It took me a long time to post this time, because there was a situation that I was debating on whether I would post about it or not. I have decided not to. I don't want this blog to be a space where I might offend people, so it will not be going in this blog. The only thing I will say, for those of you who are wondering, is that what I am leaving out, is not a cultural idiosyncrasy of Korea, in fact I have experienced something similar in the US. So posting it would not help you understand what it is like here, and so therefore, not worth offending others to discuss.
That being said, back to the week. I am learning every day what to do and what not to do. I still don't have it all figured out. One of the interesting things that you realize while teaching here, is the lack of context,even the best English speaking students have. For instance, one of the math problems I gave, wanted them to find the error in the way either Courtney or Chris worked the problem. While the students, got the right answer, that it was Courtney that worked out the problem correctly. Every student called Courtney a "he." I examine myself, and when I look at Korean names, I wouldn't know which one was a boy or a girl either. I am pretty sure that if I guessed, I would be wrong 98.99999999% of the time. There are many different things like that that happen everyday. When I am planning lesson plans, I cannot begin to even guess what word they won't know. And because I am teaching math, the words are only defined by math terms, which in turn, demand a definition. Like, how do you define the word "precision"? Here is what I did, I said, "it's like exact." They said, "what is exact?" I said, "maybe a better way to put it would be - specific." They said, "What is specific?" I said, "You know like broad and narrow." They said, "No??? I said, "nevermind this how you find the precision point." So, how would you explain that to a group of 9th graders???? If you have a suggestion, they kids still want to know.
So my week is filled with little things like that every day. Most of my students took their first quiz this week. It was a mid chapter quiz for most of them, which meant it didn't count as a quiz grade. It is just a chance for both me and them to find out what they are really getting and what they and I still need to work on. I went to bed heavy-hearted on Wednesday, because two of my classes did rather poorly on their quiz. I just couldn't stop thinking about how I had failed them already, what they were going to think when they saw the quiz, how could I help them get better. One of my best students, made a really bad grade. I just couldn't believe it. Neither could he when he saw it. But I think it was a reality check for most of them and me as well. I pinpointed some of the issues. Main points of emphasis for me 1. Help them understand what the instructions say, before they take the quiz. 2. Teach them to learn from their mistakes. 3. Check for comprehension more often. 4 Have them do more work in class, so that I can fix mistakes quickly.
Main points of emphasis for them. 1 Read instructions thoroughly. 2. Skip a problem on a test, and come back to it later. 3. Ask questions when you don't understand. 4. Come see me outside of class time for more instruction. I realized that I can't just teach them like they are little "Meredith's." I rarely would make the same mistake twice, partly because I hate being wrong, which you all probably know, and also because I hated feeling stupid or dumb or like I didn't get it. Both of which, probably come from a pride issue, but we will not talk about that right now. However, most of them are not like me, like I said, so I need to learn from their mistakes and mine as well, right? With many of them, when I really analyzed how they missed problems, it wasn't a lack of understanding, except when it came to word problems and properties, it was a lack of comprehension. Yes, I know, the words are synonyms, but it is true. They knew how to work most of the problems, they didn't know what the directions was telling them to do. It actually gives me hope. At some point we will be past the word problem and properties lessons and on to working out math problems. I think they will do much better at that.
I have some amazingly brilliant students in my class, and some that are not so much. Both groups have endeared themselves to my heart. From the 8th grader who asked me why is the body mass formula referenced in the textbook divided by 3600(actually happened), to the kid who can't say "body mass formula" and didn't know we were even talking about it. I love them both. That's the challenge of being an ESL math teacher in Korea.
One funny story, and then I'm signing off. One of the kids was calling another kid a "loser." I told him not to say that, that it was rude. He said, "Yeah, I heard that is a really rude thing to say to someone in America." I said, "It's rude, but I don't know if I would say really rude." I then thought, why am I trying defend his cutdown....wait, but I don't want to lie to the kid....but it is rude...if I tell him it is really rude, will he say it more, or will he stop saying it....or if I tell him its not really rude, will he say it more, or will he stop saying it....nevermind, the kid not talking to me anymore.
So, thats the week. There is more to tell, I'm sure, but do really want me to teach you math, I doubt it.
날 따라와
(follow me) It will make me feel better.
Your Seoul Survivor Chick
Friday, March 28, 2014
Tuesday, March 18, 2014
Day 18 - 19 of 293
It's the weekend! One week of teaching and as I mentioned before. I am tired. But do I stay home and catch up on sleep and washing clothes and the pile of papers that mysteriously piled up that need to be graded? No, I head to Seoul again. So far on this trip, I have gone to Seoul 3 times in 3 1/2 weeks. Until this time, I have gone to a new part of Seoul each time. I think I failed to describe what we did last time. They have this huge outdoor market every weekend in Seoul. It has outdoor vendors in the middle of the street and lining some of the streets along with the many shops that are already there. It is crowded, like worse than after Thanksgiving sales in the US. You can find nearly anything. (This will be where I get most of the souvenirs, Can anyone say I Heart Korea tshirts????) This market was where the Alpha store was that I mentioned before. So anyways, when we went before school started, it was hard to know what we needed. Now we have a list. My list included: Notecards, permanent markers, highlighters, and anything else that inspired me. We went to the local Office Depot (Whatever you are picturing, that is not it), it didn't have everything that we needed. The Office Depot is stocked with the equivalent of the school supplies that you would find at the local Dollar Store. Not the Dollar Tree, Family Dollar, or Dollar General, those are a huge step up in the teaching supply department. Its like the Dollar Stores of old, selection wise, not price wise. Remember, I am going to the Alpha store for: Note cards, permanent markers, highlighters, and whatever inspires me. So we know that was not at the Office Depot. So Caleb, Kathrine, Ciara, and I head to Seoul. Caleb is going to leave from there, and pick up the last of us at the airport. Caleb Stokes arrives today! Back to why we are taking this trip to Seoul, Notecards, permanent markers, highlighters, and something inspiring. Notecards??? Notecards??? Notecards???? I know they have notecards in Korea, Kathrine has some. I did not find Notecards. Next item, Permanent marker???? Permanent marker??? Permanent Marker???? "Kathrine, do you know where Permanent markers might be?" Kathrine, "Not sure, but their called Name markers." Me, "Ok." Name Markers???? Name Markers??? Name Markers???? "Random worker, name markers??? Random worker (eyes in a questioning gaze) saying something like "what?" Me, slowly "N a m e M a r k e r s?" Random worker, Something in Korean. Me, more precisely, "NAME MARKERS?" as I write my name in the air. Random worker, who understands sign language, then directs me in sign language to the appropriate part of the multi-level store, by leading me to the department, and then waving his hand outward, like a flight attendant. Me, "Graci, er, Kam sa me dah!" (said in a Texas accent that does not translate correctly) I've looked here before, but this time Ciara is looking with me. She finds them! Thanks Ciara. Highlighters???? Highlighters???? Highlighters???? Ciara, "I saw them on the way up here." Me, Great thanks!" Highlighters???? Highlighters???? Highlighters??? Inspiration???? Inspiration??? Inspiration???? Found a stapler! Picked up the stapler and staples. Went to the counter so they could add up my items and then I could go check out. Don't ask, never mind, I will just tell you. So apparently there are two places to actually buy items in this store. Top floor and bottom floor. In between as you leave that level, you are supposed to have them total you items, so that when you go to the check out points they will know what to charge you. It is much like how we have barcodes on all of our items at home and when you check out, they scan them to find the cost. Actually, its not like that at all. It is like nothing I have ever done before. Not quite sure the efficiency of the system, but it works I guess. When you check out, there are three people behind the counter. One reads the ticket to the person at the cash register to their right, we are moving to the left. They hand the item to their left for them to put in a sack and we pay the middle person. The person on the right hand the middle person the change to give to me because they keep ushering me further left. Like I said, really efficient. Did I mention that when they were pricing my purchases in the middle floors, the staples I picked out that were right beside the stapler I picked out, were no the right size? Well, they weren't. So I put them back. It was very nice of the lady to point it out to me. When I say point, I mean that literally. She said something in Korean, but understand the sign language part, NO MATCH. I signed back. OH! Okay!. Which was a facial twitch of understanding and I am pretty sure I said "Oh, Okay." Which I am pretty sure she understood, because she took the staples and put them aside, out of my basket. I think I was in the store for about 30 minutes, which incidentally, is shorter than it took me to write about the experience.
