Korean Job Discussion Forums

[captain kirk]

Madness.
Take the 'unfathomableness' of a woman's mind, juice it with hormones, cut the experience of a woman, and put it in a middle school girl. Then try to teach them, get along with them.
I had a class of gals whose whining and languid sprawls, requests for this and that (this was boring, that was dull, I'm tired, etc), resulted in a few scraps to get them in line. Met with more attitude. Elbows on the table, head in their hands. Studying Harry Potter. A new teacher arrives and he's young, handsome, blue-eyed, personable, smart, funny. First time in Korea and first time teaching.
They tell me they don't like him, and that the Queen of Attitude misses me, and wants me back. I say to them, 'well, if you look back over the year, we had our squabbles'. And she says, 'yes, but fighting with you was happy'. That actually brought a tear to my eye. Here again you have the pith of haggie teaching, it's fierce, lively, chaotic, but living!
They 'don't like the new teacher' because he used to put his feet up on the table, doesn't wear socks, and his legs are too hairy. Plus he's too 'commanding'. They don't practice talking as much.
Damn his sockless, hairy legs. It's a great impediment!

[eamo]

So the Golden Boy has crashed and burned with the kids?

We still remember you complaining how he stole your limelight a few weeks ago. So, he has flunked the popularity test?

[canuckistan]

[the eye]

[captain kirk]

I don't think he has crashed and burned at all. He's doing great. He's still 'the golden boy'. He likes people generally. For example. When we were driving around Ulsan, him on the back of the motorbike, I pointed out Walmart, Homeplus. Mentioned that the Homepluses of Korea are identical everywhere. They really are. And he said he hates stores like these, owned by corporations and not making money for people. Pretty idealistic stuff. He takes an interest in people, and puts himself out getting to know students.
So that's why I was surprised to hear these middle school gals complain about him again, like last week. They 'wished he was leaving back to Canada and not me'. But they also asked if a new teacher would come to replace me, and looked pumped at notion. They don't know what they want, but do, the whimsy-fed, whiney constant manipulators. They love to steer, constant practise. Some 'lucky boyfriend/husband' down the road.
One of these teen girls, when I said, 'but the other students like him', said that her ten year old brother 'doesn't like him'. And she thinks 'alot of students don't'. I asked about 'the new teacher' in another class and they said 'he was too angry'. I said, 'I'm angry', and she said, 'but you're funny and angry'.
There are new students coming to the school. I hear him in the next classroom teaching. He's quite interactive with them. I said to the middle school girls, 'but he plays games' (hangman, etc.) and they harrumphed. Like they harrumphed when I said, 'but he's so handsome'.
They, those middle school girls, practice steering, that's what they do. Their whining is stereophone and comically musical. Five of them surrounding a teacher, pulling on their clothes, tugging and whining and stamping their feet pouting.
It's sort of made me realize, their reaction to him, and reports about his popularity or not, that haggie teachers 'crash and burn' every day. Can't please everyone. It's a thrashing, hard sell and push for everyone, maybe.
Re; the new teacher. I've been watching him and saying nothing. I help him, like I'm picking up a used VCR for him. Help him find used books to read. But I can't really 'fill him in' on 'where he is'. He is slowly realizing where he is. That the boss is pumping him up but he's just a worker bee, and she's the Merciless Queen who'll probably bite his head off in the act of mating. That kind of thing. Because he has been pumped up to be the saviour and money maker for his Queen, who adores yet secretly despises him (and he's figuring this out), he sometimes acts the Prince. His is the fifth best college in Canada, he walks off, then, 'and what college did you go to?'.
It was worse when he first arrived. 'I definately make him look much older', within earshot was kind of magnum.
After five weeks he has settled down, though. Looking pensive, cast adrift on breaks, like 'does anyone really know what time it is?', and 'will this never cease, this madness?'. He plays games on his new cell phone like the K-teachers, except the are sending text messages. Just out of Uni, the ongoing mindless in-one's face happy spontaneity of haggie life appears to seem rather arid to him, a kooky desert with Korean cacti. He has lots of friends on the weekends playing touch football, etc.

[dzeisons]

captain kirk- your post cracked me up. you are the ultimate professional gossiping about other teachers with the girls in class

[captain kirk]

The school becomes a neighbourhood and he's the talk of the day. I wouldn't call it 'unprofessional gossiping with the students'. Sniper in the outback!

[rapier]

Whenever a new male teacher arrives, there is always the predictable feeding frenzy of attention in his direction. The korean teachers get hormonal and make all sorts of excuses to chat with him at his desk. The students go all gooey eyed. Koreans are suckers for any thing new, novel, or good looking. They will jump ship faster than sewer rats.

Give it a few days- and always, always, the golden boy is thrown in the bin and forgotten about, and left wondering what happened to his fan club. Seen it too many times.

[chi-chi]

Classic stuff, Captain Kirk, keep it coming.
Sometimes I miss the drama of working in Korea.
It's hard being rejected by the in-clique, isn't it, Captain?!?

[Apple Scruff]

They don't like him because he's too angry? This means that they behave like arseholes, he reacts accordingly, and they've decided that they don't like him cramping their whine-party.

A friend of mine is one helluva teacher, the best at his hagwon - he could teach English to a Mongolian mime and discipline a drunken hyena. The kids hate him.