First Week of Classes, Part 1: School #1

Monday, March 2, 2015

Woke up, got dressed and took a taxi to school because ... I didn't know how to get there, haha. I had to walk to the nearby convenience store (GS25 -. They're like the Korean Walgreens, but only because they're on every corner Everything else is like a 7/11 - and they have those here, too !! haha) ANYWHO, I had to walk to the GS25 and ask the lady at the counter to call me a taxi because 1) I didn't have a working phone and 2) I had no idea how to call a taxi in English, let alone in Korean, haha. The lady at the GS25 was both pleased to see me and totally confused as to what I was asking. Until I said "tek-shi" (taxi with a Korean accent) and signaled holding a phone to my face she had no idea what I meant. Eventually it clicked, and my taxi was coming to pick me up. I hopped in the taxi, I said my school name in Korean and ... blank stare. I'd been practicing the pronunciation and I knew it was right! But he still just blank-stared me. I showed him a piece of paper where my co-teacher had written the school name and LIGHTBULB. He said the school name aloud (I JUST SAID THAT) I nodded yes, and we were on our way. 

First successful taxi ride alone? Check! (Thankfully the price is posted on the dash, otherwise I'd have had no idea how much to pay him. The Korean number / counting system (s!) freak me out. That's for another day though.)

Now ... let the whirlwind begin.  

I just kept my head down the entire way up to the third floor where my office is because I KNEW every child was staring and I had NO idea how to cope. I decided to apply the "if I can't see you, you can't see me" tactic and I made it to the office without a panic attack. I settle in to the chaos and then suddenly ... we have a meeting. A staff meeting. Awesome. i followed my co-teacher like a lost puppy to where the meeting was, ignoring stares the whole way.

The entire staff met in a classroom (do not ask me who was watching the students at this point - I have no idea) and introduced the new teachers, including our new Vice Principal. (The only reason I knew what was happening was because my co-teacher would occasionally lean over and explain things to me.) At one point I was asked to go to the front with the other new teachers to introduce myself. The two before me said a few sentences and I knew I'd need introduce myself as well. I zoned out and reminded myself of how to introdu-- wait. Its my turn already? BOOM. Just like that, all correct Korean words are gone from my brain. I managed to stutter out "Chogum Kelsey-imnida."

Crickets.

Combined with blank stares. 

This was bad news. 

I heard from the back of the room "chogum? Cho ... ChoNEUN!"

Suddenly a chorus of "Aaaaahhhhhhh's" filled the room.

I had just said "Little (or small) Kelsey" instead of introducing myself. Awesome. Granted, I could have said something much worse on accident, but I still hung my head in embarrassment and everyone clapped out of pity. A few more teachers introduced themselves after me, and then we all sat down. Walk of shame, right there. My co-teacher literally gave me a pat on the back when I sat down. No joke. 

After the meeting, we went back to the office. I sat while all the teachers I share the room with taught class. I felt like a lost puppy. A lost puppy that everyone sees and stares at, but no one approaches, haha. 

The teachers came back and we were off to an assembly to welcome all of the 1st graders to the school. 

* Cultural note: In Korea, the schools are set up on a 6-3-3-4 order.

6 years of Elementary School (Grades 1-6)

3 years of Middle School (Grades 1-3 in Korea but grades 7, 8, 9 in America)

3 years of High School (Grades 1-3 in Korea but grades 10, 11, 12 in America)

4 years of College (or University)

** Most students begin learning English in 3rd grade (elementary).

Before we walked over, my co-teacher grabbed a stick. What for? Oh, just to playfully hit the students on the backs or behind the knees OR POKE THEM when they misbehave. This is a daily thing and the boys would playfully listen and obey (Sound confusing? Yes. Because it is.) The boys threw no fuss about the use of the sticks; They were not intimidated by them, yet they listened when used ... kind of. 

The 2nd and 3rd graders were shuffling in and once they were all seated, the 1st graders were walked to the front of the gym to sit in the literal patio chairs that they had for the boys to sit in. (In our schools, we just sat on the floor !! This was much more organized.) 

