Team Oedae

A lot of people have asked me about the people I work with, so I figured a “Team Page” was in order. The school, Oedae Language Institute, has four and a half other “foreign” teachers, expats, like me. Three are from the states (Kate, Sean & Zach) and the other (Abueng) is from Canada. The remaining half-foreign teacher is Andrew, who is Korean, from Korea (I think… ), but lived in England for a period of time so they consider him a foreign teacher. I asked some of the teachers to write a short blurb about themselves and how they came to teach in SK, but none of them are excited about the idea, with the exception of Zach.

 

Zach arrived in Korea just a month before I did, so we share the “newbie” title. He is from Texas, but I try not to hold that against him. I could give you a synopsis based on my impressions of him, but you should be able to draw your own conclusions from him. Zach has eagerly agreed to not only write a short bio, but rather a more extended and detailed, full biography. He is taking this very seriously and there have been whispers of memoirs… Regardless of format, I have agreed to publish said biography on my blog with limited censorship. Part I is currently in final editing stages and should be up shortly… Stay tuned!!!

 

Due to the other teachers lack of enthusiasm, their bios are based on my perception of them and whatever facts I have come by via conversations and salacious Oedae gossip.

 

Kate is the eldest foreign teacher as far as tenure goes. She is also the foreign teacher director, which means she is the one responsible for relaying all things decided in Korean. She is basically the spokeswoman for all of the other foreign teachers and it will be interesting to see the shift of power once she leaves next month.  Kate has been living in SK for the last two years. She is originally from Massachusetts and is exciting to be returning home soon.

 

Sean will be leaving Team Oedae next month as well, to take another teaching job in Jeju (basically, the Hawaii of Korea… there are already plans to visit). He previously taught English in Japan, along with a number of other foreigners that I have been hanging out with. Sean is a Spanish major, so he has lived and studied in Spain on top of living in various cities from Vegas to Portland. Rumor is he even flung fish for some fishing company up in Alaska for a while (flashbacks from Pike Place Market come to mind…)

 

Abueng worked with Sean in Japan, so when their school went out of business they relocated to SK. She is originally from Toronto, Canada. Her plan is to work here for a year and save up money until she can return to Japan. She has traveled all around Europe and has even lived in both Germany and….INDIA (I am very jealous)!!! She dabbles in linguistics and is currently learning Japanese.

Andrew is, well, Andrew. I don’t know much about him besides what I previously mentioned. He is married and has two little girls. He is really into fashion and fitness (obviously… did you see the picture??). If his English improves, I might be able to offer a more captivating biography J

 

The Parks (Linda & Mr.) are the owners of the school. Linda is always smiling (except when she is regulating some unruly student or negotiating terms for cell phones or Taekwondo classes). She speaks English fairly well and essentially runs the school. No one is quite sure what it is that Mr. Park does besides handle the occasional bill. Mr. Park’s English is pretty limited, but I have concluded from our conversations that golfing is expensive here and E-mart (comparable to Wal-mart) is owned by Samsung. He is also a stellar car-parker. Spaces here are teensy and I was amazed when I first witnessed him maneuver the Kia minivan without a moment of hesitation.