I have now been in Seoul for about one month. I can't believe that I'm almost halfway done with my program. I've really enjoyed myself so far, and my school and all of the teachers have been amazing! In starting this experience, I was expecting something that was very similar to the experiences I had student teaching in America. I did not quite get what I was expecting. I'm treated more like a full fledged teacher here and it is quite interesting and nice. I also think I'm probably the school's first student teacher so that is pretty special. I think what has surprised me most about this experience is how welcoming everyone has been. Every person in the school is extremely nice, helpful, and welcoming. Everyone from my cooperating teacher to the principal are so kind and helpful. On our of my first days, the other native English speaker in the school who is contracted by the government to teach English and I were eating lunch with the other teachers and we all together decided that it would be great to have a bit of a language exchange. Almost everyday on the white board in our staff room, we write words or phrases in both English and Korean so that we can all learn a bit about each other. Thankfully, I am picking up more and more Korean as time goes on and I'm pretty excited about that. I can order food in a basic way and I can make small comments about things. I'm not good at holding an actual conversation but I can get by alright. Also, thanks to the language we share as a staff, I know a lot of random words and sentences! I can say, "Tomorrow, we will plant flowers." 내일 우리는 꽃을 심을거야 (Naeil oorineun kocheul shimulkeoya)! I've also reached out a few times to people who I know in Seoul and we have been getting together and having a great time! Overall, I'm achieving my goals and this experience is turning out to be what I hoped for and even more!
In being here, I have found that the Korean culture is a very welcoming culture. I was invited to play badminton with the other staff during one of my first weeks here and now I play with them every week! We all eat food together and play badminton in a very friendly environment. Also, as a whole school including students and parents, we planted flowers in a schoolwide initiative to make the school beautiful. I worked with staff members and families just to do something fun and good for the school. Culturally, according to my cooperating teacher, teachers in Korea are viewed as very important and as they are employed by the government, they are taken very seriously. There is less directly visible parent involvement in the school but there is so much support for students and the school from the parents and the community. I think a lot of this experience is enhanced by just saying yes. I trust the people in my school and the people who I work with in my program very much. They have shown that they are very considerate, thoughtful, and generous people who want to help and share their culture with me. Because I have been to Seoul and Korea before, I came into this experience with a few expectations but I maintained a very open mind. I have had an amazing past month or so and I would definitely recommend that anyone considering going abroad go for it and remember to keep an open mind and not be afraid to say yes.
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AllisonThese are the chronicles of my time before, during, and after student teaching in South Korea! Archives
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