After we were all done at the Alpha store, Kathrine, Ciara, and I went to eat. Are you ready for another "first'? Ciara calls them "lifecards." I am not sure that this one truly counts as one, but for me it does. We ate...wait for it...wait for it...
Indian Food. Guess how much I love Indian Food??? About as much as I love Korean food. The rice was okay. But let me talk about the Naan. The Naan is amazing! I at all of mine and part of Ciara's. It almost makes it worth going there, almost. Indian food is spicy as well. I have to love Ciara, because she wants me to try food, but she also wants me to trust her. So she took a bite of the chicken something or other, and said "its not spicy, you like it, oh wait, it spicy at the end. You may not like it." She was right, it wasn't spicy when you first put it in your mouth, but as it got to your throat, you began to feel it. I at the rice and I ate the Naan. I hope that they understand, that I know that I am a picky eater, and because of that, I will make do anywhere we go, and I will be fine! I would hate for us to only go place that I like the food, because that would take away the foods that everyone else likes. I have done this my whole life. My family is used to me, my friends back home are used to me, I hope my friends here get it.
We headed back home, and got ready to meet Caleb, Caleb, and Sally at McDonalds, because that is the place to go when new teachers arrive. I for one am thankful, considering the above paragraph. I got a #1, which tastes amazingly like the #1 in the US. Then back home to get something done.
I got nothing done, except, I think, a load of laundry. I was tired!
Sunday, we woke up to fresh snow. Had no idea that was coming. I didn't go to church. I did get a lot done though. Teacher Ready, done! School work, done! Housework, done!
Have people come over to play games! done. LCR is a fun game! We played with warm fuzzies (which Ciara got at the Alpha store for the amazing deal of 20 for 2 cents!) We all plan to get some when we go back. We played for a couple of hours, then realized that we all have to get up for work tomorrow and called it a night! I work with a great group of people. We are all in the "honeymoon" phase, the "dream honeymoon" phase, not the reality "honeymoon" phase.
You'll never guess what happens next, unless I told you, or someone else already told you. Stay tuned!!!!
Never knew I could talk so much about a shopping experience at a store, did you?
After we were all done at the Alpha store, Kathrine, Ciara, and I went to eat. Are you ready for another "first'? Ciara calls them "lifecards." I am not sure that this one truly counts as one, but for me it does. We ate...wait for it...wait for it...
Indian Food. Guess how much I love Indian Food??? About as much as I love Korean food. The rice was okay. But let me talk about the Naan. The Naan is amazing! I at all of mine and part of Ciara's. It almost makes it worth going there, almost. Indian food is spicy as well. I have to love Ciara, because she wants me to try food, but she also wants me to trust her. So she took a bite of the chicken something or other, and said "its not spicy, you like it, oh wait, it spicy at the end. You may not like it." She was right, it wasn't spicy when you first put it in your mouth, but as it got to your throat, you began to feel it. I at the rice and I ate the Naan. I hope that they understand, that I know that I am a picky eater, and because of that, I will make do anywhere we go, and I will be fine! I would hate for us to only go place that I like the food, because that would take away the foods that everyone else likes. I have done this my whole life. My family is used to me, my friends back home are used to me, I hope my friends here get it.
We headed back home, and got ready to meet Caleb, Caleb, and Sally at McDonalds, because that is the place to go when new teachers arrive. I for one am thankful, considering the above paragraph. I got a #1, which tastes amazingly like the #1 in the US. Then back home to get something done.
I got nothing done, except, I think, a load of laundry. I was tired!
Sunday, we woke up to fresh snow. Had no idea that was coming. I didn't go to church. I did get a lot done though. Teacher Ready, done! School work, done! Housework, done!
Have people come over to play games! done. LCR is a fun game! We played with warm fuzzies (which Ciara got at the Alpha store for the amazing deal of 20 for 2 cents!) We all plan to get some when we go back. We played for a couple of hours, then realized that we all have to get up for work tomorrow and called it a night! I work with a great group of people. We are all in the "honeymoon" phase, the "dream honeymoon" phase, not the reality "honeymoon" phase.
You'll never guess what happens next, unless I told you, or someone else already told you. Stay tuned!!!!
Never knew I could talk so much about a shopping experience at a store, did you?
Friday, March 14, 2014
Day 14 - 17 of 293
Tuesday! The first full of day teaching. Not only was it the first full day of teaching, but some of us teachers were covering for Caleb Stokes, who had to wait ridiculously long on paper work. Curse you FBI background checks, as well as, snow storms, olympics, and government shutdown. We probably could have all come together otherwise. But that would have be awkward, because we all didn't have jobs after Mokkdong closed. Anyway, another story another time. Rabbit chased and found its way back home.
So back to the first day of school. I felt totally unprepared. In fact, while i was not totally unprepared, I was certainly not prepared to teach a math class, much less 5 math classes and some random other class. Thank goodness, our fearless leaders, knew our plight, and said, "for the first week, just get to know the kids!" Pressure off. Then I thought... How do I manage a class of students for 50 minutes, with no plan." Back to feeling the pressure. So here is where I have to point out that God had prepared me for this situations. Back home, I planned activities for youth at our church, included in those plans were, get-to-know you games, or icebreakers. So I pulled out the ones that I thought would work and used them on every class. I very quickly learned who were the talkers, who were the quiet ones, who were mature, who were not, who liked to have a good time, who thought everything was boring. I was really able to get to know personalities, at least. The first day, I wanted them to get to know me, as well as me get to know them. So, I had a list of questions that I asked each class, and then I would tell them the same things about myself. With the bigger classes, it took up the whole time. With the smaller classes, not so much. I immediately had some students that I really liked and none that I didn't. Good start, huh!
