Three Weeks Later

It has been a while since my last entry. What can I say? Teaching gets to be a lot busier than I ever imagined. I would say that it will take me a long time before I can really find my own groove. Until then, I am pretty much stuck with a trial and error process. Here is the little bit that I have learned during my last three weeks of teaching.
Orientation prepared the ETA's for worst case scenarios (challenges to authority, hatred for the foreign teacher, general apathy toward the class, etc). I find myself with the opposite problem. The students are extremely thrilled to have a native English speaker and the novelty of my being here still has not worn off. Almost every student is energetic, lively, and eager. That is both the good news and bad news. Until this week, I never had the urge to go to bed at 8 PM in my life.
One thing that surprises me as a teacher and former American high school student is that the students monitor each other. When things get too rowdy, usually a handful of kids shush the others and it works somehow. I have grown to love those kids. Another interesting situation is the student-teacher relationship. Teachers will often times look at the students like younger siblings and students look up to teachers like the "cool" older brother or sister. Since I'm the "cool" American brother, those kids don't leave me alone. I can count on the kids to pop in and say hello to me whether I am in the office, classroom, or even bathroom (I will discuss boundaries with them when I finish that lesson).
The gender divide is much more of a problem than I had anticipated. If group work requires a coed group, it usually takes two or three minutes to get them to agree to it. Every class has the one Cassanova who hangs out with the girls, but I have yet to figure out if that makes him cool or otherwise at my school. All I know right now is that Korean students LOVE games that include competition. Nothing makes a Korean teenager try harder than the possibility of beating another Korean teenager at anything.
Life in the homestay is slowly improving. Of course it gets frustrating when it takes thirty minutes to say "I am going for a walk." Nevertheless, my family is very kind and wants to ensure that I gain thirty pounds by the time I leave Korea. Breakfast, lunch, and dinner all consist of the staples (Kimchi and rice) as well as five to seven other things. Meals have taken on a ridiculous routine.

1. I sit and grandma gives me an enormous bowl of rice.
2. I try to say that is too much rice, and grandma says something to me in Korean.
3. I give up and eat what I can.
4. Homestay dad tells me the name of the food I am eating. I smile and repeat what he says.
5. They all speak to each other (in Korean of course) and the only word I understand is "Joe."
6. I finish and try to help with the dishes.
7. Grandma reminds me of my place and it is not her kitchen.

Overall life is good in Gurye. I teach, I learn, and just started Tae Kwon Do. My TKD teacher is very nice to me but I can't really say the same for the other students. Lessons are always interrupted by some weird group punishments (standing on heads, doing difficult stretches) when one of the students messes up. I am apparently immune to that. He doesn't want to damage the wimpy American teacher and this wimpy American teacher is not too proud to be grateful for that.
My Korean is slowly improving. I think I graduated from insanely stupid to quite stupid in the eyes of the locals. If this trend continues... I just might leave Gurye a moron.