The differences between Korean and western culture are vast. Despite my 14 months of residence in this beautiful country, I am by no means an expert on Korean culture. So I'll stick to just to a difference in childhood between Korea and the United States.
The kids right now have a month off of public school. They also get around 5 weeks off in the summer, so Korean children do indeed partake in the year round school schedule. And, as I found out on Friday, just because the students are off of school doesn't mean they're not going to school. I'll give you some examples.
The youngest student I teach is 5 years old. She's a young five years old, too. She is
so little. Her feet don't even come close to touching the ground when she sits in her chair. They dangle happily, as if they're better off not touching the ground. She wears pigtails everyday. She has the biggest dough eyes. She looks like a doll, just like a porcelain doll. She can read and write and answer who, what, where, why, and how questions. Her name is Candy, and she is cute. She's been learning English for over a year now. But she is only 5, and cries here and there. Her mom brings her to the academy everyday. I think she misses her mom, and that's why she cries.
Once the bell rings, signaling the end of class, she'll start to put all her things away, but the problem is, she's only five. She's very slow at it. Zipping up her backup takes a colossal effort from her. She gets a panicked look on her face as she sees all the other kids running out of the classroom like it's on fire, and I know that she truly needs my help. You can tell that she just wants to run out with the other kids (those kids are 6-8 years old) and play. So I'll help her, and she'll run off to go to the next place.
The next place could be her loving mother's arms, or it could be a piano academy. It could be a Korean language academy. The point is, even though she's five, I'm sure there is another lesson to be taught on some subject. And Candy, at the expense of her mother's checkbook, will be attending that lesson with her big, helpless eyes fixated on another teacher even though she is five years old. At least, that's what I think, but she could be in her mother's arms for all I know.
Here's a schedule that I do know. Human, who chose his own name, has a sense of humor. He's 12, and he's the tallest kid in the academy. His English level is conversational, although he never leaves his trusty stand by answers of "maybe" and "I don't know" far away. He's independent, and always sits at the back of the room. He elects for public transportation rather than the shuttle buses my academy offers every student. He navigates his way through a city of 3.8 million people seamlessly. He doesn't have a cell phone, which is a big deal in Korea. I mean, hell, even little Candy has a cell phone. He loves computer games and hates school. During his winter break, he's attending six academies!
Academies are extra-curricular, private institutions that teach the children something. And believe me, there are academies for everything. Human's academies are: English, math, clarinet, Korean, computer,* and an academy on how to speed read.** Even when he does not have school, HE HAS SCHOOL. There is no time to play. He goes all over the city to attend these academies. He takes the subway or buses to get to them. The guy is lucky to get 7 hours of sleep with his schedule.
I have another student who is at a swimming academy from 10-4 Monday-Friday. He's in a swimming pool practicing his breast stroke to become the next best swimmer. His brother has the same schedule only substitute swimming for golf.
Childhood is truly vocational training here. All work and no play. The innocence of growing up is lost when you're 12 and already grown up. I know that some people from the western world wish they would of utilized their time more efficiently growing up, you know, actually learned that second language, followed up on those piano lessons, or studied harder. I do anyway. Well, South Koreans are
very efficient with their time growing up, and I am here to tell you it's a shame. There's more to childhood than preparing for adulthood.
*
That's all he told me is computer. I don't even know what that means it's so vague, but he gave me the "I don't know response" when I asked him questions on it.
** At the University of Missouri, in large lecture halls, I would always see these fliers scattered about the floor advertising clinics to help improve your reading pace. This was at college, and here Human is doing it at 12 years old. It's crazy over here.