One of the more memorable moments of that day, was when one of the kids stayed in my classroom during lunch and we got to talk a little. He saw my Bible on my desk (Yay! that I get to have my Bible on my desk) and asked me about it. He looked inside and realized it wasn't in Korean. He reads English pretty well, so it wasn't that big of a deal, I just think he is used to it being in Korean, quite a shock. It was a shock for me when I saw it in Korean the other day. Anyway, he asked me what my favorite verse was. I told he it was "Ye are the light of the world, a city that is set on a hill cannot be hid." He told me his favorite one was, as he flipped through the pages to find it, "how do you say..." I said, "Psalm." He said "yeah that, 23, The Lord is my Shepherd..." Then I started saying it with him, and then quoted the rest while he looked on. He was amazed! He said, "You didn't miss a word!" I said, "I went to a Christian school, too. We got to learn memory work there." He said, "Do you know the Lord's Prayer, I like that one?" I quoted it to him. He was amazed. Honestly, I was a little too. They just came out. It has been forever since I quoted either of those to anyone. Again, God prepared me for that moment. I was quick to tell him, that I couldn't do that with all the verses that he could pull out, that I just got lucky that those were the ones he asked about. But that is just one of the things that I love about being here. I can talk freely about God's Word. In fact it is appreciated. Needless to say, that kid is one of my favorites. After the conversation, He went and laid on the desk, that I told you about last time. The ones over in the corner of the room. They have a pretty brutal schedule.
After making it through all my classes for the day. I tried decided what to do the next day. The next day was going to be breaking out the games. Except for one class, that I had not done the introduction with, because I do not have them on Tuesdays. Rauni, you will appreciate this. We did the Numbers game. Huge hit. They still want to play it. Every class caught on much quicker than any other group I have taught it to. They actually got me out. (Which sorry to brag, but NEVER happens. That's why I love the game. JK!) Let me just say, that it was because I couldn't understand the number, I thought he said two, and he said twelve. I was twelve. I never actually made it to the beginning. So that was Wednesday. Games and getting to know them. Plus, I was supposed to have 2nd and 3rd graders for one period. They never showed. I also had a 7th grade class, which was fine, because they are my homeroom.
Thursday, we got the instructions that we needed to give out homework. Which was difficult because I had not taught them anything but games. Assignment for the day for all of my classes, Write an introductory paragraph telling me something about yourself that you think I should know. I got some interesting papers. Kids wanted to be everything from dancers to diplomats. One kid even wanted to be a business worker, because some one has to be a worker in a business, so why not him. Many of them wanted to go to University in American, some of them didn't want to at all. A couple of them had been to America, A few had been to other places like China, Canada, Mexico, the Philippines, New Zealand, Malaysia, England, and others that I can't remember. One of them, even had a dad that worked in Saudi Arabia, just like my dad. Some of them told me about their bad traits, while more of them told me about their good ones. Needless to say, for the most part. I thoroughly enjoyed reading them. The older they were, the better the paragraph. Partly because they think in English better, and partly, I'm sure, because they have more to say. Two of the more memorable ones were 1. The boy I was talking about earlier, asked me in his paragraph, to watch out for one of the younger kids, because he doesn't know English very well, and he is not smart, and he is slow at learning. He said he loves the kids enough to spend money on him, no problem. 2. Another kid, from the same class, took the time in his paragraph to tell me cultural differences between Koreans and foreign teachers. He didn't want me to get offended by things that they did. I thought both of them were very sweet. I will add, that the second kid, is also one of my favorites.
BTW, they were both on the bus today, going home for the weekend. And I said, I have all my favorites on the bus today, and one of them, was like, do you mean me. I nodded. He beamed. Good ending to a week!
So back to Thursday, I taught all my classes how to play the Couch game. They caught on super quick. I mean, I was impressed with the Number game, I was floored by the Couch game. There were a few that didn't quite catch on, but the majority were amazing! I even tried out the Human Knot game with one class, but they kept letting go of hands, so that game didn't work out so well.
On Friday, I was feeling pretty ridiculous, not having an school work yet, so I quizzed them over what they knew. I, of course, made it a game. I was exceedingly impressed by them. They might not understand all of the words that I say, but they have gotten most of the math concepts to be on level. I played Connect Four with them, because it takes a little more strategy than TicTacToe. I assumed, incorrectly, that they had probably played TicTacToe before. Not one kid, in any of my classes had played it. Even after I demonstrated what it looked like, they had not played. The did, however, like to say TicTacToe. All of the classes caught on to Connect Four quickly as well. I finished the week, by giving out vocabulary and a promise of math class to come.
What a first week! We made it! I am a teacher! I still can't believe it! I have waited a long time for this. 1 week down, 39 to go! I'm tired!!!
So back to the first day of school. I felt totally unprepared. In fact, while i was not totally unprepared, I was certainly not prepared to teach a math class, much less 5 math classes and some random other class. Thank goodness, our fearless leaders, knew our plight, and said, "for the first week, just get to know the kids!" Pressure off. Then I thought... How do I manage a class of students for 50 minutes, with no plan." Back to feeling the pressure. So here is where I have to point out that God had prepared me for this situations. Back home, I planned activities for youth at our church, included in those plans were, get-to-know you games, or icebreakers. So I pulled out the ones that I thought would work and used them on every class. I very quickly learned who were the talkers, who were the quiet ones, who were mature, who were not, who liked to have a good time, who thought everything was boring. I was really able to get to know personalities, at least. The first day, I wanted them to get to know me, as well as me get to know them. So, I had a list of questions that I asked each class, and then I would tell them the same things about myself. With the bigger classes, it took up the whole time. With the smaller classes, not so much. I immediately had some students that I really liked and none that I didn't. Good start, huh!
One of the more memorable moments of that day, was when one of the kids stayed in my classroom during lunch and we got to talk a little. He saw my Bible on my desk (Yay! that I get to have my Bible on my desk) and asked me about it. He looked inside and realized it wasn't in Korean. He reads English pretty well, so it wasn't that big of a deal, I just think he is used to it being in Korean, quite a shock. It was a shock for me when I saw it in Korean the other day. Anyway, he asked me what my favorite verse was. I told he it was "Ye are the light of the world, a city that is set on a hill cannot be hid." He told me his favorite one was, as he flipped through the pages to find it, "how do you say..." I said, "Psalm." He said "yeah that, 23, The Lord is my Shepherd..." Then I started saying it with him, and then quoted the rest while he looked on. He was amazed! He said, "You didn't miss a word!" I said, "I went to a Christian school, too. We got to learn memory work there." He said, "Do you know the Lord's Prayer, I like that one?" I quoted it to him. He was amazed. Honestly, I was a little too. They just came out. It has been forever since I quoted either of those to anyone. Again, God prepared me for that moment. I was quick to tell him, that I couldn't do that with all the verses that he could pull out, that I just got lucky that those were the ones he asked about. But that is just one of the things that I love about being here. I can talk freely about God's Word. In fact it is appreciated. Needless to say, that kid is one of my favorites. After the conversation, He went and laid on the desk, that I told you about last time. The ones over in the corner of the room. They have a pretty brutal schedule.
After making it through all my classes for the day. I tried decided what to do the next day. The next day was going to be breaking out the games. Except for one class, that I had not done the introduction with, because I do not have them on Tuesdays. Rauni, you will appreciate this. We did the Numbers game. Huge hit. They still want to play it. Every class caught on much quicker than any other group I have taught it to. They actually got me out. (Which sorry to brag, but NEVER happens. That's why I love the game. JK!) Let me just say, that it was because I couldn't understand the number, I thought he said two, and he said twelve. I was twelve. I never actually made it to the beginning. So that was Wednesday. Games and getting to know them. Plus, I was supposed to have 2nd and 3rd graders for one period. They never showed. I also had a 7th grade class, which was fine, because they are my homeroom.
