First Day of New Classes

This is my 100th post. Wow. I can't believe that I've written so many, or that I've been here long enough to have that much to say! It is so close to halfway. It's bittersweet. In the next month, I'm going to be losing Erin (she will go to Germany to be with her family), but we will get a whole new group of teachers. I know that I'll find someone in there that I can bond with, but I'll definitely miss Erin. And while it's so exciting knowing that I've made it halfway through, and only a little more than 6 months to go, it's also a bit sad to think about leaving. As much as I miss home and basically everything, I think I've done well in making this my life now. But, there is a time for everything under the sun...

Schedule Changes

Well, today I got the news I've been waiting for all week. Starting next week, we will have a new class schedule. I've been praying and praying that I get rid of Henry's class, and that I keep my 3SAP kids. So here's the breakdown of what happened:

(Korean) Kids Say the Darndest Part II

My kids are just hilarious sometimes. Sometimes they are total pains in the butt, but on the whole I like them. Which is saying something, because I know a few morning (kindergarten) teachers who say they genuinely like approximately 0 of their students. I'm lucky, because I've got some good ones... Since the last time I wrote about their hilarity, I've been attempting to keep a list. Of course, this list has been spread out over probably 5 different scraps of paper, stuffed into various pockets, and subsequently lost. So, I'm going from memory here...

Abby in Seoul Part I

It's Abby here, Chelsea's mom. I have finally arrived to visit Seoul, South Korea, but really, my daughter! Thanks Chelsea, for allowing me to be an author of a post on your blog.  I've been in Seoul about 24 hours now. Of course, the trip here lasted nearly 24!  I flew out of Houston on Tuesday morning, and arrived in Seoul on Wednesday evening. Sounds super long, but it's especially that way because I "lost" 15 hours on the trip over. I think I'll "find" them when I return next week.

About Teaching

Mostly I write about my life outside of work. Sometimes I write cute stories, but mostly I stick to what I think people will find "interesting" ... aka: what I can illustrate with photos! But, since this is also partly about me and my journey, teaching is what I do and I need to debrief (so to speak).

Hand Candy

I keep putting off blogging using the excuse that "I haven't done anything worth blogging about!" Which may in fact be true. But, I feel the need to write something, even if it's not of epic proportions...

Conjunctivitis, Maybe?

No blog yesterday, sorry folks! Not much of interest happened at work, besides getting a box from my mom, and having a girl's night dinner with Michelle after work. When I got back home, I was so tired I was actually IN BED by 11:30. I read until midnight then couldn't keep my eyes open any longer.

Apartment Decor and Work

This morning was awesome. I slept late, like 8:45, then got to talk to Michael for a little bit. I also spent a lot of time doing some Craig'sList research. I am officially desperate to make my apartment "home." Yes, it's getting there... but it still lacks a lot of homey-ness. Last night at one of the other foreign teachers' apartments, she had an armchair. And she had a western-style desk. It made me realize that, while I like that my furniture is not overpowering the room, I also think my room is very low to the ground. Like, the desk I have is a floor-desk, the hutch is very low as well. And of course the bed is low. I have no chairs, no rug or anything to sit on. I decided I need some things!!

First, I want an armchair. Like, something comfy I can sit in and blog, or read a book, or anything. Nothing too big, just a chair I can put in the corner and have a place of my own. This beats getting a large desk that hogs the room. If I did get the chair, I would give the hutch (that is really not very useful to me) to another teacher in the building.

Second thing I want is an area rug. I have faux-hardwood laminate that is pretty crappy. It's not ugly, but cheap. I want something to draw the room together, give it warmth! I would love a rich color, but honestly I'll take anything at this point.

I also would like some alternate lighting - a floor lamp and desk lamp to be precise. I hate my overhead lighting, plus the switch is on the other side of the room so at night it's annoying to turn off the light before bed.

Finally, I want wall decor. Some floating shelves, or some paintings/art. This is getting out of the "need" and pretty far into the "want," but oh well.

I went on CraigsList this morning to start some research. FIRST - the armchair. I only found 2 currently listed - one for 20,000W (~$20) it was not the prettiest, but it looked leather and wasn't too ugly. Only problem with that one is it was listed back on July 31. It is most likely sold by now, especially for such a low price! The other one I found did not have a price listed, only asking for an offer. It was originally 250,000W (~$225), so I would probably offer maybe 80,000 to 90,000W. The thing with either of these two is transportation! How the heck to get it from one side of Seoul to the other?! I emailed a guy I found on an expat forum about moving, and he quoted me around 70,000 to move it totally (from 1 apartment to the other). Woah! Alternatively, Erin Teacher told me at work I might could find one on the street that someone is getting rid of; several of the teachers have done that. I might just have to go hunting in my neighborhood one day!!

SECOND - the rug. Basically, no one has a decent rug. Awesome. THIRD - a lamp. One, single, solitary floor lamp listed. I emailed the seller, and she was selling it TODAY. Grumble, grumble.... FINALLY - I stumbled upon a pretty cool piece of art and made an offer on it. I think the same person, I made an offer on his kettle, rice cooker, and power converter. I also attempted to get a Brita water pitcher, but that deal fell through :(

Finally, I made it to work. I will summarize my classes:

First - my worst class. Jackie Teacher observed and helped put the kids in line. I made sure to use everyone's name so she sees that I know names!

Second - Belle was surprisingly participatory today. But the entire class seemed to have eaten straight sugar before I came in. They could not stop giggling, chatting, and generally being disruptive. We were talking about emotions, feelings, and how we feel. I was trying to explain "terrible" to them, and got a very sad look on my face. I said "How do I look?" Benny, my most hyper and disruptive student, said "Ugly?" .... I guess I should have clarified better! I got a shocked look on my face, and then he says "Oh, oh, oh... surprised!" Haha... these kids!

Third - Jackie came back again. It was a great class - very participatory, got some great responses, and felt like I generally had a good grasp on the class and the material.

