I got to the cafeteria and there were only two other
teachers sitting at the table. I grabbed a tray and saw that there were bowls
of noodles, so I took a bowl and moved
down the line. There were large bowls of
what appeared to be a questionable looking brown sauce as well as something
that was circular shaped and looked like it was some sort of breaded meat. I skipped the sauce because it looked odd and
I wasn’t sure what to do with it. I started to grab for the food that was next
to it. As I grabbed it, out of nowhere
one of the cafeteria workers ran over and started yelling something at me,
grabbed my bowl and put the sauce on my noodles.
Silly American. I
don’t even know how to get my food from the cafeteria.
But really, I don’t know how to do much of anything in
Korea. In short, even the simplest daily activities have become a guessing game. It’s like
suddenly being a child again, dependent on others for even the simplest tasks. I
have to guess when buying food at the corner store because I don’t know what it
says on the label. I have to guess what exactly I’m
eating at lunch. I constantly have to
guess when using my computer at school because all the programs are in Korean
(I've used power point and Microsoft word millions of times, but when it’s in
Korean, it makes it a HUGE guessing game….my computer at school is super slow,
and I’m guessing it’s because the other teachers before me and I have probably
inadvertently clicked on and installed so many random things over the
years). I have to guess what the stores I walk by sell. I have
to guess about what kind of food is served at a restaurant. I have to guess what people are talking about
when I walk by. The list goes on and on.
You never can fully understand how influential and powerful
literacy and language comprehension are until you are in a place where you understand
nothing. Over the past few days, I’ve
become hypersensitive to how much I really DON’T understand.
All the more reason I need to start studying my Korean. Of
course, that would require internet, which I still don’t have.
My small victory of the day was figuring how to turn on my
hot water. After three days of cold
showers, I brought the subject up with my co-teacher again, at which point she
drew me a picture of where the control is in my room. Of course, it was easy enough to explain, and
I’m not sure why it took so long to get that information? But after playing around will a combination
of buttons, I finally have hot water.
That warm shower will be glorious tomorrow morning.
I also got to meet a few more students today. After school I went upstairs to see one of my
co-teachers and passed by many students on the way who were so eager to talk to
me. As I sat in my co-teacher’s office,
there were TONS of girls peeking through the door. It really is so funny , and I can’t wait to
meet them all next week.
Of course, I am still lost about what exactly I should be
teaching next week for this writing class.
I came up with some questions for the kids to answer, but I have no idea
if they will be too hard or too easy, or really what the heck is expected of
me. Am I supposed to have some
conversation in there? Is the class
really just writing? How long do they
write for? I guess I will
wing it and see how it goes and go from there.
I also found out today (surprise!) that I will be teaching a
class at night. It’s typical for EPIK
teachers to teach an after school class, but I was hoping that since I have such
a heavy class load I wouldn't have to.
Of course, today I was filled in that I will be teaching Tuesday nights. I can basically teach whatever I want, which
is cool, but also quite a bit of freedom.
The good thing about this is that I will get paid overtime, amounting to
an extra 60,000 won (a little less than $60) a week, three weeks a month. Not bad extra cash.
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