Hi Folks!
So as promised, my blog posts have become less frequent now that work is in full-swing and I no longer have the sleeping schedule (or energy endurance) of my college days. Ah, I'm getting old. In addition to teaching my regular classes, I also teach a conversation class every morning from 8:05-8:50, an advanced speaking class on Mondays after school (3:30-5) and an advanced essay class on Wednesdays after school. I also will be attending an informal English Teacher's workshop most Thursdays, where the English teachers get together and just discuss topics freely to practice their English. It's nice and informal yet another thing I must prepare for and fit into my schedule. I'm still doing private tutoring on Saturday evenings in Seoul, and I will probably be taking up another tutoring session for Cho Teacher's middle school-aged daughter. I know it's busy but the money is good so I'm not complaining!
Generally, work is going well. The kiddies are still noisy. I am getting a little frustrated about the last-minute information I get. I find out 45 minutes before the day is over that I have to submit my entire lesson scheme for my AM Conversation class by the next morning. Also yesterday I found out 10 minutes before class started that I had to must teach in a different classroom (which has different seating arrangements and materials) because somebody needed the English room. My whole class was designed based on how the kids were sitting in their groups so I couldn't really do my lesson. And they inform me of my extra classes only a week before they must start, even though I've been asking when they were going to start. I asked starting on my first day and they didn't seem to know until the week before and suddenly I have 3 extra classes per week to plan for. Wha??! I'm really used to planning ahead so this last-minute stuff is hard to get used to. But I have to realize that that is the Korean way. Oy. I think people forget to tell me things because they forget I don't speak Korean.
Although I have new phrases that I learned thanks to Cho Teacher and my co-teacher Nam Teacher: 'mashisoyo?' means, "is your meal delicous?' you respond "ney, (yes), mashisoyo." Now, 'mOshisoyo' means handsome, so I gotta be careful! I also have learned "ko-chi ipoyo" means 'the flowers are beautiful.' Cho Teacher and Nam Teacher also taught me how to say "it's cold" and "I want to go home", useful phrases for the coming months, but I forget them :/. Korean is hard!
Since I've been so busy at work there hasn't been much else to report. This past weekend Val & I went to the big market near Hwaseong Fortress where he shopped for a leather jacket and I for stockings. It suddenly got COLD here. I mean, suddenly. Up until last weekend it's been beautiful and in the 70's every day. Monday was like 50 degrees and the forecast only goes down (literally) from there. It's supposed to stay in the mid-50's this whole week. All of a sudden I'm wearing sweaters, jackets, scarves!
The past week I've been tending to Val's terrible migraines that have been acting up. He thinks it's related to the changing of seasons because we know it's nothing serious in his brain because he got a brain scan on Monday because it was so painful. So I've been massaging his feet and head, making warm soup, putting a cold washcloth on his face. Poor thing, when the migraines come he can't even stand up and he's writhing in pain in his bed. The massage and stretching has seemed to help (thanks for your tips, Maren!) but they still come. I never thought I'd say this but for this reason only I hope winter comes fast!
Tomorrow (Thurs) is the Sannam Middle School School Festival, so there's no class. I'm not really sure what goes down on the school festival but I had to prepare a quiz for the students to give orally in the auditorium. But it should be nice to not have to teach. There's no school on Friday either because everyone's going to Everland, the big amusement park in Suwon. I'm excited! Except that its gonna be cold.
That's all for now I think
Love,
Mel
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