign teachers. Our school should be expecting some new foreign teachers at that time.

Winter Clothes and Shoes

Since we're limited by the amount of clothes we can pack, a lot of the thicker clothes were obviously missing. So after our payday in December, we decided to do some shopping. I was in dire need of a nice pair of winter boots since the roads were becoming slick. With my history of balance it would be best for me to be safe than sorry. At the beginning, my rain boots were sufficient but I started slipping on the ice so I had to get winter boots. 

In downtown, Neil and I wandered to H&M. He has expressed many times in the past how he does not enjoy shopping and would much rather I do it and then call him to join me. In fact, that day Neil didn't really plan on doing any shopping but I dragged him to H&M. We headed downstairs to the men's section and we saw some really nice pullovers. There was a sale so it was a really good deal. Before we knew it, Neil has picked up 3 sweaters, a scarf and a hat. After leaving him to pay for his stuff, I ventured upstairs to see what kind of deals I can get. I ended up getting two sweaters, a scarf and a pair of sneakers. 

Next we went to a few more shops but didn't see anything. I finally laid my eyes on a pair of boots that looked sensible and only cost me thirty bucks! Since I'm not sure where I'll be next year, I don't want to pay anything too exorbitant for any stuff I may or may not bring with me, so I just snapped it up. 

Shopping in Korea isn't so bad :) Next stop to try one of those Korean shops!

Neil's Parent's Visit

In the middle of November, Neil's lovely parents paid us a visit. They stayed with us the entire time they were here. It was a shame we didn't have much time to show them around or take them anywhere nice since we had to work. They had to do a lot of solo activities and enjoy our Netflix at home. 

They arrived at U-square on Friday night and we picked them up. Unfortunately the taxis here don't seem to have a lot of trunk space so we had to take two separate taxis home. They had just come from Australia and we were suddenly hit with a cold snap, so it was unfortunately very cold when they were here. 

We had two weekends with them and for the first one we went to Damyang to check out the Bamboo forest and museum. It was nice but I feel like that place really didn't have much to do. Ahh but Neil was super fascinated by the multiple penis totem poles that was randomly there and I was reined to take pictures for him. After we got back from Damyang, we took them to Ashley's at U-Square for some all-you-can drink wine and buffet.

The other weekend we went to Jeonju to check out their Hanok village. Basically it's an area of restored ancient style homes, buildings and restaurants. There's a lot of people there and we had a quick bite before heading home. Because we headed so late we didn't have much time to try their famous bibimbap. Next time.

While they were here, we took them to a samgulpsal restaurant (pork belly restaurant), The First Alleyway for brunch and boardgames (I won Settlers of Catan twice!), and Chocolat Village for their yummy chocolate cake. We also ate at home where we had fried chicken delivered and I made my thai coconut soup and they really seemed to enjoy congee. 

It was great having them here and they gave me a very valuable advice: find a big stick to hit Neil with when he's being a brat or pull his ears. Yup!