Lunch with the vice-principal.

About 45 minutes ago, I was sitting here at my desk waiting for lunch to begin, and my vice-principal, which mind you, knows maybe 50 words of English, asks me to have lunch with him.  Being that I’m not particularly afraid of akward silences, agreed, and we went down to the teacher cafeteria.  We went through the line, and he seemed surprised that I knew how the whole thing worked.  I went to lunch yesterday, so I guess I’m just a quick study.   Anyways, we sat down to eat and he was trying to make himself understood with gestures when two of my Korean co-teachers sat down next to us.  He seemed greatly relieved, and I was too, I suppose.  Through them, he asked if I like Korean food, which of course, I do.  He also seemed impressed that I’m pretty good with chopsticks.  I made a joke that I had to get good with them because I’m so hungry, it takes forever to eat when you suck with them.  The food was pretty good again.  Pretty basic, but what do you expect from a school cafeteria.  I will say that the food here is better than the food in the middle school I went to.  At least I remember it that way.  If you were to take a Korean and have him eat at an average American middle school, he might be happy as well.  I think that I just won some brownie points with the v.p., which can always be helpful down the road.  See ya later!

I work in a private school?

I’m not sure if I’m undertanding it correctly, but it seems that I work in a technically private school.  I was hired by the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education, and I’ll be paid by them, but the school I’m assigned to is officially private.  I’ll have to ask more questions, but it seems that the students’ parents pay tuition to this school, while middle school is normally free.  I found this out this morning when an older gentlemen in an expensive suit arrived in the teachers’ office and gave a little speech.  I assumed he was a higher up in the education bureucracy, but I was later told that he owns the middle school and high school here.  I guess that’s a pretty big deal.  I wonder if he makes a lot of money.  Other than that, not a whole lot is going on.  I’m still not observing any classes, just sitting here at my desk, trying not to get too bored.  I’ve been trying to figure out the Korean langauge version of Power Point, but it’s slow going.  I’ve been translating the menus, and I have one slide partially completed, but I’m trying to figure out how to change the background color.  At least I’m getting much better at typing in Korean.  I’ve been using Yahoo Babel Fish, which is a really awesome language translator.  I don’t think it does a very good job of capturing meaning, but it does seem to be accurate with individual words.  At the very least it’s keeping me busy, and it looks like I’m doing work. 

Also, I’ll be going with my coteacher to a bicycle shop this afternoon to look for a bike.  He suggests I get the kind that folds with a hinge.  It’s only a little bike, but since I’ll only be riding it on the sidewalk, I won’t need a big, fancy bike anyhow.  I guess that’s about it for now.  I’ll probably post a few more times today, as the urge strikes me.  See ya later!

It might look like this.

 

I could take it on the bus or subway maybe?

A Pretty Good First Day

My first day at work will end in about 10 minutes, and I think that it went pretty well.  I didn’t really do anything, but I wasn’t really bored either, so I guess I can’t really complain.  Maybe I’ll get to meet the students tomorrow.  I’m not expected to teach until next Monday, so I’ll just lesson plan until then.  I’m looking forward to getting English windows on Wednesday.  I can use the Korean version a little bit, but it’s hard when you can’t read the menus.  From what I can tell of the other male teachers, after I make my good first impression, I’ll be able to wear slacks and a collared shirt of some sort.  Most of the guys here wear polos or short-sleeve button up  shirts, only the vice-principal and principal wear suits, and they have their jackets off most of the time.  I may have to wear my suit again for some sort of ceremony, but overall it seems pretty laid back.  Of course, as the foreigner, I’m held to a different standard, though I’m not sure what that standard is yet, exactly.  I’ve just been informed that I’ll be able to get a used bicycle after work tomorrow.  I think cycling will be a much better way to get to school on most days, rather than taking the bus, which is crowded and really no faster than a bike anyhow.  Ok, gotta go!

Super Bad Ass!!!

