So far, it’s a dream, of course! Yesterday’s lessons didn’t go as well as planned, for a couple of reasons. First, my flash drive decided to stop working, so I no longer had my PowerPoint presentations or any of my visuals. I was a little flustered without them. Then, the fourth grade class was much rowdier and larger than my previous classes, and what I had prepared didn’t really work well for them. I think the novelty of a new room and the somewhat cramped quarters, not to mention my presence, may have had something to do with it, too. Hopefully. Otherwise, I don’t know how we’re going to survive this year!
So I guess maybe fourth grade was the only failed lesson. I thoroughly enjoyed the first grade class—they were so attentive and cute! Also, the first grade teacher is like my surrogate mom. She is the one who asked me to call her Kyoung Hee Sam (Her first and middle name, plus the shortened name for teacher. Everyone always laughs when they hear about it—it must be some kind of joke.) She is so fabulous and helpful. Now, whenever she sees me getting together teaching materials, she insists on assisting me. She has a lot of good ideas, too. She doesn’t speak too much English, but I found out last night that she was really good at it back in the day. She was never good at pronunciation, though—just grammar. And that doesn’t help me. But she has taken it upon herself to teach me Korean. She will tell me random words throughout the day in Korean. So far, she’s managed to hit upon words I already learned, for the most part. I don’t have the heart to tell her I already know the words, so she just thinks I am amazingly intelligent. Boy, will she be surprised when my “progress” comes to a halt! Oh, and she brought me a present today—a cell phone charm her daughter made. It’s really pretty. Basically everyone has a cell phone charm here. It’s a very strange thing for me, but I do like mine a lot.
I also taught kindergarten, which went fine, and was supposed to teach one class of second grade and a teachers’ workshop, but both were cancelled. Whew! I wasn’t quite ready for either. My Tuesdays are going to be soooo busy!
In the afternoon, one of the second grade teachers, Lee Ho Seong, came over with my co-teacher to look at my internet because it hadn’t been working. Evidently, he’s some kind of technological wizard, and boy, did he prove himself with my internet! It’s amazing to be connected again! Now all of you can call me on Skype! My name is jennifer.reinsel, and my number is coming soon.
After that, we went out to dinner in Buyeo. It was the dietician’s farewell party, but I never did figure out who the dietician was. I spent the evening at the ladies’ table, deserted by my co-teacher. I heard my name come up a bunch of times, but I couldn’t really figure out what they were actually saying and it was so frustrating! I sat between Kim Eun Soon, the young female fourth grade teacher who wanted me to live with her, and Kyoung Hee Sam. It was entertaining. Kim Eun Soon is very quiet, for the most part, while Kyoung Hee Sam is, well, loud. I can tell she is funny, but I never know what she is saying! I think the main thrust of the conversation, however, was that I should become friends with Kim Eun Soon, which I think both of us would like but communication is hard. She’s not that great at English. I’m not sure exactly why she wanted to host me.
Anyway, afterwards we all went to the principal’s house for a party. It was kind of insane. There were about twenty of us sitting on his floor around a couple low tables, drinking insane amounts of beer and eating even more fruit. A couple of the men arranged for a friggin beer delivery while we were walking over, and a bit later a man showed up with a GROCERY BASKET full of beer. But there must have been some miscommunication, because the sixth grade teacher showed up with a large cardboard box of beer, too! The vice principal kept encouraging me to get wasted because I obviously wouldn’t have to drive (he lives in Hongsan, too, so we got a taxi together with another man I recognize but do not know). I just smiled and nodded and sipped away. No chugging for this girl in professional company. I thought the bar last weekend was more interesting, to be honest, but maybe it was only because my co-teacher was there to translate. This week, he had to go home, so I was on my own.
I think the principal was trying to set me up with the third grade teacher again. He is evidently leaving us at the end of November for his two years in the military, and the principal managed to communicate to me that we should get to know each other before then. We’ll see….I may be single, but I am sooo not desperate! Oh, and another gem from the night…I was told that the principal has a sizeable liquor cabinet (he does) and that I was welcome to whatever I wanted, with one stipulation…whatever bottle I opened, I had to finish. What an elementary school staff, eh?
Today’s lessons were a bit smoother. I managed to prepare some last night, even in my buzzed state, and did some more in my sleep this morning. Third and sixth grade will also be challenging for me. Basically, my consensus is that I like teaching the youngsters better. They are more responsive and cuter! But some of the older ones are really great. It’s really just some of the boys who are giving me trouble. And I can’t even say anything to them…I have to just DO something! I am glad the other teachers have been in the room with me to regulate, just for that reason, but it makes me feel incompetent. In the third grade class (which really didn’t go that well), there were at least 3 boys sitting out on a continual basis. Oh, well…it’s not my deal, really!
This teaching thing is turning out to be a lot more work than I anticipated. I am definitely putting in my 40 hours per week, at least at this point. I suppose it wouldn’t be that stressful to teach 20 hours per week in some situations, but I have to prepare so many lessons that I begin to feel overwhelmed. Plus with trying to learn names and write up curriculum plans for the entire semester…it’s a mess! I was thinking about this today, and some of the other teachers only teach as many hours as I do, and they’re not even teaching a foreign language! Now I know why the principal was so appreciative of my willingness to take on so many hours! It’s fun so far, though, as long as it doesn’t end up ruining my weekends. I definitely stayed as late or later as all of the other teachers tonight, and I can definitely see that happening on a regular basis.
I did manage to get in some badminton during the fifth period “extra class.” It’s fun—the sixth grade teacher, who also teaches this, usually pairs me with some poor student, probably instructed to go easy on me, and we lob it back and forth for half an hour or so. My right arm is going to be so buff!