Community Blog: A Boulderite in Korea

These are some further thoughts and observations concerning the ongoing Korean tensions, updated today.

Dec. 5

A correction to my recent guest editorial: Although some reports say there are 1000 soldiers on Yeonpyeong, I’ve seen another report of 400 soldiers -I’m unsure of the actual number. Also, although it was initially reported that 200 shells fell on the island, they’re now saying about 80 actually hit.
So, a few Korean adults I’ve talked to are somewhat concerned, but certainly not alarmed or panicked. Just out of curiosity, I’ve been polling my teenage students for their opinions. Everyone of course said it was a bad thing, and most believed that the North fired first. But many of my classes were split on whether or not S. Korea should go to war against the North. I asked how many wanted to fight, and would be fun to go to war, like in video games and movies – several boys in each class raised their hands with smiles. Fortunately, a majority said it wouldn’t be fun, and didn’t want to go. Those who wanted to fight seemed fairly typical of teens who have no experience with war.
But some context is in order: all Korean boys have mandatory national service for 21 months, which almost always means army. I could write quite a bit about that issue, but suffice it to say for now that boys are much closer to being on front lines, whether they want to be or not. I’m not clear how that may affect people’s thinking and responses to the latest incident.
But now, most thoughts are going towards what will happen in the next week or two. As readers may have heard, both sides have promised apocalyptic responses. And President Lee here in SK, along with the U.S. are promising stepped up war exercises in the very same disputed waters. So, our response seems to stir the hornet’s nest. In talking with one 60 something man, he made the point that SK’s navy must practice to be prepared. That seems certainly true – but there is no necessity to practice where it is most likely to ignite more incidents. SK/US politicians choose to place their training in the most provocative places possible, since they are heavily disputed waters – and then blame NK when they respond.
I want to again emphasize that even though there was a significant military presence on Yeonpyeong, it was immoral to intentionally shell civilian targets (BTW, military targets were also targeted, which is why there were more military casualties.)
But if SK were truly interested in protecting it’s vulnerable civilian populations in disputed waters (and there are four other islands in that category), the last thing they would do is practice war games there.

Dec. 20
So, it’s a few weeks later, and we’re playing the same game. I just heard on the news that the first day of live fire drills in the disputed waters ended without incident, and NK uncharacteristically said that the provocations were not worth responding to. So interestingly, NK comes out of this first day looking like the mature party.
While it’s true that some S.Koreans are telling their government to “get tougher” (without saying what that means), there are many here who don’t want to see added provocation. One Yeongpyong resident said, as she was leaving her island home, that LMB (President Lee Myung- Bak, as he’s known here) should stop trying to pick a fight, with navy drills in such tense waters. Others seem to agree. I’ll just reiterate that SK can practice anywhere else on it’s coastal area, but it chooses to rub it’s territorial claims in NK’s face, by firing so close to the NK coast.
Locally here in Goheung, about as far south as one can be, things are quite normal, but when asked, people tell me consistently that they don’t want Korea to go to war again. Although most are not old enough, many remember the stories their parents or grandparents told of the suffering, starvation and complete destruction from the Korean War (they call it the June 26th War – named for when it started).
Just last week, our school – along with all schools and public entities, had an “invasion drill.” At 2 PM, the sirens sounded, and all students and some teachers went into the gym, and sat on the floor for 20 minutes, bored. No one spoke to them – a few teachers just babysat them for the duration. Many teachers didn’t bother to participate, because they’re busy preparing for finals, but I found that outside the school, nothing seemed out of the ordinary. I’m told that they’re suppose to have these drills almost every month, but this is the first one I’ve seen in the year and a half that I’ve been here. Apparently the schools – and almost everyone in the country – have ignored them until this now.
Ironically, almost two months ago, my school (and most others, I’m told) had a

Students listening during Reunification presentation

Reunification presentation. I watched for a bit, but of course, since it was in Korean, I didn’t understand much of anything. But I’m fairly sure it was to help Korean students understand what it may take to reunify the country (interestingly, LMB had recently proposed a “reunification tax” which would help fund making the country whole again.)
Well, we’ll see what the next few days bring our peninsula. Hopefully NK’s gesture will “provoke” SK to a similar gesture towards ratcheting down on chest beating.