While the students were filing in, there was no doubt about it: I was the main attraction. At least for the second and third graders. The first graders looked scared out of their minds to be there, haha. Anywho, I sat on the sides while the other teachers wrangled up the students (remember: sticks) trying very hard to avoid eye contact. Probably because I knew every kid was staring at me.They were crawling over each other and pointing at me, haha. Not very subtle, these Korean boys ...

The assembly started and I just followed blindly. I stood for what was (think) the school song and then the national anthem ... Maybe it was the other way around? NO IDEA. I was just dreading the moment they would make me stand in front of the ENTIRE SCHOOL and introduce myself. I could feel it coming. And it was going to be bad, I just knew it, haha. When I stepped on to the stage (with the other new teachers) there was a combined "wwhoaaaaaaaaa" from the entire student body. From there, I just stood in silence, listening intently for when the said something semi-resembling "Kelsey Moss" for me to step forward and bow. (I still couldn't understand so I had to look at my co-teacher for her to nod to me when to step forward, haha.) AS I stepped forward, suddenly, kids were out of their seats, CHEERING for me just at the mention of my name, haha. Good to know they're excited for "English class", right ??

One of the teachers stepped forward and spoke. 

"CRAP. This is happening. I have to sp-- Wait. Everyone is leaving. Everyone is leaving? I'm leaving." 

That's right. They just had one teacher say something for all of us. I have never been more grateful for someone to speak for me !! :)

I sat down and was able to breathe again! No speaking this time.

HUZZAH !!

A few minutes later, ALL of the teachers were walking to the stage. 

"WHAT THE CRAP IS HAPPENING ??!" 

I shouted my co-teachers name but she could not hear me. So I went up hoping I was doing the right thing ... Turns out, I did! I had no idea where to stand so I just picked a spot. And stood. With no idea of ​​what was happening next. 

"Oh, they're reading names again? For everyone ?!"

I was in the back row, but one of the first on the row .. and the announcer man CLEARLY skipped over me. He went down the line ... got to me .. paused ... introduced the person after me ... He either didn't have my name on the list or was too scared to read it ... (My bet is the latter). But, as it turns out, he saved the best for last, because the second he butchered my name, the kids were out of their seats again, cheering for "English class!"

Standing ovations are nice. Especially ones given just for showing up. I think I'd like more of them in my life.

The rest of the day was ... fairly uneventful. I sat at my desk and perfected the art of "desk warming" (pretty self-explanatory). I tried to familiarize myself with the Windows OS on my computer ... in Korean ... And part of that process included using Internet Explorer to download Chrome and set it as my default browser and have it automatically translate every page to English AND set up my ad-blocker and VPN. Hee. Technology is great sometimes. (DOWN WITH INTERNET EXPLORER.)

I took a taxi home and browsed Waygook.org (now officially my favorite website EVER) for some example introduction lessons and what they did to interest the students. While at home using and English version of Powerpoint (I'm beginning to realize just how much I appreciate English ...) I made an introduction PPT and successfully made my first lesson plan !! I felt so proud of myself :)

The Foreigners went out to a local bar called Advice that night. I ordered strawberry tea, which was delicious with just a hint of sweetness. Everyone got a kick out of my dreaded introduction story. Though no one could sympathize, they still tried, haha. 

Tuesday, March 3, 2015

I went through the same routine for a taxi to school the next day. I got the same looks from both the store worker and the taxi driver. I knew I had to figure out how to walk to school AND FAST so that I could avoid these glares, haha. 

I arrived at school on time and opened up my PPT to see if it would work. I began tweaking a few things, trying out the Korean system to see if I understood basic things. (Basically, I just memorized where it all was on the English version and it was a lot of trial and error from there, haha.)

I do not "teach" until 3rd period, but both co-teachers wanted to get together during 2nd period and talk about lesson plans. I showed them my PPT and they were so impressed, the wanted me to teach it 3rd period. Like, in 15 minutes. (Do not panic -! PANIC) I tried to save the PPT because I liked the changes I'd made and ... The computer froze. GO figure. I was forced to use the old version that was still fairly incomplete. Oh well! Here goes nothing. Or everything. 

