Well, in the event you haven't guessed by now, although you probably have, I really did have higher expectations of Korea, and this experience in general. It has nothing to do with being around the kids, or seeing to it that they learn, which, honestly, I feel like I'm doing fairly well, given my novice ranking. But I really had higher expectations with regard to the level of enlightenment in this society, which so far as I can tell, pretty much exists only in pockets. Serves me right for attempting to generalize with regard to Asian culture. Also, as any teacher will tell you, this is not really a "team sport" kinda occupation. Yeah, okay, there are other people relying on what you do, and the fact that you will do your job to the best of your ability, but at least the place I work, there's another Korean teacher who is relying on the fact that you got through your part of the lesson, and didn't run long, or get caught up in a string of 8-year-olds who all wanted to use the bathroom. They don't REALLY need to use the bathroom, for the most part, but you dare not take that risk for fear of an ugly scene, and some hysterical kid in wet pants. And they foster the need to go out in the hall and get water by snacking on dry Ramen noodles. I kid you not. They'll take a package of ordinary Ramen noodles, smash the living bejeezus out of them, eat the crushed remains, sometimes with the little seasoning packet that comes in them, if they feel like living dangerously, and then want water. Am I MISSING something here? Eating Ramen noodles in college meant you were so broke that any dinner you could buy 5 for a dollar was a winner. Here I am reliving the Ramen experience again; yippee. But like I was saying, teaching is not the "team sport" the Koreans seem to have made it, it's you and the students. And if you're lucky, everybody wins. They learn, you get paid, what a concept. Never mind the fact that if words are a source of power to you, the way they are to me, not being able to speak Korean well blunts the impact of a lot of what you say; moving a kid out of his peer group because he's talking nonstop, or making him stand in the corner makes more of an impact than words spoken at any volume. And some of what qualifies as toys here would never make it past the Consumer Products Safety Commission. My personal favorite is the little plastic four-pointed, and I DO mean pointed, Ninja-Star-looking contrivance, designed to be thrown outside, and, one can only suppose under ideal circumstances, return to the thrower. I wonder how many kids and innocents have been impaled by this stroke of genius?! See what I mean about Koreans and the way they care for their kids? They can tell me all day long they're in school six days a week, but hey, I guess if they're missing an eye, six is as good as five, right? But beyond that, I still have about seven months to go, and haven't been anywhere besides Iksan, Seoul and the Inchon Airport. Perhaps I will do well to travel a bit, when I can, and I hope I'm at least a little wrong, and have only seen a limited scope. Is there a "brighter side" to Korea I've missed? Cross your fingers.