Teacher Ashley

Week 1 is almost complete!!

So, my Tuesday/Thursday classes are alright. The first class is Junior, who are the next level up from basic and the reading book has paragraphs instead of a few sentences. The classes are 3 hours each, so it can be even harder to fill the time. I have two girls in this class who like to whisper in Korean to each other, so today I sent one 'to the desk' (to the director)... ooooooo. Hahaha! I think she had to hold a book over her head for 5 minutes. Sounds easy, but try it! Your arms start to burn after no time at all. I felt a little bad.. but I guess it's easier to be tough in the beginning and earn some respect. I had them class laughing pretty hard today because we were talking about monkeys and I started doing an ape walk around the classroom and ooo ooo ahhhing like a monkey... not sure what came over me. I guess I needed a little excitement in my day.

Next I had an 'H' class, which is highschool kids who have beginner-level English. There are 4 kids, 3 girls and 1 boy... this is the one that I observed where the girls barely talk above a whisper. They're getting a little better.. and one of them actually giggled at one point! Amazing!

The kids all call me 'teacher', which is pretty funny. I'm told his has to do with respect, kind of like how we would never call our teachers in school by their first names. Technically I'm 'teacher Ashley' but it gets shortened to teacher. So funny!

Other than that... not much news to report. Basically I go into work at 2pm, do some lesson planning, eat lunch, hang out with the other teachers, and play on the internet (like I don't do that enough at home). I'm definitely settling in, feeling a lot happier, and not missing home as much.

I'm really missing the mountains and the ocean already... I feel like I'm living in a sea of concrete. But, seeing as (other than my trip from the airport to my apartment) I haven't been outside the two block radius of my apartment and the school yet, something tells me I'm can't complain!

This weekend should be fun. We're going out with some more teachers tomorrow (Friday) night, then off to Seoul to explore (meaning shopping haha). Sunday will be homework catch-up day.

I'll take lots of pictures!

Ashley xoxo