The First Week

Well my first week teaching is nearly finished, and I have to say that overall I really have enjoyed it. Before writing about it more I think I should give a little info about the details of my classes.

I teach all 3 grades: 7th, 8th and 9th. In each class I have roughly 40-45 students. Classes last for 45 minutes, and I have each class once every two weeks. In other words, I will see one group of students for 45 minutes, and the next time I will see them is 2 weeks later. In two weeks time, I will have taught about every student in the school (around 700-800 students I think). The best way to describe my role is to say that I am a supplementary tool used for putting a face and a voice behind their actual English lessons. I actually teach the kids very little, it's my job just to get them to talk more.

That being said, I am very comfortable with that. All of my fellow teachers at the school have much harder jobs than I do but they only make a little bit more than me, which makes me feel really bad for them. Sometimes I will see a teacher sleeping at their desk during their off periods. It's not because they are lazy or bad workers, but because they have so much responsibility even after school ends.

The kids for the most part are really great. Some of my 7th grade classes have really been giving me a hard time, but not all, and some of them are really motivated, which filters down into the rest of them. I love my 9th graders, they are very well behaved and have a pretty solid grasp of English already. Coming up some time next month is a school festival. Every public school takes part in these, and sound like a lot of fun. It's basically a day of games and being outside and just having a good time. As a present for the students, 5 of us teachers (including me) are going to be doing the dance to a hit song by a female Korean pop group. The dance is VERY complicated and about 3.5 minutes long, so it will not be easy, but we're keeping it a big secret from the students. They should love it.

I am easily one of the most popular people in the school. I have students come visit me in my office all the time asking me how they can get better at English. A few days ago one came in to ask me to play some basketball with him and his friends, and we had our game yesterday. They are actually pretty good, I was impressed. Next Friday is a Korean holiday so there is no school, and I had a few students from one of the classes I was supposed to have that day come and ask me if they could see me some time before then to make up the class. Of course I said yes.

On Wednesday I went out with a bunch of other foreigners. We took over a Mexican restaurant owned by a few Canadians and after that we went to a bar frequented mostly by foreigners. Tonight we are going out again for a night on the town. The plan is to stay out at least until the Subway starts up again (it is closed every day from 11:30 PM to 5:30 AM). Apparently I am in for a long night.

Next weekend is a 4 day weekend for the Korean equivalent of Thanksgiving, so I am in the process of making plans to visit some temples in the countryside with some friends from Orientation.