Ghetto School (Part 1)

After four and a half months I still can't decided if I like my new school. On one hand there is a lot more work to do than my previous schools. However, my schedule is nice and I'm left alone to do as I please. Another negative for me, and don't ask me to give an explanation for this, is I don't like working with Korean people. I like Korean people as a whole, but for some reason working with them bothers me. This school is mostly Korean teachers.

However, for the most part I don't mind the job. The kids are good and everyone is nice to me. The one thing that continues to bother me is that my school is a shithole. Seoul is the third largest city in the world, behind only Tokyo and Mexico City. And the area I live in, Gangnam, is one of the wealthiest areas of Seoul. In fact, I've been told that many Korean parents move to my area of Gangnam, Dachi-Dong, so their children can receive a higher level of education. Yet, my hakwon looks like it's in East St. Louis.


To begin with, the classroom numbers are taped to the door.


There are all sorts of wires and cables hanging from the walls.


graffiti on the walls.


This picture shows the HVAC coming into the building.


A close-up reveals that tin foil is an acceptable building material in the wealthiest part of Seoul. If someone knows Korean better than me I'd love to know what the sign says.


Really, this type of building is evident all over Korea. Even my apartment has holes cut in the windows to allow room for cables.


This is supposed to be a camera that allows parents to monitor the classrooms. From what I've been told they don't work. Obviously, this one doesn't.


I love this picture because it shows not only how dirty the doors and walls are, but also how the paint is mismatched.


Heat part 1. When I started at this school there was no way to heat the classrooms so they rolled in a bunch of these portable heaters. They work okay, but a few times students have stuck paper in them for fun, which quickly becomes dangerous.


After a weekend we came in to find they had installed a form of central air. These tubes go through most of the classes. They just look cheap to me and none of the grates match.


This isn't really a ghetto school picture, but the day I was taking pictures I thought I'd get one of me teaching a class. This is the kind of thing I spend most of my time doing. I=my, you=your, etc. I'm quite proud of my 'We' and 'they' drawings. It's actually a tough thing to explain.

More photos to come.