Diary of a Wom'n

Yesterday was my first day of supply teaching! And what a relief it was! It was a fantastic day. I had a student teacher from York University, Julie, in the class. She's a wonderful person, I can't say enough great things about her. She has such a warm, down-to-earth personality. And she's had a ton of international experience teaching and travelling. She got to explore different countries, meet a lot of different people, and learn a lot about the different education systems out there. I was floored when she talked about all the places she's been to (South Korea, Costa Rica, parts of Africa, India, Sri Lanka, Taiwan, Japan, China, Indonesia... and the list goes on!) And she's only 31.

She had a lot of things to tell but alas, there are only so many hours in the day. She talked about how different the culture is in South Korea from that of Canada where the people there are more rigid, abrasive, and how they take criticism as attacks to their personality. They are closed minded, for lack of a better word. The children there are also heavily pushed academically and with extra-curricular activities. For example, after a grueling series of academic classes, children are shuffled off to ballet classes, music classes, ti-kwon-doe classes and the like. Parents want their children to be well-rounded. The downside to this though is that children have no down time at all for themselves. They are always working, studying, practicing or doing something. Every minute of every day is accounted for. Julie said that the kids don't even have time to eat properly. She often sees them on the bus quickly eating street food on their way to their next violin practice. It seems that family together time is of little priority. When Julie told me that Korea has the second highest suicide rate, second to Japan, I wasn't surprised. The youths there are pushed way too much to excel and it's impeding other areas of development such as learning how to cope, learning how to socialize, learning how to accept failure and then get back on their feet.

Something very shocking that Julie also noted was that Koreans condone plastic surgery. The majority of them have done some kind of minor work on their faces or bodies. The most common procedure is eye surgery. Koreans wish to have eye lids like those of non-Asian decent. In fact, one of her students in elementary school was encouraged by her mother to get her eyes done!

Koreans also don't honour contracts. In Canada, what's written in a contract is binding. In fact, when a disagreement occurs, the contract is the police, lawyer, and judge. But in Korea, managers only volunteer to adhere to the articles of the contract, he's not obligated to honour the contract. That's dangerous. And fraudulent.

I asked her about Sri Lanka. She said she liked it and enjoyed experiencing the lifestyle. She said it was a little scary as she faced men with machine guns at every check point checking documentation and asking questions.

She didn't like India that much and she said she may not return as a tourist but perhaps as someone who will help out the society of the poor. She didn't like the extreme and violent poverty that exists there. The most devastating of all, children, even babies are kidnapped, held captive and taken to the streets to beg for money. The kidnappers of course take what the children collect. It was very hard to hear this.

She said she would like to teach abroad again but would like to see what opportunities come up for her here in Toronto first. I will definitely keep in contact with her.

The grade 6 students at Morrish this year were so fantastic. I love them. It's still a big class (37 students!) but they are a sweet bunch of kids. They are respectful, cooperative, and so pleasant as children. To get them to be quiet, all I have to do is say shhhhh and a blanket of silence will gradually settle over them. It's wonderful. I hope I return real soon!

GW