Hello, all! My week of training is coming to an end much sooner than I expected. I prepared for a tedious, long week, but as Friday ends it hasn't nearly been as terrible as the initial orientation perhaps wanted the trainees to believe.
My first fears were that I'd be unable to pass Training since they do say it is very overwhelming with all of the information they throw at you in a short amount of time, as well as the amount of outside-class prepartion you need to do. While I have had less sleep than I'd like this week, and there has been a lot of information to comprehend and review, mock teaching and overall training has actually been quite enjoyable. I've realized that cohort certainly prepares you for much more than a United States classroom. Many of the ideas the company highlights and stresses is not far from some of the pedagogies studied at GCSU. Referring back to mock teaching, I'm fortunate to have had student teaching experience to help build off my teaching style and delivery of information.
Although you are expected to follow a set methodology, they do encourage personal style in the way that you teach it, and perhaps most importantly, student rapport. It has become evident to me through the discussions with my trainers that students in all countries experience the same feelings, behaviors, and expectations in class. You're going to have that "class clown" or "disruptive" student, while another might prefer to simply sit and listen along with the discussion without vocally participating. Students in the US and Korea want to feel as though their opinion matters. They want to feel as though their efforts are for a reason. And going along with student rapport, they want to feel loved, encouraged, and important.
In the few moments that I have been out of the training center, I've enjoyed observing Korean culture. I've mentioned this to a few friends, but I was first struck by the fashion. You always hear how trendy the Asian countries are, but I didn't know what to expect. Trendy might've been ridiculous modern style with loud colors, high-fashion hair styles, and so on. Instead, I see people of all ages, although most often between 15 - 35, with styles that you might see at Urban Outfitters, Mod Cloth, or at your local coffee shop in Milledgeville. Maybe even Jonas Brothers-style, though not nearly as tight of pants. The women are far braver than me to wear heels for any occasion -- dinner, walking downtown, riding the subway... The men are especially well put together. Nicely ironed shirts (bonus points from me if their sleeves are rolled 3/4 length), slightly tight pants (mostly the younger guys), and Italian-leather looking work shoes. The younger generation has the most wonderful hats. Fedoras. Knit caps. Braves hats.
Some tips I've picked up through observation and trial-and-error:
1) Always bring an umbrella. It's almost a staple of fashion. Perhaps this will only be a factor during certain seasons, but umbrellas are vital. They shield the sun (very few tans). They protect you from sun... or clouds.
2) Pack more than one pair of shoes. Although the women can handle walking everywhere in heels or flats with little sole support, I cannot. The subway is like a race in and of itself, so Vans are the way to go.
3) The (best?) way to find Korean restaurants is to a) follow the lights. Look for bright signs that catch your attention. Maybe one of them is leading you to a restaurant. b) Look for pictures with food that looks possibly appetizing... mainly so that you can point to it. c) Be willing to try something new. I'm learning to step out of my food comfort zone, and since food is cheap, it might be worth the risk.
4) While not a tip, I've noticed that very few people wear wedding rings. I don't know if this is just to avoid losing it on the subway, I've just happened to notice a lot of single people, or maybe it's not customary to wear wedding rings. I'm gonna have to Google it and find out...
5) Smile. Smiling and bowing gets you a long way if you can't speak the language. There are other ways to try to communicate until you do learn.
Tomorrow concludes training. I check-out of my hotel Saturday and will be transported to my campus to meet the director, and then my apartment! Teaching begins Monday.
In honor of a music festival going on this weekend in Gwangju, which hopefully I can check out, here's a song by The Beatles but covered by A Perfect Circle. This song's video is actually rather interesting considering the turmoil between the Koreas. Warning: Somewhat graphic due to war theme.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dunKAwRN3P8&ob=av2e
No comments:
Post a Comment