On the streets of Chang-dong.
1 Comments Published by Brian on Wednesday, April 25, 2007 at 11:45 PM.
Maybe it's because of the things I've been witnessing in and around my school lately, or maybe it's due to some other internal or external cause. Whatever the reason, my general disposition has soured considerably lately. Along with it, my photographic interests have also taken a turn toward the negative. I got tired of taking pictures of pretty things and also trying to make Korea appear more attractive than it really is. To that end I have started a new series of photographs devoted to Chang-dong, the northern Seoul working-class neighborhood where I live. If gritty, bare-faced reality is what you're after, Chang-dong is where you want to go.
This is a still growing, on-going series. Here are a few examples of my favorites so far.
A produce market near Chan-dong station, receiving the early morning delivery.
As I say, these are my faves so far, but do check out the others in the set. More will be forthcoming by this weekend. I can pretty much guarantee that, because I went and purchased a new zoom lens today and will be anxious to try it out and see how stealthy I can be.
This is a still growing, on-going series. Here are a few examples of my favorites so far.
A row of soju tents under the Seoul subway Line four tracks. Closed up in the morning after another night of business.
A produce market near Chan-dong station, receiving the early morning delivery.
Students walking to school on a Saturday morning. Korean students still have a half-day of school every other Saturday.
A man appears to be waiting for someone, while a boy seems just to be killing time.
As I say, these are my faves so far, but do check out the others in the set. More will be forthcoming by this weekend. I can pretty much guarantee that, because I went and purchased a new zoom lens today and will be anxious to try it out and see how stealthy I can be.
My recent postings have had a decidedly negative spin, so I thought I would take some time today and talk about one thing my school is doing extremely well: Better living through soccer.
There are a number of girls in my school who play on a girls' soccer team. They practice every day after school, even during vacation periods. They must play games sometimes, though I never hear about them. The girls on the team are not A students (at least not in my class). Though I've not been given specific information, I'd say it's a fair bet they are all disadvantaged economically. Some of them don't have school uniforms because they aren't able to afford them, so they wear their soccer warm-up suits to class every day. I also don't know the specifics of their home lives, but I assume they are, as Ally Sheedy's character in The Breakfast Club put it, "unsatisfying."
The thing is, these girls are happy. They are probably the happiest people in the whole school, including the faculty. They enjoy an extremely close camaraderie. They aren't locked away in Hakwons all night, and they get to do something they love everyday. To my knowledge, the girls also don't get into trouble, don't ditch school and smoke cigarettes behind the cafeteria, and don't beat up any little kids for spare change. I could be naive on this point. Of course I know very little of what really goes on at my school, but I do know which students seem to always be in the teachers' office getting disciplined, and it's never them.
I don't know whether this is a city wide program, or something that exists only in the region or only in my school. Logic tells me they can't be the only school doing this, else who would they play games against? Regardless, it appears to be working. If the girl who was expelled this week had taken part in this program (I have no idea if it was made available to her) I wonder if her story might have taken a very different path.
There are a number of girls in my school who play on a girls' soccer team. They practice every day after school, even during vacation periods. They must play games sometimes, though I never hear about them. The girls on the team are not A students (at least not in my class). Though I've not been given specific information, I'd say it's a fair bet they are all disadvantaged economically. Some of them don't have school uniforms because they aren't able to afford them, so they wear their soccer warm-up suits to class every day. I also don't know the specifics of their home lives, but I assume they are, as Ally Sheedy's character in The Breakfast Club put it, "unsatisfying."
The thing is, these girls are happy. They are probably the happiest people in the whole school, including the faculty. They enjoy an extremely close camaraderie. They aren't locked away in Hakwons all night, and they get to do something they love everyday. To my knowledge, the girls also don't get into trouble, don't ditch school and smoke cigarettes behind the cafeteria, and don't beat up any little kids for spare change. I could be naive on this point. Of course I know very little of what really goes on at my school, but I do know which students seem to always be in the teachers' office getting disciplined, and it's never them.
I don't know whether this is a city wide program, or something that exists only in the region or only in my school. Logic tells me they can't be the only school doing this, else who would they play games against? Regardless, it appears to be working. If the girl who was expelled this week had taken part in this program (I have no idea if it was made available to her) I wonder if her story might have taken a very different path.
Labels: teaching in Korea, The life of Brian
This morning I was told that the problem student I mentioned two postings ago has been expelled from our school. Evidently there is no where else for her to go, so she will likely roam the neighborhood and cause more trouble. It's not that this country lacks the resources to handle such cases, but the knowledge and the will. It appears from the outside to be a case of "we've always done it this way," an attitude that is poison to any large organization. I agree that when a single student requires this much of the school's attention a change needs to be made, but merely turning a "wild" student loose into society seems like not the best solution either. There needs to be an in-between solution somewhere.
