Happy Thanksgiving!

Teaching has been a really interesting experience for me, but in many ways this experience is nothing like being a "real" teacher in America or even Korea, because of the freedom that we have in regards to our curiculum. There are no expectations, nor are there any restrictions as to what can be discussed in the classroom. Basically, we are supposed to speak English to the students, engage them in various English speaking activities of our own choosing, and teach them about American culture. Sometimes I can't help but chuckle to myself when I find myself at the front of a classroom, facing 40 pairs of inquisitive jet black eyes, explaining my culture as if it were as simple as 2 + 2 = 4. Explanations like the following seem out of place in a classroom: a turkey is cooked for 3-4 hours, cranberry sauce is eaten on turkey and stuffing is cooked inside of the turkey, we watch the Macy's Day Parade in the morning and football in the afternoon on Thanksgiving, and the Thanksgiving meal is usually served in the afternoon between noon and 6pm. Although these are the details that the students find interesting, it often feels bizarre to hear American traditions described out loud, because these things are things that we do, but rarely ponder or even think twice about. In the grand scheme of things, our traditions sometimes remind me of our youth as a nation. The closest Korean holiday to Thanksgiving is Chuseok, but the traditions of Chuseok include things like making wishes on the full moon, performing an elaborate prayer ceremony that honors ancestors from generations past, cutting the grass on their ancestor's graves the week before and returning on Chuseok Day to pour soju on each grave, and wearing traditional Korean clothes like hanboks (Korean version of the kimono) Perhaps it is just because it is my culture, but watching a commercial parade with floats depicting Ronald McDonald, Sesame Street characters, and Barbie, eating a lavish meal, and later watching American football seems trivial in comparison. Please do not misunderstand me; I love Thanksgiving! In fact, I think Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday! It's just that sometimes it feels so ironic that our culture is the dominant culture in the world, yet so new and in many ways still undefined in comparison to cultures and traditions which have been around for centuries preceeding our own.