After unloading the luggage truck for all the women, we were placed in single file and paraded onto a stage to be introduced to everyone in a role call. Our co-teachers raised their hands as our names were called, signalling us to find them afterwards.
My co-teacher Lee Kyu-sup and I went to lunch near his apartment. Floor seating in a walled area is used in place of tables or booths. Next we visited our school, which was in session and quite the unexpected surprise. I was under the impression I'd be meeting everyone the following Monday, but there we were, during lunch so all of the students were out and staring. That only lasted a few seconds though and their inhibitions quickly faded. They all rushed in with giggling and a few English phrases. I was like a deer in headlights as my co-teacher watched from afar and probably enjoyed himself immensely.
None of the other staff speak any English, so when meeting them and the principal and vice-principal, I just stuck with my memorized Korean greetings and smiled through 10-minute conversations. I have my own desk in an upstairs teacher's room, which is very preferable to the downstairs one where the vice-principal's desk watches over every teacher's open cubicle there.
I have an even mix of grade 7, 8, & 9 classes, which are referred to as Middle School G1, 2 & 3 here. Twenty-two teaching hours interspersed from 8:40am - 4:40pm, M-F is my weekly schedule, however I also have four after-school classes. These are made up of volunteer students who are much more motivated from G1 & G2 students. I have complete control over what to teach in these and receive about 30,000won/hour for them, which adds up to a nice overtime bonus each month.
The school is about 1.5km from my apartment and will be a 20-minute walk in the mornings. On arriving, my apartment was just four walls and appliances. A couple hours later though, the mattress, frame, wardrobe, table & chairs were all delivered and assembled by a team from the furniture store. I was supposed to receive cooking items, silver and plateware but it looks like I'll have to find a store for those. I explored my neighborhood and found a market close by for some essentials.
Lee picked me up for dinner and I met his wife, also a Middle School teacher. We were in the busy, popular area of town that looks like a miniature Las Vegas with karaoke (noraebang, singing bar) everywhere. The dinner table had a coal pit in the middle and we grilled our own beef to the accompaniment of a dozen side dishes and sauces spread across the table for common use. It was incredibly delicious.
It's amazing the level of conversation you can create with very limited vocabulary and gestures. I was starting to feel like a caveman with so many hand movements and grunts when shopping at the supermarket, so dinner conversation was a welcome change. Dinner was followed by another bar for a drink afterwards. The table next to us had about a half dozen Korean men in their fifties and a fight broke out with one getting hit upside the head with a shattered beer mug. The staff and other patrons quickly diffused the situation though and everyone looked very ashamed that I had to witness such an out-of-character scene. To lose control of ones emotions is considered extremely uncultured here and rarely seen, even with drunk people.
Saturday I got to explore my area a bit more and was picked up in the afternoon to join Lee and his 20-year-old son in their team's weekly soccer match. They were all kind enough to humor me with a starting position as left defender. Luckily I didn't cost our team any points and actually helped a few times to their excited reactions by heading the ball out of danger.
They played four 30-minute periods though, which seemed like forever to this newbie. We won handily and Lee's son scored 3 of our 5 goals and one assist. Soccer is huge in Korea but with the pressure on students, they stop playing sports around 6th grade (end of elementary) and don't pick them up again until after the first year of college.
Dinner after the match was a bubbling, hot soup of boiled beef, onions, peppers, sesame powder, noodles and rice. There was another spicy soup with bean sprouts, radishes(that felt and tasted like potatoes in the soup) and cow organs (intestine, stomach, etc).
Sunday has been laundry and another trip to the market for some basic food items. I eventually won my battle with the washer but I'm afraid my winning series of button pushes was random and I won't be able to easily repeat it.
I'm putting together a short introduction powerpoint of myself for this week's classes and going to bed early. Tomorrow is going to be a trip.
