I know I said that my next post would be a video showing our apartment. However, I've been just too lazy to do it. It is coming soon, though. I promise!
Today was my first day at school and in the classroom. It is summer camp time so I have 3 classes (45 minutes each) with the same 25 students for all 3 classes. Summer camp at my school runs for 2 weeks and the person I replaced already did a week. That means Friday will be my last day before summer break. I will have 2 weeks off before regular classes begin. I was told to teach about different countries. The person before me covered North America and I could pick which other countries I wanted to cover. This past weekend, I spent my time coming up with things to teach and to do with the students. I was also told that they would watch a movie during the last period of each day. So, I spent hours trying to find an appropriate movie with Korean subtitles. I settled on "Julie and Julia" because it was the only one I could find with Korean subtitles. I was still working into late Sunday night to get everything ready for my first day of school.
However, in true Korean fashion, I arrived at school and was told that everything I needed to teach the class was already on my computer in the classroom. That meant I had about 45 minutes to preview the lesson that was already made for me (even though my co-teacher told me I had to come up with my own lesson...). But, it all worked out in the end because now I don't have to plan for Tuesday!
I haven't taken any pictures of my school yet, but I plan to do that tomorrow. When we walk into the school, we are required to take off our shoes and put on slippers that have not been worn outside. The teachers' office is on the 2nd floor. I am pretty sure I am the only teacher who doesn't have a desk/area in the teachers' office. My office/classroom is on the 5th floor. I am the only classroom up there. However, my classroom is pretty awesome. It's huge! I'm excited for all of the activities that we can do!
My kids were pretty good. I am a little nervous about teaching in an all-boys middle school but I think it'll be a good year. There are several orphanages in our area and many of the boys at the school live in the orphanages. We also have several mentally handicapped children. As I was leaving school with my co-teacher, a boy yelled out, "Sam". (The "short" word for 'teacher' in Korean is - Sam. I always think kids are talking to me). Anyway, the boy then kept saying hi. I said hi back but he kept on yelling back at me. My co-teacher then informed me that he is mentally handicapped. His parents abandoned him when he was a baby and he now lives with his grandparents. They don't know where the parents are. To make money, the grandparents pick up cardboard around the area. The other kids make fun of him a lot and even throw trash at him. Needless to say, he doesn't have any friends. My co-teacher told me that he always wants to make friends with the new foreign teacher. I told her that I had no problem being his friend in school. She did tell me, however, to be careful. He can get really clingy.
I know that I am going to have some challenges this coming year. But, I hope this is an awesome year and that I grow into a better teacher and an even better person! I will keep you all updated on my progress.
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