My work consisted of sitting in on the classes of James, the teacher I’ll be replacing next week. Normally, teachers will train for a couple of weeks and are given time to adjust to the radical changes of the culture. I may not even have an apartment by the time I start. They threw me into the pool headfirst, with only water wings to bring me up to the surface. At least that is what I thought before the observations. The school provides all the materials, and give you books that you have to follow as much as the parent’s would like. While I may be teaching kids, my clients are really their parents, and they want to see little Billy and Sally's English books all filled out. Teaching will not be easy, but at least it will be easier than I was expecting.
The biggest challenge is the actual presentation: my composure on stage, patience, and efficiency in getting through to the kids that would do just about anything to not be there. Once I realized that, I felt much better, for that whole topic is what I majored in. I am not a teacher, I am not even a manager, but at least I took classes on how to be the latter—of course I could be completely wrong, and most likely I am somewhat off, but I am all for comforting thoughts at this point in time. I even ate at Burger King for that feeling of comfort. The meal was not great but Coca Cola has never tasted so good. I was not a fan of Coca Cola until I went to Korea.
That night I went out with my new coworkers and their friends, drinking beer, soju (similar to vodka), and barbecued foods. Afterwards, I walked back to the motel which was almost a straight shot. I just had to walk down a single street for 20 minutes, make a couple of right turns, and I was at the motel. This time I fell right asleep.
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