Just wanted to catch you guys up a bit since last week. This week's been awesome mostly because we've gone out to lunch every single day on the school's dime and it's been all my favorite food. I feel like there should be a catch. I met my new co-teacher, Mr. Hwang. Now there are two Mr. Hwang's at my school so I'll have to learn first names. Dang. Not that anyone answers to "Mr." anything here, they always look confused.
This new school year is going to be a LOT different. First off, Mr. Hwang will work in the office - not as a homeroom teacher. And he'll actually co-teach every English class at my main school with me - even afterschool (hallelujah, I'm saved!). It'll be weird after working alone for six months but it'll be nice having a teacher around who knows the language and can actually control the 1-2 graders. Maybe I can give stations another go. His English seems okay, he's a bit lower-level than Mr. Song so there might be some hiccups but I think it'll be fine. So far, he seems very organized and eager to work together though he has no English-teaching experience.
Monday we said goodbye to four of our teachers. I found out that Korean teachers move a lot and are required to change schools every four years so it's not strange at all to have so many teachers leave. I was really sad to see them go, since they were some of my favorites. I gave Mr. Song that Cox's Honey you guys sent and he seemed really touched. Ms. Kim - the 5th grade teacher who is my age and was a good friend - got pretty drunk and started crying at the farewell dinner. At one point she came over to me and started speaking Korean without realizing it and was really surprised when I responded back. I guess I've picked up a lot since we last spoke. She told me she really wants to see the States and visit the Grand Canyon and Salt Lake City so I told her I'd show her around if she ever does. She's really into travel but it's hard for her because her English is limited.
It's been weird spending so much time with the other teachers this week after nearly a month of being more or less ignored. But it's been fun. We're all enjoying our last week of freedom as much as we can before the school gets overrun. All the lunches and dinners have been Ondool style though (where you sit on the floor) and my legs have been dying. Maybe I'll be an expert at floor-sitting/kneeling by the end of this week. It would make yoga a lot easier at least.
Hopefully, I'll get to meet with my new co-teacher this week and go over lesson planning. I have no idea what he has in mind. I got dragged into a meeting this morning to meet the new teachers and they made me introduce myself but I was so unprepared I fudged up my introduction and they probably all think I'm a ditz. I was just trying to get to the bathroom, I didn't even know there was a meeting.
I went skiing with some friends for the Lunar New Year last week. It was a blast and we got to ride a gondola all the way up the mountain that gave a view of the whole mountain range. Korea's so pretty.
One of the girls, Brittany, and I are thinking about going to Japan for our Summer vacation. I'm really excited and I hope we can find cheap tickets. Japans one of the places I've wanted to see most and we might even do Tokyo! It'd be cool to see some of dad's old haunts if any of them are still around. It's probably really different now. Maybe I can recreate some old mission photos ;)
I also got in touch with the Chos and am planning to visit them soon. It'll be fun to see them, it's been a long time.
The weather's suddenly turned warmer. It's still chilly and windy but we've seen a LOT more sun than usual and I don't have to bundle up as much. It's wonderful. But I guess Korea gets the "yellow dust" plague in the Spring. It blows in from the desert in China and brings all their nasty air pollution with it so breathing hasn't been awesome. The air literally turns yellow and hazy, it's pretty gross. I'm thinking about getting myself some medical masks like all the cool kids wear around Chuncheon. I saw a Hello Kitty one at the art store the other day that was calling my name...
Anyway, that's what I've been up to. Deskwarming's been a lot less boring than I thought when I realized how much prep work I have to do for the new year and all the changes. Trying to put together portfolios for the students that I know they'll lose or tear apart, but hopefully they'll turn out.
Love ya guys!
-Whit
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