I swear, I’m the worst blogger in the world. I’m sure most of my friends and family have finally given up on this blog, but I hope someone is still reading this!
Some good things and some bad things have been happening since school started back up. First though, I should talk about February.
In February, we came to school for one week for graduation week. During this time, the students clean the classrooms and the school really well. The third graders go to their high schools and take entrance exams to see where they will be placed for the new school year. At the same time, the elementary 6th graders come to our school to take the entrance exams for the new school year (remember, the school system is different. Elementary 1-6, Middle 1-3 and High school 1-3). So, graduation was good. I almost cried when I had to say goodbye to my best student. For the past year, she came to talk to me every day after lunch to practice her English. Well, the effort paid off! She got into the best high school in our province, and questionably, one of the best high schools in Korea. She is going to a foreign language high school, and is going on the track of going to an American university (Three languages: English, Chinese, and Japanese. Each language has two tracks: one for Korean universities, one for foreign universities). I’m so proud of her, and I know she will do well.
Right after the last day of the work week (Friday, February 12th) we raced home after lunch and finished packing our bags. We flew to Arizona for Randy and Sarah’s wedding. We were only there for about 11 days. It was a very quick trip, but it was so much fun. The wedding was great, and it was awesome spending time with good friends and getting to see our family. I also got to get lots of snuggles in with Bailey. I miss that dog every day. 
So, after we got home, we had just a few days to relax before the new school year started. First, I have to say that the school year is going by very quickly. It’s much faster than last year. The first semester is the longest because we have very little days off compared to the second semester. However, it seems to be flying by now.
I’m not too happy with my first grade students this year. My schedule is very different than last year. Monday’s I have 4 classes back to back to back to back. My first class of the week is the worst class I have: 1-2 (First grade, class 2). They are my worst students. I never smile, I am always yelling, and I’m always in a really foul mood going into the class, and when I leave. I’m again without a Korean English teacher because we only have two of them. It’s hard on them because they have extra classes but it’s just as hard on me because even though I have a “teacher” in the classroom with me, they either ignore what is going on and read, or they are actively learning during the class and not disciplining the students if they get too rowdy. It’s frustrating.
Well, every week I feel like they get worse and worse. Today? I thought things were going really really well, until the last 5 minutes of class. I was just finishing something, and going to look at my paper, when I heard a student shout, “F-ck you!” I have no idea if it was to me, or someone else, but I kicked her out of my class and told her to go see the vice-principal. Of course she didn’t, but I’ll get to that in a bit.
So, after my first class (1-2) I am always irate. My second class of the day is my 3-3 (3rd grade, class 3) class. They are so funny. I always ask my students how they are, and they ask how I am. Always, I’m angry, and they yell about how bad my first graders are. Then, today, one of the students told me I should hit the students that are bad. In Korea, you aren’t supposed to hit students anymore, but it still happens. I personally don’t mind it. I’ve seen a few get hit hard, but the students really respect their teachers and think twice about doing something because they are worried about getting hit. Lets be honest; detention in America doesn’t work. Especially when parents can overrule a teachers punishment.
So after lunch, I was walking around the field back to the school with my teacher (for health), and one of the third graders told my co-teacher what the first graders did. He asked me if it was true, and I told him yes. He found the student, and punished her. He didn’t hit her, but boy she looked so pissed standing in the teachers office. Vengeance was mine! haha I just don’t know what to do with that one class. For the most part, the other first graders are really good. One of the classes tries to get me off topic by asking random questions throughout my lesson, but it’s okay because they are speaking English, but that 1-2 class…I’m just fed up.
So, other than that one class, everything is good at work. I like having freedom to teach what I want. The book is horrible, so I just try to take the themes from the chapters and make my own lesson to build on what they are learning with their Korean English teachers.
