::A Geek in Korea::

Tuesday being a public holiday, my management somehow convinced me to come in on my Saturday to teach the intensive classes that were canceled. Here’s a hint, it involved money. As much as I wasn’t thrilled about giving up a weekend morning to teach after teaching nearly double the hours stated in my contract, the students were even more annoyed. In my first class, the majority of my Advanced students didn’t show up. Those that did weren’t happy about being there.

One girl said that she was going to a water park tomorrow, so while she didn’t want to be there, she had no choice if she wanted to have fun on Sunday. The other boys seemed to indicate that this was the "path of least resistance" from their parents as well, but called the director a few nasty words for insisting that they couldn’t miss a single day. These children give up four hours every morning to study English, and I’ve been working them really hard to finish the book. We spent the first fifty minutes just talking, which we’ve never done. We covered a few pages in the entire two hours, but it was one of the easiest and most enjoyable classes I’ve had at the school. No "repeat after me" tedium.

The next class, full of devil spawn hell children of the damned from day to day, had nearly perfect attendance. This class serves a completely different purpose compared to the advanced class I taught. This is more of an "English baby sitting" class. Sending these students away for four hours every morning in the summer prevents filicide. These students use a Disney themed book which is so heavily branded it makes me feel dirty. I haven’t watched a traditional Disney film since Aladdin was popular, and trying to teach kids English when they expect the students to know the character names is sometimes frustrating.

Every time I tell them to open their books, I feel like this:

Troy: [On TV]  Now turn to the next problem. If you have three Pepsis and drink one, how much more refreshedf are you?
                         You, the redhead in the Chicago school system?
Girl: Pepsi?
Troy: Partial credit!

Since these students aren’t here to improve English, only to spend time away from their parents in the largest possible chunk available, this class was full of crap I shouldn’t have to deal with. Bathroom breaks. Whining students. Eraser tossing battles. I grit my teeth, get through the lesson, then count down the minutes until I am free to do what I want.