`My Hagwon (School)
When I wake up my leg is killing me. Soju is very bad for infections (which I later learn is what I had). I arrive at school to start teaching at 2pm. It is very sweet. Everyone is very nice, there’s coffee in small cups and water in paper squares from the water cooler. School is not what NZers (nor what I)would picture. Teachers can smoke in the stairwell, with cigarettes costing $4-5 a pack. It is in a big office building on the 7th and 8th floor in the middle of town. Their normal Korean school is the NZ kind, with many classrooms and playgrounds etc. My first class is a one on one with a girl named Angela. I’m told her mother is coming in at the end of the week to decide if Angela will continue one on one study. We talk and she is very smart for an 11 year old. She speaks very good English and I think she will stay on. We talk about a book she read and her time in Kuala Lumper where she lived for a year, then set her homework.
Next is a co-taught class - this goes on for the first week so I can learn the patterns of teaching with other teachers (15 in total and only one other guy!). Max class size is 12 students but most are only 5 or 6. Ages range from 6 yrs to 16 yrs ie. elementary to middle school. Once they pass an English test they go on to High School. If they fail this they go to a less prestigious school. Their day starts at 8am at another school for Korean subjects (ie. history, math, science etc) then come English school from 2-7pm. I teach 7 classes of 45mins each with a 5 minute break in between. It sounds pretty hard out but my hours are only 2-7pm as it is currently Summer break (3-8pm during normal time).
By now my leg is aching so Cecilia takes me next door to an acupuncturist. He says it’s definately infected and slams some needles into my hands and legs, which do nothing. He gives me a bottle of herbal remedy to drink at night. It is supposed to flush my system and clear the infection. Upon leaving the clinic I still had one needle in my hand which the receptionist pulls out with a giggle. I taxied home and tried to relax.
The herbal remedy was like 3 month old coffee. I woke the next day with mad diorreha but no change to the leg. Couldn’t take a hot shower as the buttons and instructions were all in Korean. I couldn’t walk, only stand up for 5 or 10 seconds so I called Cecilia and she took me to the hospital.
Doctor spoke a small bit of English (thank god). He said the infection was a few weeks old from a small cut between my left small toes and that the flight or temperature change may have sped up the process. It explains the sickness I felt on the morning of my flight leaving NZ - it wasn’t nerves as everyone else said. He gave me a shot in the butt and antibiotics to take for a week saying it should clear up, but if not I would need minor surgery to cut it out - very scary! So back to school to ice and rest the leg then do my classes. Left at 7pm and taxied home. I had learnt to say ‘I will give directions’ (Hwe Chun Chokyo), ‘Go left’ (Wen chook), ‘Go right’ (Oren chook), and ‘Go straight’ (chik chin).
Got home and the school principal had organised cable TV for me, killer! Channels go over #600 with many movies, sport and doco/news channels in English. My apartment is my sanctuary here. It is rather small, only one room that is kitchen/lounge/bedroom plus a laundry/conservatory for smoking and a bathroom with toilet and shower. There is floor heating, a fridge, microwave and stovetop plus sink for cooking so all bases are covered. Finally figured out how to heat the water thanks to an English speaking neighbour - this was a blessing in the -13 degree cold.
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