The Spring Edition

The Korean summer arrived with a bang! I thought high temperatures would only begin in July but we already had 35-37°C days in June and this past week we've been experiencing monsoon season with relentless rain. Enormous amounts of summer rain mean high levels of humidity. You can shower, walk out the door, and immediately be drenched with sweat because of how steamy it is outside. Let’s not even talk about what happens to a coloured girl’s hair during this season! As we adjust to the unbearable heat and the few weeks left with hot and bothered teenagers, let me catch you up on my third Spring in Korea.

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Bloom, bloom, dust!

If there’s one thing Korea gets right it’s the picturesque seasons of Autumn and Spring. This season, the gorgeous Cherry Blossoms (벚꽃) bloomed a bit later than scheduled but man were they pretty when they finally came. The streets were lined with the pretty pink blossoms. Behind our school is Gyejoksan Mountain, which has some of the loveliest cherry blossom trees. Since the weather was pleasant and the flowers were in full bloom, many walks were taken during school time and on my own to witness the lovely sights.

Walk during Friday Club period with students.

My colourful walk to school during Spring.

Then during late Spring, the elegant roses began to appear. Many streets had hedges adorned with lovely red roses. It feels almost luxurious to live where there are streets lined with beautiful red roses.

In front of our school.

A sidewalk near home.

However, one unpleasant part of Springtime in Korea is Yellow Dust, a fine dust, that originates in Northern China and Mongolia's deserts and is carried by strong winds to Korea. For someone who has asthma, this is an unwelcome phenomenon. Together with the high pollen levels this year, my allergies were badly triggered and made life a little uncomfortable. I often found myself out of breath while walking to school in the morning. Later, I began to wear a mask again while walking outside. This helped with keeping my air passages clear.

Visit to Gyeryongsan National Park in Daejeon for a short hike.

Pretty views.

Not an easy walk down these massive rocks.

I had to hold the rail while walking down those rocks. Check all the yellow dust on my hands.

Kicking off my third year of teaching!

School started in early March so we’re almost at the end of the first semester. In Korea’s public school system, we only have summer and winter break, and nothing in between so the semester is quite long — and what a busy year it has been so far! As it’s my third year teaching, I thought I had some things sussed out. I also figured because I had taught my Grade 9s before (for some of them it's their third year in a class with me), they’d be cool and easier to deal with than the previous years' Gr.9s. But alas, it has not exactly been an easy time.

A little bit of insight into school life in Korea

The start of the school year with the Gr.9s was especially hard. Many of them were probably not too happy with their new classes/classmates so it took time to adjust and get comfortable with speaking English again. This meant many quiet moments in the first month and quite a bit of encouragement from me to get them talking. The Grade 8s on the other hand have been really fun. As it was their first time being taught by me, they were excited to finally be in my class. There isn’t one Gr.8 class that I don’t have a good rapport with or that I dread teaching, which is really amazing. However, recently I cannot deny that some of them are behaving in a way that is a testament to a running joke about Gr.8s in the country. People say that North Korea won’t go to war with South Korea because of South Korean 8th-graders. That’s how scary and fearless they are! I am lucky because there are always two teachers around, making class management easier, however, there have definitely been occasions lately where both my co-teacher and I's patience have been tested. I also heard that one teacher has had such a bad experience with a particular class that the Vice-principal now joins him when he teaches them. So yeah, some of the Gr.8s are finally showing themselves.

With the Gr.9s, there is often a lot of teeth grinding at times. Sometimes, I pray for strength and inner peace as bad attitudes can really test you. Many students are always sleepy, and their mood changes often. One week they're nice and engaged, the next it's like I'm dealing with a different person who refuses to speak or even acknowledge you (i.e. adolescence). We've also had a few students just regularly stay out of school recently. About a quarter of one class has been absent for a while and showed up just before exams. I said, 'Oh, welcome back. Long time no see' and they just looked away or put their heads down. I've heard that there is not much the school can do unless students miss most of the school year. If they write their exams and attend school for the minimum required time, they continue on to the next grade. There's no failing or repeating a year in Korea. The only way you could be held back is if you stayed out of school most of the year.

However, it does affect their school points and where they might be able to go to high school. Every school has a points system for students and getting minus points for bad behaviour, attendance, discipline, etc. can all impact their academic history. I don't usually give minus points; I leave that up to my co-teachers but I have tried to curb sleeping in class this year as it's incredibly disrespectful. I know they’re tired but it’s their responsibility to be awake and ready to learn. Going to bed between 01:00 and 04:00 because of homework, playing games, or watching YouTube is something they need to manage and not make it the teacher’s problem. Over the last two years, many people have said to me it must be easy teaching here as discipline is not a big problem and students are very focused on their studies but as you can see, even with all their focus on education and high academic achievement, there are still problems and similarities to home in terms of student behaviour.

The good always outweighs the bad

Still, there’s been some wonderful moments at school. Before the April midterms, I played a review game with one of my Gr.9 classes and the student with disability participated too. Though he has learning challenges and does not follow anything I teach, he is still part of the class. On this particular day, he was included in a team for the game. When it came to his turn, I let him choose a question on the board though I knew he wouldn’t be able to answer it. But to my surprise, his teammates helped him find the answer and let him write it down on the whiteboard, which was special to watch. Moreover, in the end, his team won the game! He had the biggest smile on his face. Everyone cheered when they won. It was one of the most precious moments I’ve ever experienced.

Making keyrings during Friday Club.