I walk into my first class: 3rd grade. Gasps and whispers of "Ker-shi! Kher-shi!" were heard as soon as I entered the room, haha. I told them the basics about me: 

Name: Kelsey (Kelsey) 

Age: International 26, Korean 28

Where I was from: America, then went on to talk about Arizona. Showed them on a map (because Koreans think Korea is the world) and BLEW THEIR MIND when I told them that Arizona was almost 3x as large as their entire country. I also told them that Arizona was famous for the Grand Canyon (lightbulb) and cactus. They did not believe me when I told them saguaros were really tall ...

My family: Mom, Dad, and two brothers (because that story is easier even though its no the whole truth)

... And a few of my favorite things: Dancing (I showed them a few pictures from Folk Dance) Moose (favorite animal) and Baseball (favorite sport).

Then after a quick quiz, I let the students ask me any question they wanted. I was amazed at how bold some of the students were with their questions! In almost every class I was these questions every time:

1) Do you have a boyfriend? (Answer:.. Yes, but only to instantly crush any hopes from students They definitely had lots of follow-up questions about this once I answered yes though, haha)

2) How tall are you? (Answer: Remembering that they use cm and I use ft / in, I quickly had to do the math in my head. I told them 180cm (a little taller than I * actually * am) and I think I instantly intimidated a lot of them, haha. Height is a sensitive subject for hormonal teenage boys in Korea, apparently.)

3) Do you like kimchi? (Answer: Yes, which was always followed by laughter for some reason.)

No joke. Those were their questions, haha. Other questions were "What is your favorite color / favorite food / favorite baseball team," (they know * most * of the MLB teams, ESPECIALLY those that have Korean players on them). Some students were even bold enough to ask for my phone number, and another student asked me if I loved him.

And this is how the rest of my day went. Though, I must say, a highlight of my day was when I walked into the lunchroom and they were playing "Deja-boo" by SHINee's Jonghyun. Its like they know me or something :)

We left school a little early to go to the bank and set up an account for me. My co-teacher does not have a car so we walked. Thank goodness it was not too far and was actually on my way home! We were not actually able to set up my account because I forgot my passport and my Alien Registration Card (ARC) had not been sent yet. UGH. So we decided to try again the next day. 

I decided to walk home even though I had no idea where I was. I whipped out my phone and opened up Google maps to see where I was and where I needed to go. (Google maps is my BFF since I'm so directionally challenged ...) I wandered through some side streets toward some buildings that looked familiar until I managed to get to the main road that the taxis drove me down when taking me to school. I knew it was a straight shot from there and I made it home safe and proud. I mean, sound :)

Wednesday, March 4th, 2015

Walked to school !! Got there late because of it, but m CoT was okay with it after I explained that I walked for the first time, haha. 

More and more students officially know my name, so the whispers of "Oh, Kher-shi! Kher-shi!" were getting louder in the hallway. Actually, one student said "Oh, Khershi, I want kish yoo!" which led to a severe lecture from my co-teacher, haha. These kids ...

I did the same lesson as the day before, and the same follow-up questions were asked. The mind of a teenager is so terribly predictable ... One student asked me what food Arizona was famous for ... What? I had no idea what to answer. In Korea, every city is famous for some kind of food, whether it be grown or a Korean dish. I think they expected the same thing for the USA, haha. After thinking for a bit, I went back to the map of the USA and reminded them of where AZ was and that it was close to Mexico, so we ate a lot of Mexican food. Shouts of "TACOOOO!" were heard after that answer, haha. (Come to find out, a lot of my students go to an after-school school [yes, that's a thing] with a teacher that lives near me named Annie. Apparently, a lot of my students thought I was from Mexico after telling them we ate Mexican food ... Oh well. I tried ...!)

Jonghyun's song played again at lunch. It started literally the second I walked in the lunch room. Thank you, lunch ladies :) 

On Wednesdays, the schools have special lunches. Their reason? Its hump day. It gives students something to look forward to mid-week. Today's lunch was bibimbap with strawberries !! Now, let me just say, if I had been able to grow up eating Korean strawberries, I would have never gone through my seemingly endless phase where I did not like them and refused to eat them. Korean strawberries are better than any fruit I've ever eaten. I'm not even kidding. I was in heaven for that lunch !! Bibimbap and Korean strawberries. So happy. 

