The Job

After two days at work at my Korean hagwon I’ve started to put some pieces together.  If you don’t know about the hagwons, they’re private, afterschool learning centers for students of all ages in English, Korean and math, and (like the Pfhor) they’re EVERYWHERE.  Imagine if Sylvan Learning Center or Kumon was the size of a Walgreens and there was one on every block; that’s the situation here.  Mine is Parkjeong and I guess it’s the Rolls Royce of these academies.  It’s on the 4th floor of a nice, new office building it shares with a bank, a couple of Tae Kwon Do studios and a rooftop driving range.  The facilities are new, the classrooms are clean, the staff is polished and the academy has a reputation for being DIFFICULT.  I assume parents pay more for Parkjeong than for other hagwons.

It’s amazing how much English the kids know.  The refrain among students is familiar: no one likes Parkjeong or regular school or taking tests or studying English, but everyone values those things and does them anyway.  The kids work so hard; they really do go home after 10 o’clock!  But I’ve seen them on the field playing soccer, on the playground using play equipment that would get someone sued in the U.S., and in the 24-hour PC room playing Starcraft even though I was playing that game when I was 17.  They’re kids.  They work and they play but they know the purpose of their work.

There are four foreign English teachers here alongside eight or nine Korean English teachers who do not have to whisper when they are around me.  They’re friendly, but since the foreigners come and go, the Korean teachers aren’t always interested in chatting the same old “So, how do you like Korea?” so I find myself latching onto the others, representing the Philippines, South African, Canada and the Red, White and Blue, motherfucker!  These colors don’t run!!  McCain/Palin ‘08!!!

The Filipino woman is in her 40s, soft-spoken and keeps to herself.  The South African guy has a pessimistic attitude; one of those puzzling visitors to Korea who complains about Korean students, food, weather, and public transportation.  The Canadian woman is an idealist who has celebrated the academy for using recycled paper and has mentioned to me her dislike of George W. Bush three times in two days.  Ooh, I should have said “If Obama loses I’m moving in with you!”  That would have been a delightfully vague statement.  Is it a declaration of camaraderie?  Is it a proposition?  Is it a nutty person slightly overstepping I love it!  She and I get along best, though…that is, until I meet someone who likes women’s basketball, karaoke and Magic: The Gathering.