One month of agony/bliss complete!

Hello all.

It's May 25, meaning it's exactly one month since I started teaching at this public middle school.

I don't have any pictures today (as I'm making this post from work), but I can still tell you a little about my school. :D


It's a Public middle school, which in Korea means I'm teaching grades 7-9 (Although they call it first-third grade middle school). I have been EXTREMELY stressed this first month, but I think I'm getting into the hang of things.

Apparently the previous American 'teacher' before me would play a funny video or something for the children, so it was more like play time. Some of the students complained that I'm more like a 'real teacher.' I don't really see the problem with this.

So even though I'm not quite as entertaining as the previous teacher, the students still seem to like me. I get told I'm beautiful almost every day, and just about every single day a group of boys will declare their love for me before running away in hysteric laughter.

The second graders (8th grade) are really fun to teach. The Korean teachers say they are rude, but I think they're hilarious. I prefer an energetic class to a sleepy one...although in Korea children sleeping (actually SLEEPING) in class doesn't seem to be a problem. It drives me crazy.

The third graders (9th grade) are the most sleepy, probably because they have to study more to get into a good high school. I swear, half of my classes are completely silent and uncooperative, but the Korean teachers don't seem as concerned as me. Just a different culture, I guess.

I haven't taught the first graders (7th grade) yet, but I will starting from June. I'm very excited...they're soo cute, and some of them are still shorter than me. :)

I teach about 24 classes a week, each with 32-40 different students in them. And, I'm only teaching half the school at this time. So needless to say, it's a HUGE school! When I tell the students my elementary and middle school were all in one place, they think I'm joking.

They also think I'm joking when I tell them my hometown has one main road.

This city still scares me to death. I almost get run over by some crazy driver every time I go out walking. It's almost safer to J-walk with an old woman than to actually use a crosswalk.

Driving laws here are more like 'guidelines' than actual 'rules.'
Koreans are pirates.

Anyway, I just want everyone to know that I'm doing well...and I'm getting the hang of my new job.

I am loving it - even though it's stressful. It's nice not to have to worry about getting paid or having medical insurance - it's all taken care of without me asking.

Best of all, I should actually get some vacation time! I could potentially come home for a week this summer, but I think I'd rather come home at Christmas so I can see EVERYONE.

But I don't know...I might need a break from Korea before that.

We'll see. ;)

A word from our sponsor.

Hello everyone.

Darcy here.

Taren is too busy with her new job to make a blog post, so I thought I'd share my experience of the move.


You have no idea what she put me though.


I was living a very comfortable life. Taren had even recently begun filling the apartment with boxes for me to play with, so I was quite happy.

That is, until, she started putting my things in the boxes.

Towels, blankets, pillows...even MY toys. At first I thought it was a game, but I sensed something was wrong.

I grew very worried, and as the boxes slowly began to fill, I could sense Taren's stress level rising.

I may have defecated on floor once or twice.

I didn't think Taren would be mad, but one night she came home looking very flustered and stuffed me into a tiny bag.

I'm not sure what I did to deserve this, but it didn't last long.

After thrashing about a bit, Taren let me out of the bag.

Turns out we were in the car of that Korean boy who captured me from the streets of Seoul.

I may have lost control over myself and yowled like a kitten for 5 to 45 minutes, but eventually I learned to enjoy the car ride.

The next few days were a blur. We drove for hours before finally settling in the home of Korean boy's mother.

There was another cat there named Merry-Merry, and she played a fun game with me. I would pounce up to her, and then she would hiss and pretend like she was going to kill me. Then I would run away. 

It was really fun, but don't think Korean boy's mother liked our game very much. 

Just when I was getting comfortable in my new home, Taren uprooted me again.

She stuffed me back into the bag and we got back into the car.

Luckily, this time it wasn't a long drive.

We arrived at a new apartment, somewhat bigger than our last home. 

I have a huge window to look out of, as well as some large wardrobes I can climb up observe Taren's actions from.

The best part is, this new apartment is only one room, so there is no possible way for Taren to lock me out of the kitchen or the bedroom while she tries to cook or sleep. IT'S ALL ONE ROOM!!

Isn't that wonderful?! I can be with Taren all the time. 

ALL THE TIME.

As fun as that is, my favorite part of this apartment is the view. I can sit up on the window all day and watch the tiny cars go by.

Taren seems to be annoyed with the apartment and the millions of tiny cars outside.

But as for me, I think I could get used to city life.




Meows.

Relocating...and they STILL can't spell my name.

Hello.

As of today, I have my visa transferred to a new school, and I am no longer working in Jinju!

 I have been both longing for this day and dreading it, but now that it's here, I am extremely relieved.

 I am not even going to slightly miss that hagwon, which I am 90% sure is going bankrupt. Seriously, on my last day of work some men came and took the copy machine without a word.

 Although I will be missing my beautiful city, there is absolutely nothing I will miss about that insane school.

 ...Except, of course, the kids.

(This extremely crisp photo was taken with my new Samsung Galaxy II HD phone).

Heh. x.x Sorry kids. You weren't worth the stress of this job.



