Aaaaand we start over again...

Just when I thought that I knew how to teach in Gurye, I got a new group of kids who reminded me otherwise. The first week of classes left me with a dumbfounded look of confusion. "But..but... that lesson worked so well with them last year..." It turns out that the only people more shy than Korean students are new Korean students. Once again, I find myself rethinking the semester strategy.

So far, games are a foreign teacher's best friends. That kids learn better when they feel comfortable is just common sense; yet, it is difficult to remember that sometimes when you are actually in the classroom. Because of my new understanding of familiarity with Korean students, I have come to accept a few things (such as hitting teacher) as long as they are within reason. We'll see if that gets out of hand in the coming months.

Recently, I got to take part in Korean tradition. People, especially in rural areas, like to drink something called "Goroesoe." It is tree sap that people drink pure, rather than turn it into syrup. It kind of tastes like creamy water and is pretty good. However, the point is to drink as much as humanly possible, which did not sit too well with me. We sat in a big circle, feasted on dried squid (to make us thirsty) and drank gallons upon gallons of Goroesoe. A pattern developed. Someone filled my cup, I drank it, I ate squid, I drank more, then I go to the bathroom, repeat. I must have drank twice my weight. Apparently, this is done for our health, although I might have some disagreement about drinking to the point of explosion. But, you can't argue with tradition.