SCRUBS - Tuesday Nov. 6, 2007

One of the first things you learn as a teacher is to be flexible, one of the first things you learn as a Fulbright ETA is to be flexible, so I sure tried like hell not to be incredibly frustrated at the fact that my first class walked in with 5 minutes left of class. And then...I asked the students where their teacher was. The first response and most common response, "I don't know." I soon found learned that she was in the first grade office. So, I told the students to sit down and be quiet (mistake #1), and I went to try to talk to my co-teacher down the hall so she could call the first grade office (mistake #2). I didn't make it down the hall, because I realized that the students weren't going to be able to handle being alone in my classroom; they are left alone in many other classrooms, but there is some pretty expensive stuff that I would prefer not broken in my classroom. When I came back, students were yelling and running, and I had a very "pissed off 선생님 (teacher)" moment. I lined them up and took them back downstairs. I stopped at the office to figure out what happened, and apparently there was a festival thing this morning, so they didn't really have to come to the English Village. Which is fine with me...I don't understand why they showed up for the last 5 minutes though. I was mostly upset about the students running around. Anyway, I went down after lunch to apologize to the teacher. She knew I was upset this morning, but I wanted to apologize anyway. She apologized right back. I felt better about the situation afterward.

The next class was good, but the students and the teacher were so tired in the next one that it was hard to get them motivated. They really got into the songs though, which was good! I can usually count on their peppiness, so it's a little rough when they come in dead tired.

After school, I took a taxi to Julie's apartment. She and I ended up talking more than studying. I asked her some simple phrases to use with my students, so maybe I can explain myself a little more. We started talking about jobs. Julie talks about money being very important and that she doesn't really like teaching. She says it in a very thought out way, not in a manner of complaining. I realized that it is hard for me to connect with her on this level. It's like in conflict resolution in college when we discussed the importance of trying to see things from another person's perspective; we talked about how different the lives of a freshman and senior are. They think about entirely different things and hold different things as priorities in their lives. Similarly, Julie is over 30 years old. Like I said, she doesn't act like it, but I can definitely tell that we have different priorities right now. I don't care about money. I would like to think that money will never influence the type of job I want to get, but I can't fully believe that. Who knows how I will feel in the future. When I'm ready for a family, maybe my priorities involving money will change. It was an emotionally difficult conversation for me; it brought up many questions that I need time to evaluate.

Anyway, Julie has an interview tomorrow for a different job; something to do with golf. If she gets the job, she will: 1) Not be my tutor, and 2) She will move away! ㅠㅠ Can't handle it! She's my best Korean friend in Korea!! I didn't like the conversation, but of course I want her to be happy! If this is what is best for her, then I will certainly support her...as sad as it all is!

Julie's best friend came over. She is a kindergarten teacher, and she too, is starting to dislike her job. She has taught little ones for 10 years. Most of the time I sat there and let them ramble on in Korean, because I knew that they needed to release some stress which is always easier to do in your native language. Julie told me that age matters when looking for a job in Korea, especially the age of women. Women are still not treated as equals, but usually preference is given to younger women who are pretty and fresh out of school. I told them that that in America, usually experience has the most priority. Apparently, that is not the case in Korea. For men, maybe, but not for women.

I headed home around 5:30PM and played cards with my host sister for a while. Everytime before she asks me to play, she says, "Are you busy?" So, yesterday, when I asked her if she wanted to play cards, she still asked me "Are you busy?" I tried to explain that I wouldn't have asked if I was busy. LOL!

I got a package today from my mom!!! YAY!! I got lots Halloween candy, my leather jacket from home, granola bars, and the best was Season 2 of SCRUBS!!!! So, I watched 1 and 1/2 cds tonight of Season 2.