I look back anew at my education from when my grandmother took me to Deoksu Elementary School, to my all-girls middle school and high school, to university and studying abroad in the US.
I learned to read and write when I was 7 years old, whereas kids these days learn to read and write both Korean and English when they are about three or four. I think I learned multiplication tables, but the knowledge from that is dim. Rather, what I recall is my second grade teacher who used to stroke my head fondly, ,my gentle fifth grade teacher, and my sixth grade male teacher who was neat and disciplined.
When I entered girl's middle school and high school, the required classes I needed to take expanded to include a dozen courses, so I am sure I learned a lot and accumulated much knowledge. Sadly, I don’t remember much about that. What I do remember is my homeroom teacher who spoke highly of my paintings to every class; the pretty figures, tone, facial expressions, unique accent of the Korean and geography teachers, the hand gestures of the English grammar teacher who threw away the withered flowers in the classroom as soon as she entered the on the first day of class, nicknames like 'five to six' which was given to the teacher because their face was a little slanted; stories about Korean War which we badgered our teacher to tell us; stories on movies like 'Splendor in the Grass' and the chapel of 3,000 in an outdoor theater.
And how about my university years?
I majored in English not because I wanted to study English, but maybe because my teacher suggested that I do that because the cut off score for the English major was the highest among all the majors in women’s universities. I remember carrying a English literature anthology book, which weighed more than 4kg, every day for four years, to the point of my one shoulder becoming lopsided. I remember walking quite a while around the large campus carrying my book.
I remember taking a turn to read and translate parts of the anthology. It took us till graduation to finish the book. I vividly remember one sunny day in May, sitting on the grass instead of in the classroom, and eating the ice cream our professor bought us. I also remember checking attendance for the service at an auditorium at lunchtime every Monday, Wednesday and Friday, performing at a play every year and May Day festival in May.
And then I went to study in Washington as if following a natural progression. It looked like I adapted to the overly free and completely different environment and developed smoothly. But I did feel empty and lonely because my familiar environment and my family were far away.
Come to think of it, what I recall is the atmosphere of each of my teachers and the atmosphere of the school rather than what I learned and studied.
And it’s the same for when I studied in Japan.
Maybe also because it’s more recent, but those memories are more vivid because studying in Japan broke the stereotypes I had about teachers.
Japan is a foreign country, and I studied in a foreign language. Koreans and the Japanese look alike in appearance, but the attitude and mind toward students were very different. Their kindness, gentleness, meticulousness and modesty exceeded my expectation and always surprised me.
What I learned in class at Doshisha University in Kyoto crosses my mind, but now I don’t remember particular details. But the teachers’ attitude and modesty toward the students, their smiles and soft voice and overall impression from them are engraved in my heart even now. I cannot forget the attitude of Tomoyama Kazuko, the elderly female teacher who bowed deeply at the waist to the students on the first and the last day, as well as a few other professors.
What is to learn? I think to learn is learning what is admirable, building personality and developing oneself. That is why I am sorry and concerned about non face to face online lectures of recent.
What you learn in a class—and thus, what you take with you for the rest of your life—is not just its contents and formality, but as I look back, it’s what you feel and imprint from the contact with your teacher. That is why I am concerned about the current situation and post COVID19 online classes.
All of those old classes that I took for granted were with teachers that gave us affectionate attention for which I am truly grateful now. I am also grateful that my graduate classes, where the eyes of teachers and students met, were before the outbreak of COVID19.
