I went on a trip to the Seorak mountains with a group of my coworkers a few weeks ago. The first day there, we did a three hour hike up to Ulsan Bawi rock. The first two-thirds were great but the last leg was an enormous set of steep, metal stairs that zig-zagged up the face of the mountain with frighteningly large gaps between each step. Fast forward five flights up: I'm crouched over the railing, regretting every day I've ever skipped a work-out in my life and swearing off hiking as a stupid activity - I mean really? All of this to see some rock and a view you can enjoy better with a glass of wine and a baggie of pretzels from an airplane window? I did eventually make it to the top...and after my lungs re-expanded I was able to sit and enjoy squinting through the pollution haze out to the Pacific Ocean. Suffice to say, by the time our group made it (painstakingly) back down the mountain, we were all very sore and in need of a little R&R.
Earlier in the day our guide recommended the “hot springs” at the top of the hill near our guest house. The seven of us were sharing a single bedroom with a single bathroom and a single shower so we eagerly went on a hunt for these hot springs once we arrived, hoping to find some showers as well. I don’t know about you, but when I think about “hot springs” I picture bubbly, outdoor stone baths full of people soaking in their bathing suits. It turns out that the promised hot spring was actually your regular, old Korean jimjibang. A quick definition for you: a jimjibang is a uniquely Korean spa where, for a small fee, you can chill out in a bunch of different baths and saunas. Everyone is segregated by gender because, you guessed it, being completely nude is a requirement. Me and my fellow female coworkers were about to get reaaaall close. Nothing like seeing each other’s lady bits to form a lifelong bond. We bid adieu to our male compatriots, and strode into the woman’s locker room to strip down and stash all of our clothing. We grabbed one of the tiny towels they give you and headed into the main spa. None of us were really sure what to do with the towels or where to put them so naturally, we draped them over our crotches all casual-like to give the appearance that we didn’t care that much. The four of us women shuffled into the huge, balmy room, tried not to stare at each other’s tits, and immediately split for the nearest shower. Korean women have a very specific washing ritual before they hop into any of the baths which requires roughly scrubbing off your first layer of skin so none of your personal nasties get to anyone else. Generally, I’m more of a casual scrubber but I did my best to mimic the women around me. The first bath I checked out was a warm, green tea bath. The color was a little green but, other than that, there wasn’t much to indicate that there was actually any tea ingredients in it. Regardless, it was lovely, and after I had nicely submerged (hidden) my body, I started to relax and really enjoy it. Trying not to be creepy about it, I started to look around at the other people. I mean, how often do you get to compare your body to one that doesn’t belong to a celebrity or model? I read an article awhile back about how women in the west have more painful childbirth because they are extremely self-conscious of their vaginas. We tense up from fear and embarrassment which makes labor much more difficult. I couldn’t help but think about this as I looked around at the Korean women who had grown up going to jimjibangs. Maybe to them, the naked female body is not so strange and forbidden? I had a discussion recently with a friend about when we first realized that our “private parts” were something shameful that was meant to be hidden. We couldn’t exactly pinpoint a time but whenever it was, it is something that has stuck with us. This has major repercussions as you grow up and your body matures, especially for girls and young women. From self-image and self worth to how you feel about sex and sexuality, it’s a real challenge to overcome the idea that exposing your body is wrong. I wondered how things would be different if I had grown up going to a jimjibang or an American cultural equivalent. It sounds strange, but there was something so empowering and therapeutic about hanging out with a bunch of naked strangers. For me, whenever I’m in a bathing suit or even just form fitting clothing, i’m constantly sucking my tummy in or pulling at my shirt hem so my little love handles don’t peek out over my waistband. In the jimjibang, in a place free from the male gaze and female-to-female competition, everyone can just let their belly bulge out. Sweating off the mountain grime in that green tea pool, I found that I really liked the feeling of not hiding or feeling ashamed of my body. When it was time to switch to the next bath I rose from the water and didn’t try to hide anything with my towel. Instead, I strolled confidently to the sauna, smiling at my fellow women folk and thinking “Hello sister, your body is beautiful, my body is beautiful, we are all beautiful.” Confidence brimming, I plunged into the next bath without a care in the world. Sadly, it turned out to be an ice cold bath and I emerged from the water screaming loudly and breaking the serene silence. Oh well, just like a naked body, you can’t have beautiful without a little awkward too, right?
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So you're thinking about teaching English abroad. Maybe you're flirting with the idea of South Korea or maybe you've already signed a contract. Wherever you are in your TEFL journey, here are some things to consider before you settle on teaching in Korea.
