I arrived at school at my standard time of 8:40am and went to my office. The day was very similar to that of last week. I did a few more introductions and then went to lunch. Apparently I wasn't holding my tray properly because when my co-teacher poured me my soup, it burnt my hand through the tray. So basically my Monday consisted of me itching like crazy from the dang bites and nursing the blisters on two of my fingers due to inadequate tray holding...I couldn't wait to see what Tuesday was going to bring.
I woke up with yet another bite on Tuesday morning. I was thrilled. I decided to mention the situation to my co-teacher since I know he had to be wondering what was all over my face. He told me that the mosquitoes in Korea are awful, as if I didn't already figure that out, and he said I could go and buy some anti-itch cream on my lunch break. So after lunch we went to the pharmacy. I had no idea what they were saying...I'll I knew was that I paid about $2.50 for a tube that had a mosquito on it. I dabbed a little on my hand before trying it on my neck and face to make sure I didn't react. It proved to be okay...I just hope it was actually anti-itch cream and there were no special instructions that said 'only use once a day and avoid contact with face.'
Johnson told me that in addition to my 22 contract hours of teaching a week, the principal would like me to teach 4 additional classes a week in the English Plaza with Tessah. I agreed knowing that it would give me something to do in the afternoons that I have four hours to sit at my desk. I was also informed that I will be teaching an English class from 4:30pm to 6:30pm three times a week, and I will be compensated extra, so that's nice. The only downside is that I have to come up with six extra hours of lesson plans a week which I think will get challenging.
Later that afternoon, Tessah came up to my office to work a little bit and we were trying to get her computer connected to the Internet. Johnson called the computer guy at the school to come help. Ten minutes later, the computer guy called back saying that he couldn't come in to help because he was going to the hospital with one of his students who had just gotten hit by a car! Tessah and I immediately looked at Johnson asking if the kid was ok...he just nonchalantly said I'm sure and went about his business as if this was a common occurrence. With the way people drive here, I wouldn't be surprised.
Wednesday's have now proved to be my favorite working day of the week. When I arrived at school, Johnson told me that during lunch I would need to go home to get my 'activity clothes' because on Wednesdays, the staff meetings are a field day. I was like, whatever, and fetched my clothes after lunch. In Korea, building relationships is extremely important so they feel that getting together outside of a meeting room allows everyone to relax and have fun. I totally agree! 3pm rolls around and all of the staff members met outside on the play field. They split us into six teams to stretch and warm up. Then the competitio
n began. The first game we played was jump rope. Each team had two people turning the rope and the four remaining teammates had to jump. My team was very interesting. It was Tessah, Johnson, me, and three other teachers. One who was in her early sixties. I thought we were doomed from the get go. I didn't think that this woman could jump for that long. I was very wrong and my team ended up winning! I thought my legs were going to fall off and I couldn't believe that the older woman could keep up...it was awesome! Everyone plays, contributes and it's so much fun! For winning, we were given toothbrushes as prizes! Johnson told me they were expensive and was very proud. I just found it very interesting.The next game Johnson told me was a very traditional Korean game. It is similar to Hacky Sac except it looks like a pom-pom with with a flat plastic thing on the bottom. When I looked it the bottom of it, it had a picture of Santa Clause and said 'Made in China.' I just found that ironic for a traditional Korean game. Anyways, I was terrible and contributed nothing to my team.
The next game was the hoola-hoop. I love to hoola-hoop so I was ready to redeem my self. I was doing pretty well until the PE teacher began yelling different commands. Johnson was too busy paying attention to translate. So I just tried to follow. We had to walk forward, then backwards, then apparently lift one leg up all while still hoola-hooping. I didn't quite follow the last instruction very well and I ended up marching or something strange. All I know is that teachers were staring and my hoola-hoop dropped to the ground rather quickly to put me out of my misery. It was fun none the less.
After all the hoola-hooping, we took a little break. We were served juice, beer, and watermelon. Strange combination but very refreshing. I figured if I stayed away from the beer and let the other teachers have a little too much, I could get my edge back. haha.
The final event was their version of volleyball. It is pretty much the same except the net is as low as a tennis net and you can either use your arms, hands, head or feet to get the ball over. Everyone was pretty good at it and the principal took it very serious. We had a lot of fun and I can't wait for our next Wednesday staff meeting!
Later that night after I returned home, Andrew called to have me meet him and a few of his teachers for drinks. They were celebrating their big volleyball win. So around 7:30pm we all went to a bar near my school. They are an interesting bunch of characters and clearly had a little too much to drink before they even arrived. Their intoxication mixed with what little ability they had to speak English made for some interesting conversations. It was a good time though.
Thursday was pretty uneventful compared to Wednesday. I did get my Alien Registration card which allows me to finally get Internet in my apartment and my health insurance card...it was a big deal. Later that evening, my phone rang and Tessah was outside my door. She said she needed to vent to someone because she was having an "I hate Korea moment." See she hasn't had hot water or gas, or a cell phone for two weeks because she didn't have her alien card. For some reason, my apartment already had both so I was pretty lucky. Her problems have been resolved for now, don't worry.
Friday I actually got to teach for the first time since I finished up my introductions. It was a lot of fun. For the first 5th grade class however, my other co-teacher didn't show because she got caught in a meeting and I wasn't sure which lesson they were on so I sort of just made up the whole thing as I went and it actually turned out pretty good! I really think I am going to enjoy teaching.
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