Learning to be assertive!

This past week, we have tried to set up our after school program. It has been a HUGE headache! There are three other teachers involved (besides me), trying to organize it- which would normally be a good thing. However, the communication here SUCKS, and as a group we don't all sit down to talk about how to run the program, so it is very difficult. My teaching schedule for the program changed five times this week, three of them being on Friday.

We finally figured out that I will teach after school from 4:30-6:30 four days a week, for 12 days. This is good and I even have snacks for tomorrows group!

Here were some of the other proposals: M-Th 730-830 am & 5:30-6:30 pm; M-Th 5:30-6:30 & work on some Fridays and Saturdays until we reach 25 hours; Save all 25 hours until winter break, when I am already teaching 40 hours (max. in contract for winter break is 40 hours); M-Th 5:30-6:30 for 15 days before winter break, then 10 hours during winter break.

I finally got frustrated and angry on Friday. My co-teacher says, "We have it figured out. You will teach your 25 hours during winter break. You will still teach the 40 hours for the school, but then you will come back in the afternoon and teach for 2 1/2 more hours." So I had an 45 minute conversation with her about why that was never going to happen, and that my contract said so (to which she replied, "The contract is only for the people who don't WANT to work over the 40 hours." and I replied that that was in fact me!). Then since all of the teachers involved can't sit down and have a meeting at one time, I had to explain this whole process to the other teachers and have the SAME arguments with them.

I hope that this newfound assertiveness will serve me well in the future. If nothing else, I have experienced why it is SO important for people to communicate well with each other. At Centre, I got to see great communication between two teachers in a two teacher ag. program. I now know why it is so important, especially if you want to have a great program. Definitely something to remember in my next job.

Anyways, Friday finally ended and I headed to Seoul. I had lost my voice on Tuesday, and wanted to go to an English speaking doctor. The schools here don't have substitute teachers, so I couldn't leave in the middle of the week to go. I got some medicine and am feeling much better already.

In Seoul, I did some touristy things. I went to Namdaemun Market- which is the largest outdoor market in Korea. It was HUGE and so cool! Within this market, I found an area with imported goods. They had things that I haven't seen for four months: McCormick's seasoning, toritilla chips, gummi worms and bears, cheetos, doritos, sprinkles for cakes/cookies, country time lemonade, cake frosting, ritz..... I just stood there and stared! I couldn't believe it!!! There were also Christmas stores which kind of makes you miss home. Then, I went to the War Memorial of Korea. It was very interesting. I didn't actually go inside to the museum, but just looked around outside. They had tanks, and planes, and missiles, and army trucks all from different wars and in different styles.
Cait and I ate at On The Border (again) Friday night, I had Krispy Kreme Saturday morning (and even got a free donut because the light was on), and Burger King for lunch Saturday. It is so nice to have a meal without rice once in awhile.

This week we also had "teacher's sports day." This is where all of the schools in the county get together and the teachers compete in different activities. So we played tug-of-war, had a three legged race, and other kinds of races. We also grilled pork. It was a lot of fun- the only downside was that it was on the coldest day of the year (so far).

This week, I am also closer to getting our pen pal email project started. I now have collected my students' emails (21 of them), and have emailed them to my home middle school. I am very excited to get this started!

Quotes of the week:

Co-teacher to me: "You should not eat too much food outside." "Why?" I replied. "Because it will give you diahrrea." You should remember this advice when you start to grill next spring!

A student wrote this to me in an email, "Teacher you are beautiful." What a compliment coming from a middle school student (but I'll take it!) :)

A student talking about her future pen pal, "Teacher, I want a tall, handsome boy." I replied, "So do I." She laughed and said, "But I am serious." (Because I guess I wasn't being serious)

This one is actually really sad/upsetting, just remember it is from a totally different point of view than we are used to.
1st grade co-teacher to me: "I will visit my mother this weekend." Me: "Where does she live?" Co-teacher, "She is my neighbor." Me: "Oh, so you get to see her a lot then." Co-teacher, "No, I only see her three times a year usually." Me: "Why?" Co-teacher, "Because I should be closer to my husband." Me: "But you could visit her more often if she is your neighbor." Co-teacher, "We don't do that in South Korea."
Don't worry mom, even if we are not neighbors, I will still visit you more than three times a year (except maybe when I am in Korea).

We do not get Thanksgiving off (apparently since the pilgrims didn't land here, they don't celebrate it), but I am still going to be able to celebrate the holiday. The U.S. Ambassador to South Korea has invited the Fulbright grantees to the U.S. Embassy in Seoul to have a traditional Thanksgiving meal (i.e. turkey, potatoes and gravy, stuffing, pumpkin pie, etc!)! I am so excited about this, and to be able to see my friends. This will be on Friday evening, and I will spend the rest of the weekend in Seoul.

Have a great Thanksgiving.... eat some turkey for me!

Love and miss you