English Camp

This is the ACK-5 gang, my most recent EFL (English as a Foreign Language) class over in South Korea. I won't go into all the background now, but over the last five years I've done a lot of English teaching over in Asia. Mostly in South Korea, where I worked for a small private academy for just over a year and have done four separate winter camps. I also did a few months in Tokyo for Westgate Corporation, teaching conversation classes at university, and a quick camp in Taiwan.

The gig last month was working for an outfit called Camp Korea, a company that operates schools and camps in Korea and overseas (Canada, UK, etc.) Way back in October I was wondering what to do with my winter. As usual, plans developed with very few conscious decisions being made. To make a long story short, thoughts of wintering in New Zealand turned to a trip to the UK and Paris, spending the holidays in Vermont pursuing different projects and doing some low-intensity retail at my local EMS. That would take me through the New Year. . . then what?

I decided that after a two-year hiatus from teaching English I'd go back for another round. I applied to a few different winter camps in Korea and was lucky to land a good one. Apparently most camps were canceled this year due to the economy and a paralyzing fear of H1N1 (swine flu.) Actually, on turning up at camp I had a thermometer stuck in my ear to make sure I was OK (apparently that's enough?)

What is English Camp?

South Korea is obsessed with education. The culture is based in Confucianism, which esteems education and civic achievement and scorns physical labor. It's also a country the same size as Indiana with 50 million people. This leads to intense competition for places at prestigious universities, which means that any family able to afford it dumps huge amounts of money into educating their children. From a very young age Korean kids simply study. Seriously, they're not out skipping rocks and building forts in the woods. They go to school, then go to private academies in the evenings to study more (like the one I worked at a few years ago.) And during summer and winter vacations, they go to camp. We're not talking about waterskiing, archery and hiking. Nothing says vacation like three weeks of intensive English!

A gambling class I taught a few years ago. . .

All winter camps run along the same lines. There are students, teachers (native speakers from around the world), TA's (Korean university students getting experience) and management. Starting off on the first day, the kids are tested to determine their English levels and broken up into classes. I met my class the first evening and we did a few getting-to-know-you activities. From then on it was a regular daily schedule; correcting diaries, reading, writing, lunch, PE, working on speeches or debates, writing book reports, etc. There were also rehearsals for a talent show, there was a sledding field trip, vocabulary tests and so on. Full days that went by quickly.

All in all it was a good time, with plenty of structure, good curriculum and very well organized. I was also very lucky to get a great class of ten 12-year-olds with plenty of energy, spirit and a good level of English. Thanks ACK-5! The evenings were taken up by bullshitting with the other teachers, in particular my Irish roommate Chris. Many hours were spent on conversations ranging from the declining quality of Irish women to how terrible his class's "Heal the World" performance was.

On the weekends I managed to visit a few friends and let off some steam with the other teachers over beers and barbecue. Anyone interested in digging a little deeper into Korea could check out the Korea Herald, Korea Times or one of the great blogs out there (here's one of my favorites.) South Korea is a fascinating place and I'll definitely be back (for a visit - there's no way I could live there again!)

"Educators" on the weekend