First Week of Teaching

Hey all!

Well, I have finished my first half week of teaching and I had a great weekend. Teaching was...well...stressfull, to say the least. Apparently three days of class on the teaching material at the Sogang Language Program didn't make me feel prepared to teach. All of the previous notions I had about what teaching EFL would be like, went out the window when I got my class schedule. Oh, and they gave it to me the day before classes began. But as if that was not stressful enough, I found out that I was going to be teaching nine different skill levels in my classes. Yes, I said nine...from second semester elementary aged kids all the way up to students that had been learning English for at least five years, and everything in between. Needless to say, Wednesday was a difficult day. Oh, I forgot...I also moved into my apartment on Wednesday morning which did not help with the stress. With that said, I think this teaching experience will be wonderful preparation for any job I will have to do in the future. There are lesson plans for most of my classes, but I have so much freedom to do what I want and I even am responsible for making the tests for a few of my classes. While that freaks me out right now, I think once I get used to the schedule I will love having the freedom. It just makes the start a bit rough.
My apartment is also surprisingly nice. I live on the eighth floor of the building that overlooks the highway and other residential areas(I will post pics soon). It is not a studio apartment like I thought it would be, so I do have a separate bedroom. I have also already taken up the Korean way of scavenging. I found a sweet desk chair that an office building that was closing down put on the road and I am in the process of putting together a granite coffee table out of extra granite tiles from a construction area. I also acquired a Trek bike equipped with rockshox that was left by a teacher a year ago. He lost the key for his lock and none of the current teachers wanted it enough to figure out how to break the lock. I have no tools with me but was determined to free the bike from it's shackles and ride it. 20 minutes with my leatherman and the bike cable was severed(thanks for the great groomsman gift bobby). I also now own The Simpsons Movie, 300, and The Bourne Supremacy...3 for ten dollars and nice quality.
On to my weekend and my first experience with Korean history. I got to see a lot of Seoul, and learn how to navigate the subway system, which will be helpful in my everlasting quest to become self sufficient in this country. Yesterday morning, we went to one of South Korea's many palaces. It was pretty cool to see the architecture and scenery around the palace, it definitely embodied what I thought Asian cultures would be like. I cannot think of the correct spelling of the palace so I will hold off on that until I can look it up. I also travelled to the Korean Folk Museum. It is a history museum about the Korean people and their way of life from food customs to attire. It was very interesting and I am glad I could go an experience first hand some of the history of the country I will live in for the next year. Last night we tried out the night life, which actually lasts until breakfast time Sunday morning, but that is besides the point. We went out to one of the University districts and had some Soju(Korean rice wine) and went dancing. It was actually nice to go dancing here because the Koreans guys are very respectful of the girls and will not act all creepy when we are just dancing in a group having fun. That is a nice and refreshing change from the states.
Well, that was my week, a very busy and eventful one, but I can't slow down cause I only have a year to do so much. I would ask for all of you guys to keep me in your prayers. It has finally hit me that I will not see or hang out with any of you for a whole year and that has been rough because I cherish every single one of your friendships. I miss my friends and fam, but cannot wait to year about the great things that go on this year for all of you! Have a great week, until next time,

Dittoe