As overwhelming as it was, the first week of teaching passed quickly. In the beginning I had about 30 students throughout each day. Tommy had already given many of the children nicknames including: Tom Cruise, Handsome Prince, and Angelina Jolie. Others were quite eager to assign themselves names such as baby dragon, Harry Potter, Super Penguin, and Crazy Monkey.
My second day of class, Tommy told me that we would be making sweet beans and shaved ice, a summer favorite here on Jeju. It was quite delicious and we spent the rest of class talking about what we might make next week (they decided on pasta), and how we would make it.
On the third day, after we had gotten through introductions, we started to focus on exploring the day to day. Each day we review discussing our current moods (How are you today? I’m fantastic!), the days of the week, and talking about our individual routines.
The first three days were a breeze, but then the children became accustomed to my presence and started to act up a bit. For many this simply means talking while I am speaking to other students - for others it means shouting across the room. Load voices have become the least of my worries as many students have started to fight mid-lesson. (In between classes there is often quite a bit of rough housing, but it seems to be good natured and the Korean teachers don’t blink an eye.)
One of my favorite students, who I’ve named Ben, is a young boy who runs up to me each time he sees me and gives me a big beer hug around my legs. Ben is a sweet kid and very intelligent once you get him to sit down. But that was all before the arrival of Dennis.
Dennis is a real gem. Tommy told me he has had to leave many English academies and that if I am able to tame the beast, I will be famous. If I’m able to get young Dennis to sit in his chair, he will follow along for about 20 seconds before slipping beneath the table, or better yet, leaping upon it. He also enjoys flipping his chair over and running about with his head thrown back, screaming at the ceiling.
When Dennis acts up, Ben, who as I mentioned is a sweet kid, gets this wild look in his eyes just before he mercilously attacks Dennis. I have a hunch that Ben also attends a martial arts academy; before I get across the room to separate the two, Ben usually get a good knee into Dennis’ side, has made great contact with several well-executed kicks, and sometimes even lands a solid punch or two.
The worst part of this is that Dennis doesn’t even fight back... he simply rolls on his back laughing... he finds the whole thing hysterical.
The academy is growing quickly - since I arrived we have 25 new students. I have five or six classes each day and my students vary greatly in their ability to speak English. Some of the children can not yet say the letters of the alphabet, while one of my students knows enough English to ask me about the national park in the States. I have also began teaching two university students. They are my last class so we often have dinner after leaving the academy. The girl's name is Un-Je (은재) and she is Tommy's niece. She is trying to teach me to speak Korean and make Korean food. She speaks English wonderfully and I've enjoyed all of the things she has introduced me to (more about this later.)
Anyhow, teaching is a blast, but I’m certainly through the honeymoon phase. It can be incredibly difficult at times, but equally rewarding when you see students making real progress. In the interest of self-preservation, I’ve quickly learned to shed the worries of the classroom as I put my shoes on and walk out the door.
