Where I am and what I’m doing

I'm at a private academy in the heart of Ulsan called the Toplus Institute which specialises in teaching English to elementary and middle school pupils. The ages are from six to sixteen. I'm the only Native speaking English teacher out of about ten Korean teachers, but I will be joined by another colleague in a couple of weeks.

The education system here is very different. Academies such as these are not affiliated to the state or private schools but are ancillary to them. All the students here complete a full day of regular school and then attend the academy for English classes. 

The school opens around 12.30pm and teachers appear about 1.30pm-2pm to prepare for lessons and do other prep. Classes start at 2.20pm and run for 40 minutes. There is also a bell - actually a musical cuckoo singing - which indicates the beginning and commencement of the class.

The classes run right up to midnight....yes there are students and teachers all the way until then. On average, I have six to seven 40 minute classes every second day and only two classes Tuesday and Thursday. 

The nature of my lessons is straightforward. I'm a speaking teacher with the task of helping students to speak English with proper grammar and pronunciation. I don't have to worry myself with the technical side of English as that is the domain of the Korean teachers. The academy has books and materials they want to be taught, and having familiarised myself with them I just follow the units and work my way through. 

Once I'm done teaching, I'm left to myself to explore and enjoy the Korean weather and way of life.