Fourth - 2SAP girls... This class was a fiasco! I was checking homework and realized the girls had the old homework checklist, rather than the updated one that I had. Therefore, today was supposed to be a review, but they had not completed all their vocabulary. So, I made a teacher-decision, and we worked on the homework that should have been done last night, and then took the Word Quiz. Good decision, since I realized the W.Q. had words on it that we did together in class. Oops! Also, I think the girls did better since we had gone over the words immediately before taking the quiz. So, instead of reviewing in class, I sent the review home, and they will test tomorrow, right on schedule. Phew! Crisis averted... except that I had 1 student absent. So, she would be extra behind tomorrow. I had my partner teacher, Hannah Teacher (Korean), call Rachel's mom and explain the homework. So, Rachel will take the exam on Friday, instead of tomorrow. What a confusing and crazy day in that class!

Fifth - Jackie observed again (I was thanking Jesus and my lucky stars she had not chosen the previous class since it was so chaotic). I think I achieved something amazing - when explaining the vocab words with the class, we came to the word "rule" - I had them read the definition and then I asked "do we have rules at school? what are some rules at school?" I could only get 1 reply, "don't talk when teacher talks," so to dig myself out of that one, I said "Right, so here in SLP, we have a rule - don't speak Korean! Remember?!" (All of the kids speak Korean, but we tell them not to so they will practice their English) Well, I looked at Jackie Teacher and she is sitting in the corner just cracking up. I didn't realize it was that funny, but she thought it was hilarious. So, score! Jackie isn't mean, but a true laugh I have yet to see come out of her. Yay!

Sixth - my boys. I am so lazy with them. By the end of the day, I am so tired that I usually just sit and verbally go through everything rather than write it all on the board. They are so smart, anyway. Today I had my first trial run with the creative writing. I had them write about a trip they want to take, to go anywhere. They had to talk about what they would do, what animals they would see, etc. Using their vocab. I had two boys write about going to the Sun, and another to a lost island paradise under the ocean. I thought that was fairly creative. I was proud :)

Really, that is about all that happened today. I made Kraft Original Mac & Cheese when I got home (yay!!!) even though I was really craving a burger (I didn't want to make the trip to Itaewon just for that...).  This week is going by much faster than last week, thankfully. I am also feeling much more in control with my classes, since I am organizing their lesson plans, homework, etc. I am actually starting to enjoy it. I get the most frustrated when I am trying to teach and they won't stop talking!!! I want to shake their little faces until they pay attention!!!!! Haha!

Tonight my goal is to be in bed going to sleep by midnight!!! Looking good so far... Really excited for the Apple announcement tomorrow (well, I'll see it tomorrow. I'm not staying up til 3am to watch it tweeted live!) GOODNIGHT!!!

Rock, Paper, Scissors

A few things hit me today. One, I'm living in Seoul. Like, not just Asia, or South Korea, but SEOUL. It's pretty amazing! I've never lived in a huge city; well, Houston I guess. It is big! But, it felt small. I compare Seoul to New York. I teach kids who are growing up in a city like this. It is absolutely massive. But, the culture, tradition, and homogeneous society all contribute to the distinctly different atmosphere of Seoul compared to a city like New York. I think each day my mind opens a little bit more, and a little bit more to the idea of what I am actually doing here.

Another thing that I realized, even just in a small way, is that I am the TEACHER. Obviously, I stand in front of the class and talk. But, I gave a test in my Leap High class today, and when I was grading their essays, the feeling that I get to decide how tough or lenient I am going to be! I get to make decisions in class. If we are running out of time, I get to choose which item to drop, or if I should assign extra homework. In my mind, it's not necessarily power, but authority. I'm not just controlling the classroom and making the kids do whatever I say. It is legitimately my position to make decisions, which ultimately affect my kids. I think this concept also has a lot of room for growth and development in my time as a teacher.

Today was a really good day. I am learning to love my job. I think I am relatively good at it; I mean, considering I had no formal education in this area and almost zero experience with kids. But, the days go by fast, I feel a great sense of accomplishment after each class (which I LOVE) and I am getting used to the courses and their requirements.

Before classes today, I had a lot of extra time to work. I had prepared for my day's classes, and still had almost 2 hours before my first one. So, Erin Teacher suggested that I work on my lesson plan for 2SAP. This class is my only everyday class, it's the most intense workload, and it's the curriculum that I have to work at the most. Each Unit, the lesson plan in the book must be adapted to our school's specific needs.

I share the class with Sean Teacher (he teaches another group of kids, but we are on the same material at the same time), so we take turns making the lesson plans and homework checklists each Unit. This month was my turn, so I used all my extra time during Office Hours to work on that. It's not needed for another week, but with the time I had I decided to just knock it out.

Erin Teacher walked me through a lot of it, but I also figured it out quickly. I really enjoyed it (despite it being a lot of work) because it required a high level of organization. The lesson plan for that class was something I was quite nervous about doing beforehand, but after I completed it and turned it in for approval from Jackie Teacher, I felt wonderful. Like a real teacher :)

It's too difficult to go into the details of what all I had to do to get this thing just right, but I'll tell you that I had to reference: the Teacher's Guide, the Writing Workbook, the Activity Book, the Student Book, the SLP Writing Workbook (different from the one above), book club workbook, book club storybook, SLP Practice book, and SLP Grammar Practice book. For ONE class... of 7 year olds. My mind cannot grasp the idea that these kids are so organized they actually know the difference in all these books. Most 7 year olds I know can't keep up with 1 book, let alone 9.

Anyway, I also had my 3SAP kids today (similar program as 2SAP, but only T/Th and slightly farther along than 2SAP). They are my best large class. I have 9 or 10 students, and they work as hard as my smaller classes, or sometimes even better. Today was awesome! They read when I asked them to, they all wanted to answer the questions, and almost all of them had memorized the Daily Oral Expression they had for homework.

