Early updates

I think I'd given the impression that I was excited to coach the basketball team at the school. You can imagine that my excitement was tempered a bit when I learned that it is not really an inter-school competition, more of just an activity to get the kids some exercise. So I am far from heartbroken that Zimmern took over the basketball instead of me. Instead the school has instituted a couple new programs: Now I'm getting paid overtime to coach the new Tennis and Ultimate Frisbee teams for the school!

Through just a couple practices frisbee is going well. We've got about a dozen kids (almost a third of the school!) interested to play. A couple are picking up the fundamentals of throwing rather quickly. It's fun to watch, but it is also interesting to see how these kids who have more academic discipline than the average set of American kids have far less athletic discipline when it comes to running drills, following instructions, hustling, etc.

Not only did they start the new activity, but for tennis the school bought a handful of high quality rackets to lend out to the beginners. Of the 12 kids who want to play, about 8 can make contact with the ball at least 50% of the time, and about 3 have a decent chance of keeping a rally going for more than 3 strokes. Nevertheless, it's kind of fun to act like a coach and feed them balls to drill. They are low enough on the learning curve that there should be a heartening amount of improvement over the semester.

The best looking strokes come from one of the senior girls who took some lessons about 5 years ago, but hasn't played since. She hits the ball crisply and a little flat, but without much regard for whether it is going in or not. Incidentally, this is the same girl who has finished Algebra 2 and geometry, but wants to go back to the first semester of Algebra 1 for her last semester. Technically she needs one more math credit, and has not taken this class at this school, so she is eligible to take the course for credit, but isn't it a little strange to regress over two years in the course sequence instead of taking pre-calculus?

I could talk at length about this, and other scheduling related issues, and how it is related to the continued teacher / administration strife in the school, but please wait a bit for me to get the rest of the information and final outcomes.

That Algebra class has been a little chaotic because a couple students (including our two Peruvians who finally add a little more diversity to the Koreans plus one French mix) were admitted a little after the semester started. They were placed in Algebra 1 by default, but most found it beneath their level and moved out, so the kids kept coming and going. And even of those who stayed, for many the class is more of an "English of Math" class than a math class.

The rest of the classes are going fine I guess. Maybe the kids think that my classes are a little hard .. well I'm not spoon-feeding them layup questions, but I'm not going outside of the curriculum either. Actually the restriction of being told what I have to cover cramps my style a bit, but I can at least talk about whatever random tangential topic I feel like whenever we are keeping up to the schedule.

Last night I administered the AMC math contest. This is round one of the competition that leads to the international math olympiad. When we did this in high school Jarod and I were the only kids to get to round two for our junior and senior years; it is a pretty tough test. Well, I advertised with the promise of big rewards, but only got 4 participants. I think they all did respectably, but no one will be going on to round 2. Maybe these kids are quite sharp, but just haven't been exposed to this type of problem enough.

Finally, outside of school, I had another fun weekend in Seoul playing and hanging out with the frisbee folk up there. I also learned how to ride a motorcycle - I think I can get one for cheap and have a good alternative to the bus for weekend trips when the weather is nice. The feeling of speed and control and intimacy with the road is something I knew I would like ahead of time. But as a locomotion purist I will have to make a cutoff - under 15 miles should be muscle driven bike pistons, over is optional depending on how much of a hurry I'm in.

This weekend I'm going back to Hadong to meet some of the friends I made last year. I'm really excited for the trip!

My students

First off, let me tell you my daily schedule - first class begins 8:30, and I go straight through till lunch at noon then have just one afternoon class. Starting next week, basketball is twice a week for an hour and a half starting around 4:00, and since we were encouraged to propose an evening course (for which we get overtime pay), I created a class called "mathematics for competition and recreation" which will begin with preparation for the American High School Math Competition, and after that turn into a workshop on applied discrete mathematics, i.e. games and gambling.

It is a more work than my job last year, but frankly that was a sinecure to the extent of being unenviable. Perhaps I am just still filled with the energy of starting something new, but I should say that in the first week of classes I could hardly even read fiction without my thoughts being interrupted by ideas on how to teach these kids math and science.

While it's only been one week since I first met my students, so far I'm quite pleased. Compared to the standard Korean high schoolers I met last year I can say that the English level of the worst of these is about as good as the best of them. In fact, with my primary social circle being my fellow teachers (all Yanks besides one Canuck), and the students being so English that some are more comfortable speaking it over Korean, the only reason I know I'm living abroad is the lack of delicious beer in my fridge.

So far, I can't say anything against the kids. They are mostly attentive and well-behaved in class. Of course, that might just be a first week phenomenon. I'll let you know more about personality and academic qualities when I get some more feedback, but for now my level of dread is fairly low.

