New school year begins in Korea

New school year begins in Korea

To the editor:
    The new school year has begun. In Korea, schools start their school year in March. While rice and the rice growing season lays out a pretty strong agricultural map, it has not translated itself into the school calendar. The Japanese introduced the idea that school should begin in March and end in December. There is a certain logic to this in the idea that during the coldest part of the year the schools do not have to be heated and thus fuel can be conserved. 

    This past week we began the new year with a new schedule and new people in many positions. Principals and vice principals are rotated out of their schools on a regular basis. In most cases it is a two year period for a principal to remain with a school and then someone else takes over those duties. Teachers too get rotated out, though on a slower schedule. It is a chance to try new ideas and see if the test scores can be changed. All high school education is focused on the national exams that the students will take to enter college.
    Lunch is served to all the teachers. We go through the same line as the students. It begins with a stop at the hand washing station. Stick your hands under the nozzle get some hand sanitizer squirted; rub the hands, and then its into the chow line. Tableware at school is a little different. You get your tray, chop sticks, and a spoon. Two large depressions and three small ones on each tray. The left hand large bowl is for rice. The three small trays are for the Kim-chi, entree and dessert. The right hand bowl is for soup. Every meal has a soup dish. There is no water cup so the water in the soup becomes the water to help you wash the food down.
    Teachers sit at the same table. Our new cafeteria has fold down seats. You pick your spot and pull down the seat and sit down. Finished? Pick up the seat and it folds back into place. Good bye to the memories of all the folding chairs we had to deal with in school.
    Our cooks are wizards at making a nutritious Korean menu. You will not find pizza, grilled cheese, or beans in this menu line. You will find lots of fish dishes. Fish in Korea and indeed in much of the orient is served complete. Bones are left in. You soon learn to chew your fish carefully and pull out the bones. The idea is that the best flavor of any meat comes from leaving the bones in. Chicken will often have bits and pieces of bone left in during the cooking process. At the end of a fish or chicken meal there is always a neat pile of bones on the plate.
    At the end of the meal you bus your own tray over to the clean up area. Scraps and leftovers are dumped in the collector bucket, the tray is scraped clean and placed in a bin for the washer. Then your spoon and chopsticks are placed in their bins and you go to the hot water/ tea trolley where you get a few ounces of green tea or water to drink. You drink a few swallows and then leave the cup behind. Up to the office and back to class. Yum, clam soup today.