Teaching ESL is far from boring. When one brings together a variety of cultures, there’s always something new to learn, and I am incredibly grateful for this opportunity to learn and grow as a person in addition to sharing my own knowledge. That being said, I’m also incredibly grateful to have lots of funny stories to share. Sulaman is today’s inspiration.

Sulaman was a Saudi Arabian student that I recently taught. He’s in his early forties, and he is a very well-educated man. He’s a police officer with a Master’s degree from his country. He wants to earn his Ph.D at an American University, he must learn English. He’s at a beginner level, and he struggles with speaking and listening a bit, though I can tell that he tries very hard. I am a bit of a softie, and what it comes down to is that I’m pretty much willing to do anything to help my students succeed.

One day I announced to the class that they would complete speaking evaluations that week. Sulaman, not having the best grades, was concerned. He asked me to spend some time with him one-on-one to practice speaking. Being sympathetic to his needs, I agreed to take some time after school let out to help him. When school let out, he met me in the classroom, and we sat down and practiced. I even wrote out the grammar for him to practice at home. When we finished, he excitedly pulled out his smart phone to show me a photo of his youngest child, and baby of just over a year. After I showed the proper admiration for his offspring, I expected the matter to be over. Instead, it got strange.

“Teacher… will you come my house for dinner? I introduce to you my children. I five children have.”

“Five children?!”

“Yes, I want two or three more wives and more children. Children are good. You come for dinner? I want very much.”

Thank goodness for me that it’s against our policy to visit students at their houses. I was also grateful that the center was about to close for the day, so I pointed at the clock and said we needed to go. I had to turn down poor Sulaman’s offer. With the language barrier, it’s entirely possible that he was only making a friendly gesture to one who went out of her way to help him. On the other hand, it really sounded like he hoped to make me a second wife. I am willing to help my students in any way I can, but I’ve got to draw the line somewhere.

Hello, all! I am terrible about keeping up with this blogging thing. Maybe I can keep up with it better this year. I’ve been feeling rather blessed lately. Let me get you up to speed.

I returned from Korea on March 11, 2012, almost one year ago. It’s crazy to think I’ve only been gone one year. I miss everyone so much! Sometimes I think I’m still in the adjustment period! Before leaving, I predicted that I would be happy to be home for about two weeks, and then I’d want to be back in Korea. That was almost correct…

I had hoped to start a jewelry business with some of the money I saved in Korea. I bought a ton of supplies, and the money disappeared quickly. Unfortunately, my jewelry wasn’t exactly selling like hotcakes. I needed a job. I never intended to live out my life in Indiana, and I was pretty sure that I wanted to live in Charleston, SC. It’s a beautiful city. I took a trip down there to visit with a friend and look for jobs. I had no luck. After a week, I headed back home. It wasn’t exactly my most encouraging experience, but at the same time, I’m pretty proud that I put myself out there, that I took a risk. When I got back to Indianapolis, I looked for administrative positions. I had no luck. I eventually went back to the grocery store that I had worked at before I left for Korea. I was happy to be around my old co-workers again, but the job was hardly fulfilling. When I left the cashier position for a position in Bakery, I found the work more interesting, but the environment was stressful. I hardly viewed the job as a career, so I had to do a little soul-searching.

Teaching in Korea was not the easiest job. I was happy that it required minimal planning, and I did find a rhythm to it. It wasn’t particularly taxing. Teaching children is simply difficult. They have shorter attention spans, and they tend to have a more limited regard for others. If an adult is not interested, they generally feel compelled to at least feign interest. I was forever yelling at my classes to pay attention and stay in their seats. I often felt as though I was wasting my breath. That aside, I had to admit that I loved teaching. I love getting a chance to share my knowledge, and this is particularly rewarding when the student is receptive to the presentation. One cannot expect to find a child living in a non-English speaking country to understand the importance of the lesson. In Korea, they NEED to speak Korean. English is becoming more and more important, but until they find themselves in English-only situations, they can’t take these lessons seriously. There were many times that I wanted to just give up and walk out of the hagwon. There were a few times that I felt incredibly relevant to my students’ lives, and those times kept me going.

In summer 2012, I was seriously considering going back to Korea. Coming back incurred a kind of culture shock I never anticipated. My social life here was almost non-existent, and I was miserable. I made so many friends in Korea, friends that I consider friends for life. Especially my best friend, Haga. I’ve never had a friend that I connected with so fully, and I never would’ve expected to find one in another country. I also was less than pleased with my job. A basic retail job is not exactly what one with a college degree expects to get, and having graduated so long ago (in 2008), I was feeling less than hopeful about landing an actual career. However, as much as I missed Korea, my friends, and my rose-colored memories of teaching, I felt that to keep teaching abroad was a mistake. I just felt that at 27, I needed a job with more long-term possibilities.

So I got my TEFL certificate.

I rejected the idea of going for a Master’s degree. An artist doesn’t need a Master’s. I also certainly didn’t need to rack up more debt, particularly in an economic climate with no immediate possibility of recovery. I could, however, justify paying for a certificate. I decided to go for teaching ESL.

