Suneung - The Korean SAT

Korea, like other countries, has a standardized test called the College Scholastic Ability Test, or Suneung, which is required to enter any Korean university. Unlike other countries, however, this is literally a do or die situation for Korean students. In Korea, getting accepted to one of the top 3 universities is the only goal for a high school student; the success of their life depends on it. If they don't get accepted, it is viewed as a great disappointment and, in their minds, the end of their life. And in order to get into these universities, the students require a perfect score on the Suneung.

These grade 12 students (also known as 3rd years - the Korean high school system has 3 years, grade 10, 11 and 12) have been preparing for this exam since middle school and their entire 3rd year of high school is dedicated solely to studying for the exam. Every 3rd year high school student in the country, about 700,000 of them, takes the annual exam on the second Thursday of November. After dropping their kids off at the test, parents take the day off work to go to temple or church to pray for their child. This article really describes the dire need and the pressure these students feel to do well on the exam, and the insanity surrounding this test.

A common tradition is for all the 1st and 2nd year high school students to come out and cheer on their peers who are taking the exam. They line up at the entrance of the exam location with drums, signs, cheering and goodies, like pens and juice, to give to the students. As early as 6am, these students wait for their 12th grade peers to arrive.

I decided that since this was a national event, I would also go and cheer on some students who were taking the test at Bugil. So I got up early on my day off and made my way to the school. There was major traffic, even though police were directing, and lots of action happening outside the Bugil gates. I even saw the police escort a late student to the exam site! He got out of the squad car and bolted up the hill. All the energy at the school was really powerful. It actually brought tears to my eyes.



Lots of traffic



Police directing traffic



The scene while walking up to Bugil Academy



Some students with drums who were serving hot tea and a very worried parent who just dropped off her child.



Holding encouraging words for their peers

So many people crowding the gate at Bugil





They even had strange creature cheering them on!

 I took a video of the students singing for their peers.

Eat Your Kimchi, a popular video blog about Korea, also posted about their experience on exam day.

I'm so thankful not to have had such a stressful experience during high school. How about you?

Jennika

The Inexplicable World of Korea, 3

Well folks, it happened. I have previously posted on Facebook about the inexplicable amount of rice, and rice products, in this country. Seriously, rice pasta, rice puffs, rice treats, rice noodles (different from pasta, I assure you), rice paper, rice drinks, rice cake (also known as 'dok', which comes in many forms, each as equally deceiving as the next). Back in September, I joked, what's next - rice cotton? Rice hamburgers? Rice cream??

Here you are my friends. At a gelato shop in the mall ... rice flavoured ice cream.



Picture of the Week #2

Taken at the base of Gyeryongsan mountain. I really liked the contrast of the red and blue.

The leaves have changed colour here in Korea and this hike reminded me so much of home.

I miss you Canada!

Hiking a mountain with 300 students

Today was my first field trip with Bugil ... the entire Grade 11 class went and climbed a mountain and then paid their respects at the tomb of the founder of Bugil.


Sweet ride! This was our luxurious bus that took us to the mountain.
We rode with class 2-3. There were 10 buses in total.

There are 300 students in grade 11. Along with the homeroom teachers and the two native English teachers for that grade, Bre and me, we all went hiking at Gyeryongsan, one of Korea's national parks. It was intense!! Someone once told me that Korean were like mountain goats .. and now I believe it. The bunch of us hiked for 4+ hours and the course was not easy. Lots of rocks to climb up and down. My legs were shaking by the end. I can't say for sure, but I think it was this trail because we went past multiple temples and the Nammetap pagodas. Three times we thought we were at the top, but nope! The trail kept going. It was beautiful though.



The scene right as we started the climb.

 

At the midway point, we all stopped to rest, drink and take many, many photos. The students were overly happy to pose with their teachers, so Bre and I got some pictures with our classes. There were also two pagodas at the midway point called Nammaetap, or Onwitap which means brother and sister.

Class 2-8 and me .. can you find me?

Some students from class 2-2

Some of my faves from class 2-4

More from class 2-4

Posing with class 2-6 

 Some pictures of the scenery.

We stragglers found a waterfall!

After the hike, the students had a paperbag lunch, but the teachers were taken out to a Korean restaurant. It was nice to feel like a part of the faculty. As a foreigner, I frequently feel on the outside of school affairs and even the last to know about schedule changes and things. This was a great opportunity to get to know some of the other grade 11 teachers and just enjoy ourselves!

Bugil Academy grade 11 teachers

Take care,

Jennika

Halloween Hat (Ultimate Frisbee Tournament)

HAPPY HALLOWEEN EVERYONE!!! While Koreans don't celebrate Halloween the way we do back home, Jean-Marc and I got our costume on last weekend. Back in September, we'd signed up to play in an Ultimate Frisbee tournament the weekend of October 27th in Daejeon. This was the 9th annual Halloween Hat tournament and it was so much fun!!

