Week Two

I started teaching this week. I met all of the students in most of my classes and learned how the system works here. I meet with the first and second grade students (sort of our Basic and General levels back home) on a weekly and biweekly basis, respectively. My Korean co-teacher stays in the room to translate if need be. I would prefer to have enough ability to be able to go without translation, but some of the students' levels are quite low. So we talk about who I am and where I come from. Most students simply want to know if I have a boyfriend and how tall I am, but others have far more perspective and ask if I have any complexes (as in, an inferiorty complex or a complex about my face or eyes). I am amazed at the depth of some questions and wonder if this is simply a cultural difference or if these students truly stand out from the crowd.

I meet Sarah, a Korean student who has been studying English on her own for ten years. She came into the staff room and dialogued with me for a half an hour. This is truly remarkable for a self-taught individual. I tell her how impressed I am.

Then comes my cake party. Of course. To formally welcome me to the school, all the teachers in my First Grade office bring a cake in from where else than my favourite bakery, Paris Baguette (home of the Killer Croissants). The cake reminds me of home: it has white icing and chocolate sprinkles. But it is covered in almonds. That's different (like, whole almonds, not slices). So we cut 'er open and since there are no plates in the staff room, some put their cake into Dixie cups. And then they drop the hilarious bomb: they call it a cupcake. I'm laughing hysterically because it really is a cup-cake, but I think it was lost in translation (do they have cupcakes here?). I should make some cupcakes...oh wait, I don't have an oven. Never mind. Ah, the Korean cupcake.

Since they share everything in Korean cuisine, the other teachers began eating the cake with chopsticks from the platter on which the cake came. It was so much like being at home (actually AT home, not just in Canada) it really made me feel welcome. They clapped, told me I was so polite and nice (not to mention quite a looker), and we all had a very nice cupcake party.