A quick update from the past couple weeks. After making plans to see a baseball game so many weekends in a row, I finally made it to a couple. What a riot. The fans love baseball and the really love their home team. They sings songs, chant and do the wave all around the stadium for the whole game, even when their team is losing. Personally, I'm not a huge fan of baseball but these games are really enjoyable just because of the energy in the stadium. They cheer like every single person in the stadium has a personal connection to the teams. But what kills me every time; at the end of the game they all pass around orange plastic grocery bags, which they fill with air, then tie off, and then use the handles to strap the bags around their ears and wear them on top of their heads. However, the bags are used for something productive after the game, everyone uses them to throw their trash in and then toss the bags when they leave the stadium.

I also made my first visit to the movie theater over here. When you purchase your ticket you actually pick your seat in the theater. Definitely nice to not have to worry about getting there early to get a seat. I finally got to see The Hunger Games, which I have been anxiously awaiting since I finished the book series this past summer. And the movie did not disappoint! Also, as we makes our way through spring time, the cherry blossoms were all beautifully in bloom. Below is the track I go to for running, lined with cherry blossoms trees in full bloom.

In my last blog post I talked a lot about the pressure put on kids here, especially in school. So in this post I wanted to at least quickly look at the flip side. It's worth noting that South Korea has one of the best of public school systems in the world. Consistently Korea ranks among the top three countries in the world for test scoring and overall education while the US lingers down between 15-30 depending on the grade.  I've also read that Korea spends more money per student per capita then most others countries in OECD, about a 3:1 ratio (but I can't seem to find the article that sited this). In addition, to be a public elementary school teacher then you must have attended one of the national universities for education in Korea. I've also been told that without a degree from one of these universities you may not be teacher in public schools at all in Korea. Public school teachers are also required to change schools in their city every 3-4 years. This allows for the best teachers to be filtered throughout the education system, keeping the schools more equal when it comes to the quality of education that's offered. I live and work in one of the poorest area's of Busan but the kids here are still getting the same education as those in wealthier area's. Also, it's worth mentioning that public school teachers are paid almost twice as much as private school teachers here. It's far more prestigious to teach in a public school then private. In fact,  there is actually black-list of private schools in Korea for ESL teachers to stay away from.

Considering all this, the US could certainly learn some things from Korea. Our government continues to battle over education spending with public officials claiming that teachers don't need to paid as much since they don't work the whole year. Public schools in poor area's are a joke and those kids are put at a huge disadvantage which often perpetuates the violence we see in poor area's of the country. Like I said, I live in a poor area of Busan, but not once have I felt unsafe. The crime rate in Korea is remarkably low and this is certainly linked to their education system. I could go on but I think I've made my point. While in my last post I explored a harsher side of the education system here it's always important to remember there are pro's and cons to every institution in every country.  But what if we all could be open minded enough to consider other cultures and what they have to offer?