FFF (6)

After being in Korea for two days shy of two months now, I’ve realized how giving Koreans are.

Fact: Koreans LOVE to throw gifts at you, and it’s nearly impossible to say no, so it’s inevitable that you will be saying “Kam sa ham ni da”.

Take for example today at school.  After teaching my classes with me, my co-teacher offered Brandon some South American tea.  He kindly declined, but of course this wasn’t enough. 

Bianca: Are you sure?

Brandon: Yes, yes.  I’m ok, but thank you.

Bianca: But it’s ok.  You should have some.

Two minutes later, Bianca comes back with three cups of tea- one for me, one for her, and of course, one for Brandon.

And this just so happens to be how I came to eat octopus.  We have this little gathering area in the middle of the teachers’ office.  Every now and again, people bring in treats and we all take a break from lesson planning and eat some Korean delicacies. 

So after class one day, I walk into the teachers’ office and see what looks like kimchi on the table.  So obviously I open my big mouth, “Is that kimchi?!?”

“Big Head” (one of the Korean teachers with, well, a big a head) replies, “No No.  Better.  Octopus.  Come Eat.”

Ugh.  How to kindly say no…hmm… “I’m ok.  I’m still full from lunch, but thank you!”

Five minutes later I’ve been coerced to join and enjoy octopus.  But I had a game plan- just eat everything without tentacles and green is always good.  First choice, cucumber.  Second, carrot.  Third, I pick up a piece and say “onion” in attempt to teach the Koreans some English words.  Wrong, wrong, and WRONG.  OCTOPUS.

Keep chewing.  Don’t spit it out, it’s impolite.  And don’t puke.  Just swallow.  Now say “Mmhmm, very good!”

But don’t get me wrong, some of these small presents are welcomed with open arms.  Take for instance, Big Head (he likes to act like my dad because he has children my age) noticed that I’m always cold, especially considering that it’s been December weather here recently.  So out of the kindness of his heart, he bought me a mini blanket to use at my desk.  KAM SA HAM NI DA!

Sometimes it’s a blessing, other times a nightmare, but regardless, always remember to say, Kam sa ham ni da!

WWW (2)- Thank You

Since you’ve relieved yourself, in the proper location, you should probably learn how to say “Thank you”, as you will undoubtedly be scattering this phrase throughout Korea.  Let’s think about it- how many times do you say “Thank you” per day?  Probably too many, but that’s beside the point.

Korean: 감사합니다

Korean Pronunciation: Kam sam ham ni da

English Meaning: Thank you (informal).

But, in a country where a caste system used to rule the land, it would be completely inappropriate to address your elders or your scary vice principal the same as you would a cheek-pinching, you’re-so-precious-I-want-to-adopt-you 2-year-old.  So when your principal tells you that your boyfriend (who never works a full week, 감사합니다 the U.S. military) can help you teach on Friday, you politely bow and say:

Korean: 고맙습니다

Korean Pronunciation: Ko map sum ni da

English Meaning: Thank you (formal)

Try using this phrase on someone today- most people blurt out "Merci" or "Gracias", so you won't be weird, just different, and aren't we all trying to acheive that anyway?

Fun Fact Fridays (5)

After 56 days of being a resident of Korea (finally got my ARC- no more druggie), I’ve come to hate only one thing- the bathrooms. 

Although I’m not a connoisseur of toilets and bathrooms, I have standards.  Unfortunately, Korean hwa jang shil run quite short of my public relieving facility criterion. 

As most would believe, I never gave thought to any differences in Korean restrooms prior to departure.  Lord was this a shock when I first got here and noticed the array of changes.  And these differences should not be ignored.  Anyone and everyone traveling to Korea/Asia in general should be prepared for this ultimate culture shock.

I would be lying if I led you to believe that my very first experience with a hwa jang shil was the second I stepped off the plane on August 27.  While visiting in December I had my first encounter with these wretched things, but I seemed to somehow miss the absurdities that have seemed to snowball over the last 2 months.

Problem 1: Squatters.  I have no words to describe these other than a porcelain hole in the ground.  Koreans apparently missed the memo that toilets are referred to as “the porcelain throne”.  Now, typically when I think of a throne, I think of something you sit on.  But, as you can see below, there’s no sitting on these bad boys.  Ladies, you know that feeling when you’re in a (Western) public bathroom and you’re cowering (over a throne) and your quads start to burn?  Now just intensify that by 10.

