it’s a delicate balance
I’m certain that it irritates the shit of my co-teachers that I have such a casual approach with the students ~ the first week of class, they were armed with the portable microphones and the batons, ready to discipline. My first week of lessons was classroom behavior and expectations ~ now all it takes is a good “stink eye” or a loud remark from me to silence the classroom. It’s not the Korean way, but it works for me. And that’s the end of that story.
As a foreign teacher, I’m always the “outsider” ~ the one who doesn’t understand the customs, the one who doesn’t ever know what is going on (even though it’s probably been announced over the loud speaker several times), the one who looks different and behaves differently, and (worst of all) doesn’t speak Korean. It’s taken some time, but we are all getting used to each other and have learned to tolerate the differences, even if the ones we can’t fully embrace. It’s all a matter of delicate balance.
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Nancy