I just got the tour of my English classroom, and I must say that it exceeds my expectations in every way possible.  It’s no wonder that many Korean teachers are a little jealous of the facilities given to the native English teacher, because my room is bad ass!  The rest of the school looks a little run down, like the whole place is in desperate need of a coat of paint, but the English room is brand new.  They even have an electronic blackboard.  It’s like a giant tv, but it’s touch-screen, and can be used for powerpoint presentations, videos, music, and you can draw on it with your finger!  I’ll take video of it as soon as I can.  I have a really good feeling about this place.  I hope the rest of my time here continues the way today has.

First day at work

This is my first day at work, and I’m actually writing this at my desk.  I thought I would observe the classes today, but all I’ve been able to do is meet the other teachers and go to lunch.  I’m trying to lesson-plan as well, but it’s hard to concentrate.  Middle school here is 7th, 8th, and 9th grades, and I’ll be teaching English conversation to the 7th and 9th graders.  It seems as if I’ll be able to teach any way I please, so long as I’m basically on topic with the Korean English teachers.  There are a total of 6 Korean English teachers, though I’ll only be working with 5 of them.  My first lesson topic for the 7th graders, or “first-years” as they’re refered to here, is ordering food, which is quite a coincidence, since that’s what my mini-lesson at orientation is about.  I think I’ll just enhance what we had from orientation and try that out.  My 9th grade class, or “third-years” are on the “actions speak louder than words” chapter, so I’ll do a lesson on body language, gestures, and facial expressions.  I’ve already found some good pics to use as examples for various attitudes and emotional states.  I apparently have access to an English zone, which is an exclusively English language only hall of the school where my classroom will be.  That’ll be sweet, if I have my own classroom.  I’ve yet to be shown it, as they had a hard time locating the key, but maybe later this afternoon or tomorrow.  I’m looking forward to getting started.  That’s about it for now.  I’m not sure if I’ll be able to post from home, but I definately can from here, so I’ll be posting tomorrow for sure.  See ya later.

First Full Day

Well, we’re through with our first full day, and it was hectic and fulfilling at the same time.  We went to Itaewon to get Melissa a cell phone, which was no problem, of course.  I then had lunch at a turkish kebab restaurant, and I had the lamb kebab sandwich, which was excellent.  After that, we came back to Gil-dong, our new home, and went shopping.  We got some stuff for the apartment, which wasn’t cheap, but what can you do?  After that, we decided to go to our schools to make sure we have the route figured out for tomorrow.  I have to take two buses, and it takes about 20-30 minutes.  It only costs about 75 cents, which you just can’t beat.  Melissa only has to take one bus, but somehow it managed to take her over 2 hours for the round trip.  We think maybe her co-teachers didn’t exactly tell her the most efficient route.  She’ll take the subway tomorrow.  Oh, and the most important thing, we got Pangu back!!!!  We picked her up from Kelly’s apartment, and we were told that Pangu was a wonderful houseguest and she’s welcome back anytime.  We brought her home, and she’s been exploring for hours.  That’s about it for today.  I have to get to sleep, we have a big day tomorrow.  First impressions and all.  See ya later!

We’re finally here.

Well, we’ve finally made it to our new apartment.  I’ll just say that yesterday was a complete mess.  Surprisingly, the smoothest part of the day was check-out, which I had predicted to be the biggest hassle.  I brought my luggage downstairs and I just walked right up to the check-out desk, there was no line at all!  I then put my bags on the bus, which was right there outside the door as promised, then Melissa and I had breakfast.  That was where the day’s events went a little off course.  The closing ceremony started way late, and we got to lunch a little late as well.  The buffet had a great many choices, but the food didn’t seem any tastier than the cafeteria food from the previous week.  It almost seemed like they made everything they knew how on the same day.  It did fill the stomach, though.  Then, after another lengthy wait, the buses got on their way.  After about an hour ride, we arrived at the district office.  When we arrived there, Melissa’s co-teachers took her to her new school, and mine were about to when I mentioned to them that I was married.  Married?  They didn’t know anything about it.  They had prepared a one person apartment for me, and Melissa’s school had done the same for her.  Uh-oh.  They talked to their boss, who talked to S.M.O.E., who apparently had forgotten to tell them about our situation.  Actually, they had forgotten to tell them about another married couple in our group.  So, they decided to take us each to our respective apartments and let us choose which one to stay in until they could get this mess sorted out.  They brought me to this really nice apartment building and showed me a wonderful little room which totally exceeded my quality expectations, but too small for two people and a cat.  I said in passing that if the room were bigger, I’d be happy to live here.  They asked the landlord, and sure enough, there were bigger rooms on the third floor, and they allowed cats!  My co-teachers talked to the district supervisor, who ok’d the transfer, and now Melissa and I are staying in a very modern couple’s apartment in the same building they originally brought us to.  We’ll post some pics as soon as we get the place sorted out a little.  I’ll write about what happened after that, but probably later since I want to get my day started.  See ya soon.