One part of the lesson involved looking at a poem in their student books. They tried to get me to do some game similar to Rock, Paper, Scissors (which they endearingly called "Po-ta-to!" in the same intonation as R,P,S...) in order to determine the order of which they read aloud. I had no idea how that was supposed to work so I made them all sit down and just went in order down the rows (like any sane teacher would do). They read it through once, each student reading only 1 line. Then, again, with each student reading a paragraph. The poem was very rhyme-y and easy to memorize. It repeated a lot of phrases (the lesson was to understand alliterations...) so the kids got the hang of it quickly. I told them how song lyrics are poems too, so we put the poem to a tune and I got them all singing and participating. I loved it! They were all smiling and happy and learning, too!! Great sense of accomplishment. I also think this is the class that likes me the best. I really try to get animated and involved with them in the lesson. I hope it's working :)

Also, I forgot to mention that yesterday I had a little meeting with Jackie Teacher at the end of the day and she told me her observations from watching my classes. She said she was impressed with my organization and the presence I had in the class. The only real suggestion/criticism was to learn the kids' names. Well, I'm trying! I have 10 classes, many of which are larger with 10 or more students. I feel like I'm doing well, and have almost got all of them memorized. It just so happened that the classes she watched were the classes that I have a hard time memorizing the names of the kids. I think that my lack of having developed prior habits in the classroom (not having gotten an Edu degree or done any student teaching) has actually helped me. The school seems to be pretty set on how things should be done, and without any previous habits, I have none to break! :)

After classes, I graded LH exams. I didn't have much time for anything else, and went home at 9pm. I also got my official work badge! It has my name on it, too! :) I use it to clock in and out. After work, one of the morning teachers made everyone dinner and had a little get together at her apartment. I decided to attempt to be social, and went. It's kind of hard, because while everyone is nice, I don't feel like a connection with anyone. It also doesn't help that there is only one other female teacher in afternoons, so I don't get to know any of the morning teachers at work. I also have a semi-shy personality in that I don't operate well in groups of people I don't know well. I kind of stay quiet, don't want to draw any attention to myself. One-on-one, it's a whole other story! But, I don't know any of these girls in a way where I would feel comfortable. But, I went and stayed for like 30 minutes so it's a start. :)

One final observation: the days go by very quickly, especially once I am in the classroom. I love this! Maybe it's just that I enjoy what I do (for the most part), or it's having to do so much in such a short amount of time, but by 8pm I feel like the day flew by! Tomorrow is mid-week again, and I've got lots to do when I get there in the morning :) And with that, goodnight!

**update: doing some research on the rock, paper, scissors thing. I'm wondering if the kids weren't saying something in Korean, any my American ears just heard "po-ta-to"? I read online some say "kai-bai-bo" which I suppose could sound like "po-ta-to" to the untrained ear. with my students, who knows...**

Manic Monday

Today wasn't really manic, actually. More like monotonous. I mean, it wasn't bad. It's just typical Monday! That horrible day when you're the farthest away from a weekend you will ever be in a week. Thankfully, Monday is almost over.

I wasn't going to write a blog tonight. I didn't think anything of any interest happened today. But, as I was about to get in bed to go to sleep, I realized that I felt significantly under-accomplished without spending the time to write a blog. Granted, it takes me around 1-2 hours to write each blog (not exaggerating), but today wasn't a grand adventure; I am thinking this post will be shorter...

Anyway, back to how I hate Mondays. Monday mornings suck in particular, because we have to be at work by noon, rather than 1pm. So, less time to myself in the mornings. When I got to school today, we had a teacher's meeting with the other foreign teachers and Jackie Teacher. I found out two things - one was almost bad, and the other was bad.

First, one of the classes I teach was announced to be changing some curriculum around, and I would now teach an additional book, which had no Powerpoints or resource material prepared. All needed to be made from scratch... But, then I found out it was not my class after all! It was the other class with the same name as my class that Sean Teacher teaches. Dodged a bullet; I feel for Sean :(

The other piece of news was that the only Saturday in my entire contract that I will be required to work is ... *drum roll* ... the weekend my mom will be in town. That's right. The only Saturday my mom will be here in Seoul with me, I have to go to work. I even kind of mentioned to Jackie Teacher that my mom will be in town, but she definitely did not get the hint to let me off work. Double :(

I really tried not to be too upset about this. Really, really hard. But, I couldn't help it. I'll have waited 4 months to see my mom, will not be able to see her again for another 8 months, and I will get 1 single day off work to spend with her (Sunday), out of the week she will be here. One day. I'm actually extremely depressed about it. I am considering being "sick" the Monday after that weekend... or maybe, I'll just tell Jackie, "Sorry, I can either miss Saturday when we have no classes, or Monday when you will have to find someone to replace me. Your choice." (Ha! Yeah right! I could never say that to an authority figure.)

After the meeting, I worked through Office Hours and got extra prepared; not only for today, but tomorrow as well. Classes were decent. I am definitely feeling the "growing pains" of my patience. During times when I want to sit down, cry, pull my hair out, and yell, I think of my Dad and the other really good teachers I had. They didn't do that. They just got things done. They chose their battles, not yelling at every single child every time one of them talked when they weren't supposed to, or did something stupid. It helps a little...

During my first class, the heathen children, Jackie Teacher observed my class. Thank goodness I thought she was just in there to help me keep the crazy kids under control rather than "observe" or I might have done worse. I actually think I did a fairly good job. I wasn't stuck to the computer as a script, could walk around and ask questions, got the kids talking and answering questions. I felt good about it.

In my second class, my problem child, Belle, decided she didn't want to be awake during class. I tried talking to her, touching her, even shaking her a bit; she did not budge. I finally had to ask Jackie Teacher to come in. She took Belle out of class, and returned her about 15 minutes later. Jackie Teacher told me later that Belle told her "a bad thing happened, and she does not want to study." Well, alright then... This girl absolutely baffles me.

Next class was okay, but Jackie came in and rather than observing, starting yelling at the kids to do something I had not told them to. Listen, lady, I know what I'm doing! I actually had it under control. I told her what we were doing and she said okay and left. I was actually a little confused by her random interruption and abrupt departure...

My 2SAP girls were okay. Sometimes they can be quite frustrating - these are the 3 sweet girls who just can't seem to get it together for school. We read their textbook and did some workbook pages. Nothing exciting there. My last two 1-hour classes were also uneventful. Well, in my first one, I had a student make a 0 on her vocabulary quiz. She has to come retake it tomorrow. I felt bad for her, but a 0?! Come on... My last class the boys just whipped through their work. I decided to make extra work for them when they do that.

