Final school year in Korea

I wanted to get down some information about how the end of a school year works in a Korean public school while it's still in my mind. Also, you'll find a bit of blab from me where I go off on a tangent to describe my experiences during and after our school farewell party. So here goes.

Korean school year officially ends in February...let me try to explain. Students and teachers finish on the 29th December and enter into "Winter vacation" for around 5 weeks. They then come back for 2 weeks at the beginning of February to finish off the school year. During this time, classes are taught for 2 weeks and the Year 6 students have their graduation ceremony. Then on the 16th February, students and teachers have a holiday for the "Lunar New Year" (Seol). This goes for 3 days (17th-19th of February) then the students immediately enter into their "Spring vacation" which lasts until the 2nd of March. It seems a little strange to have the winter and spring vacation times so close together and then only separated by 2 weeks of schooling?? but that's how it's done here.

Regardless, because I'd already taught most of the required lessons before Christmas, it meant I only had 4 days of teaching to do over the 10 days of work. Needless to say, I did a bit of organising around my desk and watching lots of documentaries on the computer to ease my boredom. Thankfully, my school has been wonderful and have let me take time for rest and relaxation over the spring break. As a result I have had some time to do a little bit more travelling which I will document in the next couple of posts.

What else, oh most of the teachers I worked with (Grade 1 & 2) are leaving....and are being transferred to another school. I heard that after 4 years a teacher must move to another school. It is up to the vice-principals (head administrators) to make the decision on where teachers will be placed next. Unfortunately for the teachers, they often only hear about where they are going 1-2 weeks before they actually have to transfer. That kind of sucks for the teachers I think, but it's the Korean way and isn't likely to be changed anytime soon.

Anyway, because the teachers were leaving, our school had a farewell dinner which was really good. It started off with 1/3 of a large restaurant being taken over by almost all of our teachers. We had the most delicious duck stew I've ever eaten. The meat was soooo tender it just fell off the bones and the thick rice soup was deliciously scented with a soft velvety taste of duck meat. I was completely stuffed by the end of the meal.

Next we went to a noraebang (Kareoke singing room) in which probably 50% of the staff came to. Korean people absolutely love to sing and they have so much fun singing together and sharing in each others music. I really enjoyed just clapping along to the Korean songs and painfully tried to read the korean lyrics on the screen to the slow ballads. Surprisingly I could do it ....sometimes. Of course I was called on to sing a song, so knowing the way things go, I decided to get this part of the equation out of the road quickly and called in a fellow Korean teacher to help me sing "More than Words" by Extreme. I chose this song because I'd heard it in my Korean teacher's car once before so knew he'd know it pretty well.

The vice-principal popped open a couple of bottles of whiskey and proceeded to take it around the room encouraging everyone to have at least 1 shot which most people did with grimaces on their face. Most korean people are fine with "soju" (rice wine) as it's their standard drink, but are not used to drinking whiskey straight. I really enjoy a good whiskey myself, but have to say I usually drink it with coke and never straight or without ice. But it was a nice change from "soju" for me.

After the noraebang, the group dwindled down to a mere 12 people and we headed off to a local restaurant for more food and drinking. I was soooo full I could barely eat another thing but was enjoying the chance to mix with and get to know some other teachers. Whether it was the whiskey at the noraebang or a few more shots of "soju" at the final restaurant or simply the lateness of the evening, I noticed myself getting more sleepy and was thankful for the night to end.

Apparently the next day, the school teachers were a buzz with gossip about the previous nights events. A few teachers mentioned they'd heard about me....but to the life of me I can't think what I'd done to cause any stir. But then I am always thinking from my western point of view so maybe from my angle there was nothing unusual about my behaviour, but to a Korean person, there could have been something?? Maybe drinking the whiskey like a man? Maybe singing the love song "more than words" with my male co-teacher (not that it was intended to be a love song to him....just a song that was slow paced and I thought he'd know). Or when one of my other male teacher's was really drunk, kept saying he loved me, which I just laughed of as a drunk man's talk. Or taking a rest in the car on the way home, maybe perceived me as rolling drunk??

Anyway, at first it annoyed me, to feel judged and not know whether the judgement was good or bad or indifferent. And after chewing my Korean boyfriend's ear off with all the details that happened and asking could it be perceived badly...I eventually gave up and just thought to myself. If I know I acted with a good heart and I'm not ashamed, then I'm no longer going to feel bad if other people perceive it differently. Though, it has made me think twice about my actions when I socialise with my teachers again.

Back to the end of the school year in Korea, apart from the teachers transferring or retiring. There is also a huge shuffle of all the teachers and their teaching positions. The vice-principal and head teachers decide where everyone will be placed and once again, the teachers get to find out which class they will be teaching approximately 1 week prior to the beginning of the new school year. I'm interested to see who the new teachers will be and who I'll be co-teaching with this year. Fingers crossed, they will be just as lovely as the last group. Wish me luck.

But after all that is said and done, I have to say I'm one of the luckiest teachers I know. My school is pretty good considering. The teachers are usually really nice to me and try their best to communicate in English. My co-teacher is very helpful and kind to me and allows me a lot of freedom and my principal allows me to take time away from school during the vacations, just to rest and relax or explore more of Korea. Mum will vouch when she came to visit Korea, how nice my school was and their kindness to us both. So I'm really satisfied in working here and am looking forward to another year. Again, wish me luck hey!

Chaoi for now
Kirsty