First real post

My first week in Korea:

When I got into Gwangju one of my Korean bosses met me at the bus stop (it was a 3, maybe 3 and a half hour bus ride after the 12 and a half hour flight.  I didn't sleep at all on the plane, though I slept some on the bus.  He dropped me off at my apartment, gave me the key, told me how the AC and water heater worked, and told me the head teacher was going to come by my place around 1 pm the next day, and left.

After one of the most fulfilling sleeps of my life I woke up, watched tv for a bit, got bored and started exploring the neighborhood around my apartment.  I got breakfast at a family mart and ate in the children’s park near my apartment.  After I ate I explored some more around town, got a little lost, but made it back to my apartment well before 1.  Nigel, the head teacher, came by my place with two other teachers, and we went out to lunch together.  After lunch I went downtown with a few more teachers, and checked out the market. 

The first few days of work I spent observing other teachers.  I picked the brain of the teacher whose shift I'm taking over.  There are a bunch of English speaking people working at Jeongsangd, more than I thought there were going to be.  I had a 'Mexican Monday' dinner night at Shannon's apartment with her, Caroline and Vanessa (all native english speaking teachers).  I had a lot of fun, those three seem like people I can really get along with.

The next night I checked out the shop and restaurant area in my neighborhood with a few other teachers, five of us total.  We got dinner and ate it in the park, then we went to a bakery for desert and a bar for soju cocktails.  Then we went to a noribong, where you buy an hour of time in what is most easily described as a bar full of private karaoke rooms.  We had a blast.

Now I have a day off before I start teaching on Friday.  I am excited to get to start teaching, I was a bit nervous when I first started coming into work, but after observing and participating varying amounts in classrooms for three days, I feel ready to get started.  My biggest worries about starting work are knowing where things are when I need to get them, and knowing the students names.  I know my job would be a lot easier if I knew all the students' names', so I'm going to work hard on learning them fast. 

The language barrier with the kids is a problem, but it is not too difficult to overcome, you can usually understand what they are saying or trying to say, and when you can't it usually isn't important enough to dwell on.  People find a way of conveying what is actually necessary to convey.  I am able to communicate with the locals enough to get what I need, for example.  I know how to ask for something "chu se yo" (please give me), I know how to say hi, bye, and thanks.  Those are by far the most common things I say in Korean, though I know a little more than that.

I have been thinking about teaching strategies a lot over these three days, and I feel like I have a good idea of how I want to be with my kids, I just need to implement a solid plan.  Once you get them to respect your authority, it is much easier and even more fun to teach them.