There's much to be updated since my last Debby Downer-like entry. In summary: my situation has been increasingly improving.....and thank goodness for that! My entire day on Friday was spent at the school, mostly sitting in my, now, cleaned out office.
Here's a run-down of the cute/hilarious moments:
1. Two 1st graders knocked on my door and delivered me a small cup of Korean (aka instant) coffee at the very beginning of the day, giggled and ran off to their classrooms.
2. A group of 5th grade boys came down to work as slaves for the principal. He ordered them to clean out my office. There was lots of standing around and looking at things, moving things out, then moving them back in.
3. I walked past a 1st grade room on my way to my office and one girl saw me through the window and yelled, "HHHELLO!!" Next thing I know there's a chorus of "HELLOOOOS" and the entire class is in the hallway waving at me despite the teacher's yells for them to sit down.
4. In a meeting with the principal he mistakenly called me "virgin". After an explanation by my co-teacher and lots of laughter, he correctly called me "young lady".
All my frustrating moments occurred when I spent time with my stern, "adjussi" (term for older man) co-teacher. Having 30 years of teaching under his belt I highly respect him, but the generational and cultural gaps between us are HUGE. After Friday I know he is going to be my biggest challenge of my new job. Assigned to help me with opening a bank account and apartment hunting, I spent a good part of the day with this challenge. Through conversation I find out that he, most seriously, thinks Korean students' attitude are getting increasingly worse "because they are becoming Westernized". Also, due to "Western influence and Western styles of teaching" it is now officially illegal for teachers to use corporal punishment in the public schools (which, believe me, is overlooked at a lot of schools). Because of this, teachers have no power and students have no respect for the teachers. Beating the students who misbehave or score low on a test apparently is the only way to breed respect.
Wow. I began to understand his rude, you're-the-scum-of-the-earth treatment to me. Western=evil. Kelly=Western. Therefore, Kelly=evil. I listened to his opinions, asked questions and kindly offered my opinion about student attitudes, behaviors, and learning styles (even though he didn't ask for my opinions). Learning can happen with both Western style and old Korean style teaching. There must be some reason that most parents who want their children to succeed in Korea send them aboard to study in the U.S. Western educators must be doing something right, right? I told him I was hopeful there could be a compromise in the two styles and I could change the students' attitudes about learning English. He was just silent. Thus is my relationship with Teacher Adjussi. Sigh. I could go on and on about conversations with this man but I regress. I will not give up on him!
We looked at one apartment in Jangsan, a part of new Haeundae. My principal's friend is a realtor and offered one place available immediately. One year old apartment building, in a great location, Starbucks on 1st floor, department store directly behind, a block from the subway station, restuarants everywhere, 2 stops from the beach or a 15 minute bike ride away....YES, I ACCEPT (duh). It's much smaller than my place last year and an hour bus ride from my school but it's worth it to me.
Friday night was spent with Kate and Chaz, who graciously let me stay with them rather than another night with my other co-teacher. Friends, meat, flavored soju...mmm it was all good. Saturday I met my nice co-teacher to sign the housing contract and go shopping for apartment goods. I've never had to pick out furniture before so it was harder than I thought. I think my non-pickiness was frustrating to my co-teacher. Eventually a bed and a table was ordered for me. To be delivered Tuesday evening. Then came the shopping for things like bedding, dishes, other houseware items. Simple, plain colored bedding (or dishes for that matter) are not an option in Korea. Seriously you all would just shudder. I picked out the least hideous bedding available (basically the only one without pink) and pressed on.
I spent the night deep cleaning the apartment, unloading all the new goods, and FINALLY unpacking my bag and suitcase. It felt great even if I did miss all the Halloween outings. Today Kate and Chaz travelled across town to see my pad and help explore the area. I really love my dong (neighborhood) and can't wait to host friends here. Tomorrow is my first official day of work! Since I have no schedule yet, I was told on Friday that I would be observing classes to see how things are run. I don't entirely trust this will be the case, too good to be true, so I'm nervous. Speaking of school, I have to be up early (alarm set for 6:30) like a real teacher this year so I best get some rest tonight.
<3 <3
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