Children's Day in South Korea

May 5th was Children's Day in South Korea. It is a national holiday so schools and many businesses were closed for the day, and I didn't have to work. Besides a nice, random Wednesday holiday in early May, what is Children's Day?

It's a day for busy families to spend time together and appreciate the youngest members of society. Typically, families go to amusement parks, zoos, beaches, and restaurants. The weather in May is really nice, making the outdoors a great option for Children's Day activities. "Red days" are marked on the Korean calendar as national holidays and are always eagerly anticipated by the over-worked employees and students of South Korean society. While Children's Day is celebrated in other countries, Korea and Japan are among the few that designate it as a national holiday and a day off from work.

This year was the 99th Children's Day in South Korea, but the holiday was first officially recognized in 1970. Originally, Children's Day was designed to change the perception of children from young workers to a vulnerable population in need of protection. While the holiday and festival were suppressed under Japanese occupation, they started again after World War 2 and have been celebrated ever since.

In the spirit of Children's Day, here is a photo of the South Korean President and his wife hosting a video call with a group of elementary school students.

 

"It is my biggest wish to enable you to play with friends, with masks off, as early as possible," he added. "Let's make efforts together, while abiding by virus control and prevention rules, so that such a day can come as soon as possible." (Korean Prime Minister Moon Jae-In).

I teach at two schools and unfortunately, the schedules didn't work to my advantage this time. While Wednesday was the official holiday and I had that day off from work, my main school also had Monday and Tuesday off for a super long holiday. They combined the school's birthday and Children's Day, plus an extra day off for some reason. Painfully for me, I was scheduled to be at my boys' school on Monday and Tuesday because they didn't schedule those days off. So, I had to work and settle for a single holiday on Wednesday. That was more than a little annoying, but still, a random holiday in the middle of the week is better than nothing.

At my boys' school, one teacher promised ice cream to her last-period class on Monday. I thought, at least that would be a nice way to end an otherwise exhausting day that could have been a holiday if the schedule had cooperated. I taught the class for 30 minutes while the teacher ran downstairs to grab the ice cream. When she returned, she said I could go take a rest in the teachers' room. There was no ice cream for me. It was an early Children's Day treat for the kids, not for me.

I had a nice Children's Day moment when I was walking along the road, towards Dadaepo Beach. There were lots of people on the sidewalk. Two young girls were walking behind me and they actually annoyed me at first with a scream (as only young girls can do). I think they saw a dog or something, and they pierced my eardrum from a few feet away. We stopped at the crosswalk, and they decided to talk to me. Very brave, I thought. They said "Hello". I asked them about their school and they said "Elementary school." I guess they were about 6th grade. I explained that I was a middle school teacher and I was from Canada. I think they understood. After each statement, they would check between the two of them to confirm their understanding. They asked where I was going? I pointed and said, "to the beach". They giggled and stammered then said, "too, too, uh, me too." The light changed, they waved and said goodbye and scampered off across the street.

After walking around the beach, I went to the cafe and the staff remembered my order from last time. I ordered a hot cafe latte, then paused. During my pause, the barista said, "and a blueberry muffin?" Hahaha. "Yes, okay, I'll have that too." I hadn't been to that cafe in weeks, but she remembered what I ate during my last visit.

The day was coming to an end so I walked home. I saw a bunch of my students running through the streets around my apartment in the evening. Boys travel in packs. For some reason, each pack of boys wanted to know where I lived. They wanted detailed directions. Should I be worried?

I bought a bunch of fried chicken for dinner and ate too much. That is how Children's Day ended for me. I'm going to work tomorrow to finish off the second half of this week. Because of online classes, I only have one class tomorrow at 3:10pm. I have a lot of sitting around to do until then. Hopefully, I can get my lesson prep finished for next week, so I can do something fun this weekend.

Traditional Korean Games

COVID-19 has disrupted the regular flow of school activities, and unfortunately, the students have to do without certain extras like field trips and festivals. However, every month or two on a Friday afternoon, students can participate in their various club activities at school. This year, there is a volleyball/basketball club, soccer club, dance club, music club, and a few others. I decided to invite myself to the Traditional Korean Games Club.

"geol" - advance three spaces

Last year, I was a semi-regular member of the school 4H Club and I enjoyed several nature-based activities with the students, such as eating bugs, planting potted plants, and baking onion-flavoured cookies. Sadly, the teacher in charge of the 4H Club transferred to another school. This put me in the market for a new club.