Hagwon, Public School, EPIK? What do these all mean? I suggest researching all three in-depth if you want to do a comparison. Right now I want to tell you more about my experience applying to and signing with a Hagwon. First of all, yes, there are Hagwon horror stories. But do your research, ask a ton of questions and there's a very good chance you'll land with a good school. A quick break down of the advantages and disadvantages of working for a Hagwon:
Consider a recruiter. When I started searching for jobs my biggest challenge was finding a school that would be willing to hire my boyfriend and I as a couple. If you are in a similar situation I highly recommend going with a recruiter. You can definitely find jobs on your own and apply directly to schools but if you have any "special circumstances" a good recruiter is incredibly useful. Case in point, our recruiter was probably one of the biggest reasons we decided to sign with SLP Ansan. The biggest selling point that made him stand out from the other recruiters I contacted was the fact that he was very available and always willing to chat with us via Skype. Most of the others responded with very generic, unhelpful emails that rarely answered my questions. After speaking with this recruiter we went through a series of two more interviews, one with the Foreign coordinator and one with the Korean supervisor at the school, before we were ever offered a contract. This does not always seem to be the process with many Hagwons so we took it as a positive sign that the school was making an effort to really vet their candidates. Do you need a TESOL/TEFL certification? For a Hagwon, it's questionable. I went with a middle-of-the-road, online certification through Global English. Overall, I was really pleased with the support they offered and the course covered all of the bases. Would I say it was worth the $600 price tag? In Korea, not necessarily. And for Hagwon work, probably not. It is a strict requirement for EPIK, GEPIK and the like so if you are going in that direction I'd definitely recommend Global English. I went for one that had an extra certification specific to teaching young students in Korea but you can find cheaper options on their site. Again, do your research. Don't spend more than is necessary, save that money for when you arrive instead. Get your paperwork in order ASAP. I would recommend making this a priority before you even begin applying to schools. Trust me, it's a lot of running around to collect the appropriate apostilles and official documents and you don't want to deal with that headache a month out from your departure date...not that I uh...speak from experience or anything. The basic document requirements include:
If you've got the time for it, consider a 2-year stay. The unanimous word around the teaching scene here is that the job opportunities get significantly better once you are in country, as does your earning potential. I've known people who have packed up, moved to Korea sans contract and found work within a month. Personally, this would give me way too much anxiety so if you're the same, find yourself a decent first-year position and then keep your eyes open for that sweet public school job with a shiny salary to match. Stay tuned for an upcoming post on tips for after you sign: what to pack, how much money you should bring, those first few weeks, etc. Exciting stuff! To help you in your research here a few links I found helpful when I was starting the process: School Reviews: Waygook.org Korean Black List Dave's ESL Cafe TEFL Course Reviews: TEFLcoursereview.com Good break down from The Guardian Fun, random info Reddit - Teaching in Korea Do you recognize that quote? I'll give you a hint - it has something to do with Anne Hathaway's break-out role. If you guessed "The Princess Diaries" then you're right. Good job, you know your chick flicks. Let me refresh you on the context of this quote. It's towards the end of the movie. Adorkable Anne Hathaway, playing the recently royal and athletically challenged Mia Thermopolis, is up to bat during a PE class softball game. This is right after Mia's been betrayed by her new cheerleader friends, alienated her real ones, and is generally failing at behaving like a proper 21st century noble. On her first try, Mia barely hits the ball and it rolls through the group of cheerleader frenemies who are conveniently practicing their routines next to the softball field...not you know, attending class during an average day at high school because, well, evil movie cheerleaders are, as everyone knows, always cheer leading. On her second try, Mia hits the ball directly into the barely-protected by gym-shorts junk of her former-crush: the very douchey, popular boy Josh. Yessss, classic movie justice of taking out the jerk with a blow to the balls. If only that could happen more in real life. Mia triumphantly sprints around the bases and makes it safely home, winning back her pride and (finally!) passing gym class. Let's back track for a second. I'm happy for MIa and as a fellow athletically-challenged adolescent I completely identified with her struggle and longed for a reckoning of my own. Sadly, I never got that moment. Instead, I was more like the cheerleaders shrieking and running away from Mia's first hit. Long exposition aside, this is where I come back to that quote, shouted at the scattering cheerleaders by their exasperated coach: "Oh come on, girls. It's a ball not a snake!" As a teacher at a private academy, I teach a range of different ages. My youngest students are 5-years-old and my oldest are 16. It's fascinating and sad to watch my female students go through that transition of the ball turning into a snake for pretty much every athletic activity. I think about my third-grade girls who haven't really realized that running full-speed across a soccer field and charging past one of their boy classmates to score a goal will make them appear aggressive, tom-boyish and unattractive in just a few years. Right now, they give zero you-know-what's about how they look when they're playing soccer. They just want to score because screw that, soccer day only comes once a month and the other team is not going to win. Flash forward a few hours and I'm playing one-on-one in the gym with one of my 14-year-old male students.I box him out and sink my next three shots. This kid can be a pain so this one-on-one game is my chance to remind him who's really got the power. Luckily, I haven't totally lost my basketball skills gained from 6 years of bench-warming, uh, I mean, practice. Meanwhile, the three girls in the class are huddled in the corner, pulling at their too-short uniform skirts that had to have been an unfortunate choice made by a male administrator, ignoring my suggestions that they join in. When I toss the ball to Minseo she swats it away like it's a disgusting bug. When Ji Eun actually attempts to make a shot she gives it barely any strength, misses the rim by a foot, giggles (while covering her mouth, of course) and glances to see if the guys noticed - they didn't. Hyo Sheen's throwing Bon Seok into the Kindy ball pit, for the third time. Ok, time to go shout at them again... What's so infuriating is not this age group. What's infuriating is the groups in-between. I can see the girls starting to doubt themselves and their own strength, holding back, shrinking into their own bodies and valuing those same bodies only on how desirable they are to their male peers. It's not like this is something unique to young Korean women and girls. I was thinking back and trying to pinpoint when I first realized that being "lady-like" was more important than being athletic. I can imagine several different scenarios and I'm sure that it must have been a combination of a few of these that really made the impact. Maybe it started when my older brother got signed up for baseball and I went to ballet. Or maybe in elementary school, during a unit about future jobs, when the teacher encouraged the idea of the boys becoming sports stars but reacted with little enthusiasm to girls who had the same dream. Or perhaps it was in middle school, when the girls who were starting to get attention from boys introduced the idea that behaving (and talking) like their brains were just for show - probably learned from older sisters or that god-awful Laguna Beach - is what would land you a boyfriend. Whatever it was, it was somewhere in that intersection of discovering that very specific behaviors are seen as more attractive to men and realizing that as a member of the female sex, I have little choice of when the ball becomes the snake. |
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