I've been in Korea 2 months already! It's hard to believe. Time flies fast. I'm beginning to feel settled. I still haven't seen my entire school building or even know where most supplies are. I depend on my co-teachers a lot but at the same time I feel confident in making plans for my fifth, sixth, after school and Saturday classes. For those classes, I am the main teacher and I have a co-teacher present to help translate in all of those classes except my after school classes. I'm beginning to really be able to evaluate what I'm doing to teach and how well it seems to be working. What I've noticed of most English instruction in Korea is that it is rote, routine, prescriptive teaching. There is not a lot of teaching for creativity or learning to branch beyond routine questions and answers. My hope is to over time help the students take what they are learning in those classes and feel confident in using them and understanding those topics in English conversation even when they do not have the same formulaic structure. I'm a long way from reaching that goal but it is my hope.
I also teach fourth grade classes each week. For those classes, I am co-teaching. These have proven to be more difficult to feel settled with. My co-teacher and I can have many conversations but I still feel like we are still getting to know and understand each other and it can be seen in our teaching. The only problem is we have a major open class coming up this week. Actually 2. On Wednesday our open class if or a competition and on Friday our open class is open to any and all teachers in Busan. Essentially an open class is a class open to others for observation. It is a big deal and it set up in many ways like a big show. It is throughly thought through and feedback given. We are bringing the students into extra classes to help prepare them for what we will be doing for the open class. They know the language and most of the activities. The extra classes are great in that on the day of we won't have to do a lot of explanation in Korean but at the same time it will seem like (because its true) that the students already know the language being taught. I'm learning and going with it though. It is how things are done here. However, the lesson is also not in my more natural teaching style. We teach a chant and have students make a chant. Not my strong suit. Between this, still feel like I'm getting a footing in co-teaching, and the massive pressure of these open classes, I'm stressed. I've very ready to be done with the 2 open classes. I feel like the preparation for them is not going as well as it could be because of me. I feel hesitant and uncertain. I'm not sure how to jump in and how to just be more free in doing this. I also feel like I'm not as helpful to my co-teacher in preparation as I could be. My natural shyness is definitely showing up. My prayer is that it goes well and through this my co-teacher and I will be able to build a base for a friendship and it will help our progress is communication and working together to grow stronger. Either way last week was busy and stressful and this week will prove to be just as busy and stressful. But on Friday we will be done :)
Besides the open class preparation, last week was busy because I finished my first cycle of after school classes and we had a speech competition and a storytelling competition. It was interesting to be part of these. We have a singing competition on Oct. 31st as well. The students prepare and give their speeches/stories from memory. They work on their inflection, pronunciation, and general delivery. There are some who sound more fluent than others but you can easily tell the work that the students put into them as well. It was great for me to hear the speech competitions in particular. The students had to write their speech based on a book about True Friends. It allowed me to see a glimpse of what the upper level English students were capable of when it comes to writing in English. Overall, I was highly impressed. Their grammar, spelling, punctuation, and capitalization needs work but overall they did a good job of putting together the correct sentence structure and convey a message. It was also a nice change of pace to have those in the afternoon.
Outside of school, life is semi-busy. Most days after work I come straight home or go to the grocery store and them come home. I spend the hours before bed just resting and being at home. Saturdays are my busy, social days. Every Saturday I teach from 9:30-11:40 and starting last week I then walk 10 minutes to the City Hall area, eat lunch and go to Korean class from 1:00-2:20. Then I hang out with Nicole and many time Sharon and Monique. Sharon and Monique are both leaving on November 9th so our Saturdays to hang out are coming to a quick close and I will miss both of them a lot. They are a lot of fun to hang out with and I think its been a great group of 4 to have a balance and enjoy exploring Busan. But the plan is still continue hanging out with Nicole even once they leave. She has become a great friend in a short time and it has been a blessing to explore and learn about Busan at the same time.
Sundays are usually church days and lunch with people from church. The last 2 Sundays I've actually stayed home. Migraines and exhaustion has kept me home. The stress of the open class, the everyday exhaustion from trying to learn and live life where you don't speak the language, and working 6 days a week has just been really tiring. I love my Saturday classes. They are a LOT of fun kids and I enjoy getting to teach them and incorporating crafts, poems, and active activities. I really do love my Saturday classes but I am looking forward to having that morning to rest. I think just having 1 morning each week to rest will help on a weekly basis to feel better and not as exhausted. Not having open classes will help too :)
Overall, my first 2 months have been great. I've learned a lot, seen a lot, and grown in my teaching and confidence. I'm enjoying Korean classes but I've got a long way to go in learning Korean! I enjoy spending time with my co-teachers a lot and enjoy time with friends on Saturday. I LOVE my apartment. I feel confident in getting around the city and am looking forward to more time exploring this really awesome city. Here's to at least another 10 months here!
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