The Guest Teacher

Hae-in and me at Yongji Lake.

I had a special treat today, and I just had to share it with my students: my friend Hae-in came to visit! Hae-in and I met at Swarthmore our freshman year; we were in the same Chinese class. She and the other Korean international students were the first South Korean nationals that I'd ever met, and they also taught me how to read the Korean alphabet, hangul. I guess you could say Hae-in was one of the first people who helped spark my interest in Korea so many years ago, so I am here now partly thanks to her influence.

Hae-in is back in Busan for summer vacation after finishing her first year of law school in the U.S. When I heard that she'd be in my neck of the woods while the Korean school year was still in session, I asked if she'd like to come visit my school and chat with my students. Although my high schoolers apply exclusively to Korean schools and don't really have plans to study abroad -- unless it's for their Ph.D. many years down the road -- I was sure that they'd find Hae-in and her story really interesting.

She came to talk to two of my third-year classes. They were quite surprised and excited about having a guest, and they were impressed that a Korean national (who wasn't an English teacher) could speak English so well. This realization also seemed to make them very shy, even when giving basic self-introductions, but they all did well. A few students in each class were actually incredibly enthused and asked question after question during our informal Q&A: What kinds of culture shock did you experience when you went to the U.S.? What do Americans know about Korea besides PSY and "Gangnam Style"? How much do American university students study? Do they party a lot? Are American universities ranked in the same way Korean universities are ranked? What do you think of the different educational systems? Can you tell us about Andrew's past?

Although Hae-in's experience was in economics and law, and my students study nothing but math and science, they connected well over the fact that their high school education was similarly rigorous and competitive. But I'm glad that Hae-in also strove to give my students the message that rather than study all the time simply for the sake of getting into the best college, they should find what their passion is -- what makes them excited to get up in the morning? -- and focus on that. We've all been blessed with an excellent education; my students have such overwhelming privilege already and they're essentially guaranteed academic success. With this in mind, why worry so much about your next test? Take the time instead to build relationships that will last. Do some extracurricular activities that you enjoy; they'll give you the added benefit of a more well-rounded application. And relax.

These are all things that I want to tell my students, but since they heard it from the mouth of a fellow Korean, I'm hoping that it'll stick better, even though it was in English. After each class, I'm sure my students left feeling encouraged.

Also, they were so cute when they talked to her, calling her "Hae-in Teacher" and generally giving off airs of awe or confusion or both. My co-teachers were excited to have her around, as well.

After school, Hae-in and I hung out at Yongji Lake, where the roses are in full bloom and the ducks and fish are lazing around as if it's already summer. We caught up on old times and then had 닭갈비 for dinner. It was such a wonderful day. 고마워요, 해인 티처!

You can paint that house a rainbow of colors

Whew. It's been quite a busy month, as I've taken on an extracurricular as well as another teaching gig, so I haven't had as much time to blog about everything. So here are some snapshots!

Some of my students presented their environmental science projects at the Gyeongnam Province Water Expo (March 22nd). The text at the top of their booth reads "Changwon Science High School".

I went hiking with friends a few weekends ago on a gorgeous day (March 23rd). On the way up, we passed this tree with a spirit carved into it, along with the axiom 過猶不及, which, according to a friend, means: "Doing too much is the same as not doing enough, praising the ability to achieve perfect balance while achieving a goal."

My friends at me at the top of 정병산 (Jeongbyeongsan), 566 meters above sea level. It took about 2.5 hours to reach the top.

Last weekend I went bowling and went on a picnic with friends from Korea, England, and the US (April 13th)! This photo was taken at Yongji Lake (용지호수) in Changwon. If you were wondering, I still suck at bowling.

This past weekend, I traveled up to Seoul to visit my friend Miyuki, a fellow Swarthmore alum who is currently globe-trotting on a Watson grant to conduct research on queer art and activist communities around the world. She's in South Korea this month, having a blast, and I wanted to join in on the fun. On Saturday, we spent the day eating vegan, shopping at Gwangjang Market, and scoring tons of free fabric scraps from the Hanbok Market.

This is actually kind of a funny story: I wanted to show Miyuki the Hanbok Market because I knew that the amazing colors and bright fabrics clustered in the narrow aisles would be a feast for an artist's eyes. It was like color heaven, and Miyuki really wanted to ask for some extra, unneeded fabric for some of her DIY sewing projects. I wasn't sure if it would be impolite or not to ask this of the tailors and shopkeepers, so I cautiously approached a kind-looking old man and asked, "혹시... 필요없는 글로스를 있습니까?" That roughly translates into, "By any chance, do you have any cloth that you don't need?" I'm sure the grammar's off, though. In any case, we managed to get our meaning across, and Miyuki showed them some of the things she'd made with leftover fabrics, such as her skirt and pins, and the man gave us several pretty squares of silk for free.

