Gettin' the Hang of it

Alright so I've been teaching for a few weeks now, and I think I'm really starting to get a handle on things. My torture class is no longer torture. I have actually started to find that I run out of things for them to do! I am not sure what exactly happened that made them settle down, but here are a few things that could have contributed to such a change. I started drawing five stars on the board next to each student's name. Every time they act up, I erase a star. At the end of the class, if they have four or five stars, I give them a stamp on both of their hands. If they have two or three stars, I give them one stamp on their hand. If they have zero or one stars, they do not get any stamp. The kids love it! The second thing that I have started to do is to send the kids that are constantly misbehaving outside into the hallway. They absolutely hate that! They cry so much when I do that. If I really don't want to pick them up and put them outside, I just tell them that if they don't behave they will be going to the baby class. They hate that as well, but not as much. Some other possible contributing factors that I have no control over are the fact that I had one student drop out of the class (he was not a trouble maker, but he did encourage it). Also, the students could just be settling into the whole school routine and getting used to sitting there forever. I don't care what has caused this change, but I am extremely thankful!!!!

Alright so on to what is going on outside of the classroom. The other girls and I have gotten together to hang out so much since we have gotten here. We have really gotten to know each other. They are all super sweet and super fun to hang out with. Every weekend just about, we have gone to this bar that all of the foreigners go to. It's pretty sweet! You meet so many people from all over the US and Canada mostly; there are a few other foreigners but not many. Last night, I met a guy that graduated from UGA, and a guy that was from Atlanta. They are the first people from GA that I have met since I have been here! The guy from UGA didn't seem like he wanted to talk much, and he was actually from Jacksonville, FL, and he hated the Florida Gators especially Tim Tebow. He was a smaller guy so realistically I think he was more jealous of Tebow than anything else because they were supposedly from the same hometown. Whatever, if someone's from your hometown and they make something of themselves, be proud of them and happy for them, don't be a downer. Anyways, so the guy from Atlanta he was kind of funny. He didn't talk much either, and when he did, he was kidding. He asked me how old I was (age is a very big thing in Korea...that's the second question you will be asked just about every time, right after your name). So I told him mine, then he made me guess his. Which if you have ever had me guess your age, you know that I am super horrible at it. So, I warned him that I was bad at it, but I guessed his birthday almost down to the month. It was hilarious. I never do that, and I was seriously thinking that he was younger than what I was guessing. Too funny!

Yeah, so we were out late last night, and I was up at 9:30 this morning for no reason at all. I'm kind of glad because I would hate to sleep the day away. At the same time, I have been sick, and I need more than four hours of sleep to fully recover. Plus, we are supposed to go back out again tonight. Oh well, maybe I'll get a nap in later?

I do want to apologize now for my use of smaller and repetitive words. Since arriving in Korea, I have realized how difficult it is to explain even the simplest of words. So I have found myself using fewer and fewer words that I would have to define. Hahaha. It's crazy! The other day at school, I had to explain the word "then" without using "next" or "after" because they didn't know "next" or "after".

I am really enjoying my time here in Daejeon. I do miss my family and friends back home, and I kind of wish they were here to enjoy this with me. But it's nice being able to experience a new place and new people without having to worry about what some one else wants to do. But to the people back home, I do love you and I miss you! Come and visit me!

Second Week of teaching

So this was my second week of teaching...my first full week with my new classes. I feel like I got a really good schedule for the most part. It is a little stressful that my morning classes are very young (about 3 and 4 years old in America, 5 years in Korea), and they do not know any English. However, my classes are very well behaved except for one class. Two of the kids are very disruptive. One is more so than the other. I believe he is probably the youngest in the class. I have had to take him to the Assistant Director twice (I could have taken him more but I don't want the Assistant Director to think I can't handle my class). He is always walking around and talking while I'm talking. It is very distracting to me and the other students. When I ask him to sit down and be quiet, he walks up and hits me. I talked to the Assistant Director about this, but she told me to tell my Korean partner. However, my Korean partner does not seem as concerned about this problem as I am. She said that she called his mother but his mother is very young and not mature enough to handle the situation. This frustrates me to no end because he is such a horrible influence on the rest of the class. The other day he was teaching the sweetest little girl how to give someone the finger! I took scotch tape and taped his middle finger to his ring finger so he couldn't flip anyone off anymore. I think he got the hint because he didn't do it the rest of the day, but he has done it since. I really wish that he would behave or that the school will drop him because the students are having a very difficult time concentrating on the lessons. What makes it worse is that he doesn't know his English name so he doesn't realize that I am getting on to him. I am not allowed to use his Korean name so no one has told me what it is.