Lesson in squatters: Strategically place one foot on each side of the… hole.  Pull down your pants as far as possible.  Hover over the… hole.  Pray.  Make sure to pray for 2 things: a) your legs have the strength to hold you up and b) that you don’t pee all over your feet, pants, the floor.

As I already have enough trouble peeing in a squatter, I haven’t even ventured passed number 1.  I literally pee all over the floor.  Sorry Korea, it’s not my fault that you put a hole 3 feet below where I normally go. And, according to my co-teacher, taking a douky is quite possible (yes, I actually asked her if Koreans were able to do number 2).

Problem 2:  Communal toilet paper.  Before entering your personal hole, you have to grab all needed items.  I don’t want others knowing what business I’m doing.  I mean after a few rolls it’s pretty obvious whose taking a dump and whose just urinating.  You might as well wear a sign that announcing what number you’re planning on doing.

Problem 3:  Why’s the toilet clogged???  Gah.  This is by far the most disgusting drawback to Korean bathrooms.  Toilet paper does not get thrown into the toilet.  (Isn't that why they call it toilet paper?)  Oh no, it goes straight into the trashcan sitting right there next to you.  Stinking, right there next to you.  GAH!  Fecal matter and all.

Problem 4:  After you’ve survived the squatter, found the toilet paper, and thrown it into the trashcan, its time to wash your hands, because, let’s be honest, you probably feel filthy by this point.  But wait, why is there a bar of soap, dangling from a metal bar, waving over the sink?  Where’s the automatic, hands-free, foam soap they have back in The States?  Stop looking.  It won’t magically appear.

I find it quite interesting that a culture who wears masks come flu season would let fecal matter putrefy for hours right next to your nose and would have communal bar soap.  Hmm.  Not a fan.

And although I have not experienced this, apparently some of the older style Korean bathrooms are unisex.  Nothing like peeing next to your brother.

But don’t let this deter you from ever visiting Korea.  Honestly, thrones are available in all bigger cities, but scarce in the country; everyone else is rolling off wads of toilet paper in public too, so really its not that embarrassing; from small talk, I’ve noticed that most, if not all Westerners toss their paper in the toilet; and there’s always hand sanitizer to eliminate 99.99% of germs.

I’ve adapted, but I won’t lie and tell you that their public restrooms are posh.  

Home Cooked Meal

Yep.  You guessed right- I got me some home cooking.  Now, no, this was no southern cooking, nor was it any home cooking from my stepmom or my stepdad.  Side note:  Thank you Mom and Dad for getting remarried, because as I am writing this, I realize that without remarriage, I might have starved through my childhood. 

Back on track… One of my “students” in my parent’s class, Sahra (that would be Korea’s interpretation of Sara/h), invited me to join her and her friend, Isabella, at her house for dinner, in hopes of learning some extra bits of English.  Exhausted from the thrills of Monday, I dragged myself over to her home, located in a recently constructed high-rise.

As I entered her plush apartment, I met her adorable 11 year old son, who much to my disappointment, is only in the 4^th grade, so unfortunately he won’t be entering Jangdang next year L. 

Over dinner, we engrossed ourselves into some pretty hefty subjects, like the importance of the U.S. military in Korea and religion.  But for some reason, they seemed to be most interested in Brandon.  “Why isn’t your boyfriend here?” and “Next time your boyfriend HAS to come.”  Apparently I’m not good enough for them.  They are dying to meet Brandon, mainly because they want to see how “handsome” he is. 

But I didn’t care.  I was getting home cooked bulgogi, kimbap, and my first salad since being in Korea.  Besides, I think Brandon’s pretty handsome, so I guess it was pretty easy to brag about him.

As the girls (we’re tight now) drove me to my bus stop, Isabella invited me to Jazz concert next Tuesday and told me “We want to be close to you.”  Looks like me and the gals are going to be besties.  If this leads to more home cooked meals, I won’t complain.

However, in the back of my mind, I just might be singing Brad Paisley’s “Ain’t Nothin’ Like”, secretly wishing for “some good hush puppies and some sweet iced tea.”  Oh Elon, I miss you.  Wish I were visiting you for Homecoming.