Thursday, we got the instructions that we needed to give out homework. Which was difficult because I had not taught them anything but games. Assignment for the day for all of my classes, Write an introductory paragraph telling me something about yourself that you think I should know. I got some interesting papers. Kids wanted to be everything from dancers to diplomats. One kid even wanted to be a business worker, because some one has to be a worker in a business, so why not him. Many of them wanted to go to University in American, some of them didn't want to at all. A couple of them had been to America, A few had been to other places like China, Canada, Mexico, the Philippines, New Zealand, Malaysia, England, and others that I can't remember. One of them, even had a dad that worked in Saudi Arabia, just like my dad. Some of them told me about their bad traits, while more of them told me about their good ones. Needless to say, for the most part. I thoroughly enjoyed reading them. The older they were, the better the paragraph. Partly because they think in English better, and partly, I'm sure, because they have more to say. Two of the more memorable ones were 1. The boy I was talking about earlier, asked me in his paragraph, to watch out for one of the younger kids, because he doesn't know English very well, and he is not smart, and he is slow at learning. He said he loves the kids enough to spend money on him, no problem. 2. Another kid, from the same class, took the time in his paragraph to tell me cultural differences between Koreans and foreign teachers. He didn't want me to get offended by things that they did. I thought both of them were very sweet. I will add, that the second kid, is also one of my favorites.
BTW, they were both on the bus today, going home for the weekend. And I said, I have all my favorites on the bus today, and one of them, was like, do you mean me. I nodded. He beamed. Good ending to a week!
So back to Thursday, I taught all my classes how to play the Couch game. They caught on super quick. I mean, I was impressed with the Number game, I was floored by the Couch game. There were a few that didn't quite catch on, but the majority were amazing! I even tried out the Human Knot game with one class, but they kept letting go of hands, so that game didn't work out so well.
On Friday, I was feeling pretty ridiculous, not having an school work yet, so I quizzed them over what they knew. I, of course, made it a game. I was exceedingly impressed by them. They might not understand all of the words that I say, but they have gotten most of the math concepts to be on level. I played Connect Four with them, because it takes a little more strategy than TicTacToe. I assumed, incorrectly, that they had probably played TicTacToe before. Not one kid, in any of my classes had played it. Even after I demonstrated what it looked like, they had not played. The did, however, like to say TicTacToe. All of the classes caught on to Connect Four quickly as well. I finished the week, by giving out vocabulary and a promise of math class to come.
What a first week! We made it! I am a teacher! I still can't believe it! I have waited a long time for this. 1 week down, 39 to go! I'm tired!!!
Monday, March 10, 2014
Day 13 of 293
First day of school - This is why I am here and it has finally happened!
Good news first - We didn't have to be to work until 9am! yeah! I enjoyed every extra minute of sleep!
More good news - This day is filled with getting ready for the school year, we finally get to go into our new rooms and set them up for the school year!
The bad news...When we get to school, my computer was missing a cord, we didn't have internet, there was only one whiteboard, and it is off to to one side of the wall, not centered, there is no cabinet, and no TV, no teacher editions to my books, except for Trig, and no school supplies.
The trig teacher edition can go in the good news section as well.
So what do I do, I follow the FWCI motto and "be flexible." I know that I have it much better than some of the other teachers, who either aren't here yet (Caleb Stokes), or just got here the previous weekend (Ciara Smith and Brock Rose). So I begin to arrange chairs, set up my desk, rearrange chairs, rearrange chairs, rearrange chairs. No matter how I arrange them, I don't feel like the students will be able to see the white board from every spot they are sitting. So I leave them alone for a while. One of the main problems is that the outlets, that my desk need to be near are in the middle of the long walls on each side of the room. That means that my desk needs to be in the middle of the room. So I work on some lesson plans. I am really just getting to do this, except for my 10th grade class which we had to intensive work on for the Korean government side of things. I then rearrange desks and finally decide to put the desks against the back wall and only use chairs for the first week. Since the first week is going to be more of a get to know you time and get the students ready for how the class will run. I thought this might work out good. And it did for the most part. My classes range in size from 10 to 20, so I have lots of room and no room in the course of a day. Oh yeah, I decorated my room with the few decorations I brought. I got some good verses on the wall! I am so excited that I get to do that, love teaching at a Christian school!
We had opening ceremony at 3pm. So let me just explain this opening ceremony thing we had. First of all we are sent to our home room kids. I am with 7th graders. These kids stand in lines. I stand in the front of one line and Mrs. Yun the Korean homeroom teacher stands in front of the other line. One of the pastors gets up and I assume welcomes everyone to a new school year at Shema, its in Korean so I don't really know. Its what I would have done. Then we sing a song in Korean, and by we, I mean all the people that know Korean. Then one of the pastors tells us something in Korean. Then we sing a song in Korean, and again, when I say we, I mean all the people that know Korean. This excludes all the American teachers who are standing in front of their prospective homeroom classes just like me. Then another pastor says something in Korean, that ends with something like "Now Caleb Coleman will come pray." Caleb Coleman prays, he does a pretty good job. He does it in English, so I can say that. Then a Korean teacher gets up and says something in Korean. Then Mrs. Yun says something in Korean. Then Pastor Kim and Mrs Riley go up on the stage. Pastor Kim steps forward and two kids walk to the microphone and some stuff in Korean in unison, then bow to Pastor Kim. Then they play the Korean National Anthem, and then sing the Korean National Anthem. This may be the most awkward I have felt up to this point, because I feel like they want me to pledge to the Korean Flag as well. Here we are 8 Americans not pledging while everyone else does. Oh, well, I'm an American and proud of it! So then Pastor Kim speaks for a while in Korean, and finally calls the teachers on stage. He calls out each teacher, we only know this because Mrs. Yun told us to step forward as he did it. Then Mrs. Riley gave a good speech in English! Yay! And finally after a little over an hour of standing we are dismissed. But not really, because we are to take our homeroom students to our classrooms. I didn't know about this, but appearantly we were supposed to watch them while the Koreans teachers did something. My home room co teacher, stayed in the class with me. Shout out! Mrs. Yun. At around 5 pm, it was time for the students to leave the class, and the teachers to head home. The next day would be our first official full day of school! I can't believe it. I am finally going to be a teacher. And what a way to start! I think I am really going to like it here!
Good news first - We didn't have to be to work until 9am! yeah! I enjoyed every extra minute of sleep!
More good news - This day is filled with getting ready for the school year, we finally get to go into our new rooms and set them up for the school year!
The bad news...When we get to school, my computer was missing a cord, we didn't have internet, there was only one whiteboard, and it is off to to one side of the wall, not centered, there is no cabinet, and no TV, no teacher editions to my books, except for Trig, and no school supplies.
The trig teacher edition can go in the good news section as well.
So what do I do, I follow the FWCI motto and "be flexible." I know that I have it much better than some of the other teachers, who either aren't here yet (Caleb Stokes), or just got here the previous weekend (Ciara Smith and Brock Rose). So I begin to arrange chairs, set up my desk, rearrange chairs, rearrange chairs, rearrange chairs. No matter how I arrange them, I don't feel like the students will be able to see the white board from every spot they are sitting. So I leave them alone for a while. One of the main problems is that the outlets, that my desk need to be near are in the middle of the long walls on each side of the room. That means that my desk needs to be in the middle of the room. So I work on some lesson plans. I am really just getting to do this, except for my 10th grade class which we had to intensive work on for the Korean government side of things. I then rearrange desks and finally decide to put the desks against the back wall and only use chairs for the first week. Since the first week is going to be more of a get to know you time and get the students ready for how the class will run. I thought this might work out good. And it did for the most part. My classes range in size from 10 to 20, so I have lots of room and no room in the course of a day. Oh yeah, I decorated my room with the few decorations I brought. I got some good verses on the wall! I am so excited that I get to do that, love teaching at a Christian school!
