Life Without Poutine: Samsan Elementary School

I work in a gorgeous school. It has three floors with several buildings and a gigantic gym that are connected by hallways that run between buildings on the third floor. Outside, they have a huge dirt field, complete with a playground, bleachers, and soccer and basketball nets.

The place is only 12 years old, and it shows. Everything is so new and clean! The hallways are littered with pictures of famous people and places from English-speaking countries, super comfortable lounging chairs, a beautiful display to commemorate the 2002 World Cup in Seoul, and even a gym for teachers to work out in!

During the first week, all I did was introduce myself over and over to every class I taught. I teach six Grade 3 and Grade 6 classes, and five Grade 4 and Grade 5 classes for a total of 22 different classes. Some students immediately started referring to me as Barack Obama, which I found hilarious. When I introduced myself in Korean, I got a standing ovation. I showed them pictures of my family, places I’ve travelled to, places in Canada, etc. and they seemed to approve.

I’ve gotten used to hearing “Hello, teacher!,” “Uri!,” or “Mendoza!” as I walk down the halls. I’ve also gotten used to being asked “How are you?” approximately 2, 104 times every day. Things got even more hectic after I had to introduce myself during the weekly Monday morning announcements, which are broadcast into television screens in every classroom. The whole production looks and feels like a news broadcast, and it’s manned by the students themselves, with the help of one of my co-teachers. Suddenly, everybody knew my name.

I try to reply to as many of them as I can, and hopefully that won’t change throughout the year. Foreigners excite them (and amuse them), and I’m not going to take that away from them, because I’ve already seen the types of lives these poor kids have. They have more stress in their lives than people three times their age. Many go to private hagwons (schools) after school for some sort of lessons, whether it’s in English, Taekwando, or something else. It’s not uncommon to see kids with their heads down in class out of sheer exhaustion. So if a high five from a guy they think looks like the leader of America puts a smile on their face, then I will hand out a thousand high fives a day.

I also met the staff at the school on the first week, including the Principal and Vice Principal. Everybody is super friendly and always greets me with a smile. Many of them even make an effort to try and speak with me, despite the fact that Koreans are deathly self-conscious of their English speaking skills. Even those who can’t speak English try to speak with me through somebody who can. I appreciate their effort so much, and try to return the kindness by approaching them as much as I can as well. My goal is to learn a decent amount of Korean to be able to carry on a basic conversation with them by year's end. I have several resources at home, and my co-teacher printed off several helpful sheets for me. I’m gonna be (sorta) tri-lingual by the time I get home!