Today I taught at Sannae Middle School, grades 7-9. It is an hour's bus ride from Namwon up a windy and steep countryside into the mountains. Lots of rice fields and memorials. The school is small and I only teach three classes a day, once a week, of about 20 students. The rest of my time is spent on the internet, planning lessons, which is surprisingly fun. My team-teacher is very friendly and open to my ideas in the classroom. My job is to supplement her English class with authentic conversation and motivating materials. Today I introduced myself and met my students and tested their language abilities. When the students don't understand me, I think of simpler ways to explain my meaning, and the other teacher translates. Many of the students are very shy and speak quiet. I felt as nervous as they did for the first class, but I got over that and had two better classes. I am like a rock-star to them, some alien from the movies that they can touch and feel for a short time. "He IS real!" The cafeteria food was a mixture of a Chinese topping on rice, kimchi, clear soup with spinach and strawberries. The other teachers have been friendly to me and the principal gave me a hearty handshake. That alone means everything in this work environment; I will make them proud. My only complaint is having to take off my shoes to enter the school and put on these uncomfortable sandals. It helps to wear slip on shoes, because they are not worn in schools, shrines, homes, and traditional restaurants.
The bus driver on the way back "home" seemed to be really interested in me and he gave me his phone number. I think he was indicating that if I needed a place to stay, that I could call him, but I was trying to say that I lived in some apartments. The streets are confusing in this city, and I think people use landmarks more often. I still don't have a good map for touring here, and it seems like I just walk out of my apartment and I am getting lost. Walking around in a tweed-like jacket, new shoes and a tie made me self-conscious on the way to work (in the frigid early morning), but proud on the way home (or just too tired to care). I have three more elementary schools yet to visit. I get a travelling compensation for working at multiple schools and the other ones are not nearly as far away.
Yesterday I went to Jeonju (1 hour) to apply for my Alien Registration Card, which will arrive in the post in a week and will allow me to get a cellphone. The day before, I rode the bus to Gwangju (1 hour) with my neighbors to get some bed sheets. The sea of last-minute holiday school shoppers was remarkable. I bought one of the most essential items: an umbrella.
This sounds really interesting, though not that different from teaching school in the United States. The commuting time and your dispersal to multiple schools on different days sounds like it could be a bit taxing, but I guess that is just the nature of the work. Being sent all over the place to different towns within a small radius can be exerting, and is mentally tiring if the work is mental. On the other hand, this is such a wonderful opportunity to learn how others learn and is probably worth having to wear sandles, even if they are uncomfortable. It is good to hear that you function as an appendage to the Korean teacher with authentic American conversation and motivational materials. There is nothing that gets people more excited about learning than motivational materials that clearly inspire new ways of assimilating material that you find basic, yet they find complex because of their learning gap. Of course, I don't speak from experience on this issue, but that doesn't really matter. The idea that the bus driver actually may have been offering you to stay with him is interesting. I have heard that Korean people are more open to that sort of thing than Europeans are.
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