We had opening ceremony at 3pm. So let me just explain this opening ceremony thing we had. First of all we are sent to our home room kids. I am with 7th graders. These kids stand in lines. I stand in the front of one line and Mrs. Yun the Korean homeroom teacher stands in front of the other line. One of the pastors gets up and I assume welcomes everyone to a new school year at Shema, its in Korean so I don't really know. Its what I would have done. Then we sing a song in Korean, and by we, I mean all the people that know Korean. Then one of the pastors tells us something in Korean. Then we sing a song in Korean, and again, when I say we, I mean all the people that know Korean. This excludes all the American teachers who are standing in front of their prospective homeroom classes just like me. Then another pastor says something in Korean, that ends with something like "Now Caleb Coleman will come pray." Caleb Coleman prays, he does a pretty good job. He does it in English, so I can say that. Then a Korean teacher gets up and says something in Korean. Then Mrs. Yun says something in Korean. Then Pastor Kim and Mrs Riley go up on the stage. Pastor Kim steps forward and two kids walk to the microphone and some stuff in Korean in unison, then bow to Pastor Kim. Then they play the Korean National Anthem, and then sing the Korean National Anthem. This may be the most awkward I have felt up to this point, because I feel like they want me to pledge to the Korean Flag as well. Here we are 8 Americans not pledging while everyone else does. Oh, well, I'm an American and proud of it! So then Pastor Kim speaks for a while in Korean, and finally calls the teachers on stage. He calls out each teacher, we only know this because Mrs. Yun told us to step forward as he did it. Then Mrs. Riley gave a good speech in English! Yay! And finally after a little over an hour of standing we are dismissed. But not really, because we are to take our homeroom students to our classrooms. I didn't know about this, but appearantly we were supposed to watch them while the Koreans teachers did something. My home room co teacher, stayed in the class with me. Shout out! Mrs. Yun. At around 5 pm, it was time for the students to leave the class, and the teachers to head home. The next day would be our first official full day of school! I can't believe it. I am finally going to be a teacher. And what a way to start! I think I am really going to like it here!
Sunday, March 9, 2014
11 and 12 of 293
Glad I'm not Ciara and Brock. If I didn't say it before, I'm saying it now, I am so thankful that I got eased into the Korean pace that we call life. Ciara and Brock did not have it so easy. Neither did Mrs. Riley, while I am at it.
Ok, so we woke up Saturday morning and got ready to go to Seoul. Caleb and Kathrine were going to show us around a new part of Seoul and then we were supposed to meet Pastor Kim for dinner at some point. Leaving for the day we had no clue when or where we would be meeting them. We were hoping for an early dinner!!! While Daniel, Christine, and I had already been through a few of the firsts that happen when moving to Korea, the others still had to do some. So they first got to take the walk from the apartment to the Subway. Mrs. Riley knew what she was in for, but the others didn't. Don't forget that Mrs. Riley is still wearing the boot. She was a super trooper! Once at the subway we had to go through the whole process of getting our subway passes. I don't think I have explained the process yet, so why don't I do it know when we have the most people trying to do it. Korea has this awesome system where you can buy a subway pass through a prepaid card, or your credit card, or your phone. Caleb and Kathrine get to enjoy that perk all the time!!! However the only way to use that system is if you have and ARC card first, which none of us have yet. Hopefully this week!! So, if you don't have the ARC card that enables you to then get a prepaid card, credit card account that issues the T-card (Transportation card) or phone service, then you must buy a single trip card every time you go to the subway. If you live in Deokjeong, like we do, then you can not be more than like a thousand won over, or they will not be able to give you change. A subway card, normally cost between 1500 won to 3000 won. American dollar approximately $1.50 to $3.00. Not that bad, and you get 500 won for returning the card each time. So, it is about $.50 cents cheaper than that. I'm sure that is really interesting for you few readers, but it is what it is. So there are 5 of us trying to get our card, and we are all trying to get as close to the right amount as we can, so that we can actually get the card. Sometimes we have to buy two single trip tickets together and pay each other back, so that the purchase amount can be something that the kiosk has the change for. So we then go to the turnstyles, hover our card, and walk through, but wait.... it didn't register right for someone...alert! alert!, so they try again....nope, denied. (You see the trick is that if it doesn't work the first time, you have to back totally out and then try again, otherwise, it will never let you through. I know this because I am an old pro at this point. :)) So, finally they back all the way out, then hover the card, then green means go and they go! We take the stairs to the top and wait for the subway. I know I have discussed the rules of the subway, and if they read my blog they already know them, but Brock, I don't think he read my blog. SHAME! But, maybe he did, and he is just too polite anyway. I will go with the second option, because seriously is has the gentleman-ly thing down. He opens doors for ladies, and everyone really. He lets everyone else sit first. He is just too polite, puts all other guys to shame. He would probably hate that I am even pointing it out. So anyway, I only point this out now, because it comes into play later. So we get on the subway, and of course, there are no seats. So here we are, 9 Americans riding the subway. Eventually seats become available for most of us, but poor Brock, he is just too nice! He didn't really seem to mind anyway. We get to Seoul, and where do we go first, Starbucks! Thats right! Then off to a street market. By the way, let me just describe what this part of Seoul looks like. You should all know what Time Square looks like in New York, well, where we got off in Seoul looks a lot like that main intersection you see that creates that "Y". We go down the crowded market and they have vendors of every kind imaginable. It was hard to even really want to stop because it was just so crowded and full of stuff. We did stop at a few places though, Kathrine and Ciara go some crazy pants, don't really know how else to describe them. Sorry Kathrine and Ciara if that offends you. Christine got some things for grandkids. Ciara and Daniel bought this cinnamon thing, that was pretty good. Then we got to the Alpha store! This is the best store I have seen for teachers, doesn't have everything that you would want, but it has more than anywhere else. It also has lots of other stuff as well. All of us girls bought a few things there, while the boys went off to do I don't know what. All I do know is that they ate Korean food and we ate McDonalds, well everyone except Kathrine who had Smoothie King. After the Alpha store, Kathrine led us to the Palace Station (pic on fb) and then back through the market to do some more shopping. Ciara, Kathrine, and Mrs. Riley all bought some clothes. Then we were all pretty much tired and wondering when we were going to meet Pastor Kim. About 3pm, after being in Sould for about 4 or 5 hours, we back up with the boys and go to a movie, we found out that we were not meeting Pastor Kim til 6:30.
We decided to go see Non-Stop with Liam Neelson, "Mary" from Downton Abby, some guy from House of Cards, and some other people. 7 of us were in front row seats, but I guess as compensation for having to be in the front row, we got these amazing foot rests. I want one!!! It was agreed by everyone that it was just what we all needed. So the movie is in English with Korean subtitles. Nice! right? The only problem, and don't get me wrong, I appreciated the English, the only problem was that there was a lot of texting in the plot of the movie, and all the texts were posted in Korean instead of English, so we never knew what the texts said. It doesn't seem like a big deal, but a big portion of the movie happened through text. Still liked the movie. I didn't totally guess the ending. It still surprised me!
