Work: My schedule is pretty sweet, I get Wed. off and work the rest of the days from 4p-10p. It was hard to adjust to working so late, when my body was naturally waking up at 9am. By the last couple of hrs of work I was probably downing my third sometimes fourth cup of coffee. By then my body had a hard time eating late and staying up way too late due to a caffeine high. (and the cycle continues) A couple of my students actually commented on the dark circles under my eyes. LoL...guess I need to get more shut eye!! I have two classes a day, class #1 from 4-7 and class #2 from 7-10. My first classes are usually my younger students ages 8-11, and my evening classes I have my older students ages 11-13. In my first class its a lot of attention span control and in my eve classes Im pulling teeth just to get them to participate. And even though they are learning lots about the English Language, I am learning lots as well!! Never too late to learn something new! In Korea they are used to calling the teacher, "TEACHER"...I made it a point to make them call me either "Teacher Megan" or "Ms. Megan" But for some odd reason they can never get it right...Im usually called "Megan Teacher" LoL!! What ever works for them, works for me. I am now settled in with the rapport with most of my students, and definitely have my good ones and my not so good ones!
Daily Living: I am still struggling on getting around Korea not knowing how to read or speak the language...but Im making it! I attempted to sign up to take Korean Language classes in Sept but missed the sign up date, so I plan on taking it starting in October. I think that will take away half of the frustration/confusion!! I have explored my city with some coworkers, intentionally got lost by myself, and have wondered on foot within the five block radius of my school/apt. Suwon is sooo much larger than I thought and there is a whole other side to the city that I have yet to discover! I have eaten and tried lots of new food and am Lovin' it all! I only got sick once and I think it was from food at Cosco! (yes they have them here!!) They drink like fishes out here and partying is unlimited especially on the weekends!! I feel like a light weight and an old lady...I just cant hang!! LoL The weather has been hot/humid up until last Sunday and it started to drop and get real windy! Im not sure how Im going to like the winters here! Im still settling into my apt. It definitely still needs decorations and some sprucing up to make it feel more like home. Times away from Family and Friends can get lonely, so I decided to adopt a cat from another teacher in the area that couldnt take him home with her. His name is Gizmo and is about 7yrs old, so he's fully grown and house trained. He is taking his time to warm up to me, but Im sure he will come around!
Social Life: I have kept in contact with a lot of people I met during my training week. Even though we are all in different areas now, we all try and meet up in Seoul from time to time to eat, drink and party! I have made new friends with some of my coworkers at my school as well as some that are teachers around my area. They are a great help with being here before me, they are able to show me the ropes. Networking is the name of the game out here...and "its not what you know, but who you know". Having Korean friends are the best because they can speak and translate when you are stuck in a jam. Im trying my best to keep in contact with friends in DC, as well as Denver. Time has just not been on my side, but am turning a new leaf and deciding to MAKE TIME!! (especially because you all are important to me!)
Im going to end this long drawn out blog and try to keep you all updated on a weekly basis! Thanks for being patient with me...I will leave you all with a picture of me on my last day of training 8/26/2011. I was so excited that I passed and was heading to my assigned school in Suwon!!
TTFN!
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