At Last A Kindred Spirit In Class...

I realise my blogs are becoming a little bogged down in my lessons (I almost went for a pun of "blogged down" but realised it didn't work at all)and very little else, but I promise that soon I will return to riveting tales of me behaving like a cretin at nighttime or blathering on about what I had for lunch.

So cut me some slack and use some empathy when I tell you of my latest predicament.

It was a chilly Saturday afternoon and I was on my way to teach. "On a Saturday?!", I hear you shout in rage...well quite. This semester I have had Saturdays off, but Blancquita went back to the USA for three weeks and I was lumbered with her higher level class on a Saturday afternoon.
Ever the professional, I altered nothing of my Friday night schedule and decided that preparation was uncalled for, as I would wing it based on my quick wits and charming persona.

So bleary eyed and having yet to so much as glance at the subject for the day, I staggered into my class and found a small group of some of the schools best English speakers. These kids probably have a better vocabulary than half of my friends back home and they expect and want a high quality lesson. Well here is one of lifes lessons kids, you don't always get what you want.

I didn't want to be here, but here I am and now you will share my pain for the next three hours.

I handed out their tests and decided that I would use this time to work out what I was going to say about the days topic. I open the book. I begin to read. Oh God no...please no. I feel my hands shaking and bile rising up into my throat and bile shouldn't be there, it should be in the small intestine.

Todays topic was a pro feminist discussion on why women make superior police officers. Now some of you don't know me that well but some of you sadly do and those who do can only imagine the horror that this posed to an antiquated, boorish chauvinist like myself.

I could already envisage myself three hours from now, sat gently sobbing under a hot shower as I scrubbed at my red raw skin with a brillo pad and bleach.

I am not paid anywhere near enough for this. But I am a professional and I did do Drama at high school. Hey, if I could play the role of an alcoholic father and a mere two minutes later switch seamlessly into character as a detective, surely I could pull off this lesson with some level of believability?

And so it began...but then I saw a glimmer of hope. There was a section where I was to ask the kids which jobs were male dominated and how we could change this. Instead I asked them to tell me which jobs were dominated by each gender and why they thought this was. And here it was that Koreas ingrained sexist culture began to rear it's beautiful head.

The first male dominated job they came up with was a Taxi Driver. Good, and what else? From here I was given Bus Driver, Train Driver, Subway Driver, Pilot and The Captain of a Ship. Right yes lots of drivers. One boy pipes up with "Garbage collector" and I asked him if that was because they have to drive a Garbage Truck. They were all very amused...easy crowd.

So I asked why were driving jobs dominated by men...and a girl named Anna decided to explain it...

Anna: "Because men are better drivers"

Oh I could kiss you Anna, but I wont because it would result in instant dismissal and possible jail time. Instead I will play Devils Advocate despite the glaring truth of your astute observation...

Me: "Okay so that might be the attitude in society and maybe that's putting women off these jobs, so do you think it is the idea that men are better drivers that stops women, or do you really think men are actually better drivers?"

Anna: "No teacher it is real, men are better drivers"

Me: "Okay interesting, maybe that is true..."

Anna: "Not maybe teacher, it is a scientific fact"

Well, I'm not going to be the one to argue with science, so that settled it.

But this once terrifying lesson continued to get better. It came to their class presentations, two groups of girls and one group of boys, all in pairs and they had to present their views on gender bias and whether gender roles in jobs should be changed.

At this point they all asked various questions about which examples they could use, how much fact to opinion was acceptable etc and it was looking good. Then I hear one of the boys say to the other "We should just explain why men are better" and his team mate said "No, we will lose, teacher will not like it."

Ah...my poor deluded child, how little you know me. I said "You can do whatever you like, I wont grade you on whether I agree with you, but whether or not you support your argument with good vocabulary terms and relevant examples"

And so the three groups presented. The first girls group was excellent, they spoke for five minutes with a multitutde of examples and a truly objective and fair stance. The second girls group was shorter but even better, the scientist Anna argued that outside of spatial awareness in driving, most biological differences had no bearing on the gender roles in jobs. I was impressed.

Finally the boys. Don't let me down lads.

Jack: "Gender bias is good, because men are better than women."

Strong start.

Harry: "Women can only do two jobs well, babysitting and cooking Dukbokki"

At this point I should point out that Dukbokki is a very nice but fairly simple dish often sold by street vendors or for fairly cheap in Korean cafes etc.

Jack: "Yes women cook Dukbokki well, but men cook luxurious foods from across the world and they drive a lot better. Women cannot drive very well, they are good at babysitting"

By this point I am laughing. They then list all the things that men can drive and believe me if you know of a vehicle it was probably included in their list. The girls are going crazy "No teacher why are you laughing, stop it's bad"

I explained it was very funny but that didn't mean I agreed. And to be honest their presentation was by far and away the worst. Listing a long line of things men drive and saying women babysit doesn't quite stand up to the in depth discussion of human biology and social influences on jobs that the winning girls group did.

If anything by the end I felt that Jack and Harry might have set the mens movement back a little and given some credence to the outrageous claims of the days lesson.

Still at least I could go home and shower without the need for bleach or scouring utensils.