The Semester begins...

So today was the first day that I had my own classes. It started off a little chaotic because our final schedules hadnt been given to us yet. I found out that Im in charge of "Lunar" class and where my homeroom would be located. I knew early on that this day was gonna be crazy...

So right before I walk into my first class, I find out Im going to be the kindergarten science teacher. I was not excited as Im pretty miserable at science, always have been and always will be! I went to the first class and introduced myself and tried out some icebreaking tools. The kids laughed all class period and really seemed to open up to me. We played a game of "Matt Teacher says", which has the same rules as Simon Says. I wanted to test their listening skills and the kids, as always, surprised me with how well behaved they were and how well they listened. Im amazed by how well they speak English and how smart they are. Lets not forget that they are also in kindergarten!!! I taught 3 classes of science (really just played games and learned their names) before lunch at noon.

After lunch, our schedules for the rest of the semester were given to us. I will be teaching reading and phonics to elementary kids for a couple class periods. Then I will teach a debate class to the Mag6 students (6th graders, who Id equate to a very high performing junior or senior in high school). These kids are very smart and speak near perfect English. They will be debating some crazy topics (Abortion vs adoption in Korea, Cancer rates, Is TV harmful or helpful, Should US troops be in Korea, etc). Im very excited about this class as you can actually have deep conversations about topics that are meaningful to them. I then finished off the day with another reading/phonics class and gave out my first homework of the year. I think that once I figure out the science, that my schedule will be one that Ill thoroughly enjoy. We have 10 minutes between classes as well, so there is a lot of downtime.

We ate at our normal lunch spot today and had Tong Soo Yuk (Spelling?) which is fried pork chunks in a sort of sweet sauce. Its delicious, filling, and only cost 3,000 Won (just under $3). For dinner, we explored our neighborhood and found a nice place that served a larger pork fritter in a garlic sauce, shrimp, hamburger patty (didnt care for it), corn, and vegetables and it only cost 5,000 Won (just under $5). This was a ton of food and cheap! Id imagine this dinner would cost around $13-15 in the States. Food is SO cheap here, its ridiculous but Im loving it and taking advantage.

Hope tomorrow goes as well as today! I have another dentist appointment after work so wish me luck!