The School

So much to write!
On Monday, I met my co-teacher at the bottom of my building (we live on the 11th floor), and we walked to the bus stop. We got on the number 90 bus with three symbols (oh give me a month and I'll know what those symbols mean!) to get to our school. Lemme just say that the Korean bus drivers are cray-zee. There are rules for driving in Korea but not for the bus drivers. They follow their own rules. Think you are on a two lane road? Think again! That bus will lay on his horn until all the little cars move over and make room for him to squeeze by. Pfft to turn lanes! Oh and think he's going to slow down to take that 90 degree turn? Hahahaha - think again! I think he speeds up just to see how many people he can throw from one side to another (I was holding on tight, thank you very much). The bus rides are...well...if you are sleepy in the morning then you'll definitely be woken up by the bus ride.
Once we got to school - in one piece - I was given a pair of guest slippers. These "guest slippers" are really just platform, high heeled sandals that are only worn inside the school. Considering the fact that this school only has two janitors - I guess this cuts down on the amount of dirt tracked inside. Anyway, back to the shoes. So, not only was I already the tallest woman around but now I'm given these shoes that add an extra seven centimeters to my already 170 centimeters (haha yea metric system!). Now I can't understand anyone and I'm the giant of the building.
Then came the introductions. I walked around for over an hour being introduced to everyone. I couldn't understand anything and they couldn't understand me but we smiled and said hello to each other. They asked me if I liked Korea, I replied that the country is very beautiful. Oh! That reminds me - haha - Koreans are giving me too much confidence! Everywhere I turn, I hear "You are so beautiful!" or "Oh so pretty!". I just smile and say "I'll tell my mum, she'll be proud." and, after translated, they smile and nod their heads. With that being said, Hey mum and dad! I'm pretty! haha
After being shown around to the school world, I went to my first class. From roughly 8:50-12:50, my co-teacher and I instruct 4-5 classes a day. Monday and Tuesday are for 6th graders,Wednesday for 5th graders, and Thursday/Friday are a mix of 4th and 5th graders. The classes each have roughly 30 students.
My KT (Korean teacher) instructed me to observe the class however, after observing one class, I jumped up when the second class came in and asked if I could read the vocabulary. It progressed throughout the day and we were co-teaching by the end. At the end of the day, my KT told me she was surprised that I was so ready to teach - especially since today was my first day. I laughed and explained to her that I had spent 5 years in college preparing to be a teacher and was ready.
Monday afternoon I made a "Ms Taylor's Trivia" power point and Tuesday we played the game with the kids. They seemed to enjoy guessing different facts about me. Allow me to just say, I did this power point for each class in each grade so I did this power point a total of 11 times. Probably 6 of those 11 times, when the picture of Jacob came onto the screen, someone screamed "KOREAN! HE KOREAN!" ^_^
Another question on the power point involved my birthday so I included the picture Dad has on his facebook of my birthday party when I was younger. The kids enjoyed seeing me at such a young age and I used the opportunity to share more about my family. Morgan, Kyle, and Blake were on another slide. All the kids said that Kyle's cheeks were so chubby and Blake looked cool in his sunglasses.
Wednesday went about the same except something unexpected happened. The principal asked me to speak in front of the parent representatives - yes, apparently the parents all get together and choose representatives to go to the school and speak to the principal and vice principal about the students, staff, system, etc. My KT was surprised that he asked me to do this because he had never asked it of any other English teacher. Yay me!
Thursday's classes were filled with a game involving Korean pop music. I learned that I actually like Korean pop music - it's Techno. Have I mentioned lunch yet? OMG! Lunch was fab-u-lous today.
Okay so first let me preface this by saying that I have two options for lunch - bring my own or pay $2 to eat the school lunch (it's immediately deducted from my salary). I opted for school lunch - dive into the culture! The meal consists of kimchi, soup, rice, a type of meat, and a random side. Throughout the week I was served; mini-hot dogs in a ketchup sauce, potatoes in a spicy sauce, pork in a spicy sauce, dried squid, seaweed soup, seafood soup, purple rice (no clue on that one), and barely cooked potatoes (almost hashbrowns). But the best of the best was Thursday. Thursday was...ready for it? CURRY! Oh my goodness...Koreans make some awesome curry. I would have gone back for seconds if it were possible. It was sooooo bloody fantastic! Reminded me a little of curry at mum and dad's house :)
Friday was more Korean pop music. I was invited to eat pizza with the vice principal and the 4th grade teachers. Korean pizza has corn. Strange. Also, Koreans feel that they should have some sort of vegetable with each meal so the pizza comes with a side of pickled cucumbers. Yup, corn and cucumbers. Most people think pineapple and ham is strange - take that!
This week taught me that my upbringing really has prepared me to travel. I'm willing to try new foods (a big thing in Korea as they are very proud of...well...everything) and I know a lot of the stuff already. Curry isn't something that foreign to me but it is to a lot of Americans, my fellow teachers were surprised that I knew about curry let alone enjoyed it. Playing with chopsticks gave me the fundamental skills to use them in a practical setting and I've received several compliments on my ability to eat with chopsticks - even if I do hold them differently. Dad putting Tabasco on everything, thus me eating spicy food as well, has given me the stomach to endure the fire that Korean food has. I'm comfortable being in a random place, around strangers, not knowing the language, because I know that I will learn the language, a smile makes a friend, and I can always jump in a taxi and, in broken Korean, tell him where to go. 
Overall, I learned that Korean children are just like all the other children in the world. They are loud, excited about everything, swoon when their current heartthrob is talked about, won't sit still, laugh a lot, and listen when they want to listen. No real behavioral issues to speak of in the class aside from the student's volume. Now to figure out a way to quickly grab their attention every time they start loudly chatting...