Vacation Time!

            This week I have my first vacation since coming here in March. Since I work in a Hagwon, a private academy, I don't get the longer vacation time that the public teachers do. I know a bunch of people that went and traveled around Korea, Taiwan, Jeju Island and the South Pacific but this month is all about saving the Benjamin’s for me. However tomorrow I will go outside of Gwangju to what is supposed to be a beautiful river located within a gorge at Gangcheonsa.

            I really was ready for a couple of days off from school just so I could read, write, exercise, and just enjoy not being in the ridiculous heat here. It's as oppressive as back home but without the sundresses and patios to look forward to at the end of the day.

            I know that I haven't talked about what the education system is like here so I'll take the time to do that now. The school year goes from about the end of February through the end of July and then from September to early February. The public schools get about two to three months off in total but that really doesn't matter if you work at a Hagwon. Now a Hagwon isn't limited to just English as it can be in any subject or field including athletics like Taekwondo. So even though the kids will be off from public school they will still go to three or four different Hagwon's so they won't fall behind in their studies.

            This is important to understand because these kids have no idea what a true vacation is. They don't have summer vacations filled with camps, lazy days and hanging out at the pool or lake. To be able to relax and enjoy not being in school is such an alien concept that even when they have time off they still use most of it to study. Sometimes the English books we use talk about kids being at a summer camp or at the lake and I have to spend time explaining what that means and then I’ll teach through the lesson.

            After being here and experiencing this, I really have a soft spot for these kids when it comes to giving them homework over the vacation. I can't make myself do it since I know they're in two other Hagwon's that will be giving them homework. In addition, Josh and I, my coworker who is fantastic to work with, don't emphasize a lot of grammar and vocabulary but we push on pronunciation and fluency. For example we’ll try to tell Western expressions and jokes but it is like training Data or Spock because before they can understand a Western joke you have to set up what the cultural meaning is that makes the joke funny. That whole process is hilarious in of itself.

            One thing that isn't funny is how damaging this relentless pressure to always study is for the kids. Korea has an extremely high suicide rate for children* and it's because of the pressure put on by Korean society to excel and not disappoint or shame their families. So if they spend all of their time studying and preparing for their big state exams and then they don't meet their family’s expectations to excel on those exams, they believe what else is there to live for? These state exams are similar to the ones we have, ACT, SAT, TCAPS etc but on steroids because of how important they are to being admitted into a university here.

            Anyways, only 33 days until college football season starts and I can’t wait to watch the Vols, on delayed replay of course, run through the T in Neyland Stadium!

*http://joongangdaily.joins.com/article/view.asp?aid=2918314