Aside from my school’s financial woes I really am enjoying being here. My students, albiet unorthodox compared to what I’m used to, are great. They are fun to work with (and I only have a few “problem children”). Planning and grading has been pretty straitforward; the school gives us a curiculum I’m teaching my native language. It all makes sense to me and we work on pretty basic concepts. Last Friday I got my first “gift” (shhh don’t tell my principal) when my afterschool student brought me a beautiful chopstick & spoon set, possibly even silver, we think for Chuseok.
The field trip last Tuesday was a ton of fun, even if I couldn’t understand anything. We saw “You Are Special,” a musical derived from a children’s book that helps teach that everyone is special and you shouldn’t worry about what others think, merely what you think about yourself. The costumes and music were great even if it was all in Korean and the random disney songs beforehand sparked a mini sing-a-long (even if it was just Americans). Not sure what the “Truman Tower” was but here it is!
Meeting people is turning out to be a little tougher than I thought, mainly because I don’t speak Korean. I have had a handful of Koreans introduce themselves but the majority of the people I talk to are coworkers. That should get a little easier once I get my Alien Registration Card in 2 weeks and can get a local cell phone. I’ve got a party through my recruiter this weekend and hope to enjoy the company of lots of ex-pats.
I’ve settled into my apartment and enjoy exploring my neighborhood (check out some of my previous posts for more on that). I’ve got a 5-day weekend in 2 weeks for Chuseok, aka Korean Thanksgiving, and plan on checking out Bukhansan National Park and some of the more popular areas in Seoul. All in all I’m really enjoying it here. I’ve even found a fencing club and planning on checking it out on the 16th ! For those wondering dinner tonight was a hodgepodge of leftovers and some dumplings I made. Stay tuned for more!
