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Published: April 7th 2011
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Seoul Square
The focal point of a city with 10.5Million people! Back to the blog for me it seems. After the glorious two month food and drink festival that was home over Christmas, I find myself abroad again. Escaping the despair and gloom of the emerald isle I, like many of the Irish youth, have checked out. Following stale breadcrumbs left by our ancestors, I have become a unfortunate statistic lost amongst a monstrous exodus of paddys seeking work abroad. I however, have opted for the the easy road; teaching English in South Korea where jobs are plentiful and the life of a king is easily within grasp.
Much to my delight I started in my school on valentines day, where the cutest little snot nosed Korean kids yield candy and chocolates for their respective elders. In Korea, I have learned, there are three or so days of gift giving. Males pamper females, only to be spoiled themselves by their partners only a week later. Then on some random day (I'm sure, the rainiest, most saddest day on Earth next to the start of an Irish child's 'Lent') Koreans who received no gifts must feast on a pungent soup like broth to bring them luck in the future. I would like
to say I had the guts to smash a few bowls of this stuff, but I hadn't.
My work in this crazy land of symbols and lights entails, bringing the western accent of English to youngsters during their after school program. My average day involves a morning of gut busting Gym work while listening to dizzying Korean pop songs, (The atrocious K-Pop) followed by lunch in my little or should I say, quaint "studio" apartment. By 3pm, I find myself at my desk in school preparing for the day ahead. I teach elementary (9-11yrs old) before 7pm and the dreaded middle school kids from 8pm onwards.
Working with elementary school kids is a blast. Always entertaining, talkative and interested, these kids are a breeze to teach and much to my delight, easily fooled! They have fun in class, joke around, are eager to learn and more importantly are intrigued by pale faced foreigners. Middle school teens (12-15yrs old) on the other hand resemble sir captain buzz-kill, senior resident at the county morgue; not a bit of craic to be had! Forget drawing blood from a stone, its like swimming through a fart with these poor zombies. However I
Fruit for sale
Fruit seller at Namdemun Market, Seoul. pity their pubescent souls, they trudge through eight hour school days to intensive after-school programs. After absorbing Maths to Flute, English to Basketball, they arrive home, some at midnight, for dinner and bed. With my glass of cheap rice wine I toast these future presidents and leaders of the world from the bar every Saturday night!
In this strange land I count myself lucky that I landed a very relaxed school. Classes are easy going and we have a lot of free time (hence this blog). The locals here work so hard in school and in life. Our Korean co-teachers work long hours for less pay. You have to feel guilty on a Monday morning as you laugh off the weekend while stressed out teachers huddle around an overheated photocopier. Although the foreign teachers are here for an 'authentic' accent, at times you feel you are here for comedic value. With the elementary kids you do a little dance, show off your freshly shaved dome while making faces to please the masses. The kids love it and you chuckle a little inside knowing that your banking some serious coin at the end of the day.
I could rant
Get your cook on!
Namdemun Market in Seoul about Korean culture for paragraphs, but you would have to sign up to a weekly newsletter for that lecture. Instead I will leave you on this; Korean are OBSESSED with mobile phones. Maybe I'm getting old, but these kids are infatuated with their phones. If you want to discipline a little cheeky scamp you take his
handifone and he is like putty in your hands. This fact is so evident that at the end of my middle school class, the little zombies instantly produce their phones for gaming, texting and the all important mirror! Yes, these youngsters sculpt their image through the camera in their phone. In a country where videophone is a way of life, one has to worry! For just an hour ago I purchased one crisp alcoholic beverage from my local 24 hour mini-mart to be greeted by a cell-phone wielding shift worker. I like to think somewhere in between a 'Twitter' post and 'Myspace like' was my cheesy nachos receipt!
Other than being slagged by 9 year old kids and being shunned by 15 year old teenyboppers, life has been good. I have met a surprisingly large band of foreigners who enjoy the haunts of Seoul as much as the stomping grounds of our native city, Suwon. With my two best buddies Brian Pros and Darragh Foy, a tea-bags throw-a-away, sessions are a go. Whether it's fun filled Saturday nights in Seoul or sun drenched summer weekends on the beaches of Busan, I know the next few months ahead will be a blast.
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Marie Towell
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OK so the 9 yr olds think you are cool, and the 15 yr olds - probably a creep (sorry about that) but hey - what about the 20 somethings. You seem to have left them out altogether. I wonder why!! Life sounds great there for you and I'm so glad for you. It must be nice to be working, have the few bob but still be "travelling" - if you know what I mean. Stay safe Baz and enjoy, enjoy. You made the right decision. Luvya Marie T.