Well, hello!

Hello Everyone!

I have been in Korea for two months now. I always wanted to start up a blog so that I can keep everyone updated, and I’m sorry that it has taken me so long to begin! For those of you who don’t know, I came to Korea in late February to teach English to kindergarten and elementary aged children. I work in the city of Incheon and it is about a 40 minute subway ride from Seoul (Korea’s capital). Incheon is very different and much quieter than Seoul, but it still has it’s own charm.

 

The Basics:

I teach two kindergarten classes: Vicuna Class and Unicorn Class (The names were predetermined). Each class has ten students. These kiddos are seven years old in Korean age, and six years old in American age (click here for info about age differences :)). I begin class at 9:50 in the morning and my kindergarten classes end at 2:30 pm (Monday – Friday). So I teach each class for a little less than 2.5 hours a day. My role is to teach Language, Treasures (American textbook), Phonics, Storytime, and Good Manners everyday, but I get to teach Art sometimes too. The students have a separate Science and P.E. teacher. I have a co-teacher who also teaches my two classes; she and I switch classrooms right before lunch. My co-teacher is Korean, but she speaks English! (Everyone who teaches must speak English, no one is allowed to speak Korean in the classroom.) She teaches the same subjects as I do, but instead of Treasures, she teaches Math.

In addition to teaching the main subjects, each month we teach a cooking lesson, lyrics and dances to a pop song, take a field trip, and an excursion trip.

 

In the afternoons, I teach two elementary school classes. Each of these classes have twelve students who are 9 and 10 years old (Korean age). These children first go to a Korean elementary school and afterwards come to my school to learn English. Therefore, we only have 40 minutes together. One class is pretty advanced in their English and while building their vocabulary and correcting their grammar, we discuss more deep abstract feelings and thoughts –things that can’t be seen. The other class is just beginning to put sounds together and learning phrases such as “My name is so-and-so.” “What’s your name?” I won’t have any photos of these students because we do not spend much time together, nor do we take a class photo together.

So far, I really enjoy my co-workers and my school. My co-teacher not only always answers my thousands of questions each day (because I’ve never taught before I ask about everything), but she also spoils me! She is so sweet and caring and always has my back! She brings me a coffee or snack daily (and by snack I mean everything from candy to fruit to muffins to subway sandwiches and breakfast wraps, and CAKE!) I’m really blessed to be working with her. Also, I have fallen in love with my kids already and I fall more in love with them each day! But more to come on this subject later~

 

To wrap up my first post, I’ll try to simply put where I’ve been…Mostly I still feel as if I’m settling in. The first two weeks I stayed in a hotel with free wifi and free breakfast. Then I moved into my studio apartment with no working refrigerator, no Internet, and dust everywhere. It took about a month for me to receive my ARC which means I went a month without Internet, cellphone service, and a Korean bank card (w’sup international fees). So that was a change of pace. On top of that it has taken a lot of physical and emotional adjustments getting used to working with children and all the effort it takes in being a teacher. Even though work ends at 5 or 6:30 pm depending on the day, most days I come home exhausted with still a million things on my mind, so lately exploring has only happened on the weekends. I still get to try amazing foods, see beautiful districts, and meet incredible people everyday. And although I feel so homesick it hurts, I know I’m exactly where I’m supposed to be right now.

 

Keep in touch~

Callie