During my last hour of planning, I made little essay packets for that last class, with prompts based on their Student Book lessons and using their vocabulary words. This is just something for them to do when they finish all their work early like they've been doing recently. It is creative writing type stuff. They need to work on their writing anyway... I am pretty proud of my little creations (the essay books, not the children....)

As far as the "social" aspect of my life (I say that with a great deal of irony), I had a heart-to-heart with Michelle at work. She had some personal things going on, and confided in me. Of course, I wouldn't break that confidence just to have something to talk about on a blog! :P So, suffice it to say that I was there for her in a time of need. I don't think I can say it enough - I love this girl! She's such a great person and friend :)

After giving her my best counsel, she headed home and so did I. My feet were absolutely killing me and my stomach hurt as well. I had Cheerios for dinner and watched TV on my computer. Then Tab and I talked about our Chusoc plans. That is Korean Thanksgiving, and we get 5 days off (including weekends, but who cares!?). It is from the end of September to the beginning of October.

We thought about going to China, but there was too much to think about for such short notice. The price wasn't bad, especially for an international trip. But, it was still more than I have to throw around before my first paycheck. I found a website called Adventure Korea - a Korean travel club. They host trips around Korea. The Chusoc trip looked perfect - it's in Korea, but still out of Seoul. It looks like an adventure with volcano climbing and beach time and cliff diving! I want to go so bad! It's a little pricey, but it would be worth it to take advantage of one of our only vacation times! I am waiting for Tab to give us the "go" and we will book it.

That's about all I have for today, and thank goodness because it's already taken 30 minutes to write all that! Time for sleep and hopefully I won't be so tired tomorrow. I need all the energy I can muster for the rest of the week.

Shabu-Shabu

I'm starting to get really annoyed at Korea. Yes, I said it! I've been having issues with my door. Last night when I got home, apparently my door did not shut all the way (it usually closes by itself, and then has an electronic lock). Before I went to bed, thankfully I caught it. I had to fiddle with the locking mechanism for a minute before I got it to auto-lock. Then, this morning when I went to work, I sat there and made sure I heard the lock turn before I left. Apparently, I didn't wait/look hard/long enough, because my door was OPEN when I got home tonight. No, not wide open, but it was not shut. I think the lock did turn, but the door had not fully sealed. I pulled it open without having to punch in my code. This freaked me out! I checked all my things, and everything was still there. Thank goodness I live at the end of the hall, and Koreans are generally very honest with non-criminal tendencies. I'm starting to get pissed at this door situation.

But, in other news... IT'S FRIDAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I literally did a happy dance when I woke up. Been waiting for this day alllll week! :) I woke up a little late, again, but no matter. I treated myself to a waffle for breakfast. When I got there, I decided I wanted the choco-nut waffle, but I wanted whipped cream. Last time I ordered this as well, but without whipped cream. It would have been infinitely better with whipped cream, so I asked for it this time. What I got instead, was ICE cream. While I'm certainly not complaining, it was hilarious. And absolutely delicious. Best lost-in-translation mistake EVER. On the way back to my apartment, I got a Iced Chai Tea Latte, but I don't think the girl knew what I mean by soy milk, and my latte tasted a little funny. Who knows what ended up in my drink?!

I finished getting ready, talked to mom and dad, and left for work. When I arrived, I got all prepared, even doing the things I don't usually like read over the lessons entirely, and made the extra things like laminated cards. The laminating machine was so fun!

Classes were fairly normal. I officially can't stand my youngest kids. They are WILD, have waaay too much energy, absolutely no attention span, and have the blankest looks on their faces when I speak. My next group of kids is not much better, but the class is smaller. One girl, Belle, sometimes I wonder if she has much more than crickets going on in her head. She just stares. Today, I asked her to do her work, did she understand, and why wasn't she working? She just looked at me. Then she dropped her pencil, and when I asked her to pick it up, she looked at me like I was speaking another language. (Oh, wait... I was...) I knelt down and asked her in my most patient, simplest words, to pick up her pencil. She sat there frozen. I finally had to grab a Korean teacher to ask her to speak to Belle. The teacher had to stay the whole class to help her. Extremely frustrating. The other kids all get it. It's like some kids just don't try, don't care to learn, don't give a you-know-what that their parents are paying out the @$$ for them to come to this academy to learn English to have a better chance at a successful future!!!! *heavy, angry breathing going on as I type* Well, actually, all that is probably true, unfortunately.

My other classes got gradually better after that. The kids were extra-rowdy today. I guess they were as excited about the weekend as I was. My 2SAP girls took a quiz, which they all promised me they studied for, but I still had to not only give them a word bank, but break it up into sections so there was only 3-4 choices vs. 12 choices. Does this make sense? Like, instead of 12 words as options for #1-12, I said "#1-3 has these words as choices" etc. I was quite frustrated. I feel like I really try to help these kids, and they can't even do well then. Ah, such is the life of a teacher. We feel like we fail when our students fail. Or maybe that's just a rookie mistake.

Well, my last class was great, as it usually is. The boys were pretty hyper, but they all got 100s on both quizzes I gave them (Hallelujah!), and I was able to sit down at the table with them to work on most of the lesson. It's nice to sit down, and it's nice to be on a level with them. Maybe in Korea, this is frowned upon because the teacher seems less of an authority figure to be respected (they're all about the hierarchy), but in America I think it's a good thing. Teachers don't seem so cut off from the kids, like they are there to help and can be approached for help.

By 8:00pm, I was dancing another happy dance! I decided to make a significant effort to be friendly with my fellow foriegn teachers, and asked if anyone wanted to get dinner. We decided to go downstairs to the bottom floor of the building to get shabu-shabu. This was described to me as a soup. I will take you through my culinary journey...

First of all, we sit traditional Korean style: on the floor. Now, I'm all for the fung shui and all that, but my legs fall asleep and my back starts to ache after about 10 minutes of this business. But, when in Korea....