Word of the Week Wednesdays (1)

As I have started the Fun Fact Fridays to enlighten my readers of Korean cultural facts, I would like to establish yet another new tradition.  Every Wednesday I will try to post a Korean word of the week.  I will attempt to correlate this with the Fun Fact Friday of the week; however, I make no promises.

What is the first saying that you should always learn when visiting another country?  Well, if you don’t want to wet yourself, then “Where is the bathroom?”

Korean: 화장실
Korean pronunciation: Hwa jang shil
English meaning: Bathroom

In a sentence: Hwa jang shiri uh di ye yo
English meaning: Where is the bathroom?

Now that you know how to locate the bathroom, I’ll just wish you luck in understanding the Korean lavatory system.  Stay posted for Friday’s Fun Fact... you’ll understand then!

Home Sweet Home- Sobaeksan

Over the weekend Brandon and I packed up our gear and hit the mountains.  After purchasing an abundance of hiking gear from the markets of Andong (Mask Dance Festival), we’ve been anticipating this moment- making the 5am start a bit easier to bear.

From Pyeongtaek to Chungju and Chungju to Danyang.  Although Danyang is less than 100 miles directly east of Pyeongtaek, it is a smaller city, thus there are fewer buses that head to and from there.  So the 5am start was in order.

Shortly after noon we made it to Danyang, but still had a few miles until the base of the mountain, so we hoped into a taxi… a black taxi… a luxury taxi… aka an expensive taxi.  Welp, lesson learned.  The foreigners fell for the trick.

When agreeing to hike this mountain with B, I knew that it was going to be a long ride.  But boy was that an understatement.  Prewarning to anyone intending to hike this mountain- it’s definitely a full day hike and you will be sore the next day.

As a matter of fact, when researching day hikes for this mountain, you’ll find that most are around 6 hours and level A difficulty (very steep).  But we did it!  We stumbled (I stumbled, Brandon probably could have ran) up Sobaeksan to Birobong, the pinnacle.

Along the way, I experienced my first bits of Korean autumn, which is actually quite similar to that of Baltimore, died, met a few Koreans interested in our American-ness, died, .  Oh did I mention that I basically died?  And Brandon always seemed to have the camera to catch me out of breath.  If you go on Facebook and check out my latest album, you’ll notice that I’m basically gasping for air in all of the pictures!

However, as expected, the death toll was well worth it- the views were absolutely amazing.

13.6 km later, we had been up and down the “back bone of Korea” and all we could think about was where we could crash for the night.  Lacking energy, we quickly settled for a Minbak- a traditional Korean house, typically found at the bottom of national parks, in which the family opens up a room to travelers for the night.

In the U.S. I would NEVER take my chances here, but as Korea is safe, and for only 30 buckaroos, we could not resist.  We plopped ourselves down onto our “bed” of blankets, as most traditional Korean homes do not have beds, and one bottle of Hite and ice cream later we were knocked out by 9pm. But thanks to our lovely next door neighbors, we were abruptly awoken by noises… circa midnight.  A few bangs on the wall later, and silence was upon us again.

Sunday morning did not bear as much luck as we had hoped.  After researching and weeding out the abundance of activities in Danyang, we finally settled on three things- an adventure cave, Guinsa, and a boat ride from Danyang to Chungju.

Well, let’s just say that this little adventure cave was nowhere to be found.  Part 1, crossed off.

After arriving in Guinsa, we immediately purchased bus tickets back to Danyang, allotting 1 hour to see the temple.  As 1 hour for temple viewing is typically plenty of time, we learned that 2 hours should definitely be set aside for this monstrosity. 

Built in 1945, Guinsa is the headquarters of the Cheontae sect of Buddhism.  The complex can house over ten thousand monks at a time.  It is brilliantly large!  And of course it is nudged right into the mountain side, so Sunday morning allowed for an hour of unplanned hiking.  Whew, Monday was a rough one to say the least. 

We barely made it onto the ferry back to Chungju, as the language barrier was almost too great to overcome.  But bottom line, we made it!  Needless to say, this past weekend was a success- full of hiking, beautiful scenery, and the experience of a traditional Korean home.

And quickly, since Brandon just loooved to document how tired I was ALL the way up the mountain, I would like to imitate him on Monday: “Ow Ow don’t touch my calves.  DON’T touch my calves!” 

Fun Fact Friday (4)

As I had to punish my first students this week, I thought it would be appropriate to mention the changes in student’s rights here in Gyeonggi Province. 

