In the mornings, Tue-Fri, I've started teaching for an hour at an elementary school in the neighboring town of Deoksan (or 덕산). It's really nice, the teachers and staff treat me like a dignitary and the place seems very efficiently run. I enjoy the break from Sabkyo (삽교) but getting up early to get there isn't fun! =)
On my first day there, I was waiting in the teachers lounge when a lady came in with her son. She sat down facing me and said, "You are very handsome. I think you can teach my son English. I will pay you. I need your phone number." Apparently in Korea if a person is 'handsome' that also means they possess not only an ample command of the English tongue, but also an acceptable pedagogical style to instruct small children. Maybe they think 'handsome' means 'well put together' or 'appears capable'.
All but one of the teachers that I work with at the Deoksan school are male. The one who is female teaches third grade and I have her class on Thursdays. She has a good class. The kids are bright and eager to learn. On my ride home, I asked the school caretaker what the female teacher's name was. (I'm bad at remembering names and wanted to write it down.) He told me her name and then shockingly stated, "She is a virgin." I thought I had misheard him, after all who says that kind of thing about a colleague, so I said "she's a what?" He replied, "a virgin." Did he mean what I think he meant, or did he mean 'young' or 'single' or even 'Catholic.' I just don't know.
-JNP