After a quick lunch, we walked to the bank to try again with setting it up. I remembered my passport this time! So it was a success. Side note: Korean names are much shorter than American names, so the endless signing of paperwork is not as tedious for them. But for me? Yeah. I got really tired of writing and signing my name at least 15 times ... And trying to squish it in the small space they provide, haha. (On a side-note, I saw SHINee at the bank! Not literally. I would have died. They were in magazine form. But still just as amazing! Ha.) Now that I had a bank account set up, we headed back to school.

I had just one more class after lunch (3rd grade) and this class ... I could tell they were going to be a handful. Oh boy ... Not a minute of silence. I had to bust out the "Oh no you did not" face on the first day for this class.

After school, another CoT took me to my second school to meet the English teachers and find out my schedule. My second school is a private school, so they "have more money" as my CoT put it. The school looks pretty much the same to me though, haha. Its up on a hill and the soccer field is made with the fake stuff so its always green, but other than that, its mostly the same. My main CoT at my second school is Mr. Lee, and I will also be teaching with Mr. Kim and Mrs. Choi. (They just so happen to have the three most common last names in Korea -!. Surprise Haha) Mr. Lee heated up some green tea and made sure I had three cups so the Korean tradition was fulfilled (Do not ask me what it was. I can not remember ... Too many traditions here ...) I was taken to meet the Principal and Vice Principal VERY briefly before Mr. Lee had to go into a meeting with them. Mrs. Choi came and collected me and took me to my classroom and then we sat and waited for Mr. Lee to finish his meeting. He was adamant about taking me to dinner. So I sat and talked with Mrs. Choi who just so happens to be literally THE. CUTEST. woman on the face of this planet. She's in her mid-30's, single, and I have no idea why. I just want to put her in my pocket and carry her with me, haha. She asked everything about me and was really excited when she found out I wanted to learn Korean and taught me a few helpful phrases right there. SO CUTE.

Once Mr. Lee was done with his meeting he came to find me an we walked to his apartment so that he could drive to dinner. He gave me am orange from Jeju Island (again, not my favorite fruit, but Korean fruit is TO DIE FOR) and then we went to dinner. He asked where I lived and I mentioned a restaurant near my place and he got really excited when he said "That's where I was going to take you for dinner!" Apparently his friend owns the restaurant so he wanted to take me to dinner and see his friend at the same time. Talk about efficiency, haha. 

We stopped by my place fist so I could drop off my things. Only problem was, I forgot where I lived. He drove a different way than I normally walked and I got really turned around. He could not believe that I "did not know" where I lived. Its not like I had no idea where I was living before I came here, I've only lived here a few days, and spend most of my time NOT at home ... Oh wait. THAT'S ALL TRUE. Anyways ...

The restaurant is called Shilla Buffet (or Shil-la Boo-Pay as they say) and its just this massive buffet of Korean food. I did not know what I was eating, but 80% of it was delicious. The other 20% I ate anyways because I did not want to be rude, even if I was SO FULL. After he finally finished eating dinner it was about 7:30. I was exhausted. But he pulled out his phone and showed me all of the pictures on his phone of his family and his mentor of Confucianism and Chinese calligraphy. It was interesting, but not for as long as he went on. I was just exhausted from teaching and then meeting more people and then stuffing myself silly ... Eventually we finished eating and I was allowed to walk home because Mr. Lee wanted to talk with his friend. I loved the idea since I did not get to walk home earlier. Even if it was just a 5min walk, I quite enjoyed the time alone. 

I definitely went straight to bed when I got home. So much people-pleasing and "public appearances" over the last few days. Boy, am I glad I'm not a celebrity. Its an introverts worst nightmare ...

Two weeks in Korea (Part 2 - Getting Settled...)

Thursday, February 26, 2015

The day had finally come, the last day of orientation !! We nailed the group presentation, had a short break, and then were off for a meeting with the POE to find out what cities we were living in and what school (s) we had been assigned to. 

