First day at school

Well... it sure does feel like a school in Canada! Some things are so familiar about it that I forget I can’t speak the language for a moment. There’s bells and class times (though the rings to signify the start and end of classes are kinda wacky fun), and there’s basketball and soccer courts outside the back, which kids from the town use outside school hours ‘cause it’s a small town, I guess.

The atmosphere with the other teachers is professional, but warm. They seem willing to joke around and most of the time everyone seems happy. Busy and happy. I can’t wait until it warms up and the courts open up, I should try and find a way to get out there and play or something, when it’s hot. It just looks like a very welcoming soccer field…

I eat lunch in the school’s cafeteria, and lunches are provided (the cost is taken from my salary, at something like 3.50 a day – good, huh!). The lunches are going to be great, if this first day is any indication. There was kimchi, of course, some sausage and egg thing which tasted like it could have been from Canada, some… green vegetable that was good, rice (it was sticky rice obviously, but mixed with something sweet and purple. Idk, it was good!), and some beef soup. Then to top it all off, the best piece of pineapple I might have ever had. I might dream about that pineapple.

This is also the first time since I’ve come to Korea where I was really excited to see what the future is like. It’s already pretty enough, but as I might have said already, they’ve mentioned it’s really pretty here when the plants and trees start growing again in April. Anyway, it’s easy to picture what it might look like in the spring/summer and I’m kind of excited to see it. =)

I have a desk in the teacher’s room, it’s pretty sweet.

I don’t actually teach until next week. This week, I sit at my desk and get familiar with the material I’ll be using in my classes. It’s a bit hectic ‘cause this isn’t just my first day at school, it’s the first day for everyone else, too. (I have a suspicion that more conversations than I think actually do have to do with me and what I'm up to.) Trying to figure out the schedules and how the classes will actually look is a bit stressful, but again, that’ll take a couple weeks to get into the swing of things. 

Good first day! We'll see what tomorrow looks like!