Warning- this is a no alcohol story aka Group Email Light
Life has been pretty disjointed over the last couple of weeks. Not in a bad way, more in an exceedingly hectic way. The threatened 9am start to my working day has not materialised so far (praise be to Saints Cass and Hite, patron saints of hagwon teachers). The threat of the axe seems to have disappeared for the time being as well. Next week I hit the five month mark and after the six month mark they can’t fire me anymore so fingers crossed for finishing this race.
But let me take you back to the end of July (all those week ago). I got press ganged into taking part in the Brainy English Camp. It was a day and a half on an exceeding hot and summery ski resort somewhere near Seoul. The most frightening aspect of the venture was the 7.30am start from the school- lots of proud mums waving their kids off and pressing packed lunches into their excited offsprings’ hands. I sat at the back of the bus and chatted to the kids most of the way (every time my head started to drop I remembered that they were all armed with magic markers- not a comfortable nod-inducing thought).
We arrived to a chaotic scene- kids everywhere and no sign of the organisers. To be fair, there were lots of things to keep the kids busy- hoops, balls, rings, bouncy castles and a pool of fish which had been set up specifically to make it easy for the kids to catch, torture, drop on the ground or throw fish at their mates. I asked a student if they were eating fish but I was told that they were just toys- the scared look in the eyes of the fish was more than justified as, once again, the Korean kids were being actively encouraged by responsible adults to be cruel to animals.
My duties were unclear, beyond getting horribly sunburnt, I didn’t know what to do so I just played with the kids and tried to get to know the other foreigners with several kids hanging off my back. The kids always assume that I know any foreigner they might see so I make it my business not to disappoint them for too long. At lunch the kids laughed at my sandwiches while they all tucked into their sushi rolls and kimchi- while palming off any food they didn’t want on me. After lunch I was shut in room with a balloon half filled with water while kids were pushed into the room to be ‘entertained’- this was pretty much the most painful part of the day and more than a little confusing. One group couldn’t get over the idea that the balloon was a water bomb and so freaked out every time I threw it at them. All in all the day involved a lot of waiting around to do stuff before being told that we no longer had time to do the activities because we had waited around for too long. Another triumph of Korean organisation. All the speeches and songs were in Korean and the only thing that seemed to be in English were the ‘I Love Brainy’ t-shirts that we were all lumbered with (Brainy is the name of the franchise rather than the t-shirts being some kind of Mensa pick up device)
Later I had to stand on the stage with my bright red sunburnt face and lovely new t-shirt and read out riddles in an elimination contest which went on forever since the organisers had emailed all of the riddles to each school and the kids had spent the last two weeks memorising all of the answers- they guessed the answers just by looking at the page that I was reading off! When I tried to leave the hall after the ‘gig’ I was stopped and had to sign autographs and have my photo taken with loads of kids- I wasn’t looking my best but hated to disappoint my fans! A small taste of celebrity which might well have turned my head!
Later there was a campfire and each school sent some kids onto the stage to do their piece. I was very proud when our kids (the sixth act on) became the first and only school to speak English on the stage. I was choked up like a mother at the school nativity play- well, nearly. I was less proud of the rapid crush that most of my students developed on one of the other foreign teachers- I never want to hear ‘Scott handsome teacher’ again! They giggled, tittered and begged me to take photos of them with him. It was embarrassing but funny. After the camp fire all of the other foreign teachers went out for beer but I was so knackered that I just went home.
The next morning was another early start as I staggered round bleary eyed looking for my kids, declining the offer of spicy soup for breakfast and generally sweated in the sweltering sun. Finally we rounded all of the little horrors up and onto the bus. They sang and chatted all the way home while I couldn’t help sleeping. My friends had rung to give me a lot of moral support during the 36 or so hours that I was away which was great. But I have to admit that as I got off the bus outside my house that I missed the little tykes!
And on that scary note, I will leave you this time. Brace yourselves for the email about summer vacation- get the Tylenol ready as you might find that you get drunk just by reading it! You have been warned!
Love
H
xx
But let me take you back to the end of July (all those week ago). I got press ganged into taking part in the Brainy English Camp. It was a day and a half on an exceeding hot and summery ski resort somewhere near Seoul. The most frightening aspect of the venture was the 7.30am start from the school- lots of proud mums waving their kids off and pressing packed lunches into their excited offsprings’ hands. I sat at the back of the bus and chatted to the kids most of the way (every time my head started to drop I remembered that they were all armed with magic markers- not a comfortable nod-inducing thought).
We arrived to a chaotic scene- kids everywhere and no sign of the organisers. To be fair, there were lots of things to keep the kids busy- hoops, balls, rings, bouncy castles and a pool of fish which had been set up specifically to make it easy for the kids to catch, torture, drop on the ground or throw fish at their mates. I asked a student if they were eating fish but I was told that they were just toys- the scared look in the eyes of the fish was more than justified as, once again, the Korean kids were being actively encouraged by responsible adults to be cruel to animals.
My duties were unclear, beyond getting horribly sunburnt, I didn’t know what to do so I just played with the kids and tried to get to know the other foreigners with several kids hanging off my back. The kids always assume that I know any foreigner they might see so I make it my business not to disappoint them for too long. At lunch the kids laughed at my sandwiches while they all tucked into their sushi rolls and kimchi- while palming off any food they didn’t want on me. After lunch I was shut in room with a balloon half filled with water while kids were pushed into the room to be ‘entertained’- this was pretty much the most painful part of the day and more than a little confusing. One group couldn’t get over the idea that the balloon was a water bomb and so freaked out every time I threw it at them. All in all the day involved a lot of waiting around to do stuff before being told that we no longer had time to do the activities because we had waited around for too long. Another triumph of Korean organisation. All the speeches and songs were in Korean and the only thing that seemed to be in English were the ‘I Love Brainy’ t-shirts that we were all lumbered with (Brainy is the name of the franchise rather than the t-shirts being some kind of Mensa pick up device)
Later I had to stand on the stage with my bright red sunburnt face and lovely new t-shirt and read out riddles in an elimination contest which went on forever since the organisers had emailed all of the riddles to each school and the kids had spent the last two weeks memorising all of the answers- they guessed the answers just by looking at the page that I was reading off! When I tried to leave the hall after the ‘gig’ I was stopped and had to sign autographs and have my photo taken with loads of kids- I wasn’t looking my best but hated to disappoint my fans! A small taste of celebrity which might well have turned my head!
Later there was a campfire and each school sent some kids onto the stage to do their piece. I was very proud when our kids (the sixth act on) became the first and only school to speak English on the stage. I was choked up like a mother at the school nativity play- well, nearly. I was less proud of the rapid crush that most of my students developed on one of the other foreign teachers- I never want to hear ‘Scott handsome teacher’ again! They giggled, tittered and begged me to take photos of them with him. It was embarrassing but funny. After the camp fire all of the other foreign teachers went out for beer but I was so knackered that I just went home.
The next morning was another early start as I staggered round bleary eyed looking for my kids, declining the offer of spicy soup for breakfast and generally sweated in the sweltering sun. Finally we rounded all of the little horrors up and onto the bus. They sang and chatted all the way home while I couldn’t help sleeping. My friends had rung to give me a lot of moral support during the 36 or so hours that I was away which was great. But I have to admit that as I got off the bus outside my house that I missed the little tykes!
And on that scary note, I will leave you this time. Brace yourselves for the email about summer vacation- get the Tylenol ready as you might find that you get drunk just by reading it! You have been warned!
Love
H
xx
posted by Helen @ 11:06 AM
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