Another significant moment during the school term was when we had speaking tests recently. I do it interview-style with each student outside of the classroom. For the first time, both of my students with disability also took the speaking test with me, which was really sweet. There were also some funny moments. I had one student come to the table, sit down, and tell me, “I want normal score,” essentially telling me he just wanted the basic score without having to do anything. But I urged him to try and answer the questions as I knew he had prepared. To his surprise, he got a grade much higher than the “normal score!”

Another student sat down for the speaking test and before he answered a question, he said, “Dios Mio!” (OMG in Spanish). It was hilarious. Mi-Deum is one of my favourite students. He and I are very similar while learning a foreign language. We cannot hide our distress when the teacher asks us a question. When I call on him to answer, he first looks super confused and panicked, and then someone will translate what he has to do and he'll relax. When the teacher in my Korean language class calls on me to answer a question, I always sigh heavily; and my face probably also shows my agony at having to speak in Korean.

A math and science games day for all students.

This was really fun. I also joined in some of the games.

Another funny moment happened while in class when we learned the phrase “I’m curious about…” After explaining what it means to be curious, I said to the students they could ask me anything about myself. Anything they were curious about. Most students asked what my favourite food is, my favourite K-pop group or my age! I made them guess that one. Happy to report that the youngest guess was 25 years old! I had one student ask me what my favourite kind of boyfriend is, basically asking what my favourite type of guy is. I said, “smart, funny and kind.” Another student reckons to him, “You fail all!”

Sports Day was awesome as usual. One of my favourite days of the school calendar.

Gr.9s get to dress up for the day. This class chose prisoner uniforms.

I liked these cute Hawaiian outfits.

Last but not least, class with my Gr.7s has been and always is fun. They're the babies of the school so they tend to act like it. They get excited about every activity and are not afraid to stand up and try things. As it is an elective class, all of them would have chosen to be there so many students have a pretty good grasp of English. During the semester, we've gotten to do some really fun activities with them while learning English.

'Teacher, I draw you!'

Making cards for Parents Day.

Colouring and writing activity for Earth Day.

Craft: DIY soap making.

A thank you letter for Teachers Day.

School lunch! We got a new school dietician and oh, man has she come to bring us joy! haha...

Socialising in the Springtime!

Amazing weather also meant that more time was spent outside. In early May I visited my friend Catherine in her new town, Dongtan. Catherine moved from Daejeon to start a new job. It was really wonderful to visit her and see her new digs and city. While visiting her place, I was also made to participate in banana bread baking, a new and interesting experience for me. Hopefully, these new skills will add to my growing domesticity. It was also wonderful just to catch up and have girl chat, talking about the many life changes and how God has been working in our lives.

Dongtan! Such a lovely clean city.

Getting her sweet fix with her roasted ice cream marshmallow.

Pretty views.

The lovely Cath.

A water show at sunset!

Stunning sunset smiles.

I have also gotten to know some of the ladies at my Church much better, which has honestly bettered my life here as well as helped me personally. Recently, we also started a ladies' bible study, something I had always wanted to be part of. It has truly been an enlightening experience for me, learning and understanding God’s word like I have never done before, and then also getting to share personal experiences in a safe space.

Brunch date on Labour Day (1 May) with Annette and Boram.

Sel and I also got a chance to visit the Yuseong flower display. Though it was super rainy that day, it was lovely to walk and check out some of the pretty flowers together.

Marking the Year of the Dragon.

Smiling at the bad attempt to get the 'LOVE' sign in the photo while it's raining! :)

My bearded beau ❤️

Voting Abroad in the 2024 South African National Elections

On May 19th South Africans abroad got to cast their vote in the 2024 national elections. I was super excited as I missed voting day in 2019 as I was on a trip to Taiwan at the time. Those of you who know me well will know that I have a PhD in Political Science so this stuff is what I love. Voting day could not be missed!

All South Africans in Korea had to vote at the South African embassy in Seoul thus many of us had to travel from our respective cities to do so. Mbali and others even flew from Jeju island to come and vote. As we hadn’t seen each other since February, when Mbali and I met outside the embassy we first stood chatting, including about who to vote for. We stood for a good 20 minutes discussing the pros and cons of voting for a smaller or bigger opposition party. In the end, I voted for who she argued for, and she voted for who I argued for! We’re both clearly good at making arguments!

The South African Embassy in Seoul.

In Korea, over 1000 people had registered to vote but only approximately 600 came to vote. There were no queues like at home as people came at different times and also just cast their vote and then went on their way to enjoy the time with friends. I think it's pretty cool to witness so many South Africans coming out to vote, especially when they have to travel quite far to do so.

Our job is done!

It was really fun to see so many South Africans in Seoul, including some I knew and others I didn’t. We spent the day hanging out in Itaewon and eating delicious Mexican food because the South African restaurant was too packed. What a fun time we had. Sharing, chatting and just getting to feel at home again, even though it was still in Seoul.

Hanging out with the South African squad.

South Africans having a Mexican lunch in sunny South Korea.

A final thought

It's been a good year so far with many lessons learned. On June 6th I turned 37! Goodness gracious how time flies! The older I get the more grateful I am for this life. I don't have everything I desire just yet and am not exactly where I planned to be at this age but nonetheless, I am very aware of the privileged and blessed life I have here. Every day I get to laugh with students and experience new things in this country. My goals for Chapter 37 are health and wellness (healthy body, healthy mind), spiritual growth, working on all my relationships, and continuing to learn new things in different formats.