Ephemeral English

http://english.chosun.com/site/data/html_dir/2011/12/08/2011120800743.html

Supposedly, the new mayor has a major agenda to quit spending on importing native English speaking teachers to the public schools. I have mixed feelings about this. On the idealistic, anti-imperialistic, pro-self-sufficient-Korea side of things, this is great news. However, in terms of the equalizing of educational opportunities for children and the possibility of a multicultural Korea, I'm saddened.

Another point is that the "average" salary of a native English-speaking teacher quoted in this article has to be wrong. I was on the higher end of the pay scale when I was working for SMOE, and I didn't even get that amount. Most hired teachers seemed to be on the lower half of the pay scale.

Seoul to Phase Out Native English Teachers

Most native English-speaking teachers in about 300 high schools in Seoul could lose their jobs next year. In its budget for 2012, the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education cut about W4 billion (US$1=W1,126) for 225 native speakers teaching at high schools.

If the budget is approved by the city council, most of the high schools in Seoul except for 30 English "immersion" and international schools, can no longer afford a native speaker.

Currently 1,245 native speakers teach English conversation at primary and secondary schools in Seoul, 895 of them subsidized by the city office of education and the rest by the city government or district offices.

"A native speaker earns on average W42 million a year, and we concluded that they are not effective enough to justify the cost," a spokesman for the city office of education said. "A survey conducted for us showed that Korean teachers with outstanding English and teaching skills are more effective in the long term."

The office also plans to reduce the number of native speakers teaching at elementary and middle schools from 2013.

Students from low-income families will likely bear the brunt of the policy. "Students from well-to-do families may find lessons from native English-speakers dull because they've been attending private tutoring institutes since they were young," an education official said. "But those from poor families should be given the opportunity to learn English with native speakers at school." He added it is "too early to reduce the number of native speakers as long as Korean teachers aren't good enough to replace them."

englishnews@chosun.com / Dec. 08, 2011 09:10 KST

Two weeks...

Rawr! I only have two weeks before I leave for North America! So much to do, so little time. I'm really looking forward to the comforts of hearth and home back with my family. I miss the fresh air, the doggie, my family, the cozy expanse of my family's home, a real bed, the bathtubs, and the groundedness of it all. I hope I can get everything I should get done, done. Wish me luck. :)

Craving Coziness

It's been gray and gloomy since this weekend. The weather report says that the sun should be breaking through tomorrow, but waking up in the dark has this strange demotivating quality about it. I just want to sleep until I can't sleep no more, then get up and just curl up to read a good book or watch a good movie, maybe play some video games and drink warm comforting teas. I feel overwhelmed with things I have to get done, but right now the weather's the easiest thing to blame on not feeling inspired to tackle any of them.

On the sunny side, I got to play foosball, pool and darts yesterday. It's been a while, so I had a lot of fun. It's also nice that I live close to school, so I don't have to run out into the rain for too long. My coworkers and I are planning on going to play paintball next week, so I'm excited... and a bit more motivated to do some exercise, even though the weather isn't permitting me to. I'm very much looking forward to winter break when I get to go back to North America and the cozy comforts of my parents' abode for a little while.

I'm baaa-aack!

I'm coming out of hibernation. :)

So, what's been going on? Well, awesome things, as usual. My good friend Jess is visiting Korea, and it's been awesome seeing her more than once a year. :) Also, my good friend Jenny has flown away to Vancouver :( ... but I get to visit her in December. My beautiful friend Jisun has produced her first offspring, the adorable DaYul. And I'm still working at the same university, but with a department of 30 people, which is a lot more than when I started.

I'm still not sure what will happen in the future, but I'm looking on the bright side of things. I was under a bit of a rain cloud, the weight of the world, dark deep waters, or whatever you'd like to call it, but I feel like I've woken up from a bad dream these past few days. I've had a lot of things to think about, and felt lost under it all. I think I forgot how much I enjoy life, but now I finally let some of those things go. And I feel so free.

Life's strange sometimes. I don't think I'll ever stop learning from the people I meet, the experiences I go through, and the places I visit. I certainly wouldn't have it any other way.

My friend Joowon said to me, "I've missed you!" And to that I responded, "I missed myself, too."

Glad to be back. :) Thank you to all my amazing and loving friends. Hope I won't lose myself like that ever again, but if I do, I know you'll have my back. I'm absolutely blessed to have you in my life.

And... and... and.. also... and... also... and... !!!!

Gosh... I'm really not being a very good blogger.

There are so many small stories to share, so many tiny tales to tell, but I've been quite inefficient in managing my time, so I haven't alloted much time to spend on my blog.

I think every February and March, I'm going to have to get used to feeling a bit melancholy at the departure of close friends, and the concept of going through the search of new ones. It's not so much that I've lost those close friends, but distance does create a lot of boundaries that waters down the friendship. It's not less real, nor valuable, but definitely less tangible.