The most notable student is Young-woo. This because he was granted admission despite still being an 8th grader. He is by a huge margin the least mature student physically, and has about the lowest English level as well. I'm a little worried how he will cope as a boarding student. But I saw him playing basketball with some of the other boys after school one day, so at least it looks like they will be inclusive and treat him like a younger brother a bit.

The final introduction I should make is of new science teacher, who cleared his visa and arrived just in time for the first day of class. He's a pretty interesting character, a Canadian, and very well traveled, having learned yoga from some north Indian masters, and herbal medicine from southern African shamans. But in fact, if I tell you our new teacher is Andrew Zimmern, the fib will leave you with a pretty good idea of the fellow. Yes, besides world travel it seems food is one of his passions. My favorite quote so far, "My most memorable exotic food so far is whale meat. It is so obviously whale. Like if you weren't told what the meat was, when you put it in your mouth you would immediately think that's whale!"

Frisbee Season

One very pleasant surprise from last year, and source of anticipation for my return, was the ultimate frisbee scene in Korea. You've read here about some of the big international and smaller local ones I took part in last year; this year the schedule is just as packed and the level of excitement among the players in the country seems even higher. Indeed, a couple of the more dedicated players have set up google groups and organized practices with the ultimate goal of peaking for the Shanghai tourney in early June.

This fits in nicely with my own priorities. Approaching 30 years old, I'm starting to have the existential crisis of wondering if I am too old to ever again be in the best shape of my life. At 25 I could ride my bike 100 miles from the ocean to the peak on Mt Arrowhead without and special planning, but last year I had to quit running 22 miles into a marathon! Actually, more important than the extra motivation to get into top form, I'm just happy to be able to play some competitive ultimate on a regular basis.

Now that I live only a couple hours (and less than $10 by bus) from Seoul, I can, and will, go up there any weekend that I don't have anything better to do, and there will be a high level, high intensity frisbee practice or pickup game waiting for me. I tried this out last week. From my apartment - 5 min walk to bus station, 10 minute wait for bus, 2 1/2 hour ride, 20 min subway - to the field was really not bad at all. It was a cold day and the tundra was frozen, but I got a warm feeling from seeing some friends who I hadn't seen since August, and we were sprinting around to stay warm besides.

Afterwards we went out for a very tasty, but not very filling Indian dinner. Here we also got a taste of this strange modern world. During the conversation a scene from Conan the Barbarian came up: "What is best in life?" asked a warlord. "The open steppe, a swift horse beneath you, and a falcon on your arm," answered one warrior. "Yes, that is good, but what is best?" Conan knew the answer: "To crush your enemies, see them driven before you, and to hear the lamentations of their women!" Not a minute after we orally relived this great scene, 'Dre had found it on his iphone wifi, plugged in a phone size projector, and there it was, in true crisp color and sound projected on the restaurant wall.

I should be up there again right now, but this weekend is Lunar new year and there are 36 million cars on the road in Korea. The 2 hour drive is expected to take 7 today, and it is snowing anyway. So I'm staying home and will explore some more Jeonju instead.

First Impressions: Living Situation

Jeonju, a city of about 600,000, is fairly close to the west coast (maybe a good day trip on the bike), about halfway up. This puts me about two and half hours south of Seoul, and less than two hours to Daejeon, so weekend trips should be even easier this year.

I haven't explored Jeonju extensively yet. I'm living on the grounds of Jeonju university. There are about 11,000 regular students, but it is still recess so the campus is not bustling yet. It's a nice enough campus, plenty of fields and picnic tables scattered around, but it is on the outskirts of town. Apparently, the area around is in the process of being rapidly built up, but there is still a buffer zone of a kilometer or so where there is not much happening. But I hear lots of good things about the city proper so I'm looking forward to getting a bike and checking it out.

My apartment is in the university 'guest house,' and a lot of my fellow teachers live here as well. It's condition is a pleasant surprise. Very modern and clean looking and nicely appointed. The bathroom is a dramatic improvement over last year including a giant shower head built for circus elephants. The kitchen area is smaller, with just a mini fridge, but there are some full size fridges and a big dinning table in a common room. I've also got a nice and private little patio, tall ceilings, good heating and insulation, and AC for the summer. Maybe I'll throw some pictures on the web some day.

Best part: no bugs!

worst part: I miss my spider friends

First Impressions: The Job (edit)

My new job is at a small and fairly new private high school. To be specific, the school is entering the second half of it's 4th year, and its second year being accredited by US curriculum standards. The school is strictly Western style, i.e. all classes are in English, and we can wear our shoes indoors. There are about 40 students over the four years, skewed a little to the younger side. Almost all of them are Korean born and raised, but with at least some international travel, and enough English skills to pass the entrance exam. Actually the students don't arrive until next week; I've heard nothing but good things from the other teachers, so I am quite anxious to meet them.