Thankfully, we had a Korean with us at dinner. She was able to order for us and we knew exactly what we were getting. (Well, Erin and Brian Teacher already knew since they've been here quite a few times before.)

We ordered, and they brought a bowl of broth and turned on the burner. Once the broth was nearly boiling, we added veggies. Once these had shrunk down to a normal size, we added the meat. The meat cooked very quickly, so we had our first "course" - meat and veggies. We had been given 2 bowls of spices/sauces, and I found that I really enjoyed one of them. Don't ask me what it was, because I have no idea. I greedily ate as much meat as I thought was socially acceptable, being that the whole table shared the pot.

After this "course" was finished, we let the broth heat back up and added a plate of noodles (flour, not rice, thankfully). Those cooked a while, and the broth became more of a gravy consistency. It was absolutely delicious. The best really Asian dish I've had so far (I would say "Korean" dish, but I don't think it is Korean... I think it's Japanese...).

After the noodle course, the waitress added some more broth (we were all sipping it, so it evaporated quickly), and when it was good and boiling, added the rice and egg concoction. It got very thick and was actually quite nice as well.

All in all, it was an extremely good dinner, and I tried a sip of "sansachun" which is some Korean wine made from "red fruits of the sansas" - anybody know what sansas are? Me either... It wasn't bad, though. Almost like a cider... I only had a small cup (and by Korean standards, when I say small, I mean less than a shot glass size), but I would like to try it again.

I left a bit early, giving some money to Sean for him to pay my portion of the meal, and headed home. I had left my phone at home, and felt naked without some form of communication. Mostly because Tab and I had briefly talked about our weekend plans this morning, and we hadn't decided anything when I left, so I wanted to get back and make sure she wasn't expecting me to be over there or something. And then, of course, I discovered my door is a POS and I need to get it fixed.

I decided to just stay in tonight, and good thing because it's raining now. I love that I can hear the pitter patter on my window. :) I found a few really cool things while I was procrastinating writing my blog. I love/am addicted to Instagram (photo taking app which puts cool filters on your pics). I have previously used Postagram, an app that takes your Instagram photos and turns them into postcards. It's awesome, because the price is less than buying a postcard here and mailing it, plus I can put my own photo on it! I brought to Korea a few Postagrams I had sent to myself and also received. I put one of the photos on my desk under the glass top at school, and I loved looking at it all day. I decided I wanted some more photos! So, I found two awesome websites: StickyGram and Printstagram.

StickyGram is a website that you can turn your Instagram photos into magnets! It's $15 for a sheet of 9 magnets. They also offer free worldwide shipping (awesome!!!!) and if you fancy getting some, use the code FRIENDA771 and you can get $2 off! I am super excited to get mine in the mail. I already have some photos on the fridge, but these will really help my room look more personal.

Printstagram is a website that you can get simple prints of your Instagram photos. You can do regular squares, or minis! You can also make albums and other goodies. I wanted regular squares to put on my desk, so I got a set of 24 prints for the incredible price of $12!! Unforunately, you do pay shipping here. To a US address is $7. But, including tax, my total was still less than $20. 

I am super excited to get all these photos in the mail! I am obsessed with Instagram, and I definitely see more orders for these prints in the future! **Sorry for the tangent about these companies, I am just so excited!**

I wonder what this weekend will have in store....

Hump Day with a PELTest

Ah, Wednesday.... one of my least favorite days of the week. Thankfully, today was not a bad Wednesday!

On the way to work today, it was perfectly sunny and temperatures were in the high 70s. By the time I got to work, I was a little hot, simply from walking a mile in the sun. But, it was the kind of weather that you can't help but smile at. I enjoy walking to work now that I can go alone. I know the way, and most of the teachers go in at various times (1230, 1245, 1, etc),s so we walk alone. It's a peaceful time. I get to listen to my music and think about whatever I want. I don't have to make conversation with anyone, I can just be with myself. I like it.

An aside: Koreans don't seem to wear sunglasses. Today was bright and sunshiny, but I was the only person wearing sunglasses! Maybe that contributes to the stares I get... Maybe.

When I got to work, I felt in control. I worked on my daily lesson plan, which I really enjoy doing! I have to turn them in to Jackie Teacher every day for 2 months, but chances are good that I will continue to do them for myself. (Each class has it's own lesson plans for the month, but doing a full day of plans with each class is helpful!) I even found the quizzes for 2 of my classes by myself and made the copies solo. I felt awesome!!! I finished up report cards, and had about 15 minutes to spare before class started.

My first class is my worst. I'm kind of glad of this, because once it's over, its mostly downhill after that. The class is made up of mostly 6-year-olds whose English skills are basic and have the attention span of a gnat. To top things off, there are 10 kids in the class... 3 are trouble makers, 3 are more advanced than the rest, and 4 just zone out for the whole class period (except to occasionally look up and copy the board into their workbooks). It's frustrating and wearing on my nerves... I can't wait for February when I can get rid of most of these kids. (Classes rearrange and change in February) The only kid I love is Tommy, whom I previously described. Bright eyed, eager to please the teacher, and raises his hand for every question. I love him!

My second class is also trying, but slightly less. This is mostly due to the fact that there are only 5 students, instead of 10. However, these kids are mostly all troublemakers. Two of them try and obviously enjoy class. But even they succumb to the incessant chattering of the others, chiming in and laughing at the most inopportune times.

Third period is one of my better classes. They are helpful when I am confused, receptive to my comments, responsive to my questions, and are willing to work. Granted, they are still young and therefore do get sidetracked easily. But I can wrangle them back in fairly easily.

