Koreans take education serious--WAY more seriously than anything I've ever encountered before. Even in higher levels of academia, I've never seen the end-all-be-all, your-fate-depends-on-this-test attitude until I came here. From students walking like zombies from lack of sleep and fueled by packets of Maxim gold, to parents coming to pray outside the schools, there is a loom and doom that far outweighs any excitement or enjoyment in learning.
And now I get to experience the level of importance in my role as an educator first hand. Today, I will be shipped off to a hotel with four other teachers, sequestered indoors with no communication with the outside. Why the seclusion? Because we are preparing the entrance exams for the student applicants to the highschool. My precise job? Write 2 interview questions (already did it) for the one student who is applying to the advanced program, who is guaranteed into the program already. But just in case we aren't trustworthy enough, the school board can't risk us potentially leaking the questions. Just in case, they better keep us locked up for 24 hours...