Club activities are a fun break for the students, although some have told me that they'd rather go home and sleep than have to stay at school for an extra 90 minutes of playing volleyball. That aside, I really enjoy watching the students play with their friends away from the classroom. I occasionally stop by the volleyball club and watch a few matches. The students seem happy to have me as a spectator. They shout, "watch this teacher!" as they proceed to serve the ball into the net.

As I had so much fun with the 4H Club, I decided that I wanted to join a club again this year. One day, I noticed a new teacher was leading a club, but I wasn't sure what sort of club it was. It looked fun though. 

A couple of weeks later, this teacher struck up a conversation with me, asking where I was from and such, the usual questions. I took the opportunity to ask about her club and if it was possible for me to join. She was enthusiastic about the idea, and I was excited as well.

I eagerly awaited the next club day, but it was delayed several times because of COVID-19. Finally, the day arrived, and the teacher informed the club members that I would be joining that day.

When I arrived, the club was called into session and I sat down with the students at a desk. There was a PowerPoint presentation loaded up on screen describing the history and rules of the game we would be playing: Yunnori. These formalities are standard with any activity at school. I don't know if this was for my benefit but a student read the presentation in English. The student struggled through, but I was touched that he made the effort.

Apparently, this club learns about and plays a different traditional Korean game at each session. It's a nice way to connect to their culture and for me to learn more about Korean life. As it turned out, Yunnori was actually a lot of fun once I learned how to play.

Apparently, the game of Yunnori can be traced as far back as the Three Kingdoms era in Korea (56 BCE - 668 CE) and is traditionally played on New Year's Day.

The object of the game is to move your pieces around the game board, and once you've completed the course with four pieces you or your team have won. You can have multiple game pieces moving through the course at the same time, and if you land on a space already occupied by your colour, you just stack the pieces. However, if the opposition lands on a space occupied by one or more of your pieces, then your pieces are removed and the opponent occupies the space.

Instead of using dice, four sticks called "yut" are tossed into the air. The sticks are marked with Xs on one side and blank on the other. The configuration of sticks when they land (the number of Xs and blanks) determines how many spaces you can move your piece on the gameboard. If any of your sticks fall off the table during a toss, you lose your turn and don't get to advance. I really like that rule because it keeps the kids from getting too crazy with their "yut" toss.

The combination of the four sticks in the toss has a certain name and value:

"do"   O X X X = 1

"gae"   O O X X = 2

"geol" O O O X = 3

"yut"  O O O O = 4 and a free turn

"mo" X X X X = 5 and a free turn

"do" - advance one space

The students got really excited for the game and would call out which roll they hoped for. It reminded me of casino craps, and also checkers. Chance is involved with the "yut" toss, but strategy is required because you have to decide which of your pieces to move based on your toss. 

We played a few games of Yunnori while switching up the teams. Rock, paper scissors, as is custom in Korean middle school, always determined who was the one to go first.

Later, we rotated to a different game station along with the rest of the club, and played a more modern game called "DaVinci Code". Essentially, it is a guessing game based on the numbered tiles you have, and the tiles your opponents are displaying. This game was also quite fun, but not connected to traditional Korean culture. I think the teacher included it for variety and to keep the students engaged. It worked. Everyone appeared to be having a great time, and the players were getting demonstrative in their enthusiasm and competitiveness. The teacher actually had to pull one student out of the room to remind him of proper sportsmanship.

I'm delighted that I joined the Traditional Korean Games Club because it was really gratifying to play and have fun with the students. Most of the club members were first-grade students and I don't normally have classes with them. So, this was one of the few opportunities we have to spend quality time together. They welcomed me to the club and took time to explain the games. They were patient and problem-solved as a team when they needed to search for the proper English words needed to help me understand. I can't wait for the next club day, and I wonder what traditional Korean games I'll learn about next time.

Comparing Year One and Year Two

Enough time has passed in my second contract that I can compare my life and job in Korea this year to last year. While life is generally the same, there are some changes. 

Certainly, the newness of being in South Korea and discovering novel things on a daily basis has basically worn off. I'm firmly set in my routine but that's what I like. I'm still enjoying my walks at Dadaepo beach, lounging in cafes, hitting the gym, and overall, it's still fun being here.

This time last year, I still hadn't even met my students yet. We had just started online lessons after about a 6-week delay in the school year. In-person lessons didn't start until May. Thankfully, this school year started on time in March, although many classes are still held online.

