I saw Jennifer working on the afternoon schedule on the computer and noticed that we each were supposed to teach a class at 2pm. Surprise! Hannah brought us our new afternoon schedule and in about 15 minutes tried to tell us what to teach for the next month. It seemed she didn't even realize that half the students would be 5 units ahead already, even though I had mentioned this so many times the last month!! Right after she handed us the schedule, she then switched Sophie's and my first class. Why couldn't she do that 5 minutes before on the computer? Who.Knows.
Let me take a step back and tell you my Sunday story. I think it deserves a spot here! So I was to meet the church van in front of the Lotteria at 12:20. It's about a 5-10 minute walk and surprisingly I was only a couple minutes late. No problem, because the van wasn't there yet. The lady from church (her English name is Judy) kept calling and asking WHERE I was because there was no way I was in front of Lotteria since there's only one in tiny Jangyu and so WHERE was I blah blah blah. She kept asking what else was around. What was near me? Was I across the street from Paris Baguette? First of all, there's definitely more than one Lotteria in Jangyu and I tried to explain that I knew exactly where SHE was and how to get to me. Second, there is a ton of stuff above and around Lotteria so I stood there trying to read every sign that had English on it! And third, there is a Paris Baguette across the street from everything!! How would that help?! Anyways she finally found me and said she hadn't realized Jangyu was big enough to have more than one Lotteria. Haha. So we get to church right at the starting time and she runs in because I guess she's one of the singers. What I hadn't realized was that this English service meant "we'll try to sing in English but you may not know what we're saying," and it also meant the pastor would translate for himself. For every English sentence he translated it into Korean. This church that I thought was an International church was actually a Korean church with one American. I was really hoping to get away to an International church where everyone was from a different country and people weren't staring at you because you were American, or white, or different. FALSE. I had basically made up my mind that even though they were very nice I was going to find somewhere else. But after the service, I got to talking with the other American and actually just about the entire (small) congregation came by to say an awkward hello. A Korean guy named Willy and 3 giggling Korean highschool girls were hanging out with us. Willy speaks pretty good English and translated a lot for us. I was gonna be waiting in Gimhae all day for friends who were coming later so we all went across the street to a little building the church owns called Fellowship. We sat around and talked and got to know each other a little. Then, they decided to be super gracious and take the Americans ALL around Gimhae to the historical and cultural places! We went to the free museums, walked around parks, played Korean games and just had a good time together. Here's all of us that explored:
It was getting a bit later and time for us to part ways. I had planned to go sit at the Dunkin Donuts and drink coffee/do work while I waited. Willy and the American came along and Willy was so nice to buy us all donuts! I think my friends will know what I got....blueberry:-) It was actually blueberry filled and was delicious!! Anyways, my friends decided not to come but it was NOT a wasted day in Gimhae! It was super nice outside and so it was great to walk all over Gimhae with such nice people. Then it came time for me to go home....on the bus. First I had to get cash out and use an ATM here for the first time. At first I was confused and asked a nice lady for help and she pointed me to the ATM that has an English button. Haha Sweet. Since I was at the Home Plus/Tesco/McDonalds/Dunkin Donuts/KFC that I told you about earlier, I just felt like I needed to get some McDonalds before I left:-) I hadn't eaten all day, besides the healthy donut, and had been walking forever so I felt pretty good about getting a big mac!! It was delicious and tasted JUST like American McDonalds! The fries...mmm...so good! And I got a sprite that came in a plastic cup! Who washes all those cups? But good job for being so green Korea. Well I knew the bus was only 1000 won but the change I got was a 5000 bill. I wondered if this would be a problem on the bus but didn't know what else to do. Even if it's easy to change out a bill here, I wouldn't know how to ask! I figured they would just give me a few 500 coins back anyways so no problem, right? Oh. My Gosh. I was so wrong. Here comes my most embarrassing 45 minutes since I've been here/EVER! All of my bus riding fears came true. So I catch the bus and see that it's packed and I would have to stand/hang on tight. I hate this for several reasons but one is because I KNOW everyone will be staring at me already and any little thing I do, people will