I have one class of students who as of late are obsessed with my nationality. Each day I can expect a couple questions to come my way about America. One day a student had a quarter and question me as to the identity of the Washington. Another day I was asked as to the availibility of various Korean foodstuffs in America. The students are usually impressed, but today my tidbit of life in America caused them to see that not everything in America is bad.
One of my students asked me, “Mr. Dunn what is 학원 in English?” Now 학원 is one of those Korean words that doesn’t really translate into English since there’s not really an equivalent institution in English speaking countries. I told him that he could call it an “institute.”
A different student then asked what kind of institutes they had in America. I told her that there weren’t any. The students all began asking me if I was telling the truth. I proclaimed that it was, and then about 100 other questions came in.
“Where do you study if there is no hagwon?” “At your home.”
“When can you go home?” “When school is finished…like 3:00.”
“What do you do when school is finished?” “Go home. Play. Do team sports. Study.”
When the conversation ended one of the boys proclaimed: “America…no hagwon…GOOD!” Oh yes it is buddy…oh yes it is!