Other than that, everything is going very well! The three other teachers and I went to Sponge Bar last night, and we met a bunch of other English speaking people! It was nice! We were talking about going to a bar called Santa Claus for a St. Patrick's Day celebration this evening, but I think everyone is kind of tired from the week.

Today, I walked a few blocks over to a middle school and played basketball in their courtyard. It was my first time ever playing on a dirt court with a wooden board. It took me a minute to adjust to it, but it was interesting. There were a few students hanging around after school, and they came up and talked to me. They were taking English class in school. They asked me where I was from, what my job was, where I was teaching, and how old I was. They showed off a bit using the basketball terms that they knew and showed me their basketball skills. It was sweet that they were so curious and wanted to impress me.

When I got home, one of the other teachers, Mellissa, came over, and we watched a movie. It was a very relaxing evening.

I am hoping that this week will be better than last. I hope that my classes are good for me!

Case of the Mondays

My schedule varies from day to day. So far, my schedule has not been too terribly bad...until today :/ I have a feeling I am going to hate MONDAYS!!! Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays are my longer days. I don't mind that they are longer because I really enjoy my last two classes. I really enjoy all of my classes...except one. The one smack dab in the middle. Out of 8 kids there are only three that behave. Seriously? It is not possible to get anything done in that class. They are way too immature to be in school. Yes, I understand that kids are going to misbehave. I expect them to; I would probably be disappointed if they did not misbehave at one point or another. But children are supposed to be able to obey simple instructions; there is no excuse for them not to. I honestly let the five that were misbehaving run around the classroom while I focused on the three that were willing to learn for about 15 minutes. I had to take some sort of break from the insanity of telling the kids to sit down and be quiet. Its not like they didn't understand what I meant because I acted it out myself. I even set them in their chairs, and put my hand over my mouth to tell them to keep theirs shut. What more can I do? I have thought that people were crazy for disliking children, but after this class I could see how it would be possible. I am not saying that I dislike these kids, but I could definitely see how someone could. Oh, did I mention that I had this class for 30 minutes for lunch, 70 minutes for English class, and 40 minutes for cooking. So 2.5 hours of torture!!!! Thankfully, I only have them the extra 40 minutes for cooking on Mondays. Other than that, I seriously love my schedule, I love my apartment (it is the perfect size), I love the city, and I absolutely love my coworkers! I am really happy with my decision to come to Daejeon. I cannot wait for my first paycheck so I have the money to experience Daejeon more.

On a different note, all of the teachers have arrived. Mellissa arrived on Saturday. On Sunday, Janet, Mellissa and I went out to eat for Korean barbeque. It was delicious once again, and it was reasonably priced. The staff was extremely friendly! They understood that we didn't speak Korean, although at first for some reason they thought that I did...hahaha. When we first walked in, we took off our shoes as is custom in most Korean restaurants. I think the hostess was pointing us to our table. However, we thought she was pointing to several pairs of sandals that Koreans wear when they are inside. So we started putting on these sandals, and she gave us this horrified look and told us that wasn't what she meant. Hahaha...we had started putting on other customers' shoes. It was hilarious! The hostess spoke a little bit of English and helped our server with our order which was pretty sweet. One of the cooks saw me using the chopsticks and came out of the kitchen to give me a lesson on proper chopstick usage...hahaha. He finally gave up and grabbed a fork for me. I still used the chopsticks as much as I could which probably wasn't the best idea because I ended up slinging salad all over myself when the chopsticks slipped. It was hilarious because the cook had chosen that moment to watch me eat. Hahaha. I think the three of us entertained the staff for the evening. We certainly entertained each other! I think that we are going to get along GREAT!!! I am definitely excited about getting to know my coworkers better. I cannot wait to see what the rest of this year will hold. I am extremely thankful that I made the decision to teach in Korea.

