Week 1 School Report

서귀중앙여자중학교=sog-gy-joong-ang-yaw-ja-joong-hak-kyou

=Seogwi Jungang Girls Middle School

So I haven't yet hit blog mode since moving to Seogwipo. (The lack of coffee is playing a large part....). Last week, I was watching Winter Sonata, Monday and Tuesday I was reading The Girl With the Pearl Earring, so today I should start blogging. I'm sorry!

미안합니다 = mi-an-ham-ni-da= sorry

The first week of school went by quickly. Teaching's fun, but definitely not for the long-term. This is my school report for week 1. I teach every student once a week; that's 16 classes with 35-40 students each. Each class stays together--they travel from classroom to classroom together. This means that the English level within one class is varied...some students don't speak at all, some speak a lot.

Day 1 (Monday): Sue Yeon (my coteacher) showed me my desk in the teacher's office. Everyone's nice, but not many English speakers. For class, I let students guess where I'm from by placing dots on a rough map of the US. I play hangman with the word 'HOWDY'. The hangmans die every class--hard word this Texan word! I tell the students that if someone says "Howdy!", you have to say "Howdy!" back. All students recognize me as the foreign teacher (I

m the only non-Korean at the school.) Most say hi or hello and are very welcoming.

Day 2 (Tuesday): I bring peaches and grapes for all the teachers. Same lesson, the hangman still dies. I start getting compliments on my small face. I eat lunch with the teachers. Sue Yeon shows me all the boxes filled with the stuff from the previous ETAs. It's like finding a teacher's version of a treasure chest.

Day 3 (Wednesday): The students have noticed my nosering. The want to ask me if it is sick ("Teacher....sick?" while pointing. Sick and hurt are the same word in Korean. Hangmans still not survive the infamous howdy. During lunch, the ethics teacher comments on my chopstick skills.

Day 4 (Thursday): The teachers have noticed my nosering. They ask me what happens when I blow my nose. Hangmans, even with eyes, mouth, feet, and hands, still die from "howdy". I'm surprised the students haven't told each other.

Day 5 (Friday): Sue Yeon introduces me to the other two young people at the school: the home ec teacher and the school nurse, both very nice but shy when it comes to speaking English. Those two are good friends, but make an odd pair. The school nurse is the very tall while the home ec teacher is very short, even for a Korean. All the teachers go out to dinner to celebrate the promotion of one of the history teachers to vice-principal (at another school). Dinner's great--I get to talk with the teachers more. Sue Yeon tells me that the principal is very impressed with my clothes (I was very formal the first week). After dinner, all the teachers go to round 2. The principal (a woman) tells me that they will sing and dance (she boogies!). However, I have a (homestay) family obligation and don't go. But a good end to the first week! Students still say "HI" to me in the hallway, but some say "Howdy!"

There's so much more to talk about...but later! I promise--more posts more often.

This is my school website: sgja-g.ms.kr If you click the first word on the very left of the orange tab at the top (학교안내) and then click the 7th word under that (선생님소개) , you'll find a directory of the teachers. These are all the people I now work with!