We’re on our way.

We’re on our way, or at least we will be shortly.  We’ve already turned in our room keys and have put our luggage on the bus to Gangdong.  I’m writing this as we’re waiting for breakfast to start.  After that, we have to go to the auditorium, where we’ll hear a few people talk, have a closing ceremony, and then have a farewell buffet before leaving to our new homes.  I’ll take some nice video, though I don’t know how long it’ll be before I can post them.  That’s about it for now, breakfast is about to begin.  See ya later!

Dongbuk Middle School

Well, I finally know where I’m going.  It’s the Dongbuk Middle School, in the Gangdong district of Seoul.  We’re pretty far out of the city center, but we’re only really about half an hour from the center by subway.  Gangdong is the easternmost district of Seoul, but we don’t know what that means.  After checking out tomorrow, having breakfast and doing a couple of other things, we’ll take a bus to our district headquarters, where our co-teachers will pick us up and show us to our new school and apartment.  I’m really looking to see what our apartment will be like.  As long as the apartment is nice, I’m not going to worry too much about the rest.  It’ll work itself out.  We also saw a bad-ass Taekwondo demonstration this evening.  I have a lot of cool vids, but here’s just one to pique your interest.  I’ll post more when I get a chance.

That’s about it for now.  Tomorrow will be a long day, so I better get to bed.  See ya later.

Why won’t they just tell us already?

Why won’t they just tell us where we’re going already?  I know Korea is a last minute sort of society, but you can’t tell me that they haven’t decided which district we’re going to yet.  Yesterday, we were told that we’d find out last night or today.  Unsurprisingly, we didn’t find out last night, but I thought for sure we’d find out something today.  We were told this afternoon that our assignments would be posted after dinner, but how long after dinner is not clear.  It’s 6:30 pm now, and we have a Taekwondo demonstration at 7:00, so they’ll probably post it while we’re there.  I suppose I can understand why they’re waiting to the last minute.  The longer they wait, the fewer complaints they have to hear about where people are placed.  Some people have no particular idea where they want to be, while others, like ourselves, have pretty specific preferences.  Still, the suspense is killing us.  Melissa is particularly rabid about finding out where we’re going.  We’re hoping for the center of Seoul, but of course we have no recourse if we’re unhappy.  All we can do is wait and see.

Ok, now that I have that rant out of the way, I can tell you a little bit about how today went.  Our group had our mini-lesson presentation this afternoon, and I have to admit that it didn’t go as well as we would have liked.  Not that it was a disaster by any stretch of the imagination, but we weren’t very polished.  We could have used more time to practice, and apparently we couldn’t be heard in the back of the room, but they’re easily correctable problems.  Things will get better with practice, as they nearly always do.  They did like our powerpoint presentation, which I’m proud to say was my doing, and my first ever powerpoint presentation to boot.  It’s not too hard to do a decent job, though I’m not nearly good as some people are.  Maybe I’ll get a book on it so I can be better in the future.  I’ll probably do another presentation for my first week of classes.  We’re really not expected to teach much during the first week, but we do have to introduce ourselves to the classes, so it’ll be a little lesson about me, Frank teacher.  I’ll use pictures to show them where I’m from, where I went to college, Melissa, Pangu and the whole shebang.  I’d like to write more, but I have to get going to the Taekwondo exhibition.  I may not be able to post much over the next few days, as I’m not sure what our internet situation will be like.  If we end up in a big apartment building, maybe I can get on someone’s unsecured wireless network until we get our own internet set up.  Or maybe I’ll just have to go to an internet cafe, which are ubiquitous here, though a bit of a hassle, as they’re always smokey and loud.  But that’s it for now.  See ya later!