All good things must come to an end

And then it was over.

As shockingly fast as it started, our year in Korea is now over. It's hard to believe. So many experiences, so much fun, so much we've seen. We've met so many fantastic people that we hope to stay in touch with, and eaten so many things we never would have considered edible in the past. And to top it off, Steph and I still like each other! Who knew?

Looking back at our year, Steph and I would whole-heartedly recommend this experience to anyone who is finding themselves reading this post. All you need is a love for kids, a sense of adventure and an open mind, and you'll have a great time. It probably wouldn't hurt to have a strong stomach as well! So many things we have learned in this year...things we never though of, like; That you can exhausted and in bed at 8:30, that you can communicate solely through a hybridized set of charades, petting stray dogs is a good way to start the day, that even if something makes no sense, it may be the best way to do things, 15 hours of school isn't healthy and that you can the Korean people are amazingly kind and hardworking people.

As we head back to our family and friends in Toronto, we look back (as everyone who has been here does) at what we love and dislike about Korea:

Things we will miss:

$3 meals that are healthy for you.
Walking to work
Having no car
$5 cab rides
School lunches
Surprise days off
Yudal Mountain
Temples in the most unexpected places
Cheap buses everywhere, and are always leaving "right now"
Extra classes
Random kind acts from Koreans
Being called "beautiful" simply because you are tall
Getting "servisa" at every store you go to (free hemming at the dry cleaners, freebies at the corner store...)
The 9 puppies on our way to work
Celebrity status
Almost 3 months vacation
Naju Peaches
Nene chicken
The lady at Kimbap Nala
The folks at our gym
Random "Have a nice day!"s coming from someone biking past you
50" TVs in the classrooms
Random gifts from strangers
Great friends going through the same things
$5 bottles of Gin
Being sheltered by your obliviousness
Absolute freedom and endless possibilities

Things we probably won't miss:

Giggles (It's what Korean kids do when they are uncomfortable)
Camera phones and their gratuitous use (Always pointed at us)
Pointing
Skate (still not sure why people eat it raw)
Uncertainty
Being away from family and friends!
Almost being run down on the sidewalk
Mistreated dogs
Fame without the fortune
Not being able to "blend in"
Transientness of the foreigner population

In order to really close the book on this experience, Steph and I have agreed to finish "The Dumping Hole" once and for all... like a finished project. So this is the last entry.

If you want to follow any of our future experiences, check us out at "The Thought Pile". Stay happy and healthy!

Teachers

Teaching is not something I ever thought I would do. My parents are both teachers, and I like kids, so I probably knew I had it in me. But this year in Korea teaching English at a Korean Elementary school has shown me a lot about teaching. It's a hell of a lot of work and is exhausting! This week, seeing some of the students cry and give me going away cards this week has made it all worth it.

It made me really think back to my favourite teachers growing up and how tough things were for them. Now don't get me wrong; being a bad teacher is easy. Just like being a crappy office worker. But being a great teacher, and putting yourself on the line so that the students can get the most you have to offer is a brave, selfless and incredibly difficult (not to mention physically and emotionally draining) endeavour.

The teachers who had the greatest influence on my life, were, far and away, Brian Svenningsen in Grade 7 and Mrs Maclin in Grade 12.

Brian was a passionate person who put everything he had into his students. I don't know a person who had him who didn't swear that he was the most influential teacher they've ever had. Looking back, I don't know how he did it without running himself dry.

Mrs Maclin was my homeroom teacher during one of the toughest years of my life. At the time I was a reasonably good basketball player, with all the hopes and dreams that go with it. In that year, I broke a finger, a wrist, blew out an ankle, a knee (ACL) and a shoulder (ugly dislocation).... all in separate occations. While those injuries earned me the nickname "cripple" at school, Mrs Maclin repeadedly gave me warm advice and support.

These two people had an immense impact on my life and helped make me the person I am today. Thanks guys.

Things start to become familiar

We stepped outside the other day, and Steph turned to me and said "This really feels familiar... like it did when we got here."
It's so true. It's been almost a year, but the feel, the temperature, the fresh smells and the budding trees, brings back a wave of memories. A lot of good memories. It's amazing how much we have experienced in this past year... like 4 years of memories jammed into one.

Now, we find ourselves packing, sorting out who gets which of the possessions we aren't taking with us, tying up lose ends, and thinking about all the great things we have done and been through this past year. It has been an amazing run to say the least. And we officially have less than a month left.

Hard to believe.

School isn't everything, is it?

We just had our Final examination day at my school, where each grade spends the entire day writing tests in all of their subjects; Korean, Math, Science, Social Science, History, Gym, Art and Music. Yeah, no typo here... no English test. Of course the kids were really stressed about it (in Grade 5 and 6 no less) and study all weekend and all night the day before. Even the bad kids study their brains out.

What really punctuated it for me, was what two of my extra class kids told me at the end of the day. (Of course only 3 kids showed up that day for the special class I teach)

One kid told me that her friend was kicked out of her parents house after her test results turned out poorly. She was now living at my student's house. She's 12.
The other kid told me she got the 2nd highest mark in the class. When I congratulated her, she said "Oh no teacher... that is bad. My parents won't be happy I wasn't first". And then she went to great lengths to explain to me that she had gotten more questions correct, but they were of lower value than those of the other child. And this girl is 11. Were we that crazed when we were that age? I don't think so.

Korea's education system is pretty unique in some aspects. The public school system is very similar, 32-36 students per class, but the elementary schools are the size of our highschools. My school has 1,200 kids. The biggest difference comes in the after school activities.

After school, most of the students head off to an academy, which is a private company that tutors children. Classes have anywhere from 3 to 15 kids and the curriculum is totally up to the manager of the academy. Students are picked up in a van each day, usually a service provided by the academy, and are shuttled to the academy where they study any combination of Music, Science, Math, English, Chinese, Korean, etc, everyday for an hour at a time. Many students will then go off to another academy, for another hour or so. Each class costs upwards of $120 a month, and with most kids taking one or two extra classes, you can see this puts a huge burden on most families. Many families are forced to "invest" heavily in their first child, since they can't afford the same education for their other offspring, with the hopes that child will be able to support the family once they become successful. Pressure? Oh yeah.

Where you really see the problem is back in the public schools. With many of the kids taking some sort of extra schooling, the disparity between the haves and the have-nots is huge. And in most cases, the schools are forced to teach to the middle of the pack; far too low a level to keep the performers interested, and a too high a level for the kids who can't afford academies. In the end, the parents don't seem to value the public schools very much and the teachers become a little disheartened by the situation.

All agree that the system needs to be reformed... at some point.
But these are the issues in a country driven to become an economic powerhouse.