CDI - The new hagwon

I started at my school today. It’s a nice-looking place; I particularly like my room -- it even has a projector and a sound system. I’m excited about that – if I can figure out how to connect it all, I can put my my lessons into PowerPoint presentations. That’d be neat.

It’s also useful because one of my classes, a group of middle-school students, is studying a book called “The Roots of Rock and Roll.” It tracks the development of rock from its early “race music” years into the sixties. With the help of YouTube, I’ll be able to use famous clips like Elvis on the Milton Berle show and videos of Fats Domino. Learning about rock is one thing; listening to it is another.

There are nine teachers at the school, 7 of which are gyopo (교포, 僑胞), or ethnic Korean foreigners. I am one of two whites. The high proportion of gyopo employees strikes me as something particular to CDI – I don’t know of another institution that has so many.

I’ve heard stories of parents complaining because there wasn’t a white face in the classroom, and schools that that don’t like to hire racial minorities. It’s nice to see that CDI see gyopo as an asset, but it seems to go a little far in the opposite direction.