No masks, parking spots, or people says Windsorite teaching in South Korea amid COVID-19

An international school in South Korea is making a major change to how its students are taught, according to a Windsorite who currently teaches there.

Glen Monaghan teaches at a school in Jujin, a city in the South Gyeongsang province. The country has seen its public schools have their academic year delayed by a week in response to the coronavirus, following an order from the South Korean government.

At the international school where Monaghan teaches, class remains in session — but last Wednesday, the school switched to teaching its students through online classes

"It's a challenge for some of them — definitely. The older students seem to handle it a lot better because they're more mature and they're more independent and they get to sleep in a bit longer," said Monaghan.

"But our younger middle school students and especially our young elementary students are really struggling because they're just not so used to using technology and they're out of their routine. So it's definitely a struggle for some of them."

Monaghan isn't too worried about putting himself at risk of contracting coronavirus. After all, one of the few times he goes outside is to walk to and from the school from his apartment — which is only a three-minute walk, he said.

But even in that short amount of time, the biggest change he's noticed is the lack of humanity around him.

"You just don't see a lot of people anymore. Korea's pretty densely populated. Usually, you see people everywhere — but you can definitely tell there's less people out and about these days."

With people not leaving their homes and apartments as much, driving back from the school also comes with an unexpected challenge.

"It makes it really hard to find a parking spot in my apartment complex."

Masks hard to find

Shortages of masks have become a concern for people here in Canada, and in South Korea — demands are also high. According to Monaghan, they're almost impossible to find.

In Korean culture, people only tend to wear masks when they're sick, he said. But now, it's quite easy to spot a person wearing one "as a precautionary measure."

"Most people you see when you go out are wearing masks. So that's definitely been a big change," said Monaghan.

But high demand for masks has resulted in strain on supply.

"A couple of my co-workers went out the other day to try and stock up on masks. They were finding they're pretty much sold out everywhere," said Monaghan. "They're looking online — super expensive now."

"They even checked Amazon to send them to their parents and then they'd ship them here. But apparently masks are pretty much sold out everywhere. So it's tough. People are worried."

Keeping calm amid concerns

Monaghan, who has spent the past four years in South Korea, admits the only "little" concern that was on his mind before the outbreak of COVID-19, was the threat of an attack from North Korea.

"But now, it's definitely different. You have things in the back of your mind a bit more like, 'Should I flee? Should I leave?"

South Korea reported 505 more coronavirus cases Thursday, bringing its total to 1,766, according to The Associated Press.

Speaking to CBC News on Wednesday, Monaghan said it's important to keep things in perspective — in that the chance of coming into contact with someone who carries the virus is still "pretty slim."

"But you worry. 'Are we going the route of China? Is everyone going to get infected?' So it's a little bit concerning," said Monaghan.

"I'm not so concerned at the moment. I think that might just be my calm Canadian nature. But yeah, definitely, a bit more concerned for sure."

For now, Monaghan is taking the normal precautions he can to stay healthy, like washing his hands often and avoiding "densely-populated gatherings."

"In Daegu, Korea, they had a big mass infection so I'm not going there," said Monaghan. "I'm probably not going to go to any of the bigger cities anytime soon just to limit exposure."