Note: If you’d like to be notified of new entries, please send me your email and I’ll put it on my notification list (it won’t be used for any other purpose). surmonk@gmail.com

I apologize for the very long absence. I’m back in Korea after spending the summer in Boulder.

This piece ran as a guest editorial,  published on Thanksgiving day.

I was at my middle school, and had just finished teaching a very frustrating English class of seventh-graders — trying to turn their fascination with zombies into a method of getting them to write complete sentences — when I first saw the news.

Like many, I was shocked to see photos and videos of burning structures, and later, artillery shells falling on the island of Yeonpyeong. My first thoughts were, “Why the hell are the North Koreans shelling an island with no provocation, and a civilian population?” This certainly seemed like an escalation from previous incidents, and maybe, this time it will be the kindling wood for an all out war.

As is often the case, little or no context was given in the first hours (here in Korea, and elsewhere) to this latest conflict. And even though many facts are still murky, it`s already not as black and white as it seemed when it started 24 hours ago.

I realize that attempts to interject some balance into this situation may make me sound like a defender of North Korea — but that`s the risk of telling two sides.

So, some context from the rural, southern most tip of the Korean peninsula. First, geography: if one looks at a map of Yeonpyeong`s location (just put in Yeonpyeong, South Korea on Google maps), it becomes immediately clear that it is significantly closer to North Korea then South Korea — and really has little business being considered part of South Korea. In fact, North Korea has always disputed this boundary, (called the Northern Limit Line), which was imposed on North Korea as part of the 1953 armistice agreement. Nonetheless, more than 1,600 civilians live there, and it is a typical fishing village. With the large exception that there are also about 1,000 military personnel stationed there, for obvious (and to some, provocative) reasons.

Secondly, it`s rarely mentioned what started this incident. The first to fire was not North Korea — it was South Korea. A joint operation of U.S. and South Korea military forces had run another “war exercise” hours before the shelling, to send yet another “message” to North Korea about the Cheonan incident. They were conducting war games in one of the most sensitive places imaginable, just about six miles from the NK coast. South Korea has now admitted it fired the first shots, although there is a dispute about what direction they shot in (they claim west, North Korea claims north). North Korea fired back with it`s own artillery, specifically targeting Yeonpyeong with a punishing barrage of over 200 shells, killing (as of today) two South Korean soldiers, two civilians and a number of injured along with a number of destroyed structures.

Thirdly, this incident is one of a long series of provocative moves by both sides, and South Koreans live with that reality every day. Western media breathlessly publish any accounts of incursions by North Korea, but often ignore South Korean incidents.

All that said, while this adds context to this latest incident, it doesn`t justify an attack on civilians (although a heavy military presence makes things more complex). While the attack is to be condemned, so we must condemn the war games directly off the coast that are meant to “send messages” and provoke. Obviously North Korea is no stranger to starting provocations, but this is not the way peace is achieved.

To be clear, North Korea is a poor country, whose citizens suffer, and is run by a Stalinist regime. But far more Americans have animosity towards North Korea than South Koreans have towards NK.

I`ve been talking to a few South Koreans in the last day and I`ll be talking about their reactions — it doesn`t mirror American sentiments — along with other related elements, in my blog.

Well, to my disappointment I’m already writing less than I thought I would. It’s not for lack of topics – but rather time. I will continue to try and improve my track record.

I’ve had a wicked sore throat, fever and fatigue for over a week, and finally went to the hospital a couple of days ago, as everyone had urged me to do. Because it’s a large hospital (large for a small town), I expected to wait several hours before I’d get to be seen, but I was in and out of there in 10 minutes with a diagnosis – tonsillitis. I was quite surprised at the speed, and I was prescribed a bunch of medications. The visit and meds cost under 10,000 won – about $7.50. It’s so clear that universal health care is much better here, all the way around. I feel much better now and hope to go out and start living again, starting tomorrow, although it’s supposed to rain the rest of the week (it’s pouring now as I write this.)