This was great, but as we kept wandering around the maze of stalls and colors, Miyuki wondered why we couldn't ask for more from the other shopkeepers. Some refused us, but others were quite enthusiastic to share -- and probably also very intrigued by these two young, random Asian-but-not-Korean foreigners in their traditional market. One man told us that the Korean word for fabric scraps is 자투리 (jatoori), and when the woman across the aisle from him heard us talking about this, she vigorously motioned for me to come over to her stall, then handed me a plastic shopping bag literally stuffed to bulging with 자투리. I was shocked, and then thanked her profusely when I came to my senses. Miyuki and I were ecstatic at this find. After we shopped for a bit -- I got a new jacket and tie -- and ate street food, we went back to her apartment to jam on the guitar and swim in a rainbow of colorful silk.

In the evening, Miyuki and I met up with fellow Swattie Jen and Miyuki for some excellent chatting and catching up at Churro 101, a cafe in Hongdae, Seoul, that specializes in churros con chocolate!

And of course, because I was in Hongdae, I had to stop by my favorite bar in the country, AcousticHolic. Folks there remembered me, even though they haven't seen me in over a month! That made me really happy. Of course, the great music made my night, as usual. In this photo, Sunho, Mijeongi, and Guitar Jedi (I found out that his name is Junho!) are performing.

Lastly, on Sunday afternoon, I attended a fundraising event for a queer women's group called the Mapo Rainbow Alliance. There was a home-cooked lunch, a tag sale, and some performances. There was also a man doing caricatures, which Miyuki gladly sat down for. Her caricature was so adorable!

Long story short, a great weekend! Cons: I keep forgetting how easy it is to blow a hundred and fifty bucks or more in just a few days when I spend a few days in Seoul. I mean, transportation alone is killer: since bus ticket prices have increased, it costs over ₩60,000 just to get there and back. Factor in food, fun, and a place to sleep, and gahhh, my wallet is left as skinny as a few receipts because there's hardly anything else inside. Another con: trying to follow and make sense of the Boston lockdown as it unfolded in real time during my bus trip to Seoul on Friday evening. It sort of haunted me the entire weekend. But I'm thankful that everyone I know and love is safe and that the ordeal is now over.

But pros! I had so much fun in Seoul, met old friends and made new ones, and had some new experiences while introducing old ones to people who I knew would appreciate it. I learned a little bit about queer (퀴어) culture in Korea, which left me wanting to know more. I watched Pokemon in Korean and ate many peanut butter and jelly sandwiches at the Yellow Submarine hostel. Most importantly, I think, I did not feel like a stranger in a strange land. I promise I'll be back again soon.

P.S. A gold star for anyone who knows where the title of this post is from.

The Vanguard

SY comes to find me as I finish lunch in the cafeteria. I'm always one of the last to finish; most of the other teachers have left, so I'm easy to spot.

"Hi, SY! What's up?"
"Um... nothing much! You?" He's catching on to the slang that I taught my students a few weeks ago.
"I'm good. Do you have any entrance exams this weekend?"
"Oh, no..." He grimaces, but I don't catch it.
"Well, that's great! Aren't you happy?"
"No, I'm very bad," he says, putting his head in his hands and sighing.

I get him to explain, with the help of my co-teacher, who is sitting with us. The majority of the second-years at my school have been stressed out about science university entrance examinations, which have been taking place on the weekends of September and October. They are short oral interviews that test applicants on anything ever covered in their science and math curricula. For students who want to get into the likes of KAIST, UNIST, and POSTECH, acceptance hinges on their results on these very difficult exams.

As it turns out, SY doesn't have any more exams, because he already sat for all those of the schools to which he'd applied. And he was not accepted to any of them.

My heart sinks at this news. I forget about my lunch and look across the table at the high school student sitting there, processing the fact that he will not be going to college next year.

But then I remember something: SY is a second-year. (He's only at the equivalence of junior year of high school.) I wonder to myself, did he really expect to be accepted into some of the most competitive institutions in the country one year ahead of the rest of his peers?

I guess SY's entire class of eighty had high hopes. They're the vanguard, after all. The first graduating class of Changwon Science High. They need to prove that this city's enormous investment into their education at this shiny new school was worth the millions. Everyone -- teachers, principals, parents, peers -- has been pushing them nonstop for two years, equipping them for the controversial early application process that many science high school students pursue. They cram as much physics, chemistry, and biology into their heads as humanly possible in two years and then take the entrance exams at the same time as the third-year students at other high schools. Are the odds stacked against them? Incredibly so. But the extremely confident -- and I would add starry-eyed -- faculty here project a minimum yield of thirty accepted students. This would catapult CSHS to a high spot in the science high school rankings. Everyone has high hopes.

