Dueling Cultures

Just as I was starting to think that maybe I was beginning to chip away at understanding Vietnamese culture, I get thrown for a loop and school starts. And we’re teaching an almost exclusively Korean population. I thought it’d be hard enough to understand the intricacies of one culture, but now I’m faced with a daunting task - tying to reconcile with these two totally different cultures simultaneously…

For instance, I’m beginning to learn very fast that Koreans and Vietnamese have different learning styles and expectations from their teachers. Not only that, but the Vietnamese are vastly outnumbered in our school, making them feel like outsiders in their own country. And don’t even mention our Iranian student - she is a fish out of water through and through - nobody (aside from her parents) speaks her native language, whether it be in or out of school.

But so far, I’ve found my students to be pretty fun. The smaller classes can be a little… intense sometimes. Especially my tenth grade class, which is totally packed to the gills with one student. Yep, ONE STUDENT. By the end of class, he is ready to go find a corner to crawl into! Poor guy. Overall my first week has been a positive one - I’m already starting to feel like a teacher, although I know that I have so much more to learn. The week has left Sara and I totally drained and in dire need of a respite, that we plan to find tomorrow in the form of the Daewoo Hotel’s grand lunch buffet spread…

Until next time,
Mike