Dogs & Toilets

The primary purpose of this website it to share information with current and prospective teachers. I think it's only fair to let prospective teachers know about two things that they should be prepared for in Yeonggwang: the condition of dogs and toilets. This is probably true for all of Jeollanam-do but I can only comment on what I've seen. This isn't meant to be a rant and clearly pictures aren't necessary. This is just a 'heads up' so that you know what lays in store.

Dogs: It is commonly known that Koreans eat dogs. It isn't as common most western people think but it definitely happens. It's really not for me to say that the Koreans are wrong here. After all, cows are sacred in India and I still enjoy a good steak. My issue is with how dogs live in rural Korea. Large dogs are almost never allowed inside a Korean home. Sadly though, most of them spend their entire lives on short lengths of chain or confined to small cages. I prefer to see dogs that have room to run and more to enjoy out of life. It's not easy for me to walk past a dog that lives on 6-7 feet of chain.

Toilets: This is another part of life in Korea I would change if I could. The good news is that both of my schools have at least one western style toilet. The rest are squatter toilets. However, the facilities are not what we are used to back in the States. Plumbing isn't done to the same codes we have back home so the toilets can't handle toilet paper. Instead, there is a basket in the stall where the paper goes. This is common in many places around the world. Some schools don't provide toilet paper in the stalls. One of mine does, the other does not. There's probably more I could say, but I'll leave it there.

I hope this doesn't seem to critical of Korea. I think that the more you know before you get here the better prepared you will be to deal with everything you encounter.