In fact, monsoon season started last week. The word monsoon actually describes a wind, not rain, but rain is the result. We got quite a bit of rain for 3 days straight last week, and its restarted this morning. People say it lasts 1-2 weeks, and it only stops raining for brief periods during that time.
I actually started writing this entry on a bus, several weeks ago on the way from my home in Goheung, to Gwangju, the largest city in the Jeollonam province. It’s a two hour bus drive, and since I don’t have a car here (most native English teachers don’t), it’s very handy. Bus service is very well developed and affordable in this country, and is widely used. The U.S. could surely learn a lot about mass transit.

One oddity I’m seeing is, at one of the stops the bus make (only bus stations), a man gets on during the 4 minute stop, and at the front of the bus, he announces loudly to the passengers, that he is selling some kind of cleaning cloth. It’s in Korean (Hangul), so I don’t understand it, but it surprises me the bus company allows that.

So, now back to my my experience teaching in a Korean school. As I previously mentioned, I have worked with this age range (4th-6th grade) before, having taught violence prevention skills to children of all ages. But never having taught English, nor taught the same students more than once, it’s been quite the learning curve.

Even after 3 months, where ever I go in school, I’m constantly greeted by kids, and many adults. Just saying hello to an American is STILL a big deal for many. In the classroom, I lose my aura a bit, because I become a teacher who is by turns, both a bit of a clown (I had a reputation as a class clown as a student), and a stern authoritarian, enforcing discipline.

For those who have never taught children, skills that are needed in the classroom include “classroom management techniques” and that is one of my biggest challenges with elementary students. They are not mature enough to be overly sarcastic or openly rude, but they are full of energy and boredom, which frequently alternate through a 40 minute class. Noise is one of the biggest obstacles to teaching, so just keeping them quiet can be a major victory. I strongly suspect that Korean teachers have a higher tolerance for noise and chaos than American teachers.

Since most teachers are female with higher voices, my low male voice often gets their attention. But I find myself yelling too much to focus them, as they quickly devolve into chattering children. My co-teachers have much better focusing techniques that I, mostly because they speak Korean, and these techniques are frequently used by many of their teachers. So I have much to learn (no surprise there). All those phrases that I heard as I went through school from teachers (“You can’t listen if you’re talking”, “Why are you talking right now?”, “Would you like to share your joke with the entire class?”, etc.) seem to make a lot more sense now, and I find myself occasionally using them.

The main disciplinarian for all students are their homeroom teachers – they set the tone for the entire year, and maintain law and order. The biggest threat one can use against unrepentant students is “if you don’t be quiet/stop that behavior, I’ll have to talk with your homeroom teacher.” This reportedly terrifies them, so it’s a last resort. By the way, corporal punishment is used in Korea, but not very often, I’m told. I have yet to see it used by my fellow teachers.

In the classroom, as I’ve mentioned before, my best assets as a Westerner are my pronunciation abilities and cultural knowledge. The former is far more employed than the latter. Surprisingly, I rarely teach grammar. Most NETs are hired as “conversational teachers”, which I mistakenly believed was….well, just having conversations. How hard could that be? It’s fairly misleading – what we really do is help improve their speaking abilities. Korean English teachers focus on writing, reading and grammar.

I do not write nor decide on the lesson plans – I just do what I’m told, but I often feel underused. Other NETs have very different experiences, ranging from doing even less than I do, to doing everything themselves, including writing their own lesson plans and having no co-teacher.

Schools throughout Korea let out for summer vacation in less than a week, on July 15 for students, and start again the first week of September. The Korean school year starts in March.

Korean teachers are also off during that time, although I’m told if they want to travel out of the country, they have to first get permission from their principal, especially if it’s overseas to Europe or the U.S. But it turns out that I – and some other NETs – still have to come to work, even though there are no classes. My contract says I get a week off this summer, and 29 days off during the winter break. If I want to “borrow” some of that winter time for summer, I’m allowed to do that.