Fourth period is my infamous 2SAP class: 4 (now 3) little girls who laugh at anything and everything, comment on everything, and generally suck any remaining energy from my reserves. One of the girls is taking a month vacation (I'm so jealous), so we have 3 now. One of those girls is significantly behind the others, but tries very hard so it's difficult to be too frustrated at her. Today, I had Jackie Teacher sit in on my class with them, and I was very intimidated. Korean culture leans heavily to the "constructive criticism" rather than "positive reinforcement" tactic with employees. Therefore, even when I do a great job, Jackie Teacher usually has a suggestion for me. Today, I was determined not to give her anything to say. She came in as we were reading the book, and I made sure we finished on time. When we were done, rather than moving on immediately, I asked the students some comprehension questions. To my delight, Rachel answered correctly on a question that was fairly difficult (predicting future events based on things that happened in the story we read). While she couldn't articulate her ideas with much finesse, she made her point and I reiterated it in the best grammar I could. Jackie Teacher seemed pleased, so we moved on to the next section. The girls did fairly well; Jackie Teacher only interjected when she felt like they were not understanding or the girls were not responding to my questions or prompts (come on, girls! you're killin' me here!!!) Overall, Jackie Teacher gave me a smile when she left the room, and I sighed in relief.

My next class was another large one, but these kids were fairly better behaved. They had a vocabulary quiz, after which they had a practice PEL Test. PEL Tests are the Korean education system's attempts at English Language Standardized Testing. 3 days out of the month, the kids do practice exams. Today was one of those days, so for 40 minutes of my hour long class, I got to sit down. This is a rare treat, and I enjoyed it immensely. The kids, unfortunately, suffered through 40 minutes of an hour long class listening to boring recordings and circling answers in a workbook. Poor kids, lucky teacher.

My last class was repeated in much the same manner, except these kids are at a higher level, so the questions were not repeated multiple times on the recordings, and therefore the test went by in 20 minutes rather than 40. So, I had 20 minutes to kill. I let them work on Homework (illegal), talk about their weekend plans (generally unacceptable), and pack up early (totally illegal). Thankfully, Jackie Teacher did not pop-in on this class or I would have been floundering.

After classes were over, I finished up some report cards I had missed in the morning, and made my lesson plan for the next day. Tomorrow, Sean, Jamie & I are going to Immigration to apply for our Alien Resident Cards, so we have to be at work at 12:30. Lucky us! I got the lesson plan done, which took care of one thing I would otherwise need to do tomorrow. Unfortunately, I was mentally checked out after that, so I did not prepare anything else for tomorrow. Hopefully I'll have some prep time before classes...

I talked to Michelle Teacher, my Korean BFF, for 20 minutes before I left. We made plans for the weekend - Sunday, we are meeting at her church for the English service, then getting lunch together. Her husband will be there also. When we left work, I waited with her until her husband got there to pick her up. She offered me a ride home, and while I don't mind walking much, I jumped at the offer. The other foreign teachers were still at work, so I would be alone anyway. Her husband picked us up a few minutes later and took me by my apartment. He was very nice!

I am very excited to spend Sunday with them! I also want to make plans with Tab for Friday night/Saturday, so I have something to look forward to the next 2 days. I think we might go to a Korean spa, or maybe a famous cafe. Who knows! (You will, when I blog about it after it happens!)

Two more days... two more days... WEEKEND!!!!

A Much Better Day

Man, I don't know what was up with yesterday! I could barely keep my eyes open... Okay, maybe that had something to do with the Advil PM I took. But, mentally! I was super beat. Literally I didn't want to think for half a second about my classes.

Today, though, was a different story. Tuesday/Thursday I have only 5 classes (rather than 6), so I got extra time to prep when I got to work. As soon as I got there, I had a little list of what I needed to do to prepare. Also, because I am new, I have to do daily lesson plans to turn in to Jackie Teacher. While some may think this is micro-managing, I love it. For a person as organized as I am, this is helpful to me as well as her. I get to go through every class and really make sure I am doing what I need to do.

I realized that I had 2 quizzes in 2 of my classes, so I made sure to get copies of those. I also got my 2SAP class sorted, since yesterday was so terrible. Finally, I began doing copies of Report Cards for each student who had a test last week. Thankfully, someone (Maggie, I assume) had already done them, I just needed to insert her comments and print. How nice!

Honestly, as long as my day is and as many classes as I go to, I can't remember which class had which issues, etc. But, I do know that I felt a million times better today. Not perfect, there were still a few glitches: one of the quizzes, I had to read them sentences, and I forgot the manuscript. Another class, the computer completely crashed when I had to get done 2x as much work as a normal day. And the list goes on...

One great thing was that Michelle Teacher got to move and now her desk is next to mine! :D This makes me very happy! She is so awesome. I decided I want to get a Bible Verse daily calendar we can share on the desk. :) I get them in emails from Air1 everyday, and one I received a few days ago really spoke to me:

"Always be joyful. Never stop praying. Be thankful in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you who belong to Jesus Christ" - 1Thes 5:16-18. 

It reminds me that even when I am beat down and feel like I can't go on, I can have joy. If for no other reason than I have a savior who died for me. There are so many more reasons, though. Never stop praying - in every single situation, good or bad, invite God into it. He can take care of things infinitely better than I can. In my classes, in my relationships, in my walk to school, in my apartment, everything. Talk to him. Be thankful in ALL circumstances. I need to thank Him for the hard times, as well as the good. I came here for a challenge; to become a better person. And, I'm here and doing just that! Even when I'm tired, and the day is overwhelming, just being thankful can completely change your attitude. Even if you fake it 'til you make it, IT WORKS! And anyway, I'm where I am because of God, and his will for my life. That is something to be thankful for; I am taken care of.

This morning I made 3 eggs, and some toast. I ate a yogurt before classes began, and I'm still quite content at almost 10pm! That is so awesome, and a staggering difference from last week. Michael still cracks up thinking about me living on bread and coke. Every time we talked on FaceTime, he could see me with this huge 2L of Coke, drinking straight from the bottle. This is what living in a motel does to you!!! Now, I come home to a clean apartment with a bed, a kitchen, food in the pantry, and privacy! I am so thankful!

I am still tired, but I feel slightly less haggard tonight. I want to make plans for the weekend, so I have something to look forward to. I really appreciate weekends now! Tomorrow is Wednesday: hump day. Make it through tomorrow, and it's all downhill. Yay!

