I think I'm getting used to my new co-teacher. He's just kinda weird. And nothing like Mr. Song. I can definitely say he's friendly. Sometimes he comes bursting into my office, steals my gum, takes off his socks, and warms his feet over my heater. One day he did this and I was in a bad mood so I took a lot of pleasure in telling him how the heater once caught fire. His expression as he scooted away was priceless.
Mr. Hwang's pretty funny though, he's kind of the life of the party when we have teacher dinners (which we've had multiple times since last week). We went out for shabu-shabu on Monday and he went around exchanging shots with the other teachers and seemed really surprised when I turned him down. Then I noticed him filling the liquor bottle with water under the table and realized he was tricking the teachers into taking shots of water and thought I was onto him. It was pretty funny to watch the other teachers' faces when they took their water shots. They seemed really confused.
He has been really attentive though. Where Mr. Song used to barely listen to me and then assume he knew what I needed, Mr. Hwang actually takes time to clarify what it is I'm asking. It's kind of refreshing but I'm not used to getting this much attention from my co-teacher. Mr. Hwang stops by my office at least once a day. And he's always keeping tabs on me so it gets annoying sometimes.
He always seems really surprised that I can do things like read Korean characters and use chopsticks. It's kind of like "I've been here 7 months... I'd have to have picked up some things by now." He seems to think I'm a complete newbie to Korea and keeps babying me, but I've seriously learned to take care of myself by now and don't feel like I need a co-teacher as much as I used to. Up until I have to pay my bills and can't understand the banking website or something :/
We had Stake Conference on Sunday so the whole ward took a bus to Seoul together. Our ward is so small that we each had a pair of seats to ourselves. It was pretty awesome, not like any stake conference I've been to before. We had kimbap (my favorite) oranges, and bottled water on the bus rides there and back. The ward takes such good care of us. We have two new missionaries, one's Korean and I don't think he speaks English. Getting there was a little overwhelming, the little stake center was super crowded and I kept getting approached by members and missionaries who would speak to me in Korean before I could explain that I wasn't a missionary. I had to keep close to Sister Mccloskey so she could jump in when this happened. I'm probably the first foreigner to visit that stake without being a missionary. It wasn't til the end when the missionaries were reuniting with old companions that one of the elders noticed my lack of a nametag and was like "Hey, YOU'RE not a missionary!" I was so close to infiltrating their ranks too. Sis. Mccloskey said she'll get me my own nametag that just says "not a missionary". The Sri Lankan sister is like the princess of the stake. Every member we met was so enamored with her and thought she was the prettiest thing they'd ever seen. I guess me and Sis. Mccloskey are just chopped liver now. Anyway, it was a really good conference and Sis. Mccloskey was a champ translating for 2 hours. The mission president's wife gave her talk in English so that was a bit of a relief for both of us. I got to see Sister Seo again too! I'd forgotten she'd been transferred to Seoul but was still in our stake. It was really fun to catch up.
Anyway, school officially started this week but they're not starting up English until next week so I've been wasting away in my office except for lunchtime. The first day we had an opening ceremony with the parents and they introduced all the teachers. We have a lot of new ones this year. It was a little awkward for me to stand with the faculty and pretend to know what was going on. We had to do the national anthem and school song and the whole bit. Then they had us get on stage and step forward as the Vice Principal announced us and give a deep bow. She looked really worried when she got to my name but I think I got the bow down. Last year Mr. Song had to basically drag me around by the arm and force my head down when it was time to bow. I'm learning!
That night, Sunyoung wasn't around so I had to take the bus home. It was really cold and I probably looked pretty miserable waiting at the bus stop because the Vice Principal drove her car up and made me get in. She speaks very little English so the conversation was a bit awkward but she told me she wishes she could talk to me more but it's hard. I told her in Korean that I'm studying and can understand a lot now but can't speak much. She seemed pleased and told me to come to her office whenever I want to practice. Now when I see her around school she insists on engaging me in Korean conversation and it makes my anxiety spike but it's good. I've found that if I tell people I'm trying to learn more Korean, they're really encouraging. If I hesitate to answer they always say "Try, try!" to get me to speak more. It's really sweet. But I'm very aware of my horrible accent.
I still go to Jino's coffee shop when I want to get some studying done. They have a nice atmosphere so it makes it easier to focus. And Jino and his wife always come over and chat when I'm there so I can practice. They have a little wood-burning stove that heats the shop and sometimes they throw in a couple sweet potatoes to bake for me. It really pays to be a regular, baked sweet potatoes are delicious.
