First Day of Teaching…kinda

Today was Orientation at my school!  It was a way of easing the students (and myself) into school life.  Parents, mostly well to do stay at home moms, brought their children to school this morning.  I stood at the door, smiling and trying to look as friendly as possible.  Every once in a while I'd through in a "Good Morning!" "Welcome!" or bow, just for good measure.  Koreans are very big on first impressions!  Outward appearance is extremely important.  In America you might expect a Kindergarten Teacher to wear a stylish denim jumper with apples sown on it, but teachers at my school were wearing sequins dresses.  All the moms looked like they just walked off the runway.  Look for the next Bravo hit, "Real Housewives of Bundang". 

 Things were a bit hectic, with children running around everywhere.  Everyone seemed to act like this was completely normal though, so I just kept smiling:)  The 6 and 7 year olds were divided into two groups, one of which I lead with a Korean teacher.  There were 10 students in our class and as I’m sure you can imagine, insanely cute. 

Today’s theme was family, so we talked about different members of a family and sang a song.  All the students in my class today spoke some English, which I was grateful for!  When I asked them who was in a family, they were able to tell me Mommy, Daddy, Brother, Sister, Grandmother, Grandfather.  Needless to say, I was impressed and relieved! 

I then read the students a book called, “Bee-Bim Bop.”  Bee-bim bop is a traditional Korean dish and the book was about a little girl helping her mother prepare dinner for their family.  After the story, we made bee-bim bop out of clay.  Then had a snack – milk and a roll.  There was one glass of spilled milk, but no tears, so I felt like the day was a success.  I was only with the kids for an hour and half in the class and we were very busy the whole time, so it went by quickly. 

To wrap up the orientation, all the teachers were introduced to the parents.  By the way, there a total of 5 Korean teachers at my school, along with an Assistant Director and Director.  The Director and 2 of the Korean teachers speak very good English.  As for the others, there is a bit of a language barrier.  I had to give a brief introduction of myself to the parents, which I don’t think they understood at all, but they did clap! 

For lunch, all the staff went out to a restaurant.  Looking back, I wish I would have taken advantage of some of those yoga classes at the gym, because sitting crossed-legged through a whole meal is a bit challenging.  The food was delicious though, so all is good!  Milestone of the day was trying kimchi and actually liking it!  I had radish and cabbage kimchi; apparently there are hundreds of different flavors. 

The teacher bonding continued and we went for coffee after lunch.  Finally we headed back to the school where the Directory reviewed expectations, roles, duties, ect with me and the other foreign teacher.  Some questions answered, but still feeling very confused!

Other good news of the day is my luggage arrived!  Thanks to my mom’s mad packing skills I probably could have lasted a few more days with my carry on essentials, but it is nice to have all my belongings necessary for the next year. 

I made it…barely

I have never necessarily considered myself a ”lucky” person, but by no means would say I was “unlucky.”  I generally keep a laid back attitude, try not to stress and things seem to fall into place.  The last couple days have really pushed this theory to the limit though!

Tuesday morning, the day before I am supposed to leave for Seoul, I wake up with a headache and sore throat.  As the day goes on, I’m freezing and my body is achy.  I’m going downhill fast, so I go to Urgent Care that night.  Turns out I have a 103 degree fever and swollen glands.  Good news is I don’t have the flu.  Bad news is the doc thinks I have strep throat or mono!  She tells me there is no way I can fly and writes me a note to change my flight.  Not really an option at this point, so I immediately start praying for a miracle.

The miracle came in the form of a powerful steroid and antibiotic prescription.  The next day I wake up feeling much better…the trip is still on!  The plan was to pack Tuesday not, but since that didn’t happen, my mom and I spent all day Wednesday packing and repacking.  After making some cut throat decisions about what to bring, everything finally fits, with the exception of the “mail pile.”

I get to the airport in plenty of time for my 8:35pm flight to Chicago.  It continuously gets delayed and I start to get nervous.  Despite the rumors of it getting canceled, it finally arrives a little after 10:00pm.  Through my excellent eavesdropping skills I discover a guy on my flight from STL is also headed to South Korea to teach English.  We make it to Chicago and into the international terminal right as our flight to Seoul starts to board.  It was touch and go, but all was good.

The flight itself is not too bad.  Sure it was long, but I slept and watched a couple movies.  The real kicker was when we landed in Seoul and me, along with my fellow STL passengers are left waiting at the baggage carousel empty handed.  Who would have seen that coming…my luggage is lost!  Fingers are crossed it gets delivered to my school in the next couple days.

My dad was concerned how I’d be able to handle all that baggage myself, but thank God it was a non-issue…ugh!  I get to my school with no problems though and all the other teachers are very nice.   Along with the Korean teachers, I met the other foreign teacher.  It is his second year teaching English and is married to a South Korean lady.  They live just down the hall from me.

Lucky for me, the former foreign teacher came into the school today and helped me get my classroom set up.  I’ll be a homeroom teacher in “Red Room.”  Still trying to figure out what exactly that means, but I know it involves snack time, lunch and putting on coats.

She then brought me back to her old apartment slash my new apartment.  It is nicer than I expected and fully furnished with bed, couch, tv, desk, night stand, coffee table, washing machine and a refrigerator.  She left me pretty much everything I need, or at least need to get settled in.

I am a bit overwhelmed right now, but I think that is to be expected!  Despite a few bumps in the road, things are going good.  Thanks for reading and I’ll keep you posted! 

Life is Journey, not a Destination…

But if it was, my next destination is South Korea!  In less than a week I’ll be embarking on the biggest adventure of my life so far.  If you are wondering if I’m excited, the answer is YES!  If you are wondering if I’m nervous, the answer is YES!  I’m also feeling every emotion in between.

By chance if you don’t know my background very well, let me clarify a few things:

·         My college degree is in Agribusiness Management, not education

·         I don’t speak any Korean, but I have a pretty good handle on English

·         My passport lacks any stamps from Asian countries, but I throw up the peace sign on a regular basis

·         I don’t know anyone currently living in South Korea, but lots of friends of friends of friends…6 degrees of separation right?

Despite all these fun facts, I am in fact qualified to teach English in South Korea.  Four year college degree…check. Native English speaker…check. 

For the past few weeks I’ve been gathering what I think I’ll need to pack for a year abroad.  While Seoul is a booming developed city, I am packing some luxuries from home, or at least putting them in a box for my mom to mail me. 

·         Deodorant…apparently Asian folk don’t sweat as much as us Westerners

·         Tampons…not a priority for the ladies of the far east

·         Shoes…size 9.5 are hard to come by in a country of the small footed

Check back later for a full list of acceptable items to include in my care packagesJ As of Friday morning KST, I should be in South Korea, granted I survive the 14 hour flight.  More details to come. 
Disclaimer: I’m new to the blogging world, so with time, I hope to make this page a little easier on the eyes.