2.16.2012

Quality time with the PE teacher and tutoring dread.

Have spent the morning explaining American style disciplinary systems within schools to the PE teacher of my dreams/학생부장님 and it's been interesting. They're pretty desperate to get something sorted here before the new school year starts, because of all the fairly serious problems we had last year, which pretty much everyone is attributing to the lack of corporal punishment (not a complete lack, mind you, but a serious reduction). He was in awe of the 40 page handbook I printed out, and spent a lot of time asking general questions about how it all works. He said next week he will need more help with the specifics.

The fact of the matter is, a turn away from corporal punishment means a turn away from the more personal relationship between teachers and students. When you're dealing with sheer numbers, and you take away the fear of god, so to speak, all that's left to turn to, really, is the fear of institution. For the teachers, it might be simpler. For the students, I'm not so sure.

At any rate, they've all just been gaping at me about how I'm here every day at 8:30 on the dot for no actual reason whatsoever, while they've all been wandering in and out, so the official word is that I should just "go home when [I] feel ready". Which will obviously be just after lunch. I'll go to Homeplus to pick up a few things for something I'll get into later, and then probably head back home to study and fret for a few hours before I go back out to meet my tutor for the first time at 8.

Basically, I really don't want to do that. I don't want to meet a new person and I don't want to speak Korean and I don't want to show him my writing, which I'm sure has numerous embarrassing mistakes and I don't want any part of the whole mess. But it's got to be done.

Suck it up. Right? Right.

2 comments:

WickedBiccie said...

Waves of empathy coming at you from Ulsan. I know exactly how cringe inducing it is to meet a new Korean tutor!
So far everyone is so delighted that I'm learning Korean AT ALL, they've been kindness itself.

Doesn't make me any less self critical though...

schu said...

Go, go, go! You're amazing! (as someone who has now moved to k. and have read your entire blog!)