It's Been...One Week...

So I've officially been at my new job for one week, and let me tell you, it feels like it's been much longer. I don't have tons of time to write this post, so I'll try to cover all the important parts quickly.

My new apartment is brand new, so it's very clean and shiny. The only problem is, it's so new that there's no furniture besides the bed. I was supposed to get some this weekend, but for whatever reason my boss wasn't able to get it to me. I'm sitting on the floor with my laptop propped up by a box as I write this. It's not comfortable. My clothes are still sitting in suitcases too, which makes them harder to sort through. I hope that whenever I do finally get furniture there's enough of it for my needs.

The kids at the new school love me, and the material I teach them is pretty basic. The only problem is that there seems to be a wider variety of English levels within the classes. In the youngest kindergarten class there's a really smart boy who answers every question as if it were too easy, and there's another who does nothing but try to play the whole time. As far as I can tell, he barely knows any English. At my old school there were definitely kids who were better than others, but for the most part they at least understood English.

Everyone here has an English name they go by rather than their real Korean name. I've got most of the kids' names down, but I still have to check with them sometimes.

Naju is a small town, so the atmosphere is much different than big-city Gwangju. I love how peaceful it is here. There's a main road outside my window, but there's still very little noise. The downside to being in a small town, however, is that I'm under more of a microscope. I'm not allowed to wear shorts outside the house because I have to present a good image for the school. I'm also required to interact more with people while I'm at school. I want to do the best I can, but it can be hard sometimes. Stores close earlier here too, which is a change I wasn't expecting.

I'm still learning how to teach here, because it requires a much different style than before. Instead of standing in front of a classroom with desks, I now spend most of my day sitting at a big table, and the classes come and go. Each class session is only half an hour long too, and I don't have to give them homework, so that's nice. By the end of the week I had already somewhat gotten the hang of it, so I think there's hope for me yet.

Tomorrow begins my second week, so hopefully, now that I'm more experienced, it'll be less stressful than the first one.

The End of a Chapter

Yesterday I officially worked my last day at my first school. It was an emotional day, as I said goodbye to the many students I love dearly and the best job I've had to date. I managed to get through the farewell party without crying, so that was a relief.

It was kind of disappointing when I tried to give certain students individual goodbyes and they were too busy ignoring me to listen. I guess we teachers are just a dime a dozen to them. I was successful with my oldest class though. I decided to give them all caricature-type drawings of themselves, which got plenty of laughs. I thought the pictures were pretty good, considering I had to give myself a crash course on caricature drawing through the internet during the week. Tom Richmond's blog was a big help.

I'll look back at my time here with fond memories, and I'm also excited about my next position. I'm told the kids are looking forward to meeting me, which I reciprocate.

I was supposed to go to my new job this morning, but I got a call saying the director was sick, and she wanted to know if I could wait until tomorrow to be picked up. I was OK with it, because it gave me some time to relax after the long day I had yesterday, plus more time to pack.

So anyway, here I am now, writing this blog post. To end on a fun note, here are my favorite quotes from my time at this school:

진수: Do you think I am handsome?
Me: Huh?
진수: Do you think I am handsome?
Me: You don't say "handsome" for girls, you say "pretty."
재경: Teacher, she's asking if you think you are handsome.
Me: Oh, me? Well, I don't know. I suppose I'm moderately good-looking. (to 진수) Do you think I'm handsome?
진수: No.

Me: What's the first thing you remember doing on the internet?
경진: Click click click.

Me: What do you think your life would've been like 100 years ago?
경은: Bad.
Me: Oh, because Japan would've been controlling your country?
경은: Yes, and no cell phone.

Me: Germany built six concentration camps in Poland. Do we all know what concentration camps are?
인학: Yes, death camps.
준성: Killing camp.
영민: Goodbye camp.

Me: Don't touch. 만지지마.
지우: You know Korean?
Me: Yes.
지우: Say "나는 바보."
Me: 지우는 바보.

Me: Quiet, Motormouth.
진우: Motormouth. Ha ha, I am Motormouth.

Me: Which countries have oil?
석: The United Kingdom!
Me: Yes!
석: And Norway!
Me: Yes! 석, you're good!
석: And Denmark!
Me: (Sigh) No, not Denmark. 석, you're bad again.
석: Why???

경민: Teacher, mouse is very ugly.

이삭: (picks the #10 card) Awww!
Me: Aw, well don't worry, 이삭. You get to be #1 next time.
이삭: Ha ha ha!

Me: A liter is a unit of measurement. You can have one liter, two liters, three liters...
재영: One liter, two liter, three liter Indians...

인하's pattern sheet: I can't wear a subway.

경민 and 지형's test sheets: Geese are my family.

다운's pattern sheet: My brother is not liked by his "girlfriends."

범창's sentence sheet: I deplore Ian-teacher.

상혁: Your name is... (writes "IIan tteacher")

진우 (with English accent): Will you please shut up?

범창's test notebook: Some people like lock music and others like rape.

준성 (to 인학): Your house is five floor.

진우: You raise me up, so I can kill you...

유빈: I don't like this book.

수아: I am not little puppy!

인하: You speak Korean! You lose points!

Me: Be quiet!
상원: No, this is echolocation!

진우: Can I have some hand appetizer?

다연: Your hair is crazy.

세린 (pointing to picture of a vampire bat): This is Ian-teacher!

동건: Democracy!

Me: Do you know Africa?
세린: Ah, the people are...(draws stick figure with filled-in head on the board)...this!

인하's journal: His mission is very hard to clear, but Hunt can clear it because he has a good body.

지민: Elephant jelly in hamburger!

경수: Go away! Forever!

상혁: Teacher! Her brother is Chinese people and her sister is Japanese people!
다연: No! They are Korean people!

인하: (to a baby crying outside the window): Excuse me! Will you please shut up?