One of the biggest changes is at my new boys' school. In some ways, it is quite different from my previous boys' school. The boys are better supervised so the behaviour is better overall. Although, I have one particularly bad class of boys. They often ignore my instructions and just talk with their friends instead of working. Also, they threw my sheet of stickers out the window at the end of class and didn't own up to it. They are the first class in the morning, so many students sleep through the class as well. The Korean teacher does her best to maintain order, but the students don't respect or listen to her, and they feel the same way about me. Overall, however, I think I'm connecting more with the students since I'm teaching many students now for the second year. I'm able to talk to them freely and remember their faces (masked) and some of their names.

At my main school, which I returned to for a second year, there have been some teacher changes. Most notably, the friendly math teacher who sat beside me in the faculty room has transferred to a new school. Unfortunately, this means less chatting in the office, fewer snacks and coffee breaks, fewer social outings, and I'm missing out on his explanations of Korean customs and society that I very much enjoyed.

Being a teacher is easier this year because I'm more comfortable making lessons and more confident in the classroom. I have a better understanding of what the kids can handle and what activities they like. I am reusing some old lessons which saves some time, but I'm finding that many of my early lessons from last year aren't that good and I can make improvements to them. I think it's worth spending the extra preparation time to have a better lesson. Might as well learn from my mistakes of last year. I'm experimenting more with my lessons too, so I think the students are finding them fun, and I like the variety.

At my new boys' school, many of the lessons are completely new to me, so I'm creating the lessons for the first time. Some of the language points are similar to last year, so I can reuse some materials, but the new boys' school prioritizes reading. Three of four classes are reading lessons. I didn't teach reading at all last year, so this is very new and takes a lot of time to prepare for the classes. So far this year I've taught Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Aesop's Fables, and Jack and the Beanstalk. I was hesitant to teach reading at first, but it's getting easier as much of the class time is taken up by the students reading the story. I need to prepare only a few activities to check their comprehension and teach some new words, etc.

Of course, COVID-19 is the unwanted constant between year one and year two. There were only very brief periods last year when all students attended school at the same time. So far this year, COVID-19 is affecting school life much the same. We either have 1/3 or 2/3 of students online at any given week. Most of the extra-curricular activities are cancelled, such as field trips, but students can still participate in the occasional club activity with proper social distancing and masks. Vaccine rollout is very slow in Korea. Everyone seems to be waiting patiently for the vaccine, although only 4% of the population has received a dose thus far.

Online classes are handled in a different way in my new school, which means I don't get the reprieve that I would otherwise. They choose to host all online classes in a live lesson format. So, I'm required to teach the lesson over and over again to each class section via the internet. It's just as difficult, if not more difficult than teaching the class in person. My main school (and former boys school) permits me to record my online lessons, so I simply make one recording and it is shown to the various sections, giving me a little break.

The live online lessons at my new boys' school are fraught with technical problems. Hardly a lesson goes by without the internet cutting out or some other problem. Also, it's quite difficult to plan for these Zoom lessons as the Korean teacher verifies attendance at the start of each class. This can take anywhere from 3 minutes to a mind-boggling 15 minutes (of a 45-minute lesson). If a student does not sign in, then the teacher will telephone them at home. Inevitably, the student appears after a few minutes.

Teachers, especially the ones I'm working with for the first time this year, are frustrating at times. They do things that I just can't believe. For example, they've asked me to change my lesson plan only one minute before the class or even during the lesson. Teachers have also inserted an activity into my lesson, thus throwing off my whole plan and timing of the lesson. Others butt in when I try to call on students who raise their hands. One teacher insists on choosing who I call on in class or otherwise interrupts me to point out a student who has raised their hand as if I can't see that myself.

As with last year, I hope to be able to travel internationally, but again it doesn't appear that will be possible anytime soon. There isn't much of an appeal to travel within Korea when the COVID-19 numbers are high, but there are still some places in Busan that I've yet to explore. I'll get to them eventually, but I'm very content to stay in my area on the weekends.

To sum up, there are some old and new frustrations in year two, but I feel more equipped to handle whatever comes my way. Experience is a great teacher. Life in Korea during a pandemic is quite the experience.

COVID-19 Hits Busan

The COVID-19 numbers have been higher than normal lately, with about 700 cases per day in the country, the highest number since winter. Coupled with the sluggish rollout and other problems administering the vaccines, there is a worry of another corona-virus wave in Korea.

I was sitting in the teachers' office one day when suddenly there was a flurry of activity in the room. Teachers were talking quickly and they seemed agitated. I thought they were arguing at one point, which is basically unheard of in an open setting. Teachers were on their phones, calling and texting, announcements were made, yet I sat there still baffled as to what was going on.

