The new school year

The first day of March in Korea is the beginning of the new school year. For some students, it means the graduation from one school to the next. This entrance into a new school is also a time when parents come out with their children for the orientation process. For Hagwons, it is a good time to try and sign up these parents and their children.

It was the second time I have gone out advertising with my school, and again it was at the same nearby elementary school. At first I was told we were going to meet at 7:30 this morning, which I did not look forward to, but was later relieved when informed that it was to be pushed back to 9:00, as the orientation didn't start until 10:00 am.

In much the similar manner, we showed up with boxes filled with bags, which were stuffed with coupons. This time however, there were some other people handing out free stuff as well. One of them was for a music school, another for a martial arts academy, which grabbed my interest, and of course, the representatives from our school: the teachers.

One of my co-workers taught me 쿠폰 있어요 (Kou-pohn-ee-ssawe-yoh), which roughly translates to: "coupons for you." Another teacher remarked that it sounded a little cheesy, and I agreed, so I stuck with the standard greeting: 안녕 하세요 (ahn-nyaweng-hah-say-yoh [hello]).

Just this morning my director brought up the news about the closure of a nearby competing Hagwon, which my friend Brian worked at until a recent incident concerning his director's husband. I'll not go into the details, but suffice to say that many of the students from that school have now left, and are looking for somewhere else to go. The alternative? My school; One Hagwon's loss is another Hagwon's gain.

The school's gain however, doesn't necessarily translate to my own. We have just hired on another Korean teacher, whom speaks English very well and with an Australian accent, to start teaching some more classes. It makes work easier for the other teachers, as they can now divide some of their classes with the new teacher; Where as I'm now looking at another few hours of class work each week. My schedule has been pretty easy the last two months, so maybe its just karma getting me back.

I saw a few of my elementary students at today's orientation, and was glad to greet them when I did. They were quite ecstatic upon seeing me and I was introduced to their parents. As all the children gathered in the courtyard for the opening ceremony, one of my co-workers discussed with a parent about our school.

The curious mother had asked why the price was more for our school than the same chain school in downtown Seogwipo. It turns out that the school in the city did not have a native speaker, and so their prices were cheaper than ours; Native speakers are indeed a commodity here, especially amongst Hagwons.