Back To School

So the first day was pretty uneventful for the both of us. Derek and I both woke up with butterflies in our stomachs and then once we got to school it was like, “Why did we get worked up about this?” The students, teachers and the principals have all been very nice and welcoming. When the students see us in the hallway they bow or wave and say hello then run off giggling. Both of our schools have English-only classrooms and we spent the majority of our day in the room by ourselves on the computer. Lunch was very good: fruit, soup, meat and, of course, rice and kimchi. It’s so healthy when you think of the school lunches back home.

Derek’s school had a banquet planned for him so after school my co-teacher took me to the apartment to inspect our new furniture. We finally have a bed, washer, dresser, fridge, pots and pans and most importantly—a fan (I can sleep again)! But then my co-teacher got a phone call and I was told I had to go to the banquet too. So we leave and go straight to the restaurant. I walk in to find Derek in the middle of 30-plus Korean adults, sitting “Indian-style” all drinking heavily. I sit down and immediately the Principal and Vice Principal welcome me and offer me a shot of soju. I accept so I don’t offend them and they laugh that I can drink it in one shot. Everyone watched as I picked up the chopsticks and began to eat. I was offered a fork, but turned it down. I need to learn sometime right! Apparently Derek and I have been using chopsticks wrong (you can’t pick them up with one hand and adjust their placement with the other, you can only use one hand). We spent the rest of the banquet with different people coming up to us offering us soju and in return, we offer them shots. (In Korea, it’s considered offensive to pour your own drink, so when they offered us shots, they expected us to return the favor.) One man, who obviously had many, many shots, kept calling me ElizabeTH, to emphasize that he can say his “th” unlike other Koreans. He also kept hugging Derek and calling him Dong-saeng or “little brother.” Then he insisted they do “Korean Idol.” See pictures below! The banquet was finally over and we were invited to go play billiards and drink but declined since we had just received all of our furniture and we wanted to clean and arrange everything. I asked my co-teacher about it today and found out that after they left the restaurant, they went to play billiards, went to a bar, went to a norabang (karaoke), then went to another bar and didn’t get home till 1am!

School was the same as the first day for both of us. We don’t start teaching till Monday. We left school at 2 today and went into Incheon (about an hour drive) to get our Alien Registration cards. They should be ready next week and once we receive them we can get cell phones, Internet and medical insurance. Our co-teachers took care of everything for us. I am really starting to warm up to our co-teachers. They are trying very hard and are doing a great job—they just don't know English. They spent the entire ride, asking us how to say things in English and why, and for what situations…i.e. If I am mad at a student I say…"Get out.” If I like the student I say…"You may leave now." “Close” can mean to shut something or distance from something. “Present” can be a gift or a time. The list goes on. We’ve never had to think about all this before, but when explaining it to our teachers we can see why English is so hard to learn. But, I guess that is what we’re here for.