I have made it 4 hours south to Gwangju via bullet train and was introduced to a very friendly and welcoming Korean family, who I will be staying with this week. They treated me to some traditional food then some ice cream and a walk around the local area, with the odd Korean lesson along the way. I am learning, slowly.

First day in school.

I took a taxi into school – Unnam Middle School, for the first morning as I was told the bus could be quite complicated, especially for my limited Korean, perhaps tomorrow… but even the taxi driver struggled to find the school. I met Sun-A’s (Korean Host Teacher) class first of all, they were very excited as they had just finished their 45 minutes of daily cleaning. Yes, Korean schools have no cleaners, the students have to take up that responsibility!

I was then invited to meet with the principal, over iced coffee we talked about Unnam school and Marden, he seemed to like the clip on tie idea and showed a lot of interest about our handbook. I quickly changed into a pair of compulsory ‘school slippers’ before going to observe a science lesson where students completed a practical experiment to see how different temperatures made Coca-Cola react / bubble the quickest – they were even allowed to drink it afterwards. From first sights, a Science lab is very similar, a house style as such wasn’t present but learning objectives and tasks were delivered through a large TV and projector. The biggest difference was to hear the teachers voice echo around the room through her microphone and speakers!

I have had a tour of the school, met many teachers and have even been given a desk in the staff room. Lunch was great, lots of rice and traditional Korean side dishes – the no.1 rule being red things are generally very spicy! I observed an English lesson after lunch, again delivered through a microphone this showed how speaking English is highly valued and regarded over here. I made my own way back to my accommodation but had forgotten that it was 32 degrees and very humid outside after being in the comfort of air conditioning and fans all day. Thankfully rain is on the way..