Shinha Elementary School

My first day of work began only 12 hours after arriving in Icheon.

At 8:10am, Lily picked me up to take me to school, which was sweet of her considering that the walk is only 10 minutes.

Immediately upon arriving at school, I heard the loud morning music that the students are greeted with each day. Just like at any other elementary school, the kids were running around and enjoying their last moments of freedom before the long school day began. Some things are universal.

Lily and I ran into the school administration building, as there is no walking during the workday, just running place to place. I was introduced to the other teachers who happened to be in the staff lounge, as well as the 2 Vice Principals of the school. The school is so large that apparently they need twice the guidance.

Next came meeting the principal,and I was already scared. We knocked on the door, and waited until we heard a grunt from the other side. We walked in to the largest office I'd ever seen, lined with rows and rows of tall, individually potted bamboo and other large plants. At the front of the room was a large desk, flanked by old gorgeous pottery. To the left, was the "conversation" desk with a low chair and second desk, obviously used for more informal meetings. In front of it was a long row of about 20 chairs, 10 on each side, and a long table. My guess is this is where the staff meetings are held?

It was meeting the principal where I saw the cultural differences begin. While the US is subversively patriarchal, Korea is overtly so. Lily spoke in a quieter voice than usual when addressing the principal, and bowed many times before even finishing her sentence. It was clear that this man had a lot of power, money and prestige.

We sat down, and conversed with Lily as the interpreter. Its hard to tell what someone is thinking or feeling when you can't understand the language or the tone. From what I gathered, it seemed the principal was leery of me, when in actuality, he was simply wondering where I was from and what college I attended. Even in another country, when you tell someone that you went to The Evergreen State College, they look at you quizzically.

We talked, all the while the principal speaking to me and I to him, with Lily as the voice. The only other 2 direct questions for me were: How old are you? and Are you single? I kind of did a double-take when he asked these questions, as a superior would never ask such things in our culture.

After this, I was shoved in front of a camera upstairs, and introduced to the ENTIRE school of 1,00 students during morning announcements. Jet lagged and puffy, I did not look like a real teacher I'm sure. Then, Lily and I ran downstairs to the teacher's workroom, where my computer and desk sat waiting for me.

What I found comical, and still do is the fact that South Korea has the largest contract with Microsoft in the world, and is supposed to be the technology capital of the universe, yet I sat down to log onto my computer and it crashed. At that, its running on old Microsoft software that most of us are beyond. About a million times a day, I have to re-start my computer at work and I chuckle/growl at it.

Throughout the day, I sat in the back of Lily's classes trying hard to not let the jet-lag show, and putting on the biggest grin I could. Pretty soon, these kids would be all mine, and I couldn't let it show that I was absolutely terrified.