Today was my first day at my other school. Seokseung is smaller than Seokyang, only 64 students total. I think I'm really going to like it here though... I actually get my own classroom, which is pretty cool. The other Mr. Kim is my co-teacher. His full name is Kim Jeongju but says I can call him Joo. He speaks really good English. We actually carry on full-blown conversations! He was really prepared, too... He had a class schedule printed (and laminated) along with the bus schedule, a map of the bus route (which would have been handy before I had to learn to take the bus, but no matter), attendance sheets, etc. Joo picked me up this morning and pointed out the orphanage on our way to school. He said he heard the Seokyang kids can be kind of rowdy.
Joo also informed me there is currently a typhoon passing through/over Korea. That would explain the insane amounts of rain! The sky looks pretty typhoon-y too. Ju didn't seem concerned, so I guess this must be normal.
Last night I finally met more native teachers. I missed the soccer practice because of the immigration office thing, but Kevin came over to my apartment and we went out for drinks with more of the teachers. I met six altogether... Ramon is from New Zealand, Ben and Kevin are from England, Jasmine and Dan are Canadian, and Blake is from Knoxville, Tennessee. Kevin said there's more. He also told me I've arrived in the changeover time, which makes sense, and so some people will be leaving and others will be arriving. Ben just turned 30, and for his birthday he climbed Mt. Everest. Seriously. Okay, I guess he only went up to base camp and not the top, but he said climbing to the top is outrageously expensive. He went into this long story about how he got altitude sickness, and it sounded awful; massive headaches and nonstop vomiting. Really makes you want to climb a mountain, huh? He said the next one's going to be Kilimanjaro.
Seokseung is really different from Seokyang. It's more what I had expected, that is, the teachers bring their students into my classroom and they're primarily in charge of the lesson. My role is more of an assistant when it comes to pronouncing words and knowing what's correct. The Korean teachers speak some English, but not really... mostly just the stuff in the lesson.
The class size at Seokseung is really small, maybe 10-12 kids per class. I assist with the third, fourth, fifth, and sixth grade classes on Thursday, and then I teach the "after-school" class for third graders and kindergartners. I don't know exactly why it's called "after-school" because it's not like school's over; these classes only go until 3:50. I don't really understand their school day. Joo is the third grade teacher, and he helped me with the third graders' after-school program today. He gave me a class roster and we played this name bingo game, and the kids thought it was great to hear me try and say their names. I daresay I might actually learn the 10 Seokseung third grade kids' names! I'm not really sure how this is going to go once Joo isn't around to help because I'm supposed to be in charge of the after-school programs on my own.
I was really nervous for the kindergarten after-school program. Seriously, kindergarten! What am I supposed to teach five-year-olds? I had three coloring sheets with A, B, and C on them and an ant, bat, and cat respectively. I have to say that may be the most well-behaved kindergarten class I have ever seen. There's only nine of them, and my heart completely melted when they all bowed to me. They all sat down and I showed them the coloring sheets and had them repeat the letters and words after me. The kindergarten teacher stayed with me, and that was good, but honestly, these kids were so quiet and polite and just demurely colored their pictures. When they were done, I'd take the finished pictures and go over the letter/word with the artist, then see if the kid could identify the letter. Maybe 50% of them could. So, so, so cute.
In Korea I'm 24 years old. They start counting your age when you're still a fetus because the reasoning is that you're growing, so you're born one year old. I don't know why you're not nine months old, but whatever.
Lunch was a real eye-opener today. It was some strange ham soup, kimchi, white rice, eggplant, and fish. But the fish was the real kicker... I'm talking a whole fish. They put two little fish on my tray, eyes, bones, scales, everything included. I had to get creative with my chopsticks to peel off the scales and eat around the bones. I'm not going to lie, it was really gross, but the fish was pretty good. The vice-principal told me I was doing a good job with the chopsticks, but the principal thought I was a very slow eater. That's because I'm dissecting two fish with chopsticks! I think I was the last person to leave the cafeteria. Ju kept me company, and he had three fish so he wanted to know if I wanted one. I said I doubted there was time.
Joo told me a story about how he traveled to the Philippines for six months. I said that sounded like fun, and he said it was except for one bad experience. I asked what happened, and he said he almost died! Turns out he was robbed at knifepoint, and when I say at knifepoint, I mean the guy held a knife to his throat and demanded his money. Apparently it was in a taxi and Ju managed to run away.
Joo asked me if I always smile all the time. I said I guess so, and I felt a little silly like I walk around smiling like a buffoon, but Ju said it makes the other teachers feel more comfortable and that it's a good thing, so all right then.
My schedule appears to say that I have the fourth, sixth, first/second, and fifth grades all to myself tomorrow. I hope this is a mistake or something because I haven't got a clue what to do with them. Must ask Joo for clarification.
I finished my furniture rearranging yesterday post-immigration office. I think it's a much better setup, but my garbage-picked furniture smells pretty musty, so I'm going to have to do something about that. Kevin was of the opinion that it looked pretty "homely" and was quick to reassure me that in England, "homely" is a good thing. Also the deathtrap balcony has been neutralized! It's now safe to walk out there; they put down new wood or flooring or something.
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