Fact: As of last week, Gyeonggi Province is beginning to recognize student’s individuality with their first ever student’s rights ordinance, particularly granting student’s the ability to express themselves through changes in clothing and hairstyle.

Previously, my students had restrictions on skirt length, tightness of pants, and hair length. With this lifted, I fear, with Korean girls’ obsession with MINI skirts, that schools will solicit sex.  No joke, this is one of my concerns with Korean fashion.  If you think mini skirts in the U.S. are too short, just glance across the world for a minor second and you will understand my apprehension.

And while tight pants (for men) are a thing of the past for the U.S., they are in full force here.  I’d prefer not to see my children’s “junk”, but apparently I don’t get a vote in that department.

And most important, with this student’s right ordinance, corporal punishment has been banned.  Perhaps this attributes to my children’s out-of-control behavior this week.  Sans beating, I have noticed a shift in their behavior and attitudes- those of vanity, as if they suddenly sit on a pedestal just above their “teach-ah”.  So despite my years of English experience and education, they are refusing the pay attention in class- talking over me, sleeping in class, and just straight up not doing their work.

So long, corporal punishment- you were so good to me those 5 short weeks!

Although a strike wasn’t placed upon their little behinds, they had a little visit with my head teacher, and despite not understanding what she was saying, tone is universal.

It will be interesting to see where punishment advances from here and the changes in student’s behavior or this next year.

One last note: With the generally conservative attitudes of most principals, I believe that it will take a minimum of 5 years for corporal punishment to be completely banished from Gyeonggi schools.  

For more information on this top, please refer to the following article: Yonhap News Agency: First student rights ordinance proclaimed in Gyeonggi Province

Grow Up Peter Pan

I’ve realized that I’ve been putting off blogging because I really just don’t want to write about the GEPIK training.  To be frank, it was quite boring and I would rather have been at school with my children.  So here’s a quick run through before I get to the good stuff.  By far the best part of the three longest days of my Korean life was in the opening ceremony with the Samul Nori performance (look it up on Google, as it is quite difficult to explain, but totally awesome).  Then we had lectures, and more lectures, and a few more lectures, ya get the point… I must say, I did gain some good teaching tips and the coordinators were awesome; but overall, I’m just glad it’s over.

Ok now for the good stuff!  EVERLAND… aka Alex’s heaven.  Not only does this adventure park come equipped with rollercoasters, flume rides, carnival games, and street food, but there is a legit zoo within the park!

Let’s start by explaining that somehow, upon arriving at the parking lot, my class was the only class from our school to get onto the tram to the park.  Now usually, this is ok, but when you subtract my co-teacher from the equation, add lots off other little children running around, whew my heart started palpitating (thank you clinical), because this basically equals MESS.

Thankfully, everything worked out in the end, but for awhile this was about as scary as Halloween, which, speaking of, happened to be the theme throughout the park as Halloween is rapidly approaching and Koreans love for any excuse to decorate above and beyond.

We sent our children off to do whatever their little hearts desired and all of the teachers darted straight towards a restaurant for lunch.  Well, all except one… I just had to be difficult.  But honestly, its Everland’s own fault for putting cute little animals right at the entrance.  So of course, snap snap, the camera came out and endless amounts of pictures were taken.

After finally making it to and through lunch, we quite logically ventured towards the rollercoasters.  Thank God for long lines, because otherwise we would have reenacted the carnival scene of from The Sandlot (which to this day I still have never watched, but I’ve heard lots of lovely stories).

Upon approaching “the steepest rollercoaster in the world” we ran into one of our children sitting alone.  Although I’ve had little to no interaction with this child, I have been informed that the other teachers believe that he has some sort of mental disorder, which are rarely diagnosed in Korea, thus explaining our lack of interaction.  Quite frankly, he is my worst student and actually sits in the back of the room, typically hitting paper balls into the air, rarely paying attention during English class.

Nonetheless, saddened by his solitude, we immediately asked him to join us on the T-Express.  His face lit up!  While standing in line, Gin Seok stood as far away from me as possible, as his lack of English terrified him.  However, slowly I was able to work some English into the conversation- I would point and say “up”, “down”, “fast”, etc. with him repeating each word.