Michelle said she would go shopping with me on Saturday, so maybe we will do that. I don't want to seem desperate, but I would really like to do that. Hopefully she is still up for it! I also want to go see Tab. Maybe we will go out to her favorite place: Hongdae. Or, maybe I want to pass out by Friday at 8pm. Who knows!

This is a somewhat short blog; I need to get better about remembering my classes! It's so hard to think back and talk about what we did. Sometimes it's just so boring that even I can't make it interesting... Other times, it's so chaotic my mind couldn't even take it in. But one thing is certain: I am making progress. I still have a lot to learn, but it's getting better. :)

I am going to go make some dinner and maybe watch a movie - I made myself blog as soon as I got home so I wouldn't do a repeat of yesterday! Hopefully something interesting happens soon ;)

Actually Teaching...

I would say that today was my first actually day on the job. Yesterday, I was alone in the classroom, but most of the classes were tests. Today, I actually had to teach!

I got to school about an hour early, because I was quite nervous about being prepared for all my classes. It was nice to be there early because it was actually quiet and not chaotic. I got some work done, mostly grading. I felt like there was probably much more I should have been doing but I couldn't even think of what to do! Eventually, the other afternoon teachers arrived and Erin Teacher helped me go through each class and make sure I was prepared.

They say experience is the best teacher and it is so true. The first class, I was a mess. I couldn't find any of the materials on the computer to show on the screen and the kids were crazy. I had a Korean teacher in the class with me watching ("making sure the kids behave and I can find my way" aka freaking me out!). She was helpful, I must admit. The kids are scared of her. Thats a plus!

My second class got a little better. Most of the classes were starting new Units so there was not as much work to do as there will be later in the month. So, most of the classes I got finished with everything I needed to. It felt weird to be the one making decisions. Of course, there are things I need to do, but then there are situations where I can make the call. If we don't finish a page for homework, I can assign it for homework. AND THEY HAVE TO DO IT! Whaaaat!!

Third class was also new curriculum, but my partner Korean teacher made sure we had the correct books. I swear, these kids have so many books. It makes my head spin! This class, I handed out 3 textbook workbooks, 1 story book, 1 bound spiral workbook, and 2 CDs. Are you serious?! How can I keep this stuff straight?!?!?

2SAP class was the worst, I think. We had to catch up from yesterday with the quiz, and the girls were so talkative (per normal.) It was Sarah's last day so we all took a photo. Apparently, she will be back in a month, though. She's probably the cutest kid I have, I will miss her. We finished the quiz, went over a few questions from the exam that many of them missed, and started book club. The girls also go to the Library on Fridays, so I had to squeeze that in at the end. I ended up assigning some extra homework for book club. I felt bad, but hey, they pay for me to give them work.

The last 2 classes are my 1 hour classes. By then, I was absolutely exhausted, but I was getting the hang of things. In many classes, the content is different, but we do very similar exercises on the same day.

Right before I began my classes, I had a moment. I was getting so overwhelmed with absolutely everything and couldn't keep things straight. I literally had to take 10 minutes and talk myself down. I prayed and had to remember that I am here for a reason! Everyone who does this work feels the way I feel at some point. And everyone gets the hang of things! And, as Erin Teacher pointed out, at least our mistakes don't kill people. Reassuring! ;)

After classes, I was POOPED! I sat down and had a piece of cake (it was one of the Korean teachers' last day so we had a little celebration. I just ate some cake.) We walked home, and Brian Teacher helped me get my suitcases (pre-packed from this morning!) and take them to my NEW APARTMENT!

Maggie Teacher was finishing cleaning and she gave me the how-things-work tour. I learned about getting hot water, working the AC, the stove, and the lights. Once she left, my first task was to get my WiFi set up. The apartments have ethernet cables, but no routers. Luckily, I planned ahead and brought an Apple Airport Express!

This little bad boy allows you to set up a WiFi network anywhere you go with accessible LAN or WAN ethernet. I got it all set up; the name is "You Shall Not Pass!" - can anyone guess the reference? ;)

Once that was set up, I got some pizza from the little place around the block and talked with Michael a little. Pretty soon it was time to go meet up with Tab...

I think I will end this post here, and resume my evening on the next edition....

Made It Out Alive... Day 1 of Being A "Real" Teacher

Today was my first "real" teaching day. Up until now, I've been shadowing and trying to learn everything about all my classes while watching Maggie Teacher run around like a crazy person. I've been taking notes every day, but I still feel like I've missed so much information. Around 6pm every day, it took a lot of effort to keep my brain powered on. Sometimes information would do the in-one-ear-out-the-other trick. I frequently asked Maggie Teacher to repeat what she said. There is so much to learn!

But, today was day 1. I am officially "Chelsea Teacher" to about 100 Korean kids. Since today was Thursday, I was actually meeting my classes for the first time. Three of the classes had exams, and another had a "pop" exam from Jackie Teacher (will get to this later...) I guess I'll go in order.

First block, I have free. I don't know how I managed this, but I am not complaining! It's only T/Th that I have this luxury, but I'm pleased. I prepped before class, making sure I had everything for the exams, and was prepared for the other classes. Maggie came in for a couple hours to finish up her paperwork, and helped me get ready.

Second block (my first class) was New Hi Kids and they had an exam. Since the class was large, about 10 students. The exam has 3 parts: Listening, Reading, and Speaking. Listening is done as a class, everyone listening to the computer read out the questions, and the kids marking in their test booklet. Reading is straightforward, normal test procedure. And Speaking involves the students coming into the hallway one at a time with the teacher to orally answer questions. Being a large class, I had to get some help. I did Speaking exams while Michelle Teacher also did some, and Phoebe Teacher watched the class. It was a bit overwhelming! We finally finished, and moved on to the next class, which was also New Hi Kids, but there were only 2 students in that class. Same procedure.

Third class was my 2SAP kids, 4 little girls whom I see every day, and they had a test AND a quiz as well. The girls are so sweet and cute, but they are talkative and have so much energy! We got through listening, and I began speaking. I sat by the door window to keep an eye on them while doing speaking with the individual students in the hallway. These students have more work and higher standards. They have to verbally answer questions, sight-read a paragraph, and recite a memorized summary of the book we've been reading.

