Brahms

Tonight I went to see a German orchestra play. My youngest host sister Seo Jin accompanied me (my vice-principal had given me two free tickets) and a number of my students, including my eldest host sister Seo In, were there. It was a good show, a lot of Strauss and Brahms. By the end of it the audience was clapping along to the livelier numbers, something which at first struck me as a little strange, but I guess not unpredictable for Korea. It was great when the conductor--who by the way looked very much like the stereotypical orchestra conductor, with tails and slicked back hair (I wonder if all conductors wear their hair that way to keep it from getting in their faces?)--started conducting the audience, motioning for when their clapping should get louder or quieter.

Today at school was okay, despite the fact that my stomach's been bothering me a lot lately (some residual traveler's sickness from Vietnam?) and a teacher was beating a student for at least half an hour in the teacher's room today. He wasn't beating her constantly, but it went on for awhile, maybe even for an entire hour---a few thwacks (the teachers use these souveneir-like sticks that purposefully make a loud noise, they sell them outside most Buddhist temples here) and then some kind of discussion, and occasionally some crying. Maybe I would be alarmed enough to intervene if the students seemed alarmed, but it seems so run of the mill, for them to just bear it and then move on. A number of students stopped by, friends of hers I assume, and they seemed sort of bemused and sympathetic. I still have trouble understanding the teacher's perspective, though, how someone could think that punishing a student for that long could be useful. I can't help but feel like it constitutes a sort of unacceptable loss of control on the teacher's part, though I understand that it's considered normal here. It doesn't happen that frequently at my school, but frequently enough to make me wonder what the student's could be doing to deserve it.

I don't often have conversations with Seo In, but as the three of us came home from the orchestra show tonight together, she talked to me about how nice it was to get a break from studying, but then said that she likes going to school. I was of course surprised, and she explained that it's hard but it's better than being at home, because she gets to see her friends and at home there's nothing to do, really. When I thought about it for a moment it made sense. School seems like a huge source of stress in a high school student's life, but at home Seo In is expected to study all the time, too, so if your life consisted of basically constant studying, wouldn't you rather be at school, where you can see your friends, have consistent ten minute breaks, and probably a couple teachers who aren't as strict as your mother?

My host mother nags and scolds the kids constantly when we're at home. It's really been wearing at me, hearing yelling all the time about every little thing, (I don't know much Korean but I know enough to know when she's scolding Seo Young for acting too goofy or not saying good-bye to her university-age tutor politely enough) but I haven't broached the subject. I don't know if I will--it sort of seems like the sort of realm where I should keep my opinions to myself if I know what's good for me.