Last week was a very weird week. The second graders left early Wednesday morning to go on a three day school trip to Seoul. On Friday, the first and third graders when to Daegu. Since Shadi had the day off from school (his goes to his second school on Fridays and they were having a “home experience day”), he came with us! First we went to a war memorial just outside of Daegu. The memorial is the place where the North got before foreign troops came to Korea to help push them back. I was really surprised to see how far they got before we got involved. At the site, there were a lot of tanks, missiles, guns, and airplanes. The students thought it was boring, but Shadi and I really enjoyed it.
After the war memorial, we went to Woobong Land. It’s like the Korean Disneyland. I don’t really care for amusement parks (I don’t like roller coasters), but we had a great time. After arriving, there were cherry blossoms EVERYWHERE! It was so beautiful! Once we got into the park, it was covered in tulips and other types of flowers. I’ve never seen so many tulips in my life. They are super pretty too. We first had lunch with the teachers. It’s so interesting to me how in Korea, it’s totally acceptable for teachers to drink on the “job”. The teachers and students separated before we even got into the park. The students went first, then the teachers. It’s totally acceptable. In America, we couldn’t go anywhere on a field trip without the teacher. So at lunch, of course the teachers were drinking beer and traditional rice wine. It’s so funny. Teachers even drink it at school. Teachers also smoke on campus. So strange!
So there were so many people that wanted to talk to us. We got to meet a lot of students from the Daegu area. Their English is a lot better, but mostly because every since school has a foreign teacher. English is always better in the bigger cities; it’s sad but true.
So, onto the important stuff! Shadi has decided he is going to take the Foreign Service Officer exam. He is applying for the Department of State. He’s been preparing for some time now by reading the newspaper everyday, and reading lots of magazines. He also got some books to help prepare for the exam. We found out that he can take the exam in Seoul, and the date is set for sometime in June. This is a very important decision for our family. We both love America, but don’t feel like we want to live there. We like living abroad. I also think for our family, it would be a great opportunity.
This past year, Shadi and I have been volunteering our time with In2books. This program has “pen-pals” read a book and write to their student who is reading the same book. Shadi and I have been appalled at the books that our students are reading. The level of books are so low, and our pen-pals are 3-5th graders. Education is so important to both of us, and we feel like if we live in America, we are running the chance of our children going to a school which wouldn’t challenge our children. We’ve talked about private schools and what not, but what if we don’t make enough money to send our children to a good school? It’s something we take very, very seriously.
Well, when (if) Shadi is accepted into the department of state, not only would we have a wonderful opportunity to travel the world and learn different cultures (not only for ourselves, but for our children’s benefit) we’d get money to send our children to schools…and apparently they are excellent schools. We also get housing provided. I just think it’s a great way to give back to our country, and do one of the things we love: traveling.
When (if) Shadi is accepted, I would have the opportunity to work at a military base or in an embassy doing whatever needed done. I could also tutor someone in English, or do something like what I’m doing now. Teaching isn’t something I thought I’d do for a career, but I’d do anything for my family. The best part of it though? I wouldn’t have to work while our kids are young. We’d make enough money and have everything we needed to live on if only Shadi worked. It’s important to me for one of us to be home with our children when they are young. The first few years of life are so important, and I want to take full advantage of it. Once the kids are in school, then I could get a job. The only negative thing about this job would be being away from our family and friends. But, it’s an excellent excuse for them to come and visit us wherever we are living! All they (you!) would have to pay for is getting over to us. Hey, if you’re interesting, you can do that now (while we’re in Korea! Korea rocks!).
We’ve been planning on going to Southeast Asia this summer. However, with everything going on in Thailand, I’m worried about flying in and out of Bangkok, and with traveling around the country. I know they’ve been having a lot of problems in the past, but I just hope things can shape up before we go. Otherwise, we might have to go somewhere else. I don’t want it to be like last summer when the airport was closed and people couldn’t leave for weeks.
So, that’s all I have for now. I hope everyone is well!
Kathleen
Edit: Enjoy some pictures!!
Post a Comment