Camp II

I've now been at the camp for 2 weeks and have settled into a routine. It is fairly easy since the kids are used to sitting in classes from morning well into the evening. Many of them go to their regular English schools after they are done at the camp. I am so glad I didn't grow up in Korea. There is very little living until after you finish university. Many high schools go on until 10 PM, luckily for me, I teach at a non-academic high school. It can be even longer for the guys since they must serve a mandatory 30 months in the military after high school.

One of the camp teachers is an older Canadian man who is a bit eccentric. He is quite loud and has no problem expressing his opinions. Unfortunately he seems to be quite negative about Korean culture and makes comments about this in front of the Koreans quite often. There was a big clash yesterday between him and all the non foreign teachers. It's a shame because he really seems to be a genuinely nice guy apart from that.

The other teachers and I were in need of some Western food so we made a trip to T.G.I. Friday. I spent the rest of the evening evacuating my system through every imaginable orifice and spent yesterday being coddled by the cute Korean teachers' assistants. My boss even offered to give me acupuncture but I had to decline. I think they are being especially nice to me so I won't side with the Canadian but I am just going to stay out of the whole damn thing.

It's amazing how well the kids understand. My 7-8 year old students catch on to anything I say fairly quickly. They are all sweet and almost always do their homework. Oh, and they never talk back. Why couldn't most of my American students be like that?