But late October and November are times of anxiety and despair for many as they receive negative results. Some of my students have been accepted; I don't know who, because they seem to keep this information private. But the rest of them are now preparing for year three and a second chance.

"Hey, you know what? On the bright side, I can teach you for one more year now!"

Back to lunch, where I smile as hard as I can and try to steer the conversation away from the depressing topic of college rejection letters. Actually, SY remains optimistic despite his huge disappointment, because, he tells me with a small grin, his sore throat is finally getting better. He wants to begin practicing his gig for the school festival in December: lead vocals in the student band. He also wants to perform at Yongji Lake alongside the other buskers next summer. (Now that it's autumn, the weather is too cold.) But he's worried that I'll have already gone back to the U.S. by the time school lets out next July. He already knows that I have to go home for Christmas before the school festival takes place.

"Next year, can you go Yongji Lake?"

I tell SY to let me know whenever he goes downtown to jam at the lake. It doesn't matter if it's in the dead of winter. I'll be there.

Yongji Lake

Yongji Lake's light and water show

Yongji Lake lies at the center of a small but delightful (did I just use that word?) park in downtown Changwon. People walk and jog around the lake all day, and apparently when it's nicer out musicians play together outdoors. In the evenings -- every evening, in fact, from March until November, there is a water and light show that draws friends, couples, and random passers-by to watch.

I went once with my friend Elani, who is from South Africa and who teaches at an after-school academy, and once with Erik. The show was tacky at points but still breathtaking and very peaceful. Even if it's the same exact show, with the same exact music every time, I get the feeling that it's the kind of thing you could see many times and not get tired of it. Water and light can be seen in an infinite number of different perspectives.

I need to keep the whole perspective thing in mind daily. Sometimes, I teach a class and it feels like nothing got through to my students. Sometimes, I hit a major block in curriculum planning. Sometimes, it's impossible for me to express what I want to say in Korean because I don't have the skills yet. And sometimes, I just get bored. But these times are inevitable. As I tell my students, mistakes are okay! Effort matters more than perfection. In the grand scheme of things, you're doing all right. So take a deep breath, pray, maybe go to the gym to sweat it out, shake it out, and just move on.

This song's been on my mind!

Meet-a-friend Monday

This evening I had the immense pleasure of seeing Erik-san, who is visiting Korea from our neighbor across the East Sea, Japan. Erik is an Assistant Language Teacher with the JET Program (very much like Fulbright, but based only in Japan), having fallen so much in love with his placement school and town that he has renewed twice. Now in his third year and completely conversant in Japanese (and dressed head-to-toe in Uniqlo), he is very much the model of how I'd like to see myself in, say, 2015.

Erik-san, looking confused at a Dunkin' Donuts... perhaps an awkward consequence of being in the same photo as a suggestive banana cream pastry and two radioactive-looking coffee cups. By the way, that green tea latte was good, but my current gassy state tells me I shouldn't have consumed it...

I haven't thought too much about what I will do when my grant year expires next July. I think renewing my contract for another year would be amazing, especially since I have been having a wonderful time so far and have some personal goals (i.e. learn Korean) that could require an extension of my stay in this country. However, I'm also thinking a bit further ahead at options back home (i.e. graduate school), and I believe a date with the GRE may be fast approaching.

Anyway, this was just one of the few things we caught up on... We also swung by Yongji Lake, one of the few interesting public sights in this city, experienced the terror of Changwon buses in the evening, had pizza and chatted about life in Japan, our shared Altaic languages, homestay life, and much more. When I think about it now, I think it's kind of unusual that we didn't really talk about Swarthmore at all. Usually, when Swatties meet up, all we want to do is talk about Swarthmore and other people in our rather insular community. But perhaps due to our having graduated and looking forward to what's next in life, our college connections simply never came up. Nevertheless, it was a pleasant evening. Thanks for visiting, Erik! 부산국제영화제 즐겁게 보내다!

Other highlights from a nice day: I got nine hours of sleep last night, and when I woke up I felt like I was on top of the world. If only that could happen every morning. Also, two students of mine are planning to take the AP Biology exam (like, whaaat?!). They've asked me to help them prepare for it! This strikes me as slightly insane; still, I agreed. Except it's been about five years since I took the exam. I don't know how much of a help I can be to them... ALSO! My cousin Irene got engaged today! When I found out -- via Facebook while at work, no surprise there -- my jaw literally dropped open, and I wanted to jump up and down. Congratulations to Irene and Dan! And lastly, I just had some great catch-up time on Skype with another friend from Swat. It was great. Great, as in, if you're a friend from home, this is my not-so-subtle way of telling you to set up a Skype date with yours truly!