Demographics

Why did I title my blog demographics?  I'm in South Korea where everything is the same right?  Wrong!  There are still a lot of facts that make up South Korea, or in my case, my school.

YoungNam SahmYook Academy is where I am teaching.  The school is a Seventh-day Adventist boarding school consisting of middle and high school.

The middle school has the American equivalent of 7th, 8th, and 9th grade.  However, they are called 1st, 2nd, and 3rd grade.  They are also referred to as Freshmen, Sophomores, and Juniors.  At this school, the English program has a waiting list.  Only so many of the students in middle school can be in the program.  That way the teachers available are not overwhelmed.  The students are assigned to one of two groups within this program: blue and red.  There is an English teacher in the blue classroom.  There is an English teacher in the red classroom.  The students for the most part have there classes in their respective rooms, but I teach both so they switch sometimes.  There are 6 other classrooms... three in the main building... three in the English building.  All these classrooms form an L as the buildings are connected by walkways.  Helps in winter.

The middle school has just over 200 students.  The high school has over 300 students.  There is a teacher to help in each of the main rooms.  Since I teach two conversationalist classes in one of the other 6 rooms, I don't have a co-teacher for those.  However, I need only give the names of students who refuse to participate, receive correction, or do their homework to the head of the girls' dorm and the student will be perfect the rest of the year.  That is because she is scary to the students!  

Even though it is a Christian school (SDA), most of the students are not.  There are a lot of other religious faiths there.  Including Buddhist!  That is so cool!

Right now there are only 3 white teachers, but they are getting two more in February.  They are trying to recruit another for February.  They are trying to recruit another 4 or 5 for next August.  They want many more teachers in the program even if they are not in this school.  So whoever wants a job in South Korea can come.  I'm trying to get some friends I know who would benefit from this to come here :)