Starting July 18, I’ll be teaching an English summer camp, for 2 weeks. This will be the first time I’ll be teaching on my own, and coming up with my own lesson plans. It’s during the morning, and I’ll allegedly have 15-18 kids each week (the first week, I’ll teach 5th graders, the next week will be 6th graders.) I have 4 classes each morning with the same kids, so virtually everything will be a new experience. Fortunately, I have a book with lesson plans and activities from a summer camp conducted throughout the province, so that makes it a lot easier.

Last week, it was Teacher’s Day – although not a major holiday, it’s still commands much attention, especially from students and parents. Traditional gifts from students include letters, carnations, socks and either handkerchiefs for men, or cosmetics for women.
As the photo above indicates, I scored socks, a handkerchief and a “bun” which one attaches to one’s cellphone. Koreans love attaching things to their cellphones, as if they were keychains. I also received some sweet letter, even though I’ve only been here two months.
Often, students will sing songs for their teachers, and sometimes there is no school. My school had classes in the morning, but in the afternoon, we had a volleyball finals tournament.
There is an interesting phenomenon in Korea of virtually all public school teachers playing volleyball on Wednesdays, from 3-5 PM. One is expected to either play or cheer on one’s fellow teachers, and it’s somewhat of a serious game. Our games always have a referee AND a scorekeeper, even though they’re just for fun. However, each school has it’s own team, and they play other regional schools for the regional title, and it gets very serious. That’s what happens on Teachers Day. Winners get a huge flag and trophy cup, along with bragging rights for the year. However, many schools – especially in the rural county of Goheung – don’t have enough players to sport a team, so they combine teams to compete. But because they aren’t able to practice enough as a team, they rarely, if ever, win titles – which is why I found myself rooting for them during the tournament.
Afterward, the schooled sprung for a nice dinner, at a typical Korean restaurant. I hope to write about the whole Korean food scene soon, but in the meantime, this photo is very typical of how Koreans eat.

While it was Cinco de Mayo in the greater Boulder metropolitan area yesterday, here in South Korea (and Japan*) it is Children’s Day, which is seen through a child’s eye as their Christmas. Traditionally, children receive gifts (often cash), although unlike Christmas, go special places with their parents, such as zoos or museums.
The elementary school I teach at, along with all schools are closed, as are a number of businesses. But there is a tradition of the teacher’s union hosting a festival for the children throughout Korea in the morning, and I went to see what a Children’s Day looked like.
The event took place at the Goheung Cultural Center, a large complex of buildings and a stadium almost the size of Folsom stadium (although there isn’t nearly as much seating). There were at least a couple of hundred of people there, with many booths that gave kids a chance at arts, crafts, science projects, facepainting, food, etc. It was like the children’s section of the Boulder Creek Festival. Although I didn’t plan on helping, I was talked into being a rope handler for rope skipping. To my surprise, I found that boys are just as talented and enthusiastic about rope skipping as girls.
Overall, a fun time was had by all, and many parents seemed grateful for such an event.

*Actually, at least 50 countries celebrate Children’s Day, including the U.S., much to my surprise. I didn’t know we had one, since I’ve been telling my classes that there is no such thing in the U.S. – until I did a little research. I think it would be fair to say it’s an obscure observance, like National Pickle Day, (which falls on May 23, along with National Taffy Day and National Sea Turtle Day – I’m not making this up).
But it’ s taken much more seriously elsewhere, and is tied strongly to the Declaration of the Rights of the Child, a U.N. declaration that has been ratified by every country except – you guessed it, the U.S. and Somalia.
I’ll spare you the many of the details of my research, except to say that a Children’s Day has been celebrated since at least 1860 in the U.S., primarily by churches, but it was given presidential proclamations starting in at least 2000, and observed primarily on various days in June. It is variously known as Children’s Day, International Children’s Day and Universal Children’s Day, and has many roots. Oh, and by the way, it’s celebrated in June in North Korea.