A Week (and a Half) of Wonders

The last time I posted was my first morning in Jecheon, so since I have now been here for almost 11 days, it's time to write again. 


My first few days, I stayed in a hotel and observed other teachers at the school. I watched them teach and learned about the textbooks, the school's systems, and the kids. Monday, I started teaching on my own. I teach kindergarten (6-year-olds who go to school only at Wonderland, instead of going to a public school in the morning and coming to our classes in the afternoon), and 4-6 classes in the afternoon. I work from about 10:45 to 7:30 on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. On Tuesday and Thursday I teach until 6, but sometimes stay to prepare for the next day. 


My students are adorable. Some classes are hyper and rowdy, and some individual kids are hard to keep focused, but I think I have things fairly well under control... for now at least. Right now I'm the new teacher, so they listen a little better than they will in the future, I think. Two kids in my class have already cried when I threatened to punish them for misbehaving... I felt awful. I didn't know I was that scary! Most of the kids in my classes are very smart. My kindergarteners and some of my other classes speak English pretty well, but some of my classes speak and understand very little English. I'm currently working on thinking of ways to teach them that go beyond their books. Some of the classes are required to use certain books that are not appropriate for their level, so it's up to me to try to figure out how to make that work. I've had a little success, but I'm hoping to have more in the future. The teachers there say that the school's directors are a bit frustrating. I'm going to have to learn to stand up for myself - something that doesn't always come naturally to me. 


A week ago, I moved into my apartment. It has a bedroom with a bed, table, and tv; a bathroom with a washing machine; a kitchen with a fridge, toaster oven, and 2-burner gas stove (no oven!); and a... wardrobe room, I guess? That's right, it's just a room with a wardrobe and no other furniture. Maybe I can get into Narnia. The bedroom and kitchen are cute, but the bathroom is pretty dingy looking. It has a beautiful view of Jecheon and the mountains. The main problem is... it smells. It smells horrible. And I don't know if it's mold or the pipes in the bathroom, but it's driving me crazy and I'm afraid of getting sick from whatever it is. I don't know what they can do to fix it, but I'll be talking to the school directors about that. 


I haven't really done anything exciting yet, due to Jecheon's (or pretty much anywhere's) lack of exciting things to do by oneself. Once Will gets here I should have more exciting things to report. Trips to Seoul, paragliding in the mountains, hiking, new restaurants we tried, etc. 


Speaking of Will, you may be wondering when he will come to Jecheon. So am I. He has called the FBI several times and their latest answer is that his background check "has finished processing and will be mailed next week." Why not this week? "It's finished processing and will be mailed next week." Why? "It's finished processing and will be mailed next week." Have I mentioned that I'm not fond of the FBI at the moment? Next week will be 10 weeks after he sent it in - and it's only supposed to take 8 weeks! He has plans for getting it to D.C. to be apostilled and over to Korea much faster than usual, but it will still be at least 2 weeks before he can fly out. This means that he will arrive after the teacher he is replacing has already left. My job will be to convince the school that he really is coming and that if someone can just take over his classes for one week, he will get here as soon as possible and everything will be fine. Meanwhile, I am grateful for Skype and a job to keep me busy. 


Random Interesting Tidbits


My middle school girls asked me ALL about Will and I believe they have a crush on him already


One of my 7-or-8-year-olds in my first afternoon class was wearing a shirt one day that said "I have a great pressure of work today." I want one. 


Not very many people in Jecheon speak English. And when the internet said it was a tourist town, they meant a tourist town for Koreans. So I will have plenty of chances to become immersed in the culture here. 


My students call me "Rachel Teacher" because our recruiter told everyone my first name, despite the fact that I signed all my emails with my middle name... Sigh. So I'm Rachel again. For now. 


There are two things from the U.S. that I really miss (besides Will). Diet Coke is not to be found in Jecheon, though I found Coke Zero once. And Netflix streaming is unavailable, along with every other U.S. video/tv streaming service, such as Hulu and Amazon Prime. 


Korea loves American crime shows, so if you want to watch American TV, you pretty much have to choose between CSI, Law and Order, Bones, NCIS, The Closer... Since I never got into that genre I'm a little tired of it. 