We signed three (count 'em, three!) Copies of our contract and then stood in line to review that we had signed our contracts correctly. The line grew long ridiculously fast, so I sat and waited for it to die down ... and it didn't, haha. BUT! I managed to find the paper that told me what city I was assigned to (Mungyeong) and what schools I'd been assigned to (Mungyeong Middle School and Jeomchon Middle School) All Google was able to tell me was that Mungyeong was an all- girls middle school and Jeomchon was ... possibly ... an all-girls high school? Confused, I kept searching Google, but I could not find anything. I was getting kind of frustrated since other teachers were able to instantly find the blogs of the teachers that were leaving their school and able to talk to them and ask all of the millions of questions they had ... and I was currently experiencing a Google fail. (Note:.... Google knows nothing about Asia Do not even try to find specifics Sometimes you get lucky But almost always, it will let you down) All I could find was that Mungyeong was a tiny city of about 77,000 people that neighbored the city Jeomchon. 

That night we had a closing ceremony (which I was late to because the line was THAT long) and then a special dinner - the biggest buffet I'd seen all week filled with all kinds of Korean-ified foods. Most people went out to party and celebrate that night but I was boring (and still sick) so I stayed in with a few friends and we hogged the internet while everyone else was gone. I kept trying to find info on my city / schools ... with no luck. 

I called home to tell my mom where I was going. We both ended up in tears. Let's ne honest here: my original application was for Seoul. While I knew Seoul would be too much to handle for me, I also knew deep down I would not get placed there. But I was also really not expecting to be placed where I was now set to go. A tiny little country town that no one really knows the name of. to make it even harder, no one could tell me anything about my city (even Google couldn't...) and I only knew of two other people that would be in the small city with me. All of us noobs, figuring this out on our own. I was scared. More scared than I had been throughout my entire process so far. This was not my ideal, and far from it. So yes. The tears came, haha. I knew my mom was now even MORE worried than she was before which also made me feel bad. But that's how the night ended. In tears. 

Surprisingly, I slept really well.

Friday, February 27, 2015

The next morning we loaded up the bus and were off by 9am. We took a short (and pointless) stop midway between Daejeon and Gumi, where we would all be meeting our co-teachers and then be taken to our individual cities. I was a bit of a nervous wreck the entire ride, trying to sleep and get over this dang cold that I just could not shake. I had memorized a few lines in Korean to introduce myself properly and I kept pep-talking myself that I could say it all and not butcher it when it was time to actually say it, haha. But, before meeting our co-teachers, we had one last meal together - bibimbap!

I unloaded my things from the truck and almost immediately saw my co-teacher holding a sign with my name on it. I waved to her and she immediately introduced ... MY PRINCIPAL. Welp, not expecting that. Needless to say, I did not say ANYTHING that I was supposed to. Like, did not even say anything in English, either. Total brain fart. We loaded my things into the principals car and took off. 

First stop was at the immigration office to register for my ARC card (Alien Registration Card) where they said I needed two passport photos and I only had one so I went to take more and then they actually only needed one. Go figure. After making a fool out of myself by miscounting money and leaving my medical exam sheet behind (do not ask) I felt like a complete idiot but .. they took me to lunch anyways, haha. 

I impressed my principal with my chopsticks skills as we ate Korean-ified Chinese food. (Looked gross, surprisingly delicious!) And then we were off to Mungyeong. Along the way, my principal tuned on an oldies CD - like, Beegees oldies and proceeded to ask me "You like pop music?" I said yes (thinking he would change the station or whatever we were listening to) and ... he just nodded in agreement and turned up the music. Apparently the Beegees (to him) is pop music. Too cute :) I just laughed to myself and went along for the ride. Literally. 

We arrived in Mungyeong and they took me first to the first school I'd be working at, Mungyeong Middle School. Apparently its an all boys school !! (GOOGLE FAIL.) And so is my second school. (COMPLETE GOOGLE FAIL.) Two all-boys middle schools. Yeah, didn't see that one coming ... But I met some of the staff and the three English teachers in the school (Minji - the one that picked me up, Narae - my other co-teacher, and Kim (aka Jieun ) who I will not be teaching with ... for some reason.) 

