Catching My Breath

I have finally made it to my apartment and my city.  In a few short days I will officially begin my new career as a teacher.  While I learned a lot during orientation, I am still nervous for these first coming weeks as I try to gain my footing as an English teacher.  I know tomorrow (29 August) I am going to be meeting my principal, signing a new contract, and my co-teacher will be taking me shopping for the larger items I need for setting up my house.

My co-teacher, Ann, is very nice and I am looking forward to working with her this year.  The school is small so I will only be teaching 18 classes then another 4 after-school programs.  I hope to find out the details this week before classes start on Thursday.  I know my students will be in 4th, 5th, and 6th grade and that the school is in a very poor neighborhood.  My co-teacher has told me not to expect too much from the students on the first day since even the 6th graders English is very low, which is attributed to their poor economic situation.  I also know that they have not had a native English teacher for 6 months.  My gut feeling is that the kid's English isn't as bad as she makes it sound but I will prepare myself for the worst case scenario - that the students comprehend no English.  I could tell my co-teacher was a little disappointed to find out I didn't have any real teaching experience.  I think she feels these kids are already disadvantaged that I may not get them up to speed as quickly as a more seasoned teacher would. This just makes me want to work harder for the kids.

View from my front door.

And now for something completely different, and perhaps less worrisome - my apartment!  So far I have been in my apartment for 2-1/2 days and have managed to do some small exploring and getting things settled and cleaned.  Apparently in Korea if your apartment is dirty when you move in then you should consider yourself lucky - that is what I told myself as I gave my apartment a good cleaning yesterday.  I have found that I truly am only a 10 minute walk from my school and I will get a good workout everyday coming home since I live near the top of a hill.  There is a beautiful park across the way from me on the next hill over and a lovely Buddhist temple just out my front door.  I am basically living in a spacious studio but I do have a            lovely balcony that overlooks the city.  I don't quite have my bearings yet but I have at least found the nearest Dunkin' Donuts!  When I found this earlier today I knew it was a sign and I was in the right place.  I look forward to continuing to explore my new city and hopefully learn hangul and Korean quickly so I don't feel illiterate as I walk around.  Next thing on my to-do list until I get my smartphone is that I must get a map!

View from my balcony.  In those trees is a wonderful park that is around the ruins of a castle.  Not much of the castle is left but the park is beautiful!