My Korean's still awful though and I always freeze up when someone asks me a question, even if it's something I know. But I'm surprised how much I'm able to glean from listening to people's conversations now. I always thought I was missing out on all this gossip or that teachers were saying crap about me behind my back but the conversations I hear are really boring. Like one time the principal spent half-an-hour discussing the length and width of his new desk with two teachers and I understood the majority of it but was glad I didn't have to join in because it was so boring. Then the other day I overheard two 1st graders walking behind me in the hall saying "There's that English teacher. Where is she going?" "I think she's going to the faculty room." "No, she's going to the toilet" "Yeah, she's going to the toilet." Sheesh.
I ran into one of my favorite students from my smaller school, Odong, the other day at the bus stop. She's my little bus buddy, Sarang. I like her name because it's Korean for "love" and easy for my to remember. I've noticed when I talk to my students outside of class, they're usually pretty candid unless I ask "how are you?" For some reason that phrase always turns them into robots. I asked Sarang how she was and she stared blankly for a moment then answered stiffly "I. Am. Fine. Thanks. How. are. you?" We really need to work on that one. It's the same response every time with these kids.
So, I'd been so focused on getting my numerous English classes ready that I didn't even think about my after-school classes. Everytime I'd asked about them, Mr. Hwang was really vague. He wasn't sure if they would mix 1st and 2nd grade or have 3 after school classes and then they eliminated the 3-6 class and at that point I was so confused that I just decided to plan after-school classes later. But then on Wednesday, as I was winding down after lunch, Mr. Hwang came in and told me I maybe had a class that day. Koreans use "maybe" to mean "definitely" sometimes so I just stared at him and said "what class?" He answered "After-school class, the 1st grade one". I looked at the schedule I'd gotten that day assuming it was for next week and said "The one at 1:30?!" He smiled and said, "Yes, at 1:30! Maybe 25 students will come." I glanced at the clock which read... 1:30. And said "You mean now?" And he nodded. I honestly couldn't read him so I asked "Is this.... a joke?" And he said no. Then I heard the approaching sounds of laughing and screaming and my heart sunk. And, sure enough, the room started to fill up with tiny people.
Of course, I had that moment of panic where my mind went blank but I've been through this so many times now that I've learned to roll with it. So I gathered my things and ran to the front of the room, where I started pulling up every song and game in my repertoire. Mr. Hwang called the kids to attention. And told them to listen to teacher. I told them I would call role and they looked surprised and said something to Mr. Hwang, which he translated as "What weird noises she is making". Oh boy, these kids had never been exposed to English whatsoever. They probably thought I was some giant squeaky toy. So, Mr. Hwang left and the kids stared at me expectantly.
After last year's 1-2 grade class, I was completely dreading this one. But this was a new batch of students and I found they could be trained a lot more easily. I went through a greeting drill where I had them say "Hello, Teacher" and I would say "Hello, Class." then I taught them "Look and listen" and had them repeat it after me in different tones and then again as I got quieter. They were perfect little robots. We went through my silly song/dance warm up, which they went nuts for. Then we went over the rules where I would show a picture of a behavior and they would say "No" or "Okay!" At one point one of the girls piped up "What's your name?" in Korean and one of the boys asked "Are you Korean?" And I realized I'd jumped the gun and forgotten to introduce myself so I paused the lesson and told them in Korean "My name is Whitney. I'm not Korean, I'm from America. And I'm an English teacher." And the kids seemed surprised either by my speaking Korean or that I was from another country. They quickly started asking questions in rapid Korean and I had to tell them I only speak a little Korean and for this class, we would only speak English. Anyway, the rest of the class went really well and the kids were angels. They were really enthusiastic about all the songs and games we played then I taught them "time's up" and to say "Goodbye, Teacher" as they went out the door. A few of the girls ran up and gave me hugs, it was really sweet. Some of the kids are so tiny that they only come up to my knees. Ever since then, they'll shout "Hwi-tu-ni teacher!" every time they see me and wave frantically. Makes me feel like a celebrity.
The 2nd graders, on the other hand, were a complete nightmare. They were crazy last year but I figured having a smaller more focused group would help. But I still had 19 of them and not a single boy seemed capable of looking or listening. I couldn't get through any games or rules because the kids were out of control. Most of them wouldn't even sit down in their desks. I felt bad because a few of the girls were trying really hard to get into the lesson but the other kids were way too disruptive and I was constantly having to get after them. I nearly kicked two of the boys out after several reprimands but they kept saying "sorry, sorry" over and over again so I had them stand in the corner until they were ready to sit at their desks. I don't think their behavior's going to change any. I might try assigned seats next time. We did get through a game of alphabet Bingo and a fill-in-the-blank activity as a class so that was something at least. Apparently all the other teachers in the school have had a lot of trouble with that class too.
