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Information about Teaching in Korea | |
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School Field and Day Trips
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The majority of schools have a special ?theme day? planned to happen once a month. Sometimes this special day is an activity that can be actioned on the school premises, but a few times a year you will be told you are going on ?field trip?. There does not seem to be a pattern to why certain places are selected at certain times and generally these trips are more about showing the school is kind and generous - schools will often "spoil" the children with attention and treats. During my time in Korea we went on some of the following field trips:
These trips are not without a few serious safety issues and as you see 20 children being loaded into a small 12 seater van you can start to panic. You will just have to ?throw out? all the fanatical risk management strategies you learnt in your home country and try and deal with all the day?s events in a calm manner. It will be no use telling the Korean staff you should put sun cream on the children when they go swimming, as in Korea the children are not allowed cream on in the pool. It will be no use thinking you will have a nice swim with the children because you will have to wear this amazing bright yellow bathing cap that makes you look like a canary! Sorry no hair flowing free in the pool. I have to admit most of the male foreign teachers looked quite amusingly strange with their yellow-capped heads!
Strap on your seatbelt and hold on tight ? because you are in for quite an adventure. Actually there will be no seatbelts. but we can guarantee the adventure part!! Think back to your own school trips as a youngster in primary school. Now imagine the complete opposite and you might be starting to experience the Korean school field trip. First of all, let?s think time: If your director says you will be away for a couple of hours, allow for at least five. Secondly, what about organization: Actually this word is unable to be translated from English to Korean, because it just doesn?t exist in Korea!! Be relaxed and flexible and fate will plan your field trip for you. Lastly, your input and ideas: WARNING!! Don?t expect to be consulted on anything and prepare for everything, because you probably will be told nothing!! So we cannot help you prepare for a Korean field trip (think of it as a complete adventure!) But we can outline one or two of our own fantastic trips. We will give you a fairly standard scenario. Don?t expect any warning. We are usually told the day before and sometimes the morning of the trip that we are off to a folk museum, a TV production studio or even the thrill of an amusement park. Quick, hurry up, we will be leaving in 10 minutes!! So half an hour later with the children lined up for the last thirty minutes (always have a ready supply of songs for moments like these) your director fusses in, sweating, fluffing and acting like it?s everybody else?s fault that we are still standing here. So once we have calmed everybody down and reassured the said director that everything is fine, we march the children single file on to the bus like the little angels that they are. We then sit and wait for another thirty minutes, as the director has a rather heated exchange with the bus driver (at this point have even more songs ready to go). Finally, we are on the road to our supposed destination. Now at this point we must warn you about the bus drivers, expect some very crazy driving and this is not just crazy driving, this is VERY crazy driving. Driving of the kind you would not associate with a bus driver for kindergarten kids. Driving of the kind we cannot even begin to explain, unfortunately, the kind of driving you must experience to truly understand. So in this bus of death also be prepared for kindy kids jammed into seats three or four a piece (and forget about seatbelts). After a few traffic jams, and a few wrong turns and more heated discussions on the cell phone with the director who is obviously in quite a different location, we eventually arrive... somewhere. (Expect at this point that the collection of songs which you have started to run through for the third time are wearing a little thin with your kindergarten charges.) You might think at this point that you can get out of the bus, but no you are mistaken, another wait as the director has yet another heated discussion as to the entry fee. Eventually you are given the word to frog march the children off the bus into the glare of sunlight and the eyes of the entry fee committee (who are still ruffled after the director?s onslaught). Do remember a hat and plenty of water ? both of these items prove to be very useful and you will probably not be told to bring anything. But wait, where is your director? Ahhh that would be him off in the distance with no seeming interest or awareness of the state of the twenty little kindy kids milling around the bus. It?s a wonderful opportunity to hone your mustering skills, so with a quick whistle and some pretty fancy handholding, the kindy kids are off. Hurry, hurry cries the director impatiently and your field trip begins. Expect to wander with some kind of purpose after your director, only to be turned around with a smile and a shrug, it seems we?ve come the wrong way. After three or four wrong turns and what seems to be some very badly planned direction, you give up caring and just walk, a tired kindy kid dragged along on either side of you. Finally, you sit down for lunch after finding the perfect picnic spot ? and believe me it is important to walk just that little bit further to find it. Expect every kindy kid to then need to go to the toilet ? not unexpected in itself, but be prepared for the very haphazard and unorganised way they will go. One student will go with the director, then come back, another two will go, just see this as a wonderful opportunity for you to sit back and relax. Lunch in itself is surprisingly organised! Every kindy kid comes equipped with their own little picnic mat ? very cute and a very good idea for your own trip survival kit. The kim bap and various snacks and treats appear out of every little bag, and for about thirty minutes all is peaceful and content in the world of the field trip. After lunch, you will feel it is time to go, but usually it will take any where from thirty minutes to an hour to get back on that bus. The kids are tired and grumpy ? and so are you, but the director has a seemingly endless supply of energy so its anyone?s guess as to when you will leave. But it will happen, and we have been known to sleep all the way home (or I have anyway) oblivious to the noise around you, and uncaring as to how many wrong turns are made or how long it takes, as long as you get home eventually, and so far ? we have made it home unscathed every time!!
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Kindergarten field trip to the Seoul Racecourse
Class trip to the museum |