see. So I get on, show my 5000 bill and put it in the box. He makes a grunt noise that I think was "DON'T YOU DARE PUT THAT IN THERE!" But it was too late. It was done. Well he didn't give me any change right away and I stood in the very front of the bus right behind/beside his seat in front of the money box. Other people got on and he gave them change. I would reach down to get it and they would snatch it up. All I could think was, great, this bus ride is going to cost me 5000 won! People would come on with 1000 won bills and he kept telling him not to put them in the box but they never listened. I think he was gonna give that to me as change. He asked if I was going to Jangyu and I told him I yes, Palpan. I can only imagine how confused he was since I put so much money in. What a stupid American! Well I can just feel ALL eyes on my back and I'm already feeling awkward and then, he loudly tries to tell me something in Korean. Over, and over, and over, and over again. Everyone on the bus knew what was up but me. I was assuming it was about the money but I had no way to fix it now. Then a man who WISHED he spoke English tried to translate and tell me "coin, pay in coin!" I wasn't sure if this was for the future or if they were suggesting I hadn't paid so I tried to say I paid. People were still staring, the driver was still talking, and I still had no change. I was extremely embarrassed!! On top of that, the driver seemed like he was in a terrible mood!! Every time someone pressed the stop button (tells the driver they need the next stop, ya know) he seemed SO mad that he had to stop! Haha it would have been so funny if I wasn't almost in tears! One time, a car started coming into our lane ahead of us and he just wasn't having ANY of that!! He honked and honked and then started veering into them, just to show them how it feels. Hilarious. Anyways, finally, he decides to get me change. If I had known what would happen next I would have just said, forget it!! He owed me 4000 won. He decides my change should be in 100 won coins.
Yes. So the bus is full, everyone is already staring at the foreigner and then it starts, "cling cling cling cling cling cling..." and all the coins wouldn't fit in the little change thing so every time I had to reach down, take all the coins and it started over, "cling cling cling cling cling cling..." over and over!!! Til I had 4000 won worth of 100 won coins. HAHAHAHAHA Seriously dude?!?! You couldn't throw in a few 500 won coins just to help me out a little? I'm sure my face was so red and if I wasn't so tired, I would have gotten out at an early stop and walked home. Then, since I had put the wrong amount of money in, the driver and the man who tried to translate assumed I didn't know anything about the bus or where I should get off. I said over and over, PALPAN! Finally the "translator" said Cabo Mall (or Cabu mall, something) and I know where that is and said YES! I figured once we got there I could just try and explain I had a few more stops! The translator was nice enough to give me his seat when he got off and the driver turned back into a nice person and was trying to be helpful...by telling me to get off at every stop after Cabo Mall. Thankfully, he did this with a helping smile. Otherwise I would have run off crying, thinking I was kicked off the bus!! After the most ridiculous bus experience of my life, I got off at my stop, said thank you and goodbye to the driver and almost RAN home. What a day! But wait, there's more! I was meeting friends out later and since I had walked all day and was tired and still thinking about that bus ride (now able to laugh about it a little) I decided I was gonna get a taxi downtown. It's about a 20 minute walk and I usually just walk it. But the one time I wanted to get a taxi...they would not pick me up! I had just left my house and saw one and as he came up to the corner, I tried to wave him down. Not only did he SEE me, he waved at me, passed me, went just past me and picked up a Korean lady. Ummm, ok. So I was thinking, well maybe she called and was waiting for him? I tried every single taxi that passed me and NONE would pick me up. I was texting one of the guys I was meeting out and he said "Check your skin color!" I think this is quite common for the foreigners here. They see us and think, hmm they could be a problem. So they just don't pick us up. I hated being a foreigner on Sunday!Monday was a holiday and I used it to sleep, be lazy, and prepare my mind for the chaos!
Whew we are now back the school week! This was my schedule for last week (yep, it's already been changed AGAIN!)
10-10:30 The Cherry class. They are all 5 Korean age with no English. (5 Korean age=3 and 4 western age...aka TINY!!)
10:30-11-Rose Apple-they are 7 Korean age with 2 years of English and a couple naughty ones in that class.
11-11:30-Orange-they are 6 Korean age with 1 year of English and a REALLY bad boy in that class who makes the other boys act out...argh.
11:30-12-Papaya-they are also 6 Korean age with 2 years of English but you wouldn't know it.
