February passed in an enjoyable, monotonous blur of train rides, Seoul explorations, cloudy days, reading, late nights out, and well-intentioned efforts to lesson plan. I didn't have school in February! I am mostly thankful for this because my classroom, while well-equipped, is in the old part of the school, and has no heat, brrr! March came pretty quickly though and it was back to knowing what day of the week it is.
At the beginning of the month, I said "see you later" to my good friend Jacqui. Some of you may remember that she is the one who inspired me to come here, so it was a sad day in some ways, but, it was more than time for her to move on. She's now traveling all over SE Asia, having an amazing adventure! After her departure, school resumed and now is in full swing.
The first couple weeks were very Korean: unorganized, surprising, frustrating. After spending a short time in Korea, you quickly learn that things aren't planned that well or at least not in advance, last minute changes are the norm, and communication, especially to the foreigner, is not a high priority. Throw in the language barrier and you'll be guaranteed that things are always interesting. I showed up to school on March 7, as I was told to a month earlier, just to find out that after-school classes (my class) didn't start until March 14. It wasn't necessarily bad news, another free week, but it was a bit annoying. When my classes actually started, the first two weeks were a mass of confusion. I had one version of my class schedule, my students had another and, the reality was, was that there was no official version.Things are going pretty smoothly now, but I still haven't seen my fifth graders. Despite the fact that me and my mentor teacher have both talked to their teachers, they still don't seem to know when to show up. Or, it is possible, that they have decided they don't want to study English this semester, hm..?
Though it was all a bit irritating at the time, it wasn't unexpected and it's not the first time something like this has happened. Things like this happen often in SK. I have many friends with similar stories: classes canceled with no notice, classes added with only two minutes notice, fire drills and you are left sitting in the school, pizza in the teachers lounge and you miss out, late pay, school holiday and no one tells you, a school function you are expected to attend with only a day or an hour's notice, the list could go on and on. Living surrounded by any foreign language leads to communication challenges, but living as a foreigner in Korea definitely teaches you to roll with the punches, go with the flow, and think on your feet. It's a pain sometimes, but when it's too much or you just get really "lost", you can always play the stupid foreigner card. Can't say I haven't done it :)
Well that's your dose of Korean culture for today. The last thing I have to say is that I've figured out what I'll be doing with the next year of my life. I applied to graduate schools last fall and the results weren't very positive, plus I am really enjoying life here, sooooooo... I will be staying in Korea for another year! My current gig is only part time and my contract ends in July, so this spring will be devoted to finding a new job. I've just started a course to obtain my TEFL (Teaching English as a Foreign Language) certificate and will move to/near Seoul at the end of the summer. Jobs teaching English are abundant in Korea, so I'm not worried about finding a job, it's more about what kind of job I will end up with: private, public, kindergarten, elementary, secondary, adults, etc. ...and to the question that many of you are probably wondering, will I be home for a visit this year? I don't know, we'll see...
I hope you all are well and enjoying the warming temperatures! I saw and tasted (yes, literally) the first blossoms of spring yesterday while I was hiking with Mr. Hong (apparently the first azaleas in Korea are edible and fairly tasty), spring is here!
