To Korea to teach and play GAA

MY EDUCATION WEEK:Thomas Gaughan (24), teacher, South Korea

MONDAY

I’m in my second year here. I spent my first year working in a private school teaching four to 12 year-olds. I now work in Kongju National University, teaching English to freshmen and one hour a day in the university’s language centre teaching people from the local community. Kongju is 80 minutes south of Seoul and has a population similar to Cork city. Before I left Ireland I had just finished in NUI Galway and was living at home with my mother. I spent 11 months searching for a teaching job but to no avail. So in January 2011 I started the application process for working in Korea and arrived here at the beginning of April last year.

TUESDAY

My typical Tuesday starts with a run before my 11am class. I find it very easy to get out of bed here in Kongju as it is a very scenic area which really motivates you to get up and do something.

Life here offers lots of opportunities that you may not get at home. I’ve had to make a few cultural adjustments – small things can be quite a shock like the smells in the streets or the fact that there are no closing times for bars and nightclubs. In the society itself Confucianism is very refreshing as everyone is really respectful to their elders which is very different to Western society. This can also be seen in the small crime rate as they have real pride in their country.

Education is hugely different between here and Ireland. It’s valued over everything else and the average family will spend a fortune on their child’s private education.

Firstly it’s modelled on the American system so they all go through kindergarten, elementary, middle and high schools, then on to university. Most children will attend Hagwons (private schools) after school.

Lots of students attend four different private schools in one day, for example schools for a musical instrument, Korean, English and Maths. The average Korean child will spend at least 12 hours a day, Monday to Friday, being educated. Many will then get tutored in their own homes for a couple of hours on a Saturday and Sunday.

This results in lots of stress and I have often had students fall asleep in my class from sheer exhaustion.

Comparing this to our own education system I think we can count ourselves very fortunate as we don’t study for nearly the same amount of time. Irish parents are also more considerate of their child being stressed. In saying this, Korea has the highest percentage of high school graduates in the world and Korean teenagers are ranked amongst the highest in the world for mathematics.

WEDNESDAY

Dining out in Korea has proven to be one of the most interesting and adventurous aspects of life here especially considering the language barrier. The choice of food is immense ranging from squid burgers, dog soup and kimchi to Korean barbecue and dumplings.

There are over 20 other English native speakers at my university so we have a nice community.

They hail from all over the globe, from Australia to Canada, and everywhere in between so there are a wide range of accents and perspectives at any given dinner table.

I came to Korea on the recommendation of my first cousin. He told me that it was a really nice place to live, the pay was good and the people are extremely pleasant.

THURSDAY

Gaelic takes centre stage for me at this time of year. The Seoul Gaels have quite literally become my family in Korea. It isn’t as simple as saying it’s a GAA Club. People genuinely look out for each other and that is so important when we are all this far away from home. It’s not just Irish people either. We have many different nationalities within our ranks. I played on a winning team at last year’s Asian Gaelic games and we were Irish, Canadians, English, Americans, New Zealanders and even an “auld Dub” all brought together by our love of the greatest game on earth.

The team can take up different amounts of time for different people depending what level you want to play at as we have several teams. The only time the training gets intense is coming up to the Asian Gaelic Games. Off the field the club is great for social outings and getting to know each other. We often go away on trips to other parts of Korea like Daegu and Busan. In June we head to Beijing for the North Asian Games and in October we’re off to Kuala Lumpur for the Asian Gaelic games so the excitement never stops.

FRIDAY

After work on a Friday, I like to head down to the local watering hole to unwind. There can be up to 50 native English speakers so there are lots of people to socialise with. Many Koreans have a similar mindset to drinking as Irish people and view it as a social thing.

My students are great; they are so polite and are really thankful for any help you give them. They are the same as any Irish freshmen, all bright-eyed and bushy-tailed and living away from home for the first time. They often laugh at many things I do during class due to nervousness or I can seem a little strange here from time to time.

My colleagues come from all over the world; everybody has a great attitude.

SATURDAY

On Saturdays I usually get the bus to Seoul for training with the Seoul Gaels. I regularly leave my house as early as 6am for training at 9am, depending on what part of Seoul the training is on.

Training is an excellent break from Korea as we spend two hours running around, mocking each other about our respective counties, 9,000km from home.

After training we usually all go to the local saunas and then a lot of the team would socialise together afterwards.

At a normal training we would have 30-40 men and fewer for the female teams. At the height of the summer you can often be training in 30 degrees so it is very different to training back home with Ballycastle.

Seoul is a city of 10 million so there is nothing you can’t do on a Saturday night, from spending the evening in one of Seoul’s many Irish bars talking of home to taking a cruise down the river Han sipping cocktails and admiring the views.

A typical Korean’s view of Ireland can vary; some can get us mixed up with England while others immediately say “Guinness and whiskey”.

Korea’s history is not unlike our own as they too have issues with unification and they also received a bailout from the IMF in the not-so-distant past.

In general it is always a very positive view and there are now enough of us here to educate them in all things Irish.

SUNDAY

After being here over a year, I can safely say that I’m very happy. I’m experiencing a very different culture to my own. I love the people, I love the food and I’m really enjoying the whole experience.

I still miss many things from home like family, friends and of course the food. When I talk to people at home it can sometimes be hard to see the positive prospects in Ireland but things seem to be starting to point in the right direction at least. If I’m to be honest, I can’t see myself going home to Ireland any time soon, but I do genuinely hope that in the future I will get the opportunity to come home.

This week I was . . .

READING

I’m reading two different books. A Clash of Kings (second instalment in the

Song of Ice and Fire series written by George R R Martin and The Road to 51, The making of Mayo Football by James Laffey.

LISTENING TO

I mostly listen to Irish radio stations on my phone but my favorite album at the moment is Florence and the Machine’s Ceremonials.

WATCHING

I’m watching the new series of Spartacus (right) and Top Gear right now.

WEBSITES

I mostly use irishtimes.com, Journal.ie, RTÉ News, Yon hap News (Korean English news) and Facebook.