The three of them took me to my apartment, about a 5min drive from the school. They helped me carry my things up and check out the apartment. They showed me how to work the washing machine (its all in Korean and has 500 unnecessary buttons, just like every washing machine) and how to work the ondol (the floor heating system that also heats my water.) The landlord saw me and you could tell he was excited to have a migook (American) living in his building, haha. He immediately said to me "You very pretty." I thanked him and he ran out of the room to open the apartment next door. He showed me a giant desk and asked me, "You want?" Since I had almost no furniture in my place, I said yes, especially knowing I'd need a place to work on lesson plans and stuff. The landlord and three teachers dropped everything and moved the desk into my apartment. I tried to help but they clearly did not want me to. Just like they would not let me carry my own luggage either. (I think they were just trying to make me feel welcome by making it easier for me.) With the desk moved, we headed to a store to get me a cell phone. 

Once at the phone store, they looked at my phone and said that everything was fine with the one I had and that all I had to do was select a phone plan and they would get it set up right away. They were able to call a person to explain me the phone plans in English and we had everything all worked out - I was even able to get a 12 month plan which is basically unheard of! I explained to the guy on the phone that I was under the impression that my phone did not have a place for SIM card and that I would have to buy a new one. 

Should not have said that. 

Throw the last 20 minutes out the window, suddenly I had to get a two year contract that would include the price of the phone every month. YIKES. I explained this to my co-teachers and Minji happened to have an old phone that she was willing to let me have so that I did not have to sign a two-year contract OR buy a phone. HUZZAH! We ran to her place to get the phone, took it back, they said they'd get it all set up while we went to our next stop: Home Plus.

Home Plus is basically a Target + Walmart + anything else you could ever need in one place. Kind of amazing for a small town like this. They used the money from my "settlement allowance" to get me some things I needed for my apartment and for school. Hangers, food, dishes, silverware, dish soap, detergent, internet router, even slippers / sandals / indoor shoes for my schools and ... a "bed". I'm pretty sure I'm supposed to get a real bed? Not just a mat on the floor with a blanket but ... Yeah. More updates on that later when I figure more things out, haha. 

After all of this ... WHEW. I was very overwhelmed, and super exhausted. I spent the night unpacking while I watched the one Korean channel I could find in English, the JUST SO HAPPENED to be showing Kpop performances at that time. Needless to say, I was quite content to have a space to myself and time to relax and settle in. 

Saturday, February 28, 2015

Saurday morning I woke up and realized ... I knew no one and had no idea how to get anywhere in the city. All I had was the address for my school on Monday and the phone numbers of my co-teachers in my phone that was not working yet ... unless I had wi-fi. My directionally challenged abilities and my desire to sleep and be 100% healthy by Monday beat out any desire to go explore my city on my own. I did not even know my own address to tell a taxi driver if I got lost ... So, yeah. SLEEPING WINS. 

Around noon I got a message from a girl named Kaitlyn who was a teacher in my area. Apparently no one knew I was coming because my positions had been vacant the semester before and they were not anticipating anyone filling those spots. SO. By sending just ONE picture via FB chat, Kaitlyn knew where I lived (AMAZING) and she sent Annie to come and pick me up so we could explore together. 

Annie and I walked and met up with Kaitlyn, who had found Chanelle and Ben, the other two teachers from my orientation a few days earlier assigned to Mungyeong. The five of us went to get ddak galbi (so freakin 'good) and then we explored a little more. I bought my first Korean street food and loved it (even though he'd put sunflower seeds in it. (I'm quickly becoming the most un-picky eater EVER. Weird.)

We all went home for a few hours and then met up again for dinner, this time also meeting Sarah and Grant (pronounced grAUNT not grANT -. Get it right) We went for samgyupsal and then went to a few more places where everyone got something to drink. "But not I," said the Molly Mormon, and I stuck to my water, sparkling cider, and cranberry juice, haha. We played darts and ate the local cuisine (see video) and just got to know each other better as well as ask questions / advice about the city and schools. It was a fun night. I did get home a little later than I wanted, but I'm also glad I did not sit inside all day. :)

Sunday. March 1, 2015

Cuz that's all I did today. Sit inside. Nothing on TV. Did not know how to get to church or even where it was, really. I was able to Skype with family and update them on how I was and give them the ultimate tour of my "wonum" (aka studio apartment). I had already been told that I would not be teaching that week so ... I did not really prepare anything for school. With no textbooks I could not even pretend to gauge what their English level was. So ... I started a new Korean drama My Korean Frosted Flakes and ATE. Mashisayo ~~ 

I went to bed early so that I could be well-rested for my first day of school the next day!