^^^^ These pictures don't include my bed or bike ;) ^^^^^
This was also the first time I have ever moved sans Dad. I know that sounds kind of strange, but my Dad ALWAYS helps me move and usually my brother or cousin if they have time AKA we trick them into it ;) It was strange how even after I got all of my things in the building itself and my mover was long gone, I was having trouble making myself unpack and organize everything. I mean, at home I call my Mom and she comes and helps with the picture hanging and the general layout of my room. Doing it all alone was lack luster.
On the bright side, as I've settled in I've had a lot of help from my co-teacher getting all of the pieces of my apartment together as well as some friendly neighbors. I was having some troubles with the hot water in my apartment AKA I haven't taken a hot shower at my house in 3 weeks! As I was coming home from school today I saw a Korean woman going into my building at the same time as me. She was surprised to see me and asked about me, then tonight she came over bringing fresh water, kimchi and Gim (seasoned seaweed) . She also brought her two young boys Sung-Hyun, 1st grade and Sung-Gun, 5th grade. They go to my school so no doubt I will teach them at some point. Then my land lady stopped by and the maintenance man. They all looked at my pictures and made me feel that much safer living here. Just knowing that someone knows that I'm here and possibly keeping an eye out for me ;)
As I start to round out week three of teaching, I'm realizing how different public school is from the Private/ Hagwon style classes I was teaching at WonKwang.
In public school I teach only sixth grade for three months. That means that I teach 11 classes of sixth graders the exact same lesson. The title of my blog represents what I have been teaching non-stop for the past two weeks, so it gets a little monotonous but it's a lot easier then preparing four different lesson plans five days a week. Now I only make 1-2 lesson plans per week and teach 22 hours a week. Better in that way...BUT I have to be at school from 9-4:45. No leaving! Which means I get to eat school lunches everyday mmmm mmmmmm
I haven't taken any pictures of my own, but I found this picture online and I think it represents what I get to eat almost daily at school.
1. Kimchi - cabbage/ radish
2. Rice- sometimes with a sprinkle of other grains
3. Soup- usually a seaweed or tofu blend soup.
4. Fruit - Today we had fresh strawberries
5. Vegetable - usually something green that I have no idea what it is...
One day we actually had tiny dried whole fish. Surprisingly they were really tasty! The greatest part about school lunches is of course the cost and convenience. Today for example, we had BiBimBap for lunch, kimchi, soup, fresh strawberries and baked sweet potatoes. Cost: $2 Cost in a restaurant: $3-5. Not much of a huge price difference, but I get to eat for the month for $40 and I never have to decide what to eat for lunch ;)
The students at the school have all different levels and it's hard to sit with a kid that studied in New Zealand for two years and has amazing English then turn to help the kid in front of him who doesn't even know the alphabet. However, I think they need to be challenged a little more while my Korean co-teacher holds their hands a little too much. They never have to really think in English as she repeats everything she says in Korean without even giving them a chance to process what they've heard in English. There's no incentive to understand. At WonKwang even my students spoke only English... Just saying...
Here are some pictures of my new classroom and the playground/track.
Having this projector and being able to use Internet and PowerPoint as been invaluable!
I do appreciate that the public schools have offered me a lot of education opportunities of my own. My school is sending me to a Korean class twice a week (2 hours a night) for three months. They also have me going to teaching seminars, doing online teaching courses and all the other state mandated curriculum for government teachers.
My new apartment has two rooms (one is small and I'm using it as a closet), bathroom with plenty of space so I'm not showering over my toilet (common in one room apartments), I have a small living/kitchen space, laundry room and a little balcony area for drying my clothes. The apartment is a lot bigger than my last one and my school has furnished all the major items I need. Where at WonKwang I walked into an empty room.
Location, Location, Location! I live literally a two minute walk from my school. In fact, I can see my apartment from the window in my office. The apartment is also a five minute walk from the subway station and only a 2-3 minute walk from a lot of the major bus stops! My gym is a three minute walk and all the shopping and restaurants are in that area also! Super convenient! It takes an hour to an hour and a half to get to Seoul by subway or I can take a bus that is one hour. I'm really appreciating the location in relation to everywhere I want to visit.
As for everything else, I've been enjoying hanging out with friends on the weekends. Tara (a girl from Oklahoma) and Stormy and I all started new jobs at the beginning of March so we're all getting settled into our new places and schools.
Here is a group shot from a few weekends ago;
me, Stuart, Posey, Tara and Jessup -- We always have fun together
Here Tara and I are having REAL Mexican food in Songtan. It was the best I've had in Korea
As always, sorry for the delay in my postings. I will try to do better :)
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