We leave the movie and find out that we are going to a different place, which is further away, to meet Pastor Kim. We get there about 7pm and sit down to a fancy Korean meal. Luckily I am by Sally, who takes good care of me when it comes to Korean food. She lets me know what is or isn't spicy. They had a salad that was amazing, it had a sesame dressing. YUM! Instead of pork, which we usually get, we had steak. The plain steak was delicious. Of course we had all the other stuff, which I did not eat, except for rice. When we got there, we thought we were going to be eating on the floor, but when we actually got to the table, we found that we could let our legs hang down under the table! Thank goodness! Upon leaving, we found out that we got to take food home, each apartment got to take home what we had just eaten to cook at home later (FYI- haven't cooked it yet)
We then took the subway back home, walked to our apartments and crashed for the night.
The next day, we all got up and went to the church that Caleb and Kathrine have been going to. Which required another subway ride, much shorter. Seoul takes over an hour, this was only like 20 minutes. We stopped and had coffee, then walked to the church. It was pretty good. He preached (in English) against compromising with sin. He used Jehoshaphat as the example. It was pretty good, like I said before. Afterward, many of the people talked with us. We were kind of a big group, couldn't just get overlooked. We found out that they have an international school as part of their church as well. I don't think it is all grades like ours, but I could be wrong about that. We then went to eat at a food court in a mall. I got Burger King (the Burger King food I have ever had), everyone else got Korean food. I figure I need to take advantage of the opportunities to eat food I really like when I can. We headed back home after eating and then later went to Caleb and Kathrine's for pizza. Which was pretty good! Kathrine made a chocolate cake topped with strawberries and sugar that was pretty darn good.
We all headed home to get plenty of rest for our first full week of work! School blogs...coming soon to a computer screen near you.
Ok, so we woke up Saturday morning and got ready to go to Seoul. Caleb and Kathrine were going to show us around a new part of Seoul and then we were supposed to meet Pastor Kim for dinner at some point. Leaving for the day we had no clue when or where we would be meeting them. We were hoping for an early dinner!!! While Daniel, Christine, and I had already been through a few of the firsts that happen when moving to Korea, the others still had to do some. So they first got to take the walk from the apartment to the Subway. Mrs. Riley knew what she was in for, but the others didn't. Don't forget that Mrs. Riley is still wearing the boot. She was a super trooper! Once at the subway we had to go through the whole process of getting our subway passes. I don't think I have explained the process yet, so why don't I do it know when we have the most people trying to do it. Korea has this awesome system where you can buy a subway pass through a prepaid card, or your credit card, or your phone. Caleb and Kathrine get to enjoy that perk all the time!!! However the only way to use that system is if you have and ARC card first, which none of us have yet. Hopefully this week!! So, if you don't have the ARC card that enables you to then get a prepaid card, credit card account that issues the T-card (Transportation card) or phone service, then you must buy a single trip card every time you go to the subway. If you live in Deokjeong, like we do, then you can not be more than like a thousand won over, or they will not be able to give you change. A subway card, normally cost between 1500 won to 3000 won. American dollar approximately $1.50 to $3.00. Not that bad, and you get 500 won for returning the card each time. So, it is about $.50 cents cheaper than that. I'm sure that is really interesting for you few readers, but it is what it is. So there are 5 of us trying to get our card, and we are all trying to get as close to the right amount as we can, so that we can actually get the card. Sometimes we have to buy two single trip tickets together and pay each other back, so that the purchase amount can be something that the kiosk has the change for. So we then go to the turnstyles, hover our card, and walk through, but wait.... it didn't register right for someone...alert! alert!, so they try again....nope, denied. (You see the trick is that if it doesn't work the first time, you have to back totally out and then try again, otherwise, it will never let you through. I know this because I am an old pro at this point. :)) So, finally they back all the way out, then hover the card, then green means go and they go! We take the stairs to the top and wait for the subway. I know I have discussed the rules of the subway, and if they read my blog they already know them, but Brock, I don't think he read my blog. SHAME! But, maybe he did, and he is just too polite anyway. I will go with the second option, because seriously is has the gentleman-ly thing down. He opens doors for ladies, and everyone really. He lets everyone else sit first. He is just too polite, puts all other guys to shame. He would probably hate that I am even pointing it out. So anyway, I only point this out now, because it comes into play later. So we get on the subway, and of course, there are no seats. So here we are, 9 Americans riding the subway. Eventually seats become available for most of us, but poor Brock, he is just too nice! He didn't really seem to mind anyway. We get to Seoul, and where do we go first, Starbucks! Thats right! Then off to a street market. By the way, let me just describe what this part of Seoul looks like. You should all know what Time Square looks like in New York, well, where we got off in Seoul looks a lot like that main intersection you see that creates that "Y". We go down the crowded market and they have vendors of every kind imaginable. It was hard to even really want to stop because it was just so crowded and full of stuff. We did stop at a few places though, Kathrine and Ciara go some crazy pants, don't really know how else to describe them. Sorry Kathrine and Ciara if that offends you. Christine got some things for grandkids. Ciara and Daniel bought this cinnamon thing, that was pretty good. Then we got to the Alpha store! This is the best store I have seen for teachers, doesn't have everything that you would want, but it has more than anywhere else. It also has lots of other stuff as well. All of us girls bought a few things there, while the boys went off to do I don't know what. All I do know is that they ate Korean food and we ate McDonalds, well everyone except Kathrine who had Smoothie King. After the Alpha store, Kathrine led us to the Palace Station (pic on fb) and then back through the market to do some more shopping. Ciara, Kathrine, and Mrs. Riley all bought some clothes. Then we were all pretty much tired and wondering when we were going to meet Pastor Kim. About 3pm, after being in Sould for about 4 or 5 hours, we back up with the boys and go to a movie, we found out that we were not meeting Pastor Kim til 6:30.
We decided to go see Non-Stop with Liam Neelson, "Mary" from Downton Abby, some guy from House of Cards, and some other people. 7 of us were in front row seats, but I guess as compensation for having to be in the front row, we got these amazing foot rests. I want one!!! It was agreed by everyone that it was just what we all needed. So the movie is in English with Korean subtitles. Nice! right? The only problem, and don't get me wrong, I appreciated the English, the only problem was that there was a lot of texting in the plot of the movie, and all the texts were posted in Korean instead of English, so we never knew what the texts said. It doesn't seem like a big deal, but a big portion of the movie happened through text. Still liked the movie. I didn't totally guess the ending. It still surprised me!
We leave the movie and find out that we are going to a different place, which is further away, to meet Pastor Kim. We get there about 7pm and sit down to a fancy Korean meal. Luckily I am by Sally, who takes good care of me when it comes to Korean food. She lets me know what is or isn't spicy. They had a salad that was amazing, it had a sesame dressing. YUM! Instead of pork, which we usually get, we had steak. The plain steak was delicious. Of course we had all the other stuff, which I did not eat, except for rice. When we got there, we thought we were going to be eating on the floor, but when we actually got to the table, we found that we could let our legs hang down under the table! Thank goodness! Upon leaving, we found out that we got to take food home, each apartment got to take home what we had just eaten to cook at home later (FYI- haven't cooked it yet)
We then took the subway back home, walked to our apartments and crashed for the night.
