Here am I. Send me!: Ulsan

At the end of June, I traveled with my co-teachers, the head teacher, and the principal to Ulsan on a school visit. Ulsan is about an hour away and is probably the next closest city to Busan. We went to a school, heard a presentation on their English program (which seems similar to ours but I really have no idea since it was of course all in Korean), and then walked around to look at their facilities. This particular school was really nice. There was an astroturf soccer field in front, 2 English classrooms, a wrestling gym like room with gym equipment, a nice basketball gym, and a small but nice theater like area with stadium seating. However, their selection of English books were much, much smaller than the selection at my school. It was interesting to see a different school and to see how similar and yet different schools are throughout Korea.

After the visit to the school, we walked around a bamboo forest and then had dinner at a traditional Korean restaurant before returning to Busan. The bamboo forest was really interesting. I liked it a lot.

I was thankful for this trip. I was able to see a new city as well as compare a different school to my school. This is the fourth public school I have visited in Korea and there are a lot of similarities in all classrooms. (I visited one in 2004 when I came to Korea while a student at Berry College, I visited one during my orientation, and then my school and the Ulsan school). Mostly the very simple design of a room with several desks and lockers in the back. Student artwork displayed and a few projects but otherwise not much else. I find it interesting how the classrooms seem so different from elementary schools in America and yet they are very functional.

Below are a few pictures of the bamboo forest. I did not take pictures at the school because no one else was.