today was the first day of the school year in korea. i also started at my new middle school. i'll be there on thursdays and fridays. i met my co-teacher down the street from my house and we drove the five blocks to the school since she didn't want me showing up all on my own on the first day.
things were pretty hectic when we got there. it seemed like they weren't expecting me since my desk was covered in junk and hadn't been dusted in five years. there was also no computer or stationary type stuff for me. they've known for weeks that i'd be arriving today, so i don't understand why they weren't ready for it.
after about an hour i was shuffled off to the broadcasting room with the other 15 new teachers. we were being paraded in front of the camera in a live broadcast to all the classrooms in the school. i was the only one who got to say a few words. i had to do the same thing when i started at my other school, so i was expecting it. plus having been in broadcasting i'm confortable in front of the camera, so it was no problem.
my VP and principal both speak more english than the ones at my other school, which is a bonus. they both seemed very nice, but they are still sticklers for the rules. i brought donuts for all the teachers, so i'm on everyones' good side.
after a couple of hours of sitting at a desk with no computer, books, or anything i asked if i could go home early since i had no classes and nothing to do. i wanted to get working on some more lesson plans since i still have to make another ten or so... but they said no. i had to sit and stare at the dirty desk for a full eight and a half hours! less the hour we went out for lunch. it was so ridiculous... even at my old school they would have done something for me, either let me leave or hook me up with a computer, but no... i just sat there. i didn't even have a book to read! it made the day longer and more boring than it should have been.
i was so bored that i went to a class with my co-teacher that i won't even be teaching at all. this brought me to the discovery that the classes are separated by sex - all girls and all boys in each class. that will definitely make life interesting in the classroom. i usually use the girls to get the boys to settle down, so losing the mix is going to be tough. hopefully it'll all work out.
the good thing is that my co-teacher is really nice, and all the other teachers i met seem nice too... there's even one teacher that got transferred from my other school... she's not an english teacher and she doesn't speak english, but it was nice to have a familiar face among the crowd. i also know a couple of the kids from winter camp. it was a good day. it'll be nice, i think, to split the week in two - monday, tuesday, wednesday at one school and thursday, friday at the other, it might just be the best part of the whole deal... hopefully it'll make the week pass faster. now i'm off for the weekend... out tonight in gimhae and tomorrow meeting up with kat and her sister in busan... will write as soon as i can!
things were pretty hectic when we got there. it seemed like they weren't expecting me since my desk was covered in junk and hadn't been dusted in five years. there was also no computer or stationary type stuff for me. they've known for weeks that i'd be arriving today, so i don't understand why they weren't ready for it.
after about an hour i was shuffled off to the broadcasting room with the other 15 new teachers. we were being paraded in front of the camera in a live broadcast to all the classrooms in the school. i was the only one who got to say a few words. i had to do the same thing when i started at my other school, so i was expecting it. plus having been in broadcasting i'm confortable in front of the camera, so it was no problem.
my VP and principal both speak more english than the ones at my other school, which is a bonus. they both seemed very nice, but they are still sticklers for the rules. i brought donuts for all the teachers, so i'm on everyones' good side.
after a couple of hours of sitting at a desk with no computer, books, or anything i asked if i could go home early since i had no classes and nothing to do. i wanted to get working on some more lesson plans since i still have to make another ten or so... but they said no. i had to sit and stare at the dirty desk for a full eight and a half hours! less the hour we went out for lunch. it was so ridiculous... even at my old school they would have done something for me, either let me leave or hook me up with a computer, but no... i just sat there. i didn't even have a book to read! it made the day longer and more boring than it should have been.
i was so bored that i went to a class with my co-teacher that i won't even be teaching at all. this brought me to the discovery that the classes are separated by sex - all girls and all boys in each class. that will definitely make life interesting in the classroom. i usually use the girls to get the boys to settle down, so losing the mix is going to be tough. hopefully it'll all work out.
the good thing is that my co-teacher is really nice, and all the other teachers i met seem nice too... there's even one teacher that got transferred from my other school... she's not an english teacher and she doesn't speak english, but it was nice to have a familiar face among the crowd. i also know a couple of the kids from winter camp. it was a good day. it'll be nice, i think, to split the week in two - monday, tuesday, wednesday at one school and thursday, friday at the other, it might just be the best part of the whole deal... hopefully it'll make the week pass faster. now i'm off for the weekend... out tonight in gimhae and tomorrow meeting up with kat and her sister in busan... will write as soon as i can!
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