The next day, we all got up and went to the church that Caleb and Kathrine have been going to. Which required another subway ride, much shorter. Seoul takes over an hour, this was only like 20 minutes. We stopped and had coffee, then walked to the church. It was pretty good. He preached (in English) against compromising with sin. He used Jehoshaphat as the example. It was pretty good, like I said before. Afterward, many of the people talked with us. We were kind of a big group, couldn't just get overlooked. We found out that they have an international school as part of their church as well. I don't think it is all grades like ours, but I could be wrong about that. We then went to eat at a food court in a mall. I got Burger King (the Burger King food I have ever had), everyone else got Korean food. I figure I need to take advantage of the opportunities to eat food I really like when I can. We headed back home after eating and then later went to Caleb and Kathrine's for pizza. Which was pretty good! Kathrine made a chocolate cake topped with strawberries and sugar that was pretty darn good.
We all headed home to get plenty of rest for our first full week of work! School blogs...coming soon to a computer screen near you.
Wednesday, March 5, 2014
Day 9 and 10 of 293
So Thursday is the Day! We get to see our school for the first time. Let me just tell you the whole experience. I feel like I might not be able to adequately describe parts of it, like this first part... the bus ride.
Ok, so we meet at the corner of my building at 8:30, which is the most convenient because it is on the way. And guess who is here to walk with us, Mrs. Beth Riley, my boss. She came here to make sure that everything was ok and ready at the Mokkdong campus (It was not!). Not only was she here, but she came on short notice, with boot on her leg, because she had fractured??? the top of her foot. So she basically flew across the world, and walked all over Korea, with a boot on her leg! Can you say "Superwoman!" So, we meet her and find out that two of the teachers from Mokkdong are going to be joining us at Shema, and one of them, Carol, is not going to be able to make it. She was soooo looking forward to coming, especially since she had been here before. Anyway, Yay! the other teachers get to come here! So where was I, oh yeah, we meet at the corner of my building at 8:30, walk for about 10 minutes to the bus stop and hop on board our bus to go to Shema. We drive through town, to an area of Meokdeong that I have never been, turn down this tiny little road. It is the equivalent to a dirt road in the US, but this is not dirt, it is just concrete, that is just wide enough for one car/bus to drive on, except in a few places where there is a little carved out area against a cliff, where the smaller of two cars coming toward each other can scoot over and let the bigger car by. Let me just further describe this, as a road of concrete with dangerous drop offs on each side most of the time. For those of you that know me, consider this next statement for all it is worth, I HAVE NO DESIRE TO DRIVE IN KOREA!!! That aside, the drivers that we have had are AMAZING! They do things with vehicles of all sizes that movie stuntmen are paid millions to do.
So, we arrive at Shema Campus and it is much nicer that I imagines. I had not seen many pictures of the campus and I was pleasantly surprise! (I almost wrote presently surprised, but I fixed it, then I told you about it). Mrs. Yoon and Mrs. Sally (don't know her last name, but totally love her) ushered us into the office, They had all the English teachers sit in the comfy chairs until they were ready to introduce us to everyone. Mrs. Yoon then introduced us all one by one, saying what I am sure was wonderful things (I'll never know because it was in Korean). Then she introduced the Korean teachers to us. The ones I remember and could recognize today: JM, Mrs Yoon (math teacher, not the other Mrs. Yoon I have talked about so far. Found out that day that there were two Mrs. Yoons. Love them both, by the way), and there you go! That's all I can remember. Many of them I recognize them, as knowing them, but I cannot always remember their names, like right now!!! Can't remember any more names. After meeting everyone and then closing in prayer (love that we did that) we went upstairs and kind of wondered what to do next. We moved books, we helped Kathrine pull down decorations from her room to move to the new building that we are going to be moved into. After a little while of talking, Daniel, Christine, and I went to apply for our immigration cards. This basically entailed us following Sally to this partition area, then waiting until they could see us, walking over to another partitioned area, handing them our passports, getting our passports back, waiting, standing up to maybe go do something else, then leaving! Very exciting stuff, I suggest everyone do that at some point in your life. In the US, maybe the DMV would do the trick! We went back to Shema and got our books and started working on planning for the school year. We stayed 5, then hopped back on the bus, road down the narrow concrete road, then back to the bus stop to do our 10 minute walk back home (oh yeah, I should note here that the walk home, is uphill half of the way! Just something to look forward to after a long day). I forgot to mention, we ate at the school cafeteria, extra points for anyone that can guess what I ate?????? That evening we at Korean Barbeque. I am pretty sure I posted a pic of it at some point on facebook.
Friday, two more teachers are scheduled to arrive. We all follow the same route as the say before, meet at 8:30, walk 10 minutes to bus stop, ride bus on scary road, arrive at Shema safely. We take a tour of the new building. It is going to be beautiful! They still have a lot of last minute touches to do to almost everything. Then we are off to work on lesson plans. We get some more bummer news today. Karin is not going to be able to come teach this year because of health reasons. She was going to be my roommate. I am going to miss getting to know her better. She wants to come visit some time this school year. I hope she gets to. So, the question becomes, who is going to teach her classes. Answer, her classes are split between the other teachers. We maneuver, the class schedules again, and whew! I am not teaching a science class. That is good for the students as well as me. Science -- not my favorite subject. We eat lunch, in the cafeteria again, guess what I ate????? Caleb and Mrs. Riley went to the airport to pick up to more of our teachers, we still have one more that has yet to come. Waiting on the FBI background check apostilling. We get done at 5, head back home in the bus, down the scary road, to the bus stop, walk 10 minutes home (half-way up hill, YAY!) and change clothes and head out in a taxi (first time in a taxi) to meet the Ciara and Brock at McDonalds (the place we take all Americans on there first night in Korea). When they get there, it is like a family reunion. We are all so happy to see each other, even though we have only known each other for three weeks. We are all hugging and just talking like we have known each other our whole lives. McDonalds was pretty good. I actually felt like eating this time, quite enjoyable. It tasted like McDonalds in the US. We finally headed back home, Ciara, my new roommate and I explored the apartment. She was not afraid to push buttons. I had pretty much only pushed buttons that I knew what they did and she found out what a lot more of the buttons did within 30 minutes of being here.
Sidebar--funny story that I never mentioned before. So, I think it was last Wednesday, a guy was coming to put tinting on the windows in my apartment. Here is how it was supposed to work. The man would come to the entrance to my apartment building buzz my apartment, I would let him in the apartment building, he would ring my doorbell, I would let him into my apartment, he would tint all the windows, and leave. Here's what happened. Man buzzes my apartment, I push the combination of buttons that I thought would let him in, nothing happens....Man buzzes my apartment, again I push the combination of buttons that I thought would let him in nothing happens (not sure why I thought doing the same thing would work this time, but I did, and it didn't) I push more buttons. I sound the alarm. I freak out! I push more buttons to try to get the alarm off! I give up! I rush to put my shoes on and try to catch the man at the door to my apartment building 9 floors down. I get down there and find no one. I freak out! I calm down! I run to Kathrine's apartment building because I have no phone, can't speak Korean, and don't know who to call anyways. I try to buzz her apartment. I do it wrong. I forgot their apartment number. I run back to my apartment. Find the right apartment number. Run back to her apartment building. I try to buzz her apartment. I fail. I try again, different combination of steps. Success! I go to her apartment. Explain my problem. She calmly says she will call Sally, and she shows me how to work the Buzzer thing. I calm down. I go back to my apartment. I hear the buzzer, but now there is three people at my door, not the apartment building door, but my apartment door. I buzz them in, and the man had gone to get the owners and they direct him through the apartment. One of them speaks a little English. yay! Ok, so now I have Kathrine making calls that don't need to be made, so I FB message her and tell her that the crisis has been averted! It all turned out fine in the end. Sidebar over.
