During lunch an infamous second grader poked his head into the teacher’s cafeteria and exclaimed in Korean “Oh! The new English teacher!” The doors are sometimes open so on occasion kids linger to say hello to the teachers and run away. In the afternoon I had fourth grade English club. They watched the original Jumanji and the boys LOVED it. I heard them say about the cop’s silly reactions: “so cute”. All the boys had a terrific reaction to the two adults almost kissing and I wish I had recorded it (are they going to? Oh? OOOoooOoOoOh). They also laughed at the scene where Judy shines a price scanner in…

How proficient am I in Microsoft Suite? I can use it in Korean. Put THAT on my resume. More fourth graders cried today; I guess puberty makes them overly competitive during class games and the result is a domino effect of tears. I saw Strong Girl, Weak Boy, and their new friend. He has claimed his new name is Tank. We now call him Tank Boy. Some of the kiddos want to high five me or hold my hand or back hug me. Students continue to Say “hello teacher” in the hallway and if time allows I stop and ask them in English and Korean where they’re going or what…

After leaving school I ran into a parent in the parking lot. She actually introduced herself in English and told me that she’s American. She told me her daughter is in my fourth grade class and that she really liked the previous teacher (Yes, bummer I’m here instead). I have that class tomorrow so I’ll keep an eye out because I’m curious. Several small things happened today: Fifth grade homeroom teacher: wow pretty! the fifth graders talked about how pretty you were Coworker at lunch: omg! Your eyes are green! Next door after school teacher in the middle of scolding a kid: oh hi! I’m Jennie. This is a very…

End of the first week. My sixth grade coteacher was out to attend her husband’s military promotion so I taught with a man who will also be subbing for my other co-teacher when she goes on maternity leave. I have… Some concerns. He’s a retired teacher but not an English teacher so our conversations today were incredibly… short. I’m honestly not sure that he speaks any English but he can read. Luckily my pregnant coworker said she’ll make a schedule for us so we can divide and conquer when she leaves. She felt a bit worried for the future and I told her that I was also little bit worried…

I received a special gift from one of my fourth grade girls. After 4-1 (don’t tell the other fourth grade classes but they’re my favorite) three class comedians stayed after to sweep. One is a carbon copy of Seungkwan from SEVENTEEN. The three boys chatted with me in Korean about our favorite Korean foods. They were incredibly patient with me and so so cute. In another class the kids figured out very quickly that I spoke Korean and one little boy has ESL down pat because he asked in Korean “do you speak Korean?” And made a little talking hand gesture at the verb “speak”. Earlier this week I left…

My goodness, what a day! Firstly let’s note that anyone who says it’s faster to travel by subway means only the subway and not the five escalators and elevators and staircases that require getting in and out of the station. And another fun fact I learned today is that the previous teacher was also from the same US city. Small world! The most surprising part of my school is that during training they told us to never use Korean in class. However in my school, English classes are conducted mostly in Korean since the kids are too novice to understand English directions. In fact, third grade is the first time…

Very small quick update from the far east: while my school is in the north, it turns out my shoebox apartment is about 30 minutes south in a super trendy college area three stops away from Gangnam*. Living arrangements are a bit small (studio is around 250 sq feet) but having lived in a true thimble over the summer I’m really happy with the arrangements. I’ve somehow managed to Tetris all my hoarded belongings into one closet. *For those that don’t know, Gangnam is the Manhattan of Seoul and is known for shopping and plastic surgery. And of course it’s featured in “Gangnam Style”.

After week(s) of anxiety about my placement in the vastness that is Seoul, it turns out my final placement is less than one mile from where I spent the entire summer. I’m crying, life is so funny y’all.

This week I’m in Chungju for teacher training. I’m impressed by the time and effort put into our week of training and even more impressed that the mayor of Chungju spoke at the opening ceremony. He encouraged us to buy local peaches and tell our friends to come visit. Man, I love a good businessman. The women at my table were so earnest to dive into the culture that they ate our western style dinner with chopsticks (I’m not going to tell them that no Korean eats peas with chopsticks). So cheers to Chungju! Like most of Korea its charm snags you when you least expect it. It makes me…