Hilarious Day!

First day of school! :) ...all the foreign teachers (Americans and Canadians) wear jeans and t-shirts, but the Korean ones dress up a bit, and I kind of want to keep dressing up. Vicki, the Canadian head teacher was like "I sweat a lot, I don't wear make-up, and I like to wear flip-flops, deal with it!" I just think people take you a little more seriously if you look a little more serious! Maybe, maybe not.

I went to GLS yesterday and observed about five classes. 

They're about 40 min. long and divided into age, level, and type of class (like phonics, reading, listening, etc.)

The kids were soooooo funny! The young ones are ridiculously energetic - jumping around, making animal noises, hiding under desks, screaming, and shouting out answers. At least they're excited? All the teachers had such different styles, but I really liked Soo-teacher's way of getting the kids to shut up, being like "Danny LOVE Soo teacher! Danny come here, kiss Soo teacher!" and the kid would be like "NOOOOOOO!!!!" and go sit down. Using the cootie threat to the max! 

Meanwhile, the kids were kind of freaked out by me at first, thinking that their teachers were leaving. Usually, new teacher = abandonment. But I'm just there to lighten their load a bit, so then they relaxed and were pretty happy to know I was an addition, not a replacement. During role call, the teachers ask "And how are you today? Why?" and one little boy goes "Two happy! One, two happy!" "Why?" "I ate hamburger! And new teacher here!" and a girl gave me a "Love for Women" sticker! So they're a pretty loving, happy crowd, just a little wild! I guess the issue there is channeling that energy into the right thing. I also worry that some of the teachers have favorites, the little class clowns etc, and that a lot of the quieter kids, especially the generally more polite girls get ignored a bit. I will really try to not let the crazy boys hijack the class and get all my attention, but it's hard to strike a balance between laying down the law and also making it fun for them? Especially when all the other teachers let chaos rein to a certain degree? However, the older kids are pretty well-behaved, and they come later in the day, so you get the loudness over with in the beginning when you're still fresh. The teaching materials are books I remember reading!! I also found out that another teacher, a Korean teacher, lives on the same floor as me, yeah!

Yesterday, I also did laundry for the first time and didn't mess up! (Believe me, that is quite a feat, since the directions and buttons are different and in Korean!) I even got a drying rack by being like "dry" "furniture" "wood" and drawing pictures and pulling at my shirt for a store worker (it was hidden on the top top shelf!). I drank some traditional Korean raspberry wine to reward myself during laundry and it was really tasty!

I also got a bike! I will post pictures of it soon, but it is cooooooool with a chain guard, fenders, bell, basket, back rack thing, the works! And it's a creamy lemon color, just like my "yellow hair"! Hehe.

Everything is good now, sorry for the previous alarming post - that was just one crappy day! People have been really nice and helpful - Koreans are so patient when you're trying to explain something, and they will sometimes even give you their cards and phone numbers in case you need help later! It is so beyond what I ever could expect in asking an American in a store or on the street to help me. When I got my bike, the guy made sure it was adjusted right, polished it, and walked it all the way to check-out for me, and made sure I understood the weird kick stand. It's just so above-and-beyond here! Maybe it's because I always look confused and young(?) They all say I look young and yesterday I got "Julie Andrews! Same in face!" on a street corner, haha.