By the time we finished the exam and the speaking, they could only finish part of their Word Quiz. We will have to finish that up tomorrow. Like I said, the girls are precious and dead smart, but hyperactive and I think one may have a touch of ADD.

My fourth class was 3SAP (similar to 2SAP but much larger class of 10 students and I only see 2 days per week). We were already 2 days behind; one day was taken up from a speaking contest last week, and the typhoon day put the class even more behind. Today was supposed to be those 2 days combined, and next class have another 2 days crammed to be fully caught up. Well, the best laid plans... 3 minutes before class, Jackie Teacher tells me we will be having an unplanned placement exam. It should "only" take about 20-25 minutes. Awesome... But, gotta go with it! So, we give the exam which ends up taking 35 minutes, and barely get through 1 days worth of work, and still had to assign extra homework. :( Poor kids... Jackie Teacher and I went over the lesson plans and decided we should rewrite them tomorrow. It was a bit overwhelming. Not only am I new to teaching, I've never had this class before, and now I'm having to modify what was already planned. Stress!!

My last class was the only class of the day without an exam. *Phew!* We did "Reading Engine" which was basically reading an article and doing a ton of questions together. One students didn't have her book, and protocol is to make copies of another student's book for her to work on. Since it was my first day with these kids and I've already gotten so behind in my last class, AND I'm also behind in this class, I decide to skip taking 5 minutes to make the girl copies. I tell her to read along with her neighbor, write down her answers, and copy them into her book when she gets home. I hope I don't get in trouble for this, but I wouldn't have gotten through all the material if I had taken the time to leave the classroom.

That last class also had a problem child. In Korea, it is very rude to eat or drink in class. Extremely disrespectful. So, kids are not allowed to have snacks, water, or candies during class. Well, when I walked in they were still snacking from Break. I told them to put everything up, and 5 minutes later I see Alicia just munching away. I tell her again to put it up. We do some more work and then I see her get some candy out of her bag. I tell her "Alicia, put the candy away. If I see it out one more time, we will go in the hall and have a discussion." Side note: apparently being pulled out of class for bad behavior is super embarrassing. She finally put it up, but I can tell she's going to be a handful.

After classes, we had an hour to work on things before we could leave. I graded a lot of my tests, but still wasn't done by 9 o'clock. I will have a few hours of prep tomorrow to work on them, and I feel moderately prepared for tomorrow's classes. I really can't wait to get the hang of the classes, I feel so flustered!

On a slightly different note, okay, a totally different note: this morning I had a minor meltdown. Staying in the motel is really hard, not just because it is gross as hell, but there is NO way to cook or reheat anything. I have no stove, no oven, no microwave. Nothing! So, I must eat out. Well, no one has explained anything to me. I know of 2 restaurants and I don't really like either. Breakfast is hard, because there is only bakeries around me. So, I've been having rolls and pastries every morning. They are good, but when all you eat the rest of the day is the rice that the school makes and maybe some crackers, it is not too great. I never thought I'd say "I'm so sick of all carbs!"

So, this morning I set out on yet another attempt to find some semblance of a hot breakfast. Of course, nothing. Plus, it's raining cats and dogs. I get home and talk to mom. And I completely lose it. I am so frustrated by the situation! I don't know what the signs mean, so I'm too scared to go in places. They don't speak English, only half have pictures of the food, and even then I dont actually know what goes in it! I am scared to ask the other teachers where to go, for fear of looking like the princess of the group.

My mom, of course, wants to try to help me fix it so she's telling me to ask the teachers or go to this neighborhood or that place. Well, obviously I've thought of those things before and they don't work! So, I'm frustrated and so hungry it hurts. I hang up and call Michael; by this time it's certifiably sobbing.  He gets me to calm down eventually, and I decide to go to the Lotteria in my neighborhood (remember Lotteria, McDonald's ripoff from this weekend?). I mean, it's not very good and it's greasy, but I can get protein in the form of chicken strips. So that's something!

Well, then I get to work and see that in addition to the rice, the lunch lady made some kind of marinated pork. My Korean friend, Michelle, told me to try it. I got some, and with the hot rice on it, it heated up (for some reason, Koreans like a lot of weird things served cold... I'm confused but it seems to be the case...), and it was actually good! I had a whole bowl. I was so proud of myself for trying something new and actually liking it!

By the time school was over, I was hungry again (my stomach is being so greedy now that it's actually getting some nutrition!). I asked Michelle would she mind maybe showing me some places in the area to eat, or what common signs on restaurants mean. She was so sweet and agreed. But, we wouldn't be able to meet until next week, because of timing conflicts. I was just very happy I asked and she didn't think I was some crazy white girl.

On the way home from work, I mentioned to Erin that I'd like to know where restaurants in our area were, and what they served. I mentioned that I kind of liked the kimbap the school served on Friday (I mean, not really, but I forced it down.) She said, "Oh! Yea, there's a kimbap place right next to us! I'll show you!" I could hear the heavens singing Hallelujah!! She took me on the way home, and I got a kimbap roll. It was the equivalent of a little over $1! **The server is down or I would be adding photos of my kimbap :) will add soon!**

Kimbap looks similar to sushi rolls, but it does not have any fish! Usually they have tofu or ham (or both) plus some veggies and other bits and bobs. I honestly don't know what all was in mine, but I picked out the large yellowish blob because I didn't care for the texture. It was hard like a carrot.

I just think it's so amazing that when I get so down about something here, God really looks out for me. I knew this trip would be good for me, help to grow. But I didn't realize the lessons would be so quick. I know God doesn't always give us exactly what we want when we want it, but He provides! I was so hungry this morning, I cried out to Him, and He answered my prayers. It wasn't BBQ or mac and cheese, but it was food I could eat, and my stomach doesn't hate me anymore (or at least quite so much...)

One more amazing thing before I end this one... Michelle, my Korean friend, is awesome. Uploading a photo of her wall post to me today. I love her! I can't wait to be better friends with her. Hehehe!