Then there's lunch which we now eat at our school instead of next door. We have a short break to plan for our afternoon classes which go like this for me (well, last week anyways):
2-2:40-a kindergarten English class that is FULL!! Lots of little/adorable ones. They are I believe 5 and 6 Korean age with absolutely NO English and no English names.
3:20-4-This is my class with Sunny, Sally, Sue and Subin but we now have 2 more (Charlotte and Sara) and have started a new text book. Still my sweet/crazy girl class!
4-4:40-This is when I have FRED and Aidan and we have one more student, Alex.
5:20-6-This is Lori and Jeffrey's class and we have 4 new students (Peter, Josh, Mary, and Jeffrey2). Unfortunately, I'm losing this class:-( They are giving me another kindergarten class and giving this one to Sophie.
Wow, I know you wanted to know all that! Fred didn't come to class Tuesday or Wednesday and I was so worried that he was only in it for February! I was pretty dang happy to see him Thursday and as usual, he kept me laughing all through class. Aidan has really been acting up lately and it's getting annoying. But it'll be ok. We'll work on it! As long as they're learning.
This whole week was just absolute chaos and I can't even blog about it really! Teachers were literally running around not knowing exactly what was going on, TRYING to get to the copier. Let me touch on that for a minute:-)
We have ONE copier/printer in the school. We have ten or eleven teachers that all needed this one copier/printer because none of the kids had textbooks yet. Um...how long have you known these kids would be coming to school on this day? And how long have you known they would need these books? It just doesn't makes sense to me the way they do things here. So each teacher had all these lessons to plan and tons of stuff to copy and it was actually just impossible. On Tuesday, I came to school at 10 like I usually do since no one told me anything different. My schedule said I started teaching at 10:30. Wouldn't you know it, I walk in the door and am handed a schedule that says I start at 10. It's already 10:05! Sophie and I were like, um, Hannah, should we be in class now? She looks and goes, "oh, ok I think so yeah!" SHE made the schedule!! Haha so it's just craziness. Well anyways I stayed late on Wednesday or Thursday to copy a bunch of stuff and then I find out Friday that the kids now have their books. So much for staying late:-D That's just the way it is.
Blahhh it was a CRAZY WEEK!! I had never been so happy for it to be Friday. The kids are terribly adorable but I definitely needed a break and time to plan lessons ahead of time. Not like I did a whole lot of that this weekend, but it was a good time of regrouping my thoughts and putting my brain back together. It was a fun weekend, even though it rained a lot. Actually it was kind of a lazy weekend. Oh and I blew two converters. One by trying to use my rice cooker and the other with my hair dryer. Then my umbrella disappeared at work so I walked home in the drizzle. Thankfully, it magically appeared at school the next day and I was happy! Then my internet has been horrible this weekend, connecting for about 10 minutes at a time then disconnecting for 20 minutes. Argh!!
Ok that was my rant. I'm actually still having a great time, I swear haha I'll put a bunch of different pictures of some cute kids here so you can see the adorableness for yourself.
Woops, one quick story! On Tuesday, Sunny made my day a lot brighter by bringing in 2 boxes of Dunkin Donuts for our class!! She definitely got some brownie points for that sweet move:-)
민지 (Min Ji)
The kid on the left is either Tony or Thomas and that cutie on the right is Paul. He is absolutely FREAKING ADORABLE!! He's tiny and has this great curly hair and is too much fun. I mean...look at him!:-)
Here we have Rika in the multi-colored glasses. She is truly adorable as well. Every morning she yells, "GOOD MORNING TEACHER!!" It's just about all she knows besides the colors! Very cute. Then beside her is either Tony or Thomas haha. These kids are from the Cherry class. They're so little! There's one little boy in there named Ruki and he has to be only 3 years old. He's so tiny and hilarious and even though he's kind of a handful, it's ok because of how little and cute he is. Oh boy, listen at me gush. Obviously, I like these kids a lot!!
I'll definitely take more pictures of each class. They will definitely put smiles on all your hundreds of faces!! (Surely I have hundreds of readers by now...right?)
Are you ever going to brave the bus again?!
ReplyDeleteI can't believe how short your classes are! What can you cover in that amount of time?
I think Charlotte needs to change her name to something that starts with an "s"...