Korean Job Discussion Forums

marista99 · Joined: 05 Jun 2004 Location: Incheon

At my hogwan, all of my students leave their big, heavy winter coats on during class, even though the room is 75 degrees at least! This is everyone, from 1st grade to adults.

Sometimes if I suggest "take your coats off, it's hot!" they'll grudgingly do it...but why do they insist on sitting there sweating for an hour when they could easily be more comfortable?

Is there something about Korean culture I am missing here? Or do I just have a strangely masochistic group of students?

Zed · Joined: 20 Jan 2003 Location: Shakedown Street

That's a pain in the .....

"Teacher, hot! Open window."
(It's January and I'm in a shirt and standing in front of the window where the whiteboard is conveniently located. )

Trying to get them to take off their coats is a bloody nightmare sometimes since they know it will impede their ability to the race for the bus.

Derrek · Joined: 15 Jan 2003

I could tell you about all of the times that the heater is running in my room, and some girl gets up to turn on the air-conditioner because she's too hot (or visa/versa).

I'm not kidding... this happens at least 3 times a semester!

Happened again last week. I can live with it. It makes me laugh.

The thing that burns my butt is when they clean the teachers' office during lunch and open the windows and doors wide (middle of winter) to air out the place. Often people leave these windows or doors open for 30 minutes and shiver. I almost get the feeling that the Koreans in the room don't want to be the one who rocks the boat by closing the window!

I often get up and do it, or do it after coming back from class and finding a roomfull of Korean teachers in their coats.

By the way, the heater is running all this time.

quiksilver · Joined: 11 Sep 2004

At my school all the teachers have little portable heaters in their classrooms and they have the windows open all day. They just huddle around the heater. I'm just chalking it up in the "Korean common sense (or lack there of) column". Plus we leave the main door open all day. Not real sure what the reason is for that one yet.

peppermint · Posted: Fri Dec 10, 2004 12:11 pm Post subject:

As nutty as it sounds, the opening the window thing makes sense. My classroom is semi heated by a big space heater, and the first week or two I'd walk around behind my students closing windows , but then I'd go home with a killer headache and sleep for ten or twelve hours. Apparently you can get carbon monoxide poisoning from those things!

FUBAR · Joined: 21 Oct 2003 Location: The Y.C.

Derrek · Joined: 15 Jan 2003

The heaters at my school are natural gas or electric.

The gas ones have little exhaust pipes that go out the back. They're pretty clean uniits.

We have such large drafts blowing through the cracks of the windows here, I'm not worried about getting fresh oxygen. Smile

Real Reality · Joined: 10 Jan 2003 Location: Seoul

... such large drafts blowing through the cracks of the windows here, I'm not worried about getting fresh oxygen.

Laughing

Sounds like my classroom and apartment.

marista99 · Joined: 05 Jun 2004 Location: Incheon

But...my school has a modern HVAC air ventilation system with air heating, and most of the rooms have no windows. There is NO REASON to leave your coat on in this situation unless you are a) stupid or b) enjoy roasting yourself! Rolling Eyes

The middle schoolers all fall asleep because they're too warm, and in all the classes, people having coats on makes me antsy, like they're prepared to get up and leave any second or something.

Sorry, this has just become a huge pet peeve of mine over the past few weeks, and no one has yet given me a real reason for this behavior. I continue to feel the need to vent/rant about it...grrr...

Ya-ta Boy · Joined: 16 Jan 2003 Location: Established in 1994

I'm convinced the answer is that the students have been told that in winter it is cold, so you should wear your coat. The actual room temperature is irrelevant. They 'know' it is cold, so wear their coats.

I even took a thermometer to class one day and showed them the temperature. It didn't make any difference. They said they were cold.

sadsac · Joined: 22 Dec 2003 Location: Gwangwang

It's the sheep mentality of Koreans. One or two do it, they all do it. If it's cold they are all cold, if it's hot they are all hot. Winter is cold, hence you must wear a coat, inside and outside. Smile

edgellskiuk · Joined: 21 Jun 2004 Location: Seoul

Ya-Ta boy wrote

eamo · Joined: 08 Mar 2003 Location: Shepherd's Bush, 1964.

captain kirk · Joined: 29 Jan 2003

Are you guys serious. So you're saying that because it's winter kids will wear their coats inside the class 'because it's winter'. Let's look at this for a moment. Is it to do with their mom's saying, out of concern, that they should wear their winter jacket and not get sick. And, obliging, they do. They follow orders which over-ride feeling hot wearing a duckdown filled coat in a classroom. Do they actually sweat wearing a parka in the classrooms. I haven't noticed, but has anyone. If they're sitting there sweating and don't want to take off their coats...I mean, what's the explanation for that? How could anyone do that. Overide how they feel for the sake of following instructions, or the herd, or whatever?

coolsage · Posted: Sat Dec 11, 2004 11:16 pm Post subject:

This overdressed phenomenon might explain why classrooms sound like an infirmary at this time of year. While the classrooms tend to be overheated, the corridors are freezing, because of the tendency to leave the doors wide open in any weather. On a related topic, those same corridors are plunged ito darkness by late afternoon, because the lights are off. Perhaps this is some token effort to recoup the money lost from heat escaping through the open doors. I find myself frequently closing doors and turning lights on.