My job and other fun things.

It's been a busy few weeks, but still so much fun! The longer i'm here, the more I learn about Koreans in general, especially as far as work goes. Things have been a little hard at work lately for everyone. We are trying to get used to the new director who isn't happy with the way things have been, concerning lesson plans and textbooks etc. Luckily, the old director had plans for the rest of the school year (which lasts until February), and then she will completely implement her own plans. She's starting a little early, trying to prepare all of the teachers for what is to come. We already work very long days, and now we have added duties, like writing long, detailed ideas for daily plans, and observation sheets. For now we are all kinda going with the flow, so we'll see how the transition goes from one director to another.

Also, a huge part of the school is based on keeping the parents happy. They pay a lot of money for their kids to go to the private English school, and there are so many of them around, that if parents are unhappy we can easily lose kids. For this reason, we are given different directions on a daily basis, based on what parents are saying/complaining about...which they do ALL the time. One day we might be told to implement more games, and the next it might be to be more strict with the students. It's kinda stressful to work for the parents, and not for what's in the best interest of the students. Also, Koreans are very non-confrontational, and very not direct. They will tell you what they think you want to hear, or avoid disagreements at any cost. There is also a hierarchy in the school, based on the teachers and staff that have been there the longest. Just an example, I had one of my classes taken away from me and was told it was because parents had complained and I wasn't pushing them enough. I was pretty upset about it, until finally the truth came out that my class was given to the lead teacher because she had an opening in her schedule. I guess things like this will happen in any job...it is just taking some getting used to.

Enough complaining...despite all of the stress, I love the job and the kids and wouldn't trade it for the world. This week we went on a field trip to a folk village, which is kinda like visiting Jamestown. It was an old colony-like setting, with differnt places set up to show how people used to do wood work, what there schools were like etc. The kids had a lot of fun. There was also a performance by a chinese group of acrobats that were there. One of the acts used a giant see saw, and there was one girl on each side. One jumped and landed, which would shoot the other into the air and it would go back and forth. They did flips and jumped through hoola hoops in the air. It was so good! There was also a tight rope with no kind of protection, and a man jumped across and did tricks on it. It was a great day for me and the kids! I am working on getting my pictures up from that trip.

As far as the fun stuff...last weekend we had a really good time. Through Facebook, a site online, a few of us from my school joined a group that is all teachers that live around this area. We had our first event, which was an 80's roof top party and we all dressed like freaks and geeks. There was so much neon and bright colors...it was hilarious! We met a lot of cool people that we will definitely be hanging out with more! Tomorrow night we are having a dinner at a german restaurant and then going together. Fun times! Only one more week until Beijing, and two weeks until my Birthday...can't wait! Hope everyone is doing well!