Sunyoung said a lot of the 2nd graders PARENTS have been giving her grief too. I guess they call to complain about some of the extra programs like art and music for whatever reason and it was really eating at her all week. She spent a lot of time in my office just to get away from her desk and phone. Poor lady. I read an article the other day about how Korean parents make teachers miserable. Teachers here have a really good career with lots of benefits and job satisfaction but because parents get involved so often and are so nitpicky about their kids, many teachers want to quit. I'm worried that's happening to Sunyoung. She seemed really stressed all week.
Anyway, aside from the awful 2nd grade class, I'm thinking this school year's going to be really good. My 2 travel schools switched textbooks so all my schools are using the same ones now and that will make planning a million times easier. And the one they're switching to is so much better than the drug-infused river of crap that was the old textbooks. I'm not sure how teaching with Mr. Hwang's gonna be since he's kind of a wild card but it'll be nice to have some consistency and a teacher around to translate when needed. I'm a little sad that I don't get to teach 3rd grade at my main school since the schedule changed. Sunny, the Korean woman they have fill in for me when I'm not there gets the 3rd graders this time around. I got to observe her teaching their first lesson this week and it was a little funny because they've picked up some random English phrases from me so she looked really shocked when they started chanting things like "One more time! One more time!"
Oh, I got a Korean tutor. Actually I'M tutoring HIM but he's agreed to teach me a little Korean at the end of our lessons in leu of paying me since my contract requires that I not take any other jobs while I'm here. He's the regional supervisor of the convenience store I live above. I guess the lady who runs the store had told him about me so he made a point of introducing himself when I stopped by to grab milk one day. We meet once a week at a coffee shop and just chat for an hour so he can get some practice speaking and listening. His English level is pretty high so he's mostly working on fluency. He's helped me out a lot with phrases to use around the classroom like "Repeat after me" "Listen carefully", etc. It's nice to work with adults, they're much more eager to learn. Mr. Hwang's actually been talking about having me teach a class to the teachers at the school for whoever wants to learn some English - I would have no idea how to handle that, but it could be fun.
I guess there's a "teacher club" at school - which I got talked into joining - where we go on little excursions once a month. The new 5th grade teacher is running it. She's really nice and speaks just a little English but she's the only new teacher brave enough to talk to me so she always ends up delivering messages for the other teachers. I didn't want to turn her down so I went ahead and joined. We'll see how it goes. It could be awkward with the language barrier, but I'm definitely more comfortable with the other teachers these days.
My friend, Nywani, had a birthday party last night and it was lots of fun. We went out for Korean BBQ and karaoke with a big group of people. It was the first time I'd seen Ny, Chris, and Simon since the Philippines so we had a lot of fun reminiscing. My friend Travis joined us partway through Karoake and when everyone else wanted to call it an early night he insisted on staying out later. I was the only one who didn't have something going in the morning so I agreed to stay out with him. We ended up meeting some guys from Saudi Arabia who've lived in Korea for several years now. One is working on his PHD at the National University in town and the other is getting his Masters I think. They're both muslim and said it was their first time meeting Americans. One of them invited us to his house sometime for Arabian food and told us if we need any help learning Korean or adjusting to Korean life, to let him know. Super nice guys. We ended up finding a lot in common between Mormons and Muslims like not drinking alcohol and such. It was really interesting. 2 muslims, a gay guy, and a Mormon seems like the opening for a joke.
Kwangmo (the guy I tutor) said that Chuncheon doesn't really have a Spring season. It just suddenly turns from frigid cold to warm one day and I think that day was today. It's been a lot sunnier all week but still cold and windy and then today when I went outside it was clear, sunny, and warm enough for just a light jacket. Such a relief, I'm so over winter. And the English room is actually starting to be tolerable instead of feeling like the arctic. At least my students can stand to sit through class again. I can't wait to get my bike fixed up so I can go riding again. And cherry blossom season is in April so I'm psyched for that.
Anyway, that's my week. Sounds like so much is going on at home right now, it's killing me not to be there. I really want to find a way to visit home soon but it's looking like the safest bet is New Years. That seems like forever. I'm still very 50/50 about renewing too. I feel like I'd get a lot more out of the experience if I stayed another year but I'd definitely be missing out on a ton if I stayed. I wish you guys would stop being so interesting.
And I hope everything goes well with Grandma's doctor appointments :/ That's so stressful and it sounds like their bedside manner could use some work. Take it easy, Grams! Love you and hope you're doing okay!
Love you guys!
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