For being such a social person, it is an exercise for me to find new friends. I have to be up for it, ready to take risks with people, aware that I may be disappointed. Keeping people at arms length is just easier for me. I can see their goodness without having to deal with their negatives, particularly if their negatives hurt others.

My doggie, just because I miss her lots as well. :)

In any case, I wrote half of a blog entry on snowboarding, but didn't finish it, just as I have half of one on my trip to Busan. This time, I'm just going to list things I've done since December.

I got to see Jessica more than once, which was nice. Included in our little gettogethers was Chi, Robin, and Matt. I didn't really get to see more of that crew, which was unfortunate, but we were all pretty busy. We had crepes, went window shopping, drank/ate hot chocolate, and went to the Choo Choo train restaurant, as per tradition. :)

After blizzard induced light delays, I got to see Kelly and her sister in Denton, Texas. Mostly, Kelly and I just chatted and caught up years of information, but the friendship, as usual, was familiar and steady, as it had been the last time we saw each other.

Snow falling in NYC.

Jennie traveled from Boston to meet me in NYC for lunch. We went to Ripley's Believe It or Not Museum, which was actually quite fun. We were drawn in by the guy who hammered a nail into his own nose.

Then I went home and celebrated my dad's birthday with most of my family. We traveled a bit to go to a Korean restaurant, which amused me, as the food they served there was pretty much just a half a block or block away from most places in Seoul.

I stayed over Laura's apartment the night before my flight to Seoul, in NYC. I was a bit worried that there would be weather problems again, as there were unpredictable snowstorms throughout my stay in the USA.

Finally, I arrived in Seoul. :)

Then thing was... when I stopped to use the restroom before I left the terminal, I think I also left my phone. So the next day, I got an e-mail from Jisun, a very sweet friend of mine, that the airport had called her. So, I had to travel back out to the airport to retrieve my phone. Unfortunately, it was still in the arrival terminal, so I had to wait for someone to bring it out, since getting into the arrivals is a bit difficult.

But that's not all. Jisun, the friend who told me about my phone, got married and moved out to the suburbs of Seoul. I miss her lots. She used to live right in my neighborhood, so now I'm without her company.

A bunch of princesses are we.

I went out for a girlie day with a bunch of vivacious ladies. We had brunch at Suji's in Itaewon, then went to go take pictures of ourselves in princessy outfits for the afternoon. It was a nice way to see everyone at once before people left. Whenever I've gone to the Princess Cafe, I've noticed that people are at first taking very pretty pictures, getting used to the nice lighting in the cafe, and then after a little while, start getting rather silly, using the extra props or making more creative scenarios for the photos. It was a fun day with good company.

In terms of seeing people off at the airport, I did feel like I was in Incheon airport quite a few times this winter. Not only was I there to see people off in December, and there myself about three times, I saw two other people off at the airport as well. First Jenny, who is such a patient and understanding listener, flew out to go back to Canada. And soon after, vivacious Crystal also flew out back to the USA.

An art installation at the Incheon Airport end of the express train line.

Both times, I was with Janet, Miss Organization herself. Because of Janet, I discovered the newly extended airport express train that runs from Seoul station to Gimpo airport to Incheon airport. They are currently constructing a stop for that line quite close to my apartment. =D Very awesome.

After that, I began my new year at my university. My students are mostly rather bright and chipper. There were eight new hires this term, so the department feels quite large in comparison to when I first arrived. There are more women, as well, which is nice.

I went to see Jisun's new place one weekend. It's a bit of a way out of Seoul, but not so far that I couldn't see her here and there. The town still feels much like a city, though pales in comparison to Seoul itself. My biggest complaint would be the hills. I would detest walking up and down those hills after a hard day's work... or in heels. Hopefully, I'll be visiting Jisun again and often.

I visited Ami, a very warm hearted friend, in Anyang with Janet and Shannon, and went out for the night. Then the next weekend, we went to Jindo, which is an Island close to Mokpo, toward the southern end of Korea. Every year, during this time of year, when the tides are low, a pathway opens up in the sea between Jindo and other nearby island. Janet, Ami, HeeJeong, and I walked across it, but only about two-thirds of the way, because we got a bit tired. It was a really refreshing and surreal experience. There were starfish, crabs, seaweed, sea urchins, and other such sea-creatures, just laying across the path. (I did throw a lot of them into the water because I didn't want people stepping on them).

I stole this from Janet, who is not only organized, but an awesome photographer.

Today is one of those rare quiet days. I'm savoring my alone time again. I've decided not to leave my apartment till tomorrow. :) Until then, I have lots of housecleaning, picture uploading, and video/computer game playing to get to.

Oh... and it snowed last night. It's the end of March! Sheesh.

Just a random altered Van Gogh painting a la Korea.