Today is the first day of school for Lisa and I, and I thought everyone would like to know how everything is going. Well here is a run down of my day:
Initially I met Ms. Choi (Pronounced Cheh) a few weeks ago. She was supposed to be my co-teacher, but told me that she was uncertain if she actually would be. She told me that she would let me know on February 21st. On the 28th I had not heard from anyone so I decided to go to school and ask someone. When I got here I was told Ms. Choi would not be my teacher, it would be someone named Yongdong.
I went to school around 8:20 which is 10 minutes early. They then informed me I now have two co-teachers (one for 3rd and 4th grade and one for 5th and 6th grade). I don't remember their names, I figured I should wait until I teach with them to be certain they are my real teachers.
So far I am a celebrity in my school. Children are not use to seeing Americans. With my blonde hair, blue eyes, and height everyone wants to see the "Wayguken" (Foreigner). I am pretty sure I gave one girl a concussion. I was walking to the gym for an assembly and everyone was looking at me as though I was going to dissappear into a cloud of smoke. This particular girl must have been certain that I was a mirage because she was staring so hard she neglecting to notice the pole which was approaching fast. She slammed into post head first and stumbled around a bit before blushing and getting back in line to stare at me from the comfort of the group.
During the assembly the vice principal introduced me and the whole school (about 500 kids) started getting excited and jumping around trying to sneak a peak (as if they didn't see me already). The vice principal had to yell at the kids and get them to stand at attention.
After the assembly I was told to sit and wait for the Principal so we could meet. After sitting for one and a half hour alone with nothing to do I was told to just go to my class. I did. I was given my books and told I had to make lesson plans. I spoke with my co-teachers. One of which said, "I will make the lesson plans on Fridays and give them to you." The other said, "Umm uhh, we will talk about this afternoon." So I went to lunch (Fish, Soup, Kimchi, Vegetables, rice, and Yogurt) and came back to class. I can't do lesson plans until my teachers let me know what they want me to teach. So, I am sitting now. I have another three and a half hours before quitting time and I am in my quiet classroom with no heat. A little tid bit of information I may have forgotten to tell you is Korea doesn't heat classrooms. They don't heat hallways either. You might be saying to yourself, "Oh, that kind of sucks." But when I tell you the high for today is 36 degrees I can assure you it doesn't "Kind Of" suck... it really really sucks. And to top it off I spilt kimchi on my pants! AND I hate fish!
I can't really complain though. I do enjoy being a celebrity, as anyone who knows me can vouch for. I also got my schedule and I will only be teaching for about 11 hours and 20 minutes a week... not bad considering I get paid for 40 hours. I will still have to be in school so the remaining time will be prep time. I think I get to go home around 4:30 every day which isn't bad either. Not a bad gig at all.
I don't know how the rest of my day is going to go down... I might go try to play soccer with the kids outside. I will let you know how that goes in my next post. God Bless,
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