First day with the new students

So the new teachers started teaching classes on Tuesday and Wednesday. However, we did not get our permanent students until today. The students are all so cute; so I couldn't wait to meet mine! My first class of the day is AMAZING!!! They are the best students ever. They say what I say, and they do not act up too much but they all have their own personalities. Two of the students speak English very well and understand most of what I say. They help the other students out which is super sweet! My second class is older, but they have no idea what I am saying. I have to act out everything which is fine, but they are very well behaved. My third class is wild! Hahaha, they don't understand me either, and they don't pay attention when I act it out. I have one student that likes to hide behind the white board and try to walk out the door. He will not participate no matter what I do! My afternoon class was very sweet and most had attended the school last year. I have one more afternoon class that doesn't start until tomorrow! I think it will be a good class. I only have them Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. That's all for now. I will try to post again this weekend!

My First Week Summation

I have been in Daejeon since Wednesday, and I have already learned so much about the city and about myself! I have already experienced so much! On Thursday, Director Kim came by my apartment to bring me to the school. I observed some of the classrooms, and I ate lunch there. I learned that the students are very loving and that I cannot use chopsticks! Hahaha. I get teased now about whether or not I will use chopsticks to eat. I try to use them everyday so that hopefully I will learn. I do not use them in restaurants though because I am afraid that people will think I am disrespectful.

On Friday, I decided to walk to school from my apartment. I did pretty well for not being in the city long. I got to the bus stop where I was dropped off the night of my arrival. Thankfully, Director Kim and the Assistant Director, Vicki, were waiting at the bus stop for one of the other new teachers. Vicki told me that if I wanted to wait with them, they would take me the rest of the way to the school. So I waited with them for a few minutes for the new teacher, Janet. While waiting, Vicki explained to me that two new teachers had arrived Thursday evening, but only one of them, Mariana, was able to catch the bus to Daejeon. So Janet had to sleep at the airport because the guest house was full, and there aren't any other hotels in the area. Janet's bus arrived, and she informed me that her luggage was in San Francisco due to a last minute change in her flight. We drove to the school, and Janet went to her hotel room for a bit to freshen up before coming to the school for lunch. Since it was the last day of classes for the semester, the classes were having parties; so there wasn't much to observe. The other two teachers and I decided to go to EMart (much like a Super Walmart) to get a few things. I bought cleaning supplies for my apartment; as well as a few mats and a pair of slippers to wear around the apartment. We all stopped by the school once more before they went to their hotel rooms and I walked back to my apartment. On my way home, I received the second lesson about myself this week, I have no sense of direction. I got seriously lost!!!! Hahaha. I figured that if I kept walking around I would eventually figure out where I was. But no. After over an hour of walking while carrying my purchases from EMart, I decided to call it quits and catch a taxi. Luckily, I was near a Taxi Stop. In Daejeon, they have places to go if you need a taxi much like the bus stops back home. Thankfully, I had asked Vicki to write down my address so I was able to show the taxi driver the address of where I wanted to go. When I finally got home, I was too tired to do anything so I went to bed.

Today, Saturday, we had orientation for the parents of all the new students. We had to dress nicely. I had decided to try to find my way once again so I wore tennis shoes with my dress and packed dress shoes in my bookbag. I looked at the time and realized that I didn't have the time to get lost again. At that time, a taxi drove by and honked asking if I needed a ride. I figured it was fate telling me to take the taxi. After asking Vicki for my apartment address, I had asked one of the Korean teachers to write down the address for the school in Korean. So once again, I showed the taxi driver the address of my destination. When I got to the school, I decided to ask Vicki for directions. However, she is bad with directions as well; so she told one of the foreign teachers to take me home using the best way for me to go when I walked to the school. She told him to make sure that he pointed out the turns.

Before going home, all of the teachers had to go to the orientation. We sat in a separate room while one of the foreign teachers presented the necessary information for the parents. At the end of her presentation, we were escorted into the room to wait for the Director's presentation. During the Director's presentation, he introduced each teacher and explained a bit about each teacher's professional background. Everything was spoken in Korean of course; so none of the foreign teachers new exactly what he was saying about us. We just bowed and tried to smile. After the presentations, a couple of the mothers came up to me and talked to me about their kids. It was so sweet!!! Of course they are concerned about their kids well-being, and they wanted to make sure that I would take care of their kids.