I eventually asked my co-teacher if something had happened. She explained that there had been a positive COVID-19 case at a nearby elementary school (about a 10-minute walk). This was of particular concern because students at the elementary school have older siblings who attend our middle school. Any student who had siblings at the elementary school had to leave immediately and go to a clinic for a COVID-19 test. Thankfully none of our students had a positive result.

But that close call was just the beginning. Busan had a very low number for the whole year, but now it is somewhat of a hotspot. Certainly not as many cases as Seoul, but nearly five times the number of daily COVID-19 cases that we were used to in the first year of the pandemic. This week we are seeing roughly 50 cases per day in Busan, and this includes my particular area of Busan which is getting more than its share of cases these days.

Often when the numbers spike or there is some other reason for concern, the Board of Education will send a warning to the native teachers to be careful and strictly adhere to the social distancing measures. Often, it is a veiled threat to avoid gatherings and travel and it calls upon our sense of responsibility to the community and the students. This time a message was delivered, but at least a foreigner was not to blame. Apparently, someone on staff at a school decided to come to work while exhibiting symptoms.

The entire country is at the mid-point on the social distancing scale, but Seoul and Busan are now one level higher due to the increased number of cases. As such, Busan is making the daily COVID-19 report when before it was barely even mentioned. Apparently, a particular bar in Busan was been linked to over 290 cases. If the numbers continue to rise, I expect further social distancing measures to be enacted. We'll wait and see.

As for school, we have switched from 1/3 of students studying online to now having 2/3 of students studying online each week. I appreciate this because it reduces my workload somewhat, but it is difficult for the students and also the families that have to accommodate having their students at home throughout the day.

Midterm exams are next week for the grade 2 and grade 3 students at my middle school. Because 2/3 of students have to stay home each week, these grades cannot be at the school at the same time to write their exams. Adjustments were made so the grade 3s will come to school in the mornings to write their exams, and the grade 2s will come in the afternoon for their exams. This will ensure that the school is adequately socially distanced, but it is very difficult for everyone to manage this kind of schedule.

If the rising COVID-19 case numbers weren't enough, there have been problems with the acquisition and delivery of the vaccines. Currently, South Korea is primarily using the AstraZeneca vaccine plus a relatively small supply of Pfizer going to the oldest members of society. AstraZeneca's vaccine has been given to 911,228 people, while 202,438 received that of Pfizer.

The goal was to reach "herd immunity" by November, but that is becoming more and more unlikely. One newspaper quoted a government official as saying that goal was merely "aspirational".

South Korea put the AstraZeneca vaccine on hold for anyone under 60 years old because of the risk of developing blood clots. After a few days, and because of the dire situation with the number rising, that decision was modified to allow anyone over the age of 40 to receive the AstraZeneca vaccine. However, apart from health care workers, no one remotely close to the age of 40 is in line to receive the vaccine any time soon, so for now, it's a moot point. 

Last year, the mantra was just to get through 2020 then things would be better. True, 2020 was a historically bad year for the world, but 2021 is shaping up to be much the same. In any event, it looks like the entire year will be affected by COVID-19 and although vaccines are being administered, they won't have an impact on the broader population until the end of the year. Until then, we are at risk for another wave of infections. 

I kept going with my life, trying to be as flexible as possible with all of the changes from in-class to online lessons at school. I'm still able to visit cafes, the gym, and take walks at the beach. Not a lot has changed for me, except with Busan having more infections these days, I am trying to be more careful and consistent with my facemask, hand-washing, and social distancing. I'm nearly two months into my second contract, so time is certainly flying by. When I eventually return to Canada, my memories of South Korea will be fully intertwined with COVID-19. For me, Korea and COVID-19 are forever linked.

Cherry Blossom Season

It seems that with the busy start to the new school year, and the dust storms and rain, the blooming of the cherry blossoms kind of snuck up on me and I only had a few days to enjoy the pink and white colours dotted throughout the neighbourhood.

In my cursory research on cherry blossoms in Korea, I came across an interesting read on Wikipedia. It's Wikipedia, so take it with a grain of salt, but the article connects some of the politics and troubled history of Korea with cherry blossoms. Apparently, the Japanese planted some or all (it's contested) of the cherry blossoms during their occupation of Korea, and the practice of cherry blossom viewing was introduced by the Japanese. Cherry blossom viewing is still practiced long after the Japanese occupation ended, but it seems that some trees were purposefully cut down to mark the end of the occupation and to remove the symbols of Japanese imperialism. Cherry blossoms, of course, are closely tied to Japanese identity. Despite this history, cherry blossom viewing remains popular in South Korea. 