The tournament disc. We all got one!

A hat tournament means that everyone's names get put into a hat and then pulled out to make teams. This way all the abilities and people are spread out to make relatively even teams. And you get to know lots of new people because you don't usually know too many people on your team.

The tournament started Saturday morning at 10am and went until about 5:30pm that night. Then continued all day Sunday for playoffs. Needless to say, getting out of bed on Monday morning was rough.

The fields in Daejeon. Day 2 - the rain had stopped! JM is in the blue and red shirt.

Saturday morning was pouring rain and the fields quickly became mud/swamp pits. No one was dry or clean by the end of the day. There was an on field costume contest, which was hilarious. Lots of people running around wearing ridiculous outfits. Jean-Marc was on pod 'K' and I was on pod 'M'. Twice we beat JM's team to put us in the finals of the playoffs. Sadly, we didn't win the championship. JM's team placed 3rd and mine came 2nd. Not bad though for our first tournament ever!

My third pair of socks on Saturday.

Uncle Sam

Batman! Yes .. that is his chest hair.

Pods AM .. 2nd place!

Saturday night there was a costume party at a local bar. Jean-Marc and I decided to do a pairs costume. He dressed up as a cute little piglet ... and I was a dirty French butcher who wanted to turn him into bacon. It was disturbing and amazing at the same time. We got so many compliments on our duo and even won a prize! Even after talking to me, some people didn't know who I was. I looked that disgusting. he he. 

At the bar.

Our prize!

At home when we were practicing our characters.

 

hon hon hon.

All in all the tournament was sooo much fun and I cannot wait to be a part of more tourneys here in Korea.

Trick or treat everyone,

Jennika

The Inexplicable World of Korea, 2

Well, it took only a few hours from writing that first post to arrive at my second. It is common custom in Korea (or at least at my school) that if you get married, buy a car, or your baby turns 1 year old, you bring a small gift to everyone at the school. Kind of like sharing the joy and celebrating the achievements with your co-workers. Generously enough, the Korean teachers have included the natives in this tradition and I have to date received various beverages, hand towels, and cake.

Another fun fact about Korea is that they don't often use chocolate in their desserts. Instead red bean paste (which is sort of sweet, but not like chocolate) is used in many things, like pastries and ice cream. Finding chocolate cake is not as common here as back home. And the brownies I've tried (all except 1) have all been meh. For those of you who know me ... I'm a chocoholic!!!!

So when this girl who got married last weekend came to our office with a tray of cupcakes, I was delighted!! They looked sooo good. When asked which one I wanted, I promptly responded: 'whichever one has chocolate!!' And so, I was handed the brown one. I told the English teacher in my office (who is Korean) how delicious it looked and how excited I was. Then, through her laughter, she informed me that in fact it wasn't a cupcake .. but a brown hand towel wrapped up to look like a cupcake. I should have known Terry Bakery meant Terry Cloth Towel. FRIG! I will never understand this country.



Couldn't you just eat me up?

The Inexplicable World of Korea

As a foreigner, it's really easy to get caught up saying 'this would never happen back home' or making comparisons. But is it really fair to compare?

We grew up in a free country, where women's rights, multiculturalism, and yes, even the gay movement have made grounds. Koreans, however, had their country occupied by Japan for over 30 years in the early 1900s. Then, after they gained freedom, there was a civil war, fueled by the Russians and the Americans (communism vs. capitalism). They haven't really had time to develop all their individual rights or move into the 21st century, until now. This country was poorer than some African countries after the Korean War in the 50s. They have few natural resources and thus, have pushed their human resources. Now, South Korea is one of the most prosperous countries in the world, especially for technology (Samsung, Hyundai, LG, or Kia anyone?). Here in Korea, things can seem a little backward. There is this hierarchy that you cannot break. Foreigners, aka non-Koreans, are looked down upon. And being different, like being gay or marrying a non-Korean, is also not common. Preserving the Korean heritage is a big deal.

Before I moved here I was told that there is a honeymoon phase, where everything is new and exciting. Then there is a bitter phase where suddenly nothing in Korea is good enough. I don't know if I've hit this phase, but I can say I've been uttering the words 'this would never happen in Canada' quite a lot lately.

So in my attempt to share (and perhaps lighten) my bitterness, I'm going to post things about the inexplicable world of Korea. Starting with something we 'stumbled' upon yesterday while walking to the grocery store. Luckily, JM looked down in time to avoid the manhole.

No signs, no pylons. Just a giant hole in the sidewalk.

That would have hurt.