After the orientation, John, one of the foreign teachers, drove us to our apartments and pointed out the turns as he was instructed by Vicki. When I got back to my apartment, I decided to change clothes and try my hand at my newly found directions. I walked to EMart to purchase more cleaning supplies and some food. EMart is by the school so I figured if I could get to EMart then I can get to school. My trip to and from EMart was a success! I made it home with no problems! What a difference good directions can make! Hahaha.

I have two days off this weekend, tomorrow and Monday. I am going to try to explore the city, finish setting up my apartment, and take some pictures of my apartment and the city to show everyone! Tuesday and Wednesday, I only have afternoon after-school classes. Thursday is the first day of the new semester, so my morning classes will start then!

It has been a great first week, and I cannot wait to see what the rest of the school year holds for me!!!

Arriving in Daejeon

So the plane ride was not as bad as I thought it would be. It was a fifteen hour flight. The service was amazing! I've never been offered a beverage of any kind every hour or so it seemed. I slept for a bit, watched a movie or two, and I mostly read a book. Note to future-self, don't read a book about leaving when you are actually leaving yourself. I totally was not thinking when I chose the book!

A woman sat next to me on the plane that was flying home to Korea; she has been studying at Penn State. She was very sweet and offered to show me around even though we live an hour or so apart!

We landed in Seoul, and I had absolutely no cell phone service. I was planning on calling home to let my parents know that I had landed safely, but I did not have the type of phone that would have allowed that. I went through customs without any problems whatsoever. Not that I have ever had any problems but it was a very short process. On the other side of customs a man was waiting for me with a sign that said my name. The pickup guy was with some sort of escort company I think. He took me across the airport to where the buses were and purchased my ticket. Unfortunately, there was no room on the bus that was leaving and the next bus was not leaving for a couple of hours. When the pickup guy discovered that my bus was going to be awhile he guided me to a seat and told me to wait, and he just left me there by myself! It wasn't a big deal because he left me with my ticket and I was sure I could find the bus myself. Especially since I had already seen where it would be. While I was waiting I tried to use the pay phones to call my parents. I tried three times and heard my mom say hello and it hung up on me. Each time I got my money back so it wasn't that big of a deal and my mom assumed it was me. But the pickup guy did come back an hour or so later and brought me a bottle of water. I think he left because he felt awkward because of the language differences. But he paid for my ticket and my water. He told me that I needed to get off at the second stop. Which was everything that I needed from him.

So when the bus arrived, I got on and fell asleep within minutes. I was not planning on sleeping because I was afraid that I would miss my stop, but I was so tired! I woke up when the bus driver merged off the interstate to go into the city of Daejeon. I got off at the second stop and waited ten minutes for the Director to come. In the meantime, an older guy asked me if I needed to use the phone. It was so sweet. The people are so friendly even if we don't understand each other.

It was pretty late when the Director dropped me off at my apartment, so I wasn't able to do much exploring.

First thing this morning though, I bought an international calling card and went on a hunt for a pay phone to use it hoping to be able to talk to my parents. However, the pay phone I found did not accept that card; so I tried cash again and still couldn't get it to work.

I do not have internet access yet. I looked for an internet cafe, but I could not find one near my apartment. My director is supposed to pick me up at 11am which is in a couple of hours so I was kind of timid about venturing too far from my apartment. I am currently piggybacking off of some one else.

It's raining here today, but luckily the guy who lived in the apartment before me left an umbrella so I used it. The apartment is very nice. It's not small, but its not massive either. The bathroom is interesting. The shower is connected to the sink, and there's no place to hang a shower curtain. So when I take a shower, I get water all over the toilet seat, and no matter the setting it goes from being warm to cold and back to warm for no reason. It's definitely interesting.

The city itself has so many lights!!! There are lights everywhere, like Vegas. My apartment is right across the street from a Quickie Mart type place which was nice to run over there and pick up a few things. There is also a French bakery on the corner. I don't think most of the stores open up until later. So I'll have to wait until after I get back from the school to get the things I need for my apartment.

I believe that I have had a very successful first day so far! I checked my e-mails to find that Korjob Recruiting has found another teacher to work at Daejeon Wonderland. I believe the e-mail said that she would be here next week! How exciting! I suppose that is enough for now!

THE DAY!!!

Today is the day that I leave for Korea! I am super excited! My bags are mostly packed. I have only a few finishing touches. I probably won't have the internet for a few days, but I will definitely post when I do. I seriously cannot wait to get there! I know its going to be an incredible experience!