Working at Duksung Unviersity

I have been so bad about keeping my blog updated lately. I've been super busy moving and adjusting to my new job. The good news is, I absolutely love it! I have been there for a little over a month now and it is so different than working with kids in a private english academy. In my last job I was so stressed, working 50 hour weeks with almost no free time. With my new job, I get the same pay but work only 18 hours a week. This leaves plenty of time for school work, teaching private lessons and seeing Seoul. There are both good and bad things about the new job and i'm sure you are all curious to hear about them.

First for the downside. The campus is about an hour and a half by subway from Bundang, where I used to live and work, so I am only able to see Si and my friends on weekends and maybe one night a week. There is a lot of travel time! Also, we live in the building in which we teach, so sometimes it feels like we are always at work! It is a Language Center that was built only 2 years ago, and the teachers have our own floor. We are not mixed with the students which is a little better, but it's hard to escape! The area is beautiful, with mountains and a nice campus, but there isn't much to do around the school, so you have to travel by bus or subway to find things to do. Also, the rooms aren't wired for cable or telephone so we don't have access to those things, which was a big adjustment!

Now for the positives...and there are way more! Even though living in the building we teach in can seem clingy, it's nice to be able to go up to your room in between teaching classes, or wake up and go straight down to teach. There is also a cafeteria where we can eat meals for very cheap. The teachers are all great. There are 18 foreign teachers total, and only 4 girls. Not quite surprising that the guys like teaching at an all girls university! I am the youngest teacher there, but it hasn't been bad at all. Most of the teachers teach intensive 3 week sessions to freshmen students from 6:30 to 9:30 at night. The students come live in the Language Center for this time and have class each night. The center also offers classes to upper-classmen and community members. I was oh so luckily chosen to teach these classes which start at 7:30 AM every day. If you know me at all, you know that I am NOT a morning person! It took a little time to adjust but I eventually began to love teaching these older students who are truly there to improve their English and want to learn. The students are great. I have students ranging from college seniors to surgeons and teachers. I learn a lot from them as well. The older students also like to go out with teachers after class, and it is encouraged by the center. It's pretty interesting going out to a bar with your students, but fun all the same. Beginning next month my schedule will change and I will have a chance to teach the freshmen night classes to determine which I like more.

Every Wednesday I teach 4 classes of freshment General English on campus which has a completely different feel than classes at the Language Center. There are about 25 students per class as opposed to 5-10 at the center. They also have a more strict schedule of what to teach etc., and have to take the class so not all of them are as ambitious.

The center works on 7 week intervals. We teach for 7 weeks and always have the 8th week off. This is great and will give me a chance to travel and spend more time with friends. My first week off is coming up soon and I haven't decided what to do, but hopefully something fun!

I'm really enjoying the new job and it is sooooo much more enjoyable and relaxing than my last job. I will do better with updating my blog and keeping everyone informed. Hope all is well on that side of the world. Love and miss you all!