As we approached our turn, I had my first ka-wi-ba-wi-bo (rock, paper, scissors) experience, deciding who would ride with Gin Seok.  For those foreigners who know nothing about the Korean culture, one of the most significant tips is that ka-wi-ba-wi-bo solves ALL problems.  So here we go, my first ever ka-wi-ba-wi-bo… it must have been beginners luck because I got to sit with Gin Seok on the most terrifying ride of the park.

And apparently, this was the key to his little heart, because now he LOVES English.  After finishing the ride, we headed towards the safari.  Gin Seok, holding my hand, dragged me from animal to animal, running up to each sign, reading the English name, and pointing.  Ugh, so adorable!!

Now when I say legit zoo, I mean there were lion cubs, tigers, kangaroos, sloths, and an array of monkeys, amongst hundreds of other animals.  Oh and I must mention, I held a skunk!

Throughout the day, I realized, I was smiling from ear to ear and jumping up and down- I had became a kid again.  Thank you Everland for bringing out the best in all of us.

That day, I also realized that I have officially changed one child’s life and that my teaching has actually had an impact on my students.  So, as 5 o’clock came around, we reluctantly left the park, realizing that it was time to grow up, again.

Fun Fact Friday (3)

This week my children had midterms. While this is completely normal for a recent college graduate, I immediately was shocked when I came the realization that my middle schoolers were taking exams. EXAMS... MIDDLE SCHOOLERS? I quite specifically remember being terrified of the thought of exams in high school, yet these poor little 11 year olds were working their bottoms off, studying till 2 in the morning for a written PE exam. But I guess that's why they leave it to the Asians to fix computer problems, become doctors, and solve unfathomable math problems.

Then I remembered back to an article in a Newsweek, that Brandon had bought while waiting for my arrival at Incheon Airport, and it all began to piece together.

Fact: According to this article (whose interactive link I have posted at the bottom), Korea is number 2 in the world in terms of education with a whopping 96.72, coming in just behind Finland, who, might I add, happens to be ranked as the best place in the world to live. Now I cannot break down the logistics of it all, but I bet it has something to do with the fact that my children (or should I say their parents) are CRAZY about their education.

Not only do my little middle schoolers take 10 exams within a 3 day period, but they also attend school for an ungodly amount of hours.  Most students attend a public school during normal school hours, but as I have previously mentioned, all of my children are required to stay at school until 4:30pm.  At this time, if their parents are able to afford the ghastly expenses of private school, the more well-to-do children will go to a Hagwon, where they typically specialize in one subject.  These days, popular Hagwon subjects include math, English, and music.

However, this is just the beginning.  As my children approach high school they will not be forced to stay at school until 4:30 anymore.  No, its not a glimpse of hope.  If they do not have the funds to pay for a Hagwon, the children are required to stay at school from 7:30am until 10:00pm!!!!  Actually brutal for an outsider.  However, they take pride in their education system and do not revolt this obscenity, as viewed by a westerner.  And I'm sure you get the idea from here.

But have no fear, not all children take this seriously- they are human.  I can speak from experience when I noticed that one of my children put all "B"s on his Chinese Characters exam.  And as he noticed that I noticed, he picked his head up for a mere second and laid it back down, probably reassuring himself that all "B"s will definitely lead to an at least an 80.


South Koreas Ranks According to Newsweek

Masked Celebrity

To say that I need to catch you up on a few things is a bit of an understatement. I’m sorry… life in Korea is slightly exciting and my blog isn’t always the first thing I want to pounce on when I get home from a long, exhausting trip throughout Korea.

To catch up you to date a little, two weekends ago Brandon and I attended the best festival that ever existed. I will do my best to portray the events that every child, and every wannabe child, dreams of experiencing. But more than likely, no words or pictures will do justice for the AWESOMENESS of the Andong Mask Dance Festival.

After experiencing… the Ginseng Festival, I guess you could say that I was slightly reserved in wanting to attend another Korean festival. However, as Brandon casually cajoled me into at least researching the festival, I quickly went to my handy, dandy search engine, Google (is it coincidence that Google starts the same as God?).

As we scrolled through the list of Google’s most trustworthy opinions of sites containing information on the Mask Festival, I quickly clicked on a link that noted that the festival was cancelled.

Woop! Was this God sending me a message that no festivals are actually worth attending? I think so.