I completed my TEFL certificate online (with some actual classroom hours) at TEFL Institute. I received my certificate in November. I applied for various jobs, and for the first time in a long time, I actually got responses to my applications. I can’t tell you how good that felt. To feel valuable and wanted. I interviewed with three schools, and I ultimately chose the language center that I’m currently working for shortly after New Years.

I teach adults. Mostly students from Saudi Arabia. These students HAVE to learn English. Not every one of them is a stellar student, but at the very least, I merit feigned interest from each of them. Never in my life have I had a more fulfilling job. I studied animation at a prestigious art school. I never once imagined my life taking this turn, but I’m so happy it did.

This blog was originally intended to be simply an account of my adventures in Korea. I hope to keep it up (this time, I mean it!), and I will be posting observations of my students, especially the funny ones.

This blog originally was intended to be more as a guide (hence the name!) and less of a medium of personal expression. That would be why I haven’t written for such a long time. To be honest, I haven’t had much to say. I’ve been busy for sure. Too busy to write, and while I have thoroughly enjoyed all that has kept me busy the past few months, I would hardly call my goings-on blogworthy. It has occurred to me however, that a good many of my readers (what, maybe 3 of you?) might also be interested in my ponderings. Here we go!

After living in Korea for almost 9 months, I finally had my first, full-on dream of being back home. I mostly dream about work, which is either terrible or a sign of fulfillment. I haven’t decided which yet. In these dreams, I’m always trying to figure out how to teach better. I also often dream about people that I’ve met here. I rarely dream about people from back home, but when I do, it’s always in a less personal atmosphere. I mean, one dream that stands out is one in which I was saving the world from dinosaurs in some big city with a former co-worker.

Last night, I was back home. I was surrounded by family, and I was back to familiar sights and smells. There was carpet on the floor, a separate stall for the shower, and an OVEN! I woke up with a sense of nostalgia that I haven’t had to deal with in months. It’s led to a certain quiet reflection, and it has made me incredibly grateful for the moments of joy that I’ve found in my life in the midst of quite a bit of emotional turbulence.

I taught writing today. Well, I tried, anyway. The topic in one class was “Write about your happiest moment”. I had to suppress a giggle when I read that. These kids are only about 11 or 12 years old. Their happiest moments are more than likely going to be pretty superficial. I was right. One of my students wrote, “My happiest moment is play computer game.” Poor grammar aside, it’s interesting to note how easily children are amused. If only computer games could ensure my happiness!

When I got home from work, I was still in a bit of a funk from the dream. One of my co-worker’s birthday is the day before mine. Our birthdays are coming up- this Sunday and Monday. He’d received a package from home and tore into it right then and there. He gifted me with a Reese’s cup, which did nothing but make my weird mood even weirder. My parents left gifts with me from their visit months ago, and like a good daughter, I was saving the birthday package specifically for Monday. It didn’t quite happen. Needing some piece of home, I opened the box to find, among other things, a rather large bag of Reese’s peanut butter cups. I spent the evening watching a few episodes of The Office and eating a rather unnecessary number of Reese’s cups, and I reflected on our happiest moment topic. What was my happiest moment?

It does not involve Reese’s. Nor does it involve video games. The past few years have been very rough on me, but since I came to Korea, I feel blessed to have found many moments in which I felt happy. In fact, in spite of my strange mood, I can still count myself happy now. Can a moment be a long period of time? Perhaps not, but each day, I am given a renewed sense of strength in myself and a great confidence in what I am capable of. I am happiest when I have a sense of purpose and am surrounded by people who love and support me. I have had many such moments, and I hope to have a good many more in the years to come.

I’ll be the first to admit that driving a few hours to roll around in mud doesn’t sound like the best plan ever. Mud? Really? The Boryeong Mud Festival is located in Boryeong, about 200 km south of Seoul. It has been a traditional meeting place for foreigners and Koreans alike since 1998, and it now attracts over 2 million visitors. The mud is touted as being an extremely beneficial skin treatment, and the festival was originally used to market cosmetics containing the stuff. I’m not sure that the mud is all that it claims to be, but the festival itself… it happened 12 days ago, and I’m still not over it. I went with a group of members from a social networking site called Come Together English Cafe I only knew three people by the time I boarded the train, but by the end of the trip, I’d made some amazing new friends.

On Saturday, July 16th, we all dragged ourselves out of bed early to meet at Yongsan Station by 9am. After driving about 3 hours, we arrived at Daecheon Station and got to the motel, to find ourselves out in the rain with no ready motel rooms to wait it out. While we waited on the staff to finish cleaning our rooms, we got lunch at a restaurant near the beach. Just as we were heading back to the motel, the rain let up, and the sun came out. And it stayed out. We couldn’t have asked for better weather. The group got separated, naturally. Christy and I met up with James, and we all got in the spirit of the event and painted ourselves with mud. It’s cooler than it sounds- trust me. We found a few more in our group (gonna miss you, Papa!) and swam in the ocean. After a few hours, everyone got hungry, and we made our way back to the motel to change. Collin You went out and bought back some samgyupsal, and we had a barbecue on the roof.

Even now, the oversimplification of the concept of the mud festival makes me smile. Driving a few hours to paint myself with mud? Totally worth it.

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