Politics and history aside, seeing the pink and white colours is a real treat after the grey and cold winter.

There are several popular cherry blossom festivals throughout Korea but all were cancelled this year due to the corona-virus pandemic. Once again, I had to settle for the trees planted along the walkways and sidewalks in my neighbourhood, and those that are planted on the school grounds. That said, they are pretty to look at and I don't have to worry about crowds obstructing my view.

My favourite part of the cherry blossoms in Busan is how the trees are planted and grow in such as way that they form a canopy over the sidewalk. It's like you are walking through a pink tunnel of cherry blossoms. When the wind blows, the peddles fall down and drop onto your head. I've walked through town and passed plenty of people only to realize later I had cherry blossoms in my hair and on my coat. The peddles that hit the ground tend to pile up on the sidewalk and get swept into a corner.

One benefit to having a school on a steep hill is the nice view of the cherry blossoms. Some of the trees are close enough to the windows that the students can reach out and grab a few peddles and throw them at their classmates. Mischievous and romantic.

The cherry blossoms are already fading and falling from the trees. It was a short and sweet season. We transition now into warmer weather, rain, insects, and later monsoons and steaming heat. I'll enjoy spring while it lasts.

Yellow Dust in Korea

Yellow dust is fine particles of soil and dirt, sometimes mixed with pollution, that get swept up in strong winds from the deserts of China and blown out across Korea, Japan, and surrounding areas. Exposure to yellow dust can have an adverse effect on respiratory health. It can also irritate the eyes and skin. Yellow dust storms typically happen in the spring season, but the air quality last year was exceptionally good. The pandemic caused many factories in China and Korea to reduce operations in the spring which greatly reduced air pollution in Korea, so the wonderful quality of air last year made the dust storm this week all the more striking.

When I lived in Japan, yellow dust was also an issue albeit an infrequent one. There, the dust never impacted my daily life. I remember a couple of times in the three years in Japan that people complained about the yellow dust from China and Korea. I wouldn't even have noticed there was a problem except after the apparent dust storm there would be a fine layer of yellowish-brown filth on my car. The windows were coated with dust. I didn't wear a mask in Japan but people in Japan often wore masks when the dust was bad.

The dust storm this week was much more noticeable and intense. Before I heard any of the warnings of the dust, I noticed that in the morning while walking up the hill to school that I was more tired than usual and climbing the hill was especially laborious. I dismissed it as just not getting enough sleep or being too out of shape. But when I got to the school on top of the hill, I looked out and realized the city was covered in a haze. Visibility was terrible on what should have been a sunny, clear day.

I use an app called MISE that provides daily updates on the air quality. On clear days, a smiley face pops up on my phone. On days with poor air quality, I'm greeted by an angry face. But on Tuesday, the worst day of the dust storm, an ominous face adorned with a gas mask let me know that the air was really bad, toxic even. The app shows a map of the city and the corresponding air quality levels. There is often some variation across the city in air quality, but on Tuesday the whole city was blanketed with yellow dust.

Korean news reported that dust levels were 10 times higher than normal and warnings had been issued for most of Korea for the first time in 6 years. It wasn't pleasant to be outside, but already wearing a mask as a precaution against COVID-19 ensured that I was at least somewhat protected from the fine dust.

Two of my students reported negative health effects after the dust storm - they had sore throats and weren't feeling well at school. Teachers were sure to close all of the windows at the school to help protect the students.

Seoul metropolitan government gives the following recommendations for what to do during yellow dust storms:

At Home and in Places that Manage Food

• Avoid going outdoors. When unavoidable, wear protective glasses, a mask and long-sleeved clothes. Wash your hands and brush your teeth once you come home.
• Close your windows to avoid any yellow dust coming in and keep the indoor air pleasant with air purifiers and humidifiers.
• Before cooking, thoroughly wash vegetables, fruits, fish and other agricultural products that may have been exposed to yellow dust.
• To avoid second-hand pollution, thoroughly wash your hands before processing food and cooking, and keep the surrounding environment clean to prevent the contamination of cooking tools and instruments.

The weather is getting nice and warm in Korea, so I want to get outside as much as possible. Hopefully, the air quality improves soon and dust storms remain rare. COVID-19 and dust storms form a sort of catch-22 since the toxic dust forces people to remain indoors with closed windows, but COVID-19 protocols encourage people to stay outside and not congregate with people indoors.