Korean Language Class -- Take 1

So Tuesdays are the day I don't have class until 2pm, so I stay home until noon. I spent all morning reviewing the Korean I learned last summer in preparation for my first Korean language class tonight! I also treated myself to strawberry poptarts for breakfast, and then had 2 pieces of strawberry shortcake for lunch! HAH! It was delicious!

My school day did not start off so well, as Ike gave me some very bad news about 15 minutes before my first class. It turns out he has to be at school for about half the time that we planned his trip in Korea. And there is no way for him to get out of it. So, we have to change his ticket. I was extremely worried that we would just have to forfeit the ticket, as it says you cannot change the date. However, tonight I called the travel agent, and while they did not give me an answer yet, they seemed to imply that it was ok to change the ticket -- maybe I'll have to pay a fee, and I'll have to pay any fare difference, but that's better than throwing $400 down the drain! Anyway, I think Ike will be coming in May, which is what we originally planned.

My first class started off not so well. They had much less energy this week, but things weren't horrible. The second class, 1.1, I think is going to be my favorite! They were super talkative again and had wonderful energy! They even flew through all the material today, so I showed them the Ok Go Treadmill video on youtube, and of course they loved it. Oh, and I taught them an awesome grammar point! They were singing "If you want a pretty", which is the lyrics to a horrible Korean pop song right now. I told them that that was not correct English, and they asked me why? And I said how you could say "If you want a pizza/tree/girlfriend" that is correct, but "pretty" does not fit. And then they were like "OHHHHHH" and they understood! Best feeling for a teacher! :-D My last class, 2.7 which gave me a lot of trouble last week, was actually decently behaved! I asked their co-teacher to tell them to stop speaking korean and listen to me, and I guess he did, because they showed up today on good behavior. They even participated more than classes usually do! And during listening activities they were practically silent! What more could a teacher ask for?

After work and a bit of grading, I caught my bus to Korean language class. All I knew was my bus stop and the name of the place where the class was to be held, but not how to get from point A to B. I ended up making it there by myself, well, and asking 4 people for directions. But, it was all in Korean, so I am proud of myself! I bought myself a roll of kimbap for dinner, and found a little park right behind the Educational Office. My plan is to go strait from school to Korean class on Tue/Thur. I can eat a picnic lunch and study or read in the park until class starts. It should be really nice! There are 7 other students and myself. All but 2 of us are English teachers, the others are a Chinese teacher and a laborer from Kyrgystan. The man from Kyrgystan clearly had the best Korean, as he has the most incentive to use it. Anyway, there were 2 teachers and they were split into 2 groups: beginning and intermediate. I sat down at the beginning table, but they were still learning the Korean alphabet. So, after about 10 minutes, I switched to the intermediate table. Well, they were learning stuff quite a bit over my head. I only understood about 1/2 of what we learned. It was like I had a missing hole of vocab and grammar to be able to fully understand what was going on. But, I held my own and I was proud of myself! I think I will start off in the beginning group, and see how that goes. After they finish learning the alphabet, I'm sure things will really start to pick up for them. And, as we will use a different book, we will learn different vocab and grammar I'm sure. If it is still too easy, I can always try switching over to the intermediate. (Only problem is they are using a different book.) One of the teachers is really pushing me to come to his church, which has English services at 11:30 on Sundays. The only problem is it seems like it is 20 minutes outside of town, so I don't know that there is a bus that will take me there. Anyway, I wouldn't mind at least giving it a try.

Now I'm off to (hopefully) finish reading Pride and Prejudice before going to bed.