False. The 2009 Andong Mask Dance Festival was cancelled due to the outbreak of swine flu. After scrolling down to read more on the link, we saw these responses:

“NO WAY!!! This is my favorite festival in Korea. I buy Christmas presents here every year! Crapola.”

And

“The Andong Mask Festival (and associated fireworks at Hahoe) is something I've been looking forward to for the past couple of months. Argh. Well, there go my plans for Chuseok ...”

We literally laughed out loud. Really??? You buy all your presents here and this was all you were planning on doing for Chuseok, one of the ONLY times we get off school??? Reallllly?

So maybe this was a little convincing. We threw in the towel- we’re going to Andong.

As we arrived in the city located in the northern portion of Gyeongsanbuk-do, we quickly discovered the rich traditions and specialty foods that this city had to offer. Known as the center for culture, it is no surprise that there is an abundance of folk traditions, specifically mask making and dancing.

The festival is well-planned, with events constantly occurring, and sometimes to our dismay, the nightlife offers simultaneous events. But before fully immersing yourself in the folk traditions, you must wiggle your way through the street vendors, hoping to keep at least some cash in your pockets to purchase all of those Christmas presents that you’ve been dying to send home.

For us, it must have taken at least 3 hours before we made it to the actual mask dancing. But when we made it there, it was surely a treat. For the young men out there, they have half naked women shaking their bellies and booties (in Korea… I KNOW. I was just as surprised). And as always, we got called out for being foreigners. Now when I say we, I actually mean Brandon because he got pulled onto the stage and basically had to dance with the masked men and women. And then the adorable Asian babies came out on stage. What’s a show without showing off your best assets?

Some street food and LOTS of pictures later (check out FB) we got to see a mask dance show. Now this was a show. Not only was there amazing singing, but the performers rapped, did some break dancing, and even brought out the drums. Despite not understanding a word and completely missing the underlying plot (isn’t that normal for an Opera though?), we were blown away.

The next day offered just as much traditional Korean culture. In the morning we ventured to Andong Icheondong Seokbulsang, or better known as Jebiwon Stone Buddha. After weighing our options to head to Hahoe or stay in Andong, we decided that staying in Andong would offer the most cultural experiences with some mask arts and crafts, 40% soju and jjimdak.

Every child should be able to make their own mask at some point in their life, whether it be at 5 years old (as most of the children there were) or 25 years old. Once that putty enters your hand, you immediately convert to a child. Two hours later, we have the most gorgeous mask at the festival.

Now you may think I’m biased, but by the amount of Koreans who stopped to admire our piece of artwork and ESPECIALLY by the amount of professional photographers who snapped hundreds of shots of the Americans making a mask, I firmly believe that we had the best mask at the festival.

And speaking of the professional photographers, HOLY ASIANS!!! At least 10 photographers, all up in my grill, making me pose with my mask, “look natural”, oh the list goes on and on. I actually began to think that I was Heidi Montag, only I didn’t have Spencer next to me bedazzled in crystals. Thank God I actually put on make-up that day. Whew. I will bet 10 bucks that I’m the poster child for the 2011 Andong Mask Dance Festival. Does this mean that I get a cut of the profits?

And or all of you questionable 2011 Andong Mask Dance Festival goers, definitely go!!! Shop for Christmas, try the 40% soju, MAKE A MASK, and definitely try the jjimdak. Sorry this blog was so long—I just actually love this festival!

Fun Fact Friday (2)

Sorry I have been lacking in my blogs this week. As you will see in my next post, I have been away for a few days at a GEPIK conference. Although I work through the Korean government, I have technically signed a contract with GEPIK (Gyeonggi English Program In Korea). So as you can imagine, the coordinators loved to remind us of fun facts about GEPIK, most of which I jotted down to make sure I could share with yall.

Fact: GEPIK is a part of EPIK; however, when you separate the two, GEPIK is the largest English program in Korea, supporting about 2,300 Native English teachers. So although there are 9 provinces (including Jeju island, a self-governing province in the south of Korea), Gyeonggi-do employs more English teachers than all of the 8 other provinces combined. However, although there are more job opportunities available, it is the most competitive program, with over 1,200 people applying for 300 jobs that started in August. Within the GEPIK program, there are more male teachers than there are female teachers, with 59% being male and 41% female. And last but not least, traditionally, teachers were regarded as the same hierarchy level as Kings and fathers until the 19th century. Maybe this explains why my children are required to bow to me before each class.