 Darcy and I have been without a home for the past 4 days.

Luckily, Korean boy has an adorable and awesome Korean Mom, who has been taking care of me.

 This blurry picture taken from an inferior iphone accurately portrays Darcy's annoyance with the changes.

Tomorrow I will move into my fancy office-tel in the giant city of Bucheon.

 The next day is my first day at a public middle school. *gulp*

 I hope older kids like me as much as my little students did. x.x

 Wish me luck, more updates to follow!

Update - LEAVING JINJU

Hello family and friends.

Mostly, hello Grandma! Thank you for sending me the letter! It came at a really difficult time, so it was so nice to remember I have a life outside of Korea.



Some of you may have heard already, but I am leaving my current job in Korea.

There are many, many reasons for this, but I don't want to go into detail on the internet. Mostly though, the hagwon is losing students, and my boss cannot afford to pay 4 foreign teachers.

Three out of four of us are leaving in three weeks. The other one is leaving in about one more month.


Now, I'm sure you're all hoping that I'm coming back to the states. Or maybe not.

Either way, the answer is (hopefully) no! I had a job interview with a public MIDDLE school in a different city, and they say they want to hire me!

So hopefully, if my paperwork works out alright, I will start work in a HUGE city called Bucheon on April 25. I'm really excited and really scared.


My new job is a PUBLIC middle school. In Korea, this means I will be teaching classes of 7th, 8th, and 9th graders. I'm really excited because this will be a much better teaching experience, I think, to teach in a REAL school. I will be teaching 23 classes a week (I'm teaching 30 now), but the classes will have about 40 students in it. Also, since I will be working for the Korean government, I don't have to worry about working Saturdays or being paid on time. :)

I think it will be fun!

My friends say I won't be able to control 40 students, all taller than me. We shall see.


The next few weeks will be very busy for me. I need to pack, get a new cell phone (because my current one belongs to my school), say goodbye to friends, get Darcy's paperwork from the vet, sell things (like microwave) that my new apartment will have...and continue to teach all of my current classes until April 20th.


Korean boy is going to help me move all of my stuff to Bucheon. I'm very scared to live in a big city, but it is very near Seoul, so I will be able to see Korean boy easily.

Also, Seoul has a Taco Bell AND a Jamba Juice! Mmmmm...


If none of this works out, I will see you in May. As fun as that would be, I hope that doesn't happen! No offence.



Byeee~

Merry Christmas!!

Yes, I know it's almost March, but I bet you want to know how I spent my first Christmas away from home, since you all miss me so much!

All 2 of you.


Ahem. (<----Sound of throat being cleared).


I went to....THE END OF KOREA!!!!!!


So, Korean Guy, seeing that I was a little depressed about not being able to go home for Christmas, decided to take me somewhere he thought would be cool.


It turned out to be the southernmost tip of Korea!! It sounded cool, so I agreed that's where I would spend my Christmas!


We drove for hours through NATURE like this:





Then I fell asleep and when I woke up, we were at the biggest pile of dead people ever. I think the Japanese slaughtered an entire village...





When we finally got to THE END OF KOREA, it was SNOWING!!!!!!!

Then the snow caused me to turn into a child, complete with a sing-song voice, so I became unbearably annoying.





So, I was really excited because it doesn't snow in Jinju....but since it doesn't snow in Jinju, we were not expecting it to snow here.

So I had no gloves, hat, scarf, or even a snow-appropriate coat.


And since we were in the middle of nowhere, I could not find a place to purchase these things.



So, we went on a freezing, slow-motion monorail-thingy....and saw the END OF KOREA!!!





It's beautiful!



Then we drove all the way back to Jinju before we caught pneumonia.


There, I made the most amazing Christmas dinner of my life.





Jealous?





Thank you, to my taco ingredient doners.

The weekend that almost killed me, part III

I guess I never finished posting about that one weekend where I did many things and then ended up getting really sick for about a month.


Let me continue...



The last stop was a....national park! Which wasn't nearly as nature-y as you would think it would be.


First we went on this thing, and Korean Boy got really scared.





Then we were realllllly high up on a mountain, and it was beautiful.




Then I wanted to take a picture, but Korean boy was afraid so I had to forcibly hold him in front of the camera.





Then this happened, which I still don't understand...






Perhaps it is my making fun of this, that resulted in my month of diseases.


Or it may have been eating ice cream in the cold on top of a mountain.






Go figure. :/

Merry Christmas from Mr. Darcy

Hello everyone.


This is Mr. Darcy. Taren has been neglecting to blog due to lack of interest, so I thought I'd do a post just in case someone is still reading.

I would like to thank you all for the wonderful presents you sent me.

I can't believe you knew I wanted tissue paper. I especially love how you wrapped the paper around useless human things to make it more interesting.





I wish I could have played with the paper forever, but Taren took it away and called me annoying. Fortunately, she let me keep the boxes.

Anyway, I would like to wish you all a Merry Christmas and Happy New year.


Now if you'll excuse me, I have to go sleep on my special Christmas cat blanket.





ZZZzzzzzzzzzzzzz.....