As if that weren't enough, immediately after the class where I was given this information, I was on my way back to my desk when I started down the main stairs just in time to see a teacher thwap a girl on the head with a thin stick. It was the same teacher I had seen hit a student last week. He backed the girl into a corner, reared back and hit her again as the girl cowered and tried to protect herself with her hands. This time I shouted out, "Hey!" completely spontaneously, the way I would had I come upon one student bullying another. My protest failed to even register with the teacher however. I briefly considered getting into the situation, but fearing an escalation finally walked away, throwing the papers in my hand aside in disgust. The teacher saw me pass. This all happened in a split second.
I felt powerless and frustrated as I walked back to my desk. I'm an outsider, and must do a considerable amount of biting my tongue. It's a different culture and it's not my job to tell Koreans how to discipline their children. On the other hand, what I've seen this teacher do is not discipline in my view, but child abuse.
It's not just about the students either. I happen to really like the teacher in question. I'd hate for him to be caught in the act of losing his temper by a student's camera phone and possibly lose his job.
At lunch today the teacher in question sat directly across from me, which freaked me out more than a little. He began talking in Korean to the Korean English teacher to my right, whom I had spoken about the situation with, but hadn't named any names. As he spoke he made gestures towards me, and the few words I understood seemed to suggest he was talking about what I had witnessed earlier. The English teacher also didn't explain what they were talking about, which was unusual. After quite some time had passed she finally offered awkwardly, "we are talking about the best places to see the cherry blossoms."
"I see," was my only response.
After lunch, the teacher tarried outside the lunch hall and seemed to want to spend a moment with me. He just asked how I was doing, and I told him how I had succumbed to temptation and smoked a cigarette, my first since January, and only my fourth since I quit smoking regularly last August. Our conversation was friendly and easy, though I was uncomfortable and really didn't want to talk to him. I made my excuses and came back to my desk to finish my lunch break.
I suppose I'll have to leave it like that. At least I've made someone aware of the situation. Though he's definitely crossing the line I guess he's not truly causing serious injury to these students. The next time I see something though, it will be harder to just walk away.
As if that weren't enough, immediately after the class where I was given this information, I was on my way back to my desk when I started down the main stairs just in time to see a teacher thwap a girl on the head with a thin stick. It was the same teacher I had seen hit a student last week. He backed the girl into a corner, reared back and hit her again as the girl cowered and tried to protect herself with her hands. This time I shouted out, "Hey!" completely spontaneously, the way I would had I come upon one student bullying another. My protest failed to even register with the teacher however. I briefly considered getting into the situation, but fearing an escalation finally walked away, throwing the papers in my hand aside in disgust. The teacher saw me pass. This all happened in a split second.
I felt powerless and frustrated as I walked back to my desk. I'm an outsider, and must do a considerable amount of biting my tongue. It's a different culture and it's not my job to tell Koreans how to discipline their children. On the other hand, what I've seen this teacher do is not discipline in my view, but child abuse.
It's not just about the students either. I happen to really like the teacher in question. I'd hate for him to be caught in the act of losing his temper by a student's camera phone and possibly lose his job.
At lunch today the teacher in question sat directly across from me, which freaked me out more than a little. He began talking in Korean to the Korean English teacher to my right, whom I had spoken about the situation with, but hadn't named any names. As he spoke he made gestures towards me, and the few words I understood seemed to suggest he was talking about what I had witnessed earlier. The English teacher also didn't explain what they were talking about, which was unusual. After quite some time had passed she finally offered awkwardly, "we are talking about the best places to see the cherry blossoms."
"I see," was my only response.
After lunch, the teacher tarried outside the lunch hall and seemed to want to spend a moment with me. He just asked how I was doing, and I told him how I had succumbed to temptation and smoked a cigarette, my first since January, and only my fourth since I quit smoking regularly last August. Our conversation was friendly and easy, though I was uncomfortable and really didn't want to talk to him. I made my excuses and came back to my desk to finish my lunch break.
I suppose I'll have to leave it like that. At least I've made someone aware of the situation. Though he's definitely crossing the line I guess he's not truly causing serious injury to these students. The next time I see something though, it will be harder to just walk away.
Labels: life in Korea, The life of Brian
Just found something on the YouTube that sorta blew my mind,
Lovely eh?
Lovely eh?
