1st Day at School

So the first day of school... let me just say first of all that whoever thought of "Working Until 7pm" days being on  Monday and Fridays should be flogged! That aside, the school is a lot of fun. I got to the school around 9 to meet the teachers, and I spent the whole day following another teacher around. I thought it was going to be quite terrible honestly, at the very least boring, but I had a good time. It feels so good to be back in a school with kids, I was even excited when I first woke up in the morning. Of course for my mom I took a "first day of school" picture before I left the house, the outfit is a little different and I'm without a lunchbox, but I thought she'd appreciate the comparison, hahaha!

So a walkthrough of my day... I was up at 7 since Mags and I have to go for a morning walk before I get ready for work. We went down to the river for the first time, which was really fantastic. I let her off leash for the first time since arriving and she ran around like a crazy wahoo, rubbing in the grass with her tongue lolling out of her head. After she'd ran and ran and ran we walked up the path a little more, hopefully I'll repost this later with some photos added so you can see. I've noticed that when I walk "with purpose" as Ceasar says, Mags follows perfectly... when I find her way up ahead of me I know that I've started to dawdle and lolligag, it's very funny. So we walked for about 45 minutes total. My calves and quads are telling me that Mags has done more walking since our arrival than she has in her whole little life, and I can't remember the last time I walked as much as I do here! Good way to get some exercise really, happy for my MP3 player too since it makes walking so much more pleasant! So after our walk I dropped her off at home and went to the soup restaurant for breakfast. Quick bowl of soup, a stop next door at Coffeenie  for a Cafe Mocha and it was off to school.

The kids here are in their last week of school, and I start actually teaching next week with a new group of kids. We don't know for sure who is teaching what class, but of course you'll know when I know! Time flew by from class to class and it's obvious how much the kids have learned. There isn't a whole lot of preparation required for each lesson, and from what I've seen so far I even like the books, so that's a good start! In the mornings I'll be teaching a kindergarten class... 10 kids of my very own to thrill and excite with the english language, haha.... There is a lunch break from 12:30-1:10 (though I use half of that time having lunch with the kids, the boss' mother in law cooks a Korean lunch for everyone, it was delicious!!) and then class goes until 1:45pm. After that the kindergarten kids go home on the bus, and we have a break until 2:50pm when the elementary kids come. During the break I went home and got Mags, took her to the nearby public square and played fetch for half an hour - she was very happy about it, and the people in the park really liked watching her, it was very cute. In the afternoon there are 2 groups of elementary kids that we see for 2 hours each on Mondays and Fridays (the rest of the week there's just one group and we're done at 5pm). Time flies in those blocks too, and the classes seem really fun, I am actually looking forward to starting with my own kids next week!!

So that was the first day at school. The other teachers I'm working with are pretty great, friendly and helpful, and the school feels like it's going to be a good place to work. I'll be happy to finish at 5pm today so I can have some time to do what I want at home - and the itnernet arrives this afternoon!! I'll fill you in on a few more of the details (and hopefully show you some pictures) after work this afternoon... if you're back at home you'll be in bed before I get to it, but look for it in the morning!! My head is just exploding with things I want to share, and the teacher's room is very busy and chatty so I'm going to sign off my disordered brain for now... thanks for comin' by, see you again soon!


S.