I will teach Algebra, Pre-calc, and Chemistry. Apparently, I'm replacing a math teacher whose contract was not re-newed due to 'lack of passion'. There is a second new teacher - an English teacher left for a government job - but the other new guy is stuck in Vancouver waiting for the Korean embassy to process his visa! The rest of the staff is small enough that I shall mention each of them.

J__, J____ - is the administrator. The school is a project of Jeonju University, and Mr. Jeon is our conduit to the upper powers, as well as handling the business side of our school. He's a nice guy, picked me up from the bus stop when I arrived and took me shopping. His English is about equal to the better of the English teachers I worked with last year.

The only things I can say against him is to relate a story which indicates that he may suffer from a characteristically Korean brand of irrational stubbornness.

Apparently the school awards 50% scholarship to the top student of each grade. Well, there was a mixup in the grades last semester and the scholarship was awarded to the wrong student. The top student pursued the investigation and discovered the error. She and her mom were upset and considering switching schools. Now, ours is a growing school, we need our top students and the reputation they will bring us by gaining admittance to top quality colleges. Doesn't it seem obvious that the correct action is to immediately apologize for the mistake and offer the student the same scholarship? Instead Jason simply apologized, then after they said there were changing schools he offered a scholarship of lesser value. It was already too late. From what I've heard of this student it was a sad loss.

B____, J__ - teaches math, computers, and econ. He's friendly and sincere and looks a little like Kevin Nealon. I ran into him on the afternoon I arrived here, and his family invited me to join in their trip to a museum, mountain park, and dinner. He also has a super cute nine month old baby.

D_____, A_____ - teaches music, and, begrudgingly, health (you'll find out why later). She's enthusiastic and energetic. She's into bicycles, so I'll have a friend to help me shop and ride around with. Also, her roommate used to live in Daejeon and play frisbee with my friends out there.

B___, S_____ - Teaches history. Like the rest, she seems a very dedicated and passionate teacher. The other teachers say that although her classes are perhaps the toughest, the students seem to like her the best. That's a difficult balancing act, although as I recall a certain Mr. Thomas pulled the same trick during my high school days.

Y__, J___ - Another math teacher. She's a little quiet, but very helpful for all the questions I have. She also runs a public service venture with a local orphanage that the students can help out with.

H____, B_____ - Art teacher. She seems sweet, is there a dark side lurking? A lot of the students' art work is hanging on walls, or lying around the school building, and some of it is actually quite impressive.

A___, T__ - English teacher and principal. This middle aged Texan is the elephant in the room. He started just last semester, taking over from a very well liked principal. My first impression of this guy is that he is probably a pretty good ESL teacher, but is, to put it nicely, heavy handed as a manager. The counts against him: 1. He makes scheduling decisions that seem at best arbitrary, and at worst demonstrably flawed. 2. He requires a level of paperwork that yields a false precision and is one of the bureaucratic hallmarks of a narrow mind. 3. When questioned, he can ignore viable suggestions, questions, and alternative; and/or fail to provide adequate rationale for his policy. 4. As I guess you can infer by now, he simply speaks down to people sometimes. 5. He is an overly conservative Christian. Look for his books on Amazon and check out the one that is not about learning English. The text he selected for health class preaches abstinence 95% and has just one small sidebar about condoms and how they are not completely reliable. Another instance where this shone forth was with an extended dress-code war he had with Ms. B___, insisting that she wear shirts that cover up to the neck line. Eventually J___ told her: do your best to satisfy him, but what you wear is fine so just ignore his complaints.

Actually, if I didn't trust the testimony of the other teachers more than him based on my judgment of competence and character, I could justify all his decisions (at least the ones I've seen in person). And there is a very good chance that we can all get through the semester shrugging off any of his bullshit and dealing with our own business.

This school has so much going for it. I don't want you to get a negative impression because there happened to be more to say about one guy. Every story needs a villain. I'm actually more curious than concerned to see how things turn out now.

Colin in Korea Version 2.0!

Hello world,

I'm back in Korea, so I reckon I ought resurrect my blog. New year, new rules:

1. I'm not gonna advertise the re-launch, so probably only those who had me on rss feed will be aware at first: Friends, it is your job to spread the word.

2. More feedback requested, please. I appreciate anyone who even takes the interest to read, and was flattered by some of the things you told me in person regarding my un-edited babbling. But if I am to retain interest in this project a second time around, it will be because the communication is less of a one-way street. So if you can spare 5 min to read a post, I think it is not too much to ask you to, every now and then, hit the comment button and type out whatever comes to mind.

The first genuine post is shortly forthcoming; I'll talk about my first impressions about my new city and job etc. I already have a lot to say. I'll probably drop some highlights from my care-free months in the states sometime soon as well.