After I showed her around a little bit, we both decide it is time to crash! We have a busy day tomorrow! Dinner with Pastor Kim!
Ok, so we meet at the corner of my building at 8:30, which is the most convenient because it is on the way. And guess who is here to walk with us, Mrs. Beth Riley, my boss. She came here to make sure that everything was ok and ready at the Mokkdong campus (It was not!). Not only was she here, but she came on short notice, with boot on her leg, because she had fractured??? the top of her foot. So she basically flew across the world, and walked all over Korea, with a boot on her leg! Can you say "Superwoman!" So, we meet her and find out that two of the teachers from Mokkdong are going to be joining us at Shema, and one of them, Carol, is not going to be able to make it. She was soooo looking forward to coming, especially since she had been here before. Anyway, Yay! the other teachers get to come here! So where was I, oh yeah, we meet at the corner of my building at 8:30, walk for about 10 minutes to the bus stop and hop on board our bus to go to Shema. We drive through town, to an area of Meokdeong that I have never been, turn down this tiny little road. It is the equivalent to a dirt road in the US, but this is not dirt, it is just concrete, that is just wide enough for one car/bus to drive on, except in a few places where there is a little carved out area against a cliff, where the smaller of two cars coming toward each other can scoot over and let the bigger car by. Let me just further describe this, as a road of concrete with dangerous drop offs on each side most of the time. For those of you that know me, consider this next statement for all it is worth, I HAVE NO DESIRE TO DRIVE IN KOREA!!! That aside, the drivers that we have had are AMAZING! They do things with vehicles of all sizes that movie stuntmen are paid millions to do.
So, we arrive at Shema Campus and it is much nicer that I imagines. I had not seen many pictures of the campus and I was pleasantly surprise! (I almost wrote presently surprised, but I fixed it, then I told you about it). Mrs. Yoon and Mrs. Sally (don't know her last name, but totally love her) ushered us into the office, They had all the English teachers sit in the comfy chairs until they were ready to introduce us to everyone. Mrs. Yoon then introduced us all one by one, saying what I am sure was wonderful things (I'll never know because it was in Korean). Then she introduced the Korean teachers to us. The ones I remember and could recognize today: JM, Mrs Yoon (math teacher, not the other Mrs. Yoon I have talked about so far. Found out that day that there were two Mrs. Yoons. Love them both, by the way), and there you go! That's all I can remember. Many of them I recognize them, as knowing them, but I cannot always remember their names, like right now!!! Can't remember any more names. After meeting everyone and then closing in prayer (love that we did that) we went upstairs and kind of wondered what to do next. We moved books, we helped Kathrine pull down decorations from her room to move to the new building that we are going to be moved into. After a little while of talking, Daniel, Christine, and I went to apply for our immigration cards. This basically entailed us following Sally to this partition area, then waiting until they could see us, walking over to another partitioned area, handing them our passports, getting our passports back, waiting, standing up to maybe go do something else, then leaving! Very exciting stuff, I suggest everyone do that at some point in your life. In the US, maybe the DMV would do the trick! We went back to Shema and got our books and started working on planning for the school year. We stayed 5, then hopped back on the bus, road down the narrow concrete road, then back to the bus stop to do our 10 minute walk back home (oh yeah, I should note here that the walk home, is uphill half of the way! Just something to look forward to after a long day). I forgot to mention, we ate at the school cafeteria, extra points for anyone that can guess what I ate?????? That evening we at Korean Barbeque. I am pretty sure I posted a pic of it at some point on facebook.
Friday, two more teachers are scheduled to arrive. We all follow the same route as the say before, meet at 8:30, walk 10 minutes to bus stop, ride bus on scary road, arrive at Shema safely. We take a tour of the new building. It is going to be beautiful! They still have a lot of last minute touches to do to almost everything. Then we are off to work on lesson plans. We get some more bummer news today. Karin is not going to be able to come teach this year because of health reasons. She was going to be my roommate. I am going to miss getting to know her better. She wants to come visit some time this school year. I hope she gets to. So, the question becomes, who is going to teach her classes. Answer, her classes are split between the other teachers. We maneuver, the class schedules again, and whew! I am not teaching a science class. That is good for the students as well as me. Science -- not my favorite subject. We eat lunch, in the cafeteria again, guess what I ate????? Caleb and Mrs. Riley went to the airport to pick up to more of our teachers, we still have one more that has yet to come. Waiting on the FBI background check apostilling. We get done at 5, head back home in the bus, down the scary road, to the bus stop, walk 10 minutes home (half-way up hill, YAY!) and change clothes and head out in a taxi (first time in a taxi) to meet the Ciara and Brock at McDonalds (the place we take all Americans on there first night in Korea). When they get there, it is like a family reunion. We are all so happy to see each other, even though we have only known each other for three weeks. We are all hugging and just talking like we have known each other our whole lives. McDonalds was pretty good. I actually felt like eating this time, quite enjoyable. It tasted like McDonalds in the US. We finally headed back home, Ciara, my new roommate and I explored the apartment. She was not afraid to push buttons. I had pretty much only pushed buttons that I knew what they did and she found out what a lot more of the buttons did within 30 minutes of being here.
Sidebar--funny story that I never mentioned before. So, I think it was last Wednesday, a guy was coming to put tinting on the windows in my apartment. Here is how it was supposed to work. The man would come to the entrance to my apartment building buzz my apartment, I would let him in the apartment building, he would ring my doorbell, I would let him into my apartment, he would tint all the windows, and leave. Here's what happened. Man buzzes my apartment, I push the combination of buttons that I thought would let him in, nothing happens....Man buzzes my apartment, again I push the combination of buttons that I thought would let him in nothing happens (not sure why I thought doing the same thing would work this time, but I did, and it didn't) I push more buttons. I sound the alarm. I freak out! I push more buttons to try to get the alarm off! I give up! I rush to put my shoes on and try to catch the man at the door to my apartment building 9 floors down. I get down there and find no one. I freak out! I calm down! I run to Kathrine's apartment building because I have no phone, can't speak Korean, and don't know who to call anyways. I try to buzz her apartment. I do it wrong. I forgot their apartment number. I run back to my apartment. Find the right apartment number. Run back to her apartment building. I try to buzz her apartment. I fail. I try again, different combination of steps. Success! I go to her apartment. Explain my problem. She calmly says she will call Sally, and she shows me how to work the Buzzer thing. I calm down. I go back to my apartment. I hear the buzzer, but now there is three people at my door, not the apartment building door, but my apartment door. I buzz them in, and the man had gone to get the owners and they direct him through the apartment. One of them speaks a little English. yay! Ok, so now I have Kathrine making calls that don't need to be made, so I FB message her and tell her that the crisis has been averted! It all turned out fine in the end. Sidebar over.
After I showed her around a little bit, we both decide it is time to crash! We have a busy day tomorrow! Dinner with Pastor Kim!
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