A Brief(ish) Summarization of a Whirlwind

it's difficult to sit down and try to summarize all that has happened in the week that i've been in daegu. since school started, i haven't been bored for a moment. january is winter vacation in Korea. which means that the kids take extra classes. that's right, on vacation months, they go to school more. normally we have classes every afternoon from like 2-8 or something. but during intensive months, we have classes in the morning too. a couple of teachers are teaching 10 hours a day. i'm not teaching quite that much.

my apartment:



when i arrived at my apartment last week there wasn't a tv, a phone, or a washer. and the gas stovetop was barely working. yesterday i was pleasantly surprised to find that all that had been mended. except the stovetop, which they left in the box on the floor. my attempts to remove the old one, have thus far proved futile. i have managed to do little more than mangle the gas hose with a kitchen knife, a pair of pliers, and my house key. i bought a swiss army knife in switzerland this summer but, i left it at home.

other items that i have been supplied by either the school or the previous teacher/tenant: bookshelf, double bed, wardrobe, broken christmas tree, minifridge, old bar of soap, two forks, one knife, 6 metal chopsticks (in korea all the chopsticks are metal), a dinner table, four chairs (why do i need four chairs?), a toaster oven, a rice maker, four mugs, and some modest cooking utensils.

it's meager to be certain, but adequate.

there is no separation between the shower and the rest of the bathroom. and the washer drains out onto the floor.

the weather:
oh my the weather has been beautiful. even though i haven't been outside much in the past week. nice, brisk, jacket weather kind of cold. it's been great. the first day was freezing, but since then it's been wonderful.

the food:
korean food. it's good, but not great. i like it, but i don't love it. but it is cheap. if there is one thing that is cheap here it's the food (and the alcohol). you can buy two rolls of kimbap (sorta like sushi, but with more vegetables) for around $2. and that's a pretty decent (and healthy) lunch. if you want to splurge and eat out at a restaurant, you'll probably spend between $5-$8. also they make green tea flavored everything. there's even a green tea flavored Kellogg's cereal.

the classes:
i think when i signed my contract i was kinda thinking: no big deal i'll just go in and talk to kids in english for forty minutes and that will be class. i mean, how else could they justify hiring a foreigner with no experience to come over and teach? but during orientation i began to realize that it was a little more serious than that. i was really expected to be a bonafide teacher. wearing ties, and preparing lessons, and making teaching supplements.

so in two days in seoul i was taught how to be a teacher. then i was shipped off to daegu. where i was handed a bunch of books, and given a schedule of classes. since then, it's been such a whirlwind, i haven't had any time to reflect on anything. i think it's going pretty well. ok at least. i'm learning a lot. it's wild being a teacher, having that kind of power (even though i don't really have much power, we don't even really give the kids grades since this is an after-school school). all those things i used to think was stupid when my teachers did them, i'm doing. anything to get the kids to listen and obey.

so i write Xs and checks on the board by their names. and we play stupid games. sometimes i feel like Mrs. Croft, my high school spanish teacher. I say the same things over and over, and ask the students to repeat. now and then i fall into Mrs. Croft mode so deep I accidently say things like muy excellente. I also find myself trying to remember what Mr. Evan's, my high school physics teacher (and probably my favorite teacher of all time) used to do. So I change my voice randomly, and speak in outrageous accents.

every decision is really spur of the moment. how fast can you think? especially with the really little kids. attention span: 0. do a trick, draw on the board, what's in the bag, dance, sing, look at me, look at me, take that eraser out of your nose. all the while they look at me like "what the fudge are those noises he's making?"

and the junior highers. with boredom branded to their brows. stubborn, like pulling teeth from cows. i finally found something they are interested in, video games. i said, "chris, what kind of video games do you like?" he said, "killing people." i said, "chris, use a complete sentence." "huh?" "say, i like to kill people." this got a laugh. and then he said it. in a complete sentence. so i think all our lessons will now be on violence. and death.

honestly though. i liked it. i enjoyed my first week teaching. in spite of the mania. i have a few classes that i just love. all the kids are on the ball. and seem to be smart and learning. i got a hug on the legs by one of my little kids yesterday when i walked into class. gave me warm fuzzies.

i just hope i can hold up until february.