Winter "Vacation"

I hope you had a merry Christmas and wish you a happy new year. Our Christmas was quiet with just the two of us and our cat. We saw a movie and went out for a midnight Christmas dinner of barbecued pig's neck...sounds a bit strange but very delicious and best of all, cheap. We went to church on Christmas morning and New Year's Eve. I've never been to a New Year's Eve service before but the idea is to start the new year right and dedicate the new year to God. The service was 3 hours long though which was tough for me to sit through considering I only understood a few words here and there, but my wife was glad I came with her.

Right now is our 6 week "winter vacation". This is the time when about 20% of the students take a break or study elsewhere, while 80% of the students attend supplementary classes at school. During vacation, all of us non-Korean laguage teachers have to teach a 40 minute class during lunch time but we have to actually be at school from 9 - 5 every weekday. I don't know what genius came up with this idea (rumour has it the principal is the culprit) but it's poorly managed and feels like a make work project to keep us foreigners from getting into trouble. Yesterday's class was the first and all of the students showed up 10 minutes later than expected because apparently 15 minutes is not long enough to wait in a long lineup in the cafeteria, get your food, eat and brush your teeth (I don't know what it is but I think every single person at my school brushes their teeth immediately after eating lunch and cannot begin another activity until they have done so).

Anyway, this makes my 40 minute class now a 30 minute class. I am still waiting for someone to explain to me why I have to spend 8 hours at school just to teach for 30 minutes. I thought this was to make things fair so that people couldn't complain that foreigners got more time off than them but Korean teachers are either taking a month off or teaching supplementary classes for supplementary pay...so obviously fairness has nothing to do with this.

During the winter holidays the principal has also decided that students should start studying from 8 AM instead of the usual 8:30, which has upset everyone. In Korean society though the top dog has all the power and can do whatever he wants and everyone else has to follow suit. Our classes only run until 3:00 though and then it's "free study" time until 6:00. Why the students have to get up even earlier during winter vacation is a mystery to everyone. I'm confused as to why I have to cram my class into 30 minutes when the students have no formal classes after 3:00. I could teach them from 3 - 5 PM. If I have to be here I might as well be teaching and there are 2 full hours each day that both the students and myself could be spending more productively.

Well I shouldn't really say I'm confused as I know what's going on. Appearances are arguably the most important thing in Korean culture and even more so at my school. The school can proudly announce that we have supplementary classes starting at 8 AM every day, running until 11 PM and that the students study languages with foreign native speakers. For parents eager to get their children into the best universities it sounds wonderful but the reality is that the students spend 7 hours per day free studying which is an inefficient use of time. Instead of really studying or really relaxing or playing like children should be able to do, the students are forced to stay in their classrooms and look like they're studying, which often means hiding a comic book or a PMP (personal media player for watching downloaded movies) inside a textbook. Also the time actually spent learning languages with native speakers is so small each day, it's inefficient and ineffective.

I've ranted long enough now that you might be able to tell how happy I am to be here during winter vacation. It's about time I got back to looking busy.