Did I mention the city was beautiful? It's surrounded by mountains that you can see from anywhere in the city, and the autumnal trees on the streets are gorgeous. There's a large vegetable garden behind my apartment building that wonderful to behold. Anytime I feel lonely, stressed, or homesick, looking at those mountains makes me feel better instantly. (I wish I could post the pictures I've taken, but I sort of accidentally left the camera/computer cord at home... Oops.)


I'm really glad I'm here. 

Fun in Jecheon

Hello, Everyone!

I arrived safely at Incheon International Airport around 4:30pm yesterday. I expected to be met at the airport, but ended up using a payphone to call the person who was going to meet me and was given (slightly confusing) instructions on how to get on the bus instead. The bus drivers spoke no English, but I managed to get on the right one and arrived in Jecheon around 11pm. The recruiter, the school owner, and the school supervisor met me at the bus stop and took me to my hotel, where I will staying until I move into my apartment on Saturday. The hotel is nice, with the glaring exception of having no wi-fi and of being so overheated that I feel sick. When I arrived last night I felt terribly lonely and just wanted to go home.

This morning, however, when I opened my windows and saw the sunlight on the city and the mountains, and walked outside into the crisp autumn air (61 Fahrenheit, currently), I felt much better. I found wi-fi down the street, and bought a large bottle of icy cold water. So nice. Then I was picked up and taken to the school. I will be teaching 7-year-olds in the morning and older kids in the afternoon. The kids seem really smart, and when I observed a class of 6-year-olds, three of them came and leaned on me (one of them called me "mommy" the whole time, and another one wouldn't stop eating paper). They're rowdy and loud and fun and I think I'm going to love them. I met some of the other teachers, too, and they all seem really nice. I ate lunch at the school (my first meal in Korea) and it was delicious. I'm very jet-lagged, so forgive me if this blog isn't quite up to my normal standards - I feel like I could fall asleep with my head on the desk right now!

I think the nights are going to be lonely and weird for awhile, but I have the days to look foward to - being surrounded by Korean kids and English-speaking teachers. Now I know I'll be fine until Will gets here (and after, of course).

I start teaching for real on Monday, I think, so I'll write again soon after. Thanks for reading!

Anastasia in Asia... Alone.

I have great tidings of progress joy, sadness, busyness, and hopefully some courage.
. 


Progress - If all goes well, I should have my Visa AND my plane ticket by tomorrow afternoon (Friday, October 14th), and I should be departing sometime this coming Monday. That's right, THIS Monday. I am supposed to be arriving in Korea on the 18th (Tuesday), and right now it looks like that's actually going to happen.


Joy - I am actually going! I have dates! I have all my paperwork done! Like, real done, not fake done like all the other times! And I am very excited, and so glad to be getting out of Macon (I love it so, but it's high time I moved on) and into the beautiful Jecheon City. 


Sadness - I am ready to go... Will is not. Will has yet to receive his background check from the FBI. (They need to hurry up!) The school in Jecheon wants me to arrive on October 18th, and for Will to arrive on November 1st. The FBI says to expect his background check late this month or early next month... After which he must send it to D.C. So I may be in Korea for 2-4 weeks without Will. Sadness. :-( 


Busyness - This weekend, I must SHOP and PACK. I did some shopping at home over the weekend - I procured a lovely, chic wool coat and some snazzy new boots, as well as some practical walking shoes. (I've been told I look like a real teacher now.) Now it's on to the little stuff - a supply of makeup, some travel bottles, the usual. Then, I must figure how to pack an entire year's wardrobe into 2-3 suitcases... What fun! 


Hopefully, some courage - Am I nervous about going by myself? Yes. Worried? Yes. About? Navigating the airport, finding food, finding my way from my apartment to the school, meeting new people, starting my job, simply being in a country with NO previous acquaintances... I'm terrified. At the same time, there's a tiny little voice that tells me that I can do it. That I'm strong, that I'll adapt. Of course, that voice sounds just a bit like Will's voice... But I'm telling myself that, too. This is a chance for me to prove myself... to me. 


And of course, there are both small and great comforts... A beautiful landscape, Skype (anastasia.dunlop, if you want to find me), good music on my iPod, the anticipation of starting new books on the plane, the prospect of an adventure, and the knowledge that I'm going where many others have gone before. 


Let's do this thing.