I did not realize that people from other countries view Korea’s education system as harsh until I attended an international school in Thailand. Speaking as an experienced Korean student, life as a student in Koreas is not bad at all. It is relaxing, fun, enjoyable, and creative.

When I was an elementary student in Korea, I got up fully rested at seven o’clock in the morning and filled my stomach with warm vegetable and chicken soup and rice. I had plenty of time to prepare myself for school since it started relatively late, at nine o’clock. I loved to get to school early even before my teacher arrived so I left home at about eight o’clock. When I opened the class door, an extensive iridescent chalkboard and forty-seven little desks and chairs greeted me. I opened the drawers to make sure that none of the glue sticks has been stolen overnight. Then I fed our class’ guinea pig. Zu, so that it may survive through another day until I come back the next morning. When I heard the footsteps of my teacher, Mrs. Um, I flung opened the door and flew out tot eh hall way to yell out, “Good morning!”. She greeted me and thanked me of taking care of the classroom and I felt like a devoted security guard. Mrs. Um always complimented on the smallest things her students did.

When my classmates arrived by ones and twos, Mr. Um started the class by telling us stories. Her stories were infinite like Mr.Hokburi’s, a legendary man in a Korean folktale with a ginormous wen on his cheek, which was the resource of his dazzling stories, poems, and songs. Mrs. Um was a very talented educator. She alone taught all the subjects from mathematics to music. She was excellent in teaching all variety of things. She not only explained the material very well but, used a myriad of amusing ways to teach topics that children may easily find boring. For example, she often took us to a nearby supermarket to buy us sweets. Before she paid for them, she induced the students to sue addition and multiplication to calculate the exact amount of money needed.

In countless ways, Mrs. Um’s method of teaching was different from what the majority of people consider as a typical Korean teacher. For example, during music class, other than teaching us the scales, she pushed all the furniture in the classroom to the side and prepared a dance floor for us to dance. We spun and stretched our arms gracefully when she turned on a peaceful classic and jumped up and down vigorously to rock and roll. Through such experiences, we learned to socialize and interact with one another and to express our emotions. I am sure she has sparked the hearts of the future dancers as well. In contrast however, when it was time to teach, she taught with all her heart and tried very hard to explain the material in a way that was easy for us to comprehend. Her teachings have become substantial foundation of my education and until today, I used the knowledge that I have received in her class in all range of subjects.

I strongly disagree that Korea’s educational system is only stressful and coercive. Although teachers generally emphasizes on teaching by rote, there are teachers like Mrs. Um who introduce small innovations in education in their classrooms.