Seon Saeng Nim (Teacher) Jennika

My first full week of teaching is over. I started on August 16th (Thursday), so that week was a short one. I have now met all of my classes and things are going well!

My official title is conversational English teacher. I teach 10 different classes twice a week for 20 teaching hours. They are all grade 11s. For English conversation, they split the classes in two to give everyone a chance to participate. This means I have on average 15 students per class (my smallest class is 11, my largest is 17), so I have about 150 students. At the same time as me, the other grade 11 native English teacher is doing conversation class with the other half of the students.

One of my classes. It's an all boys high school.

Where I stand!

I start every day at 8am and work until 4pm, although I have been staying until 5 or 6pm to wait for JM. We work on the same campus, but different schools. It is called Bugil Academy, but JM works at the Global Leader Program (GLP) and I work at the Bugil Boys School. The language of instruction at his school is English and there are only about 90 students in the whole program. My school, however, is Korean instruction where English is a foreign language and there are 300 students per grade. In Korea, high school is grades 10-12.

An aerial view of Bugil Academy taken from their website. The large building on the left is the boys school,
the gymnasium is in the middle, and the girls school is on the right. JM's school, the GLP is behind the boys school.
In the far back is the boys' residence.

I love my campus. The school is beautiful and there are picturesque views from all of my classrooms. Sometimes, when the kids are working, I just stare out the window and admire the scenery. I have a desk in a common office. There are 8 teachers, including me, in this office. It is air conditioned (thank goodness!) and very quiet. A Korean teacher, Grace, has taken me under her wing and helped me get a computer, the school messager system installed, printing capability, and even business cards!!! She is a godsend. Her English is quite good and she helps translate things for me.


The view from my classrooms. I made a panoramic.

My office, also called Department of Planning.

My desk .. I haven't added any personal touches yet.

My business card - I'm important!
Too bad they got my email address wrong. I'm @live.ca, not .com.

My contract says that I have 23 teaching hours per week, so there are 3 extra hours that I have to fill. Usually we do workshops for the Korean teachers to improve their English, but my first week the Principal called me into his office. He asked me to give him private lessons for 2 of those 3 extra hours. Of course I said yes; I can't say no to the principal!! But I was freaking out a little. I mean, how do you teach the principal?! All my worrying was short lived though because I started my lessons on Monday. After asking him a few questions about himself, we started working through an English article. He wants to improve his English for work purposes, so that he can speak to administrators of other schools when they organized exchange programs. So I found an article that a former exchange student wrote for her school newspaper in the US. I figured this would give him another perspective on the Bugil Academy exchange program. We have had two lessons, from 4-5pm Monday and Thursday, and both have gone well. We spent most of the time talking about the principals conference he went to and the educational system in Korea. It's a great opportunity for me to learn more about the school I'm teaching at.

Well, time for me to get lesson planning. It's strange. I am no longer a grad student - I have regular work hours to hold and planning to do! I like this new life.

Jennika

Two Weeks Down

Our first two weeks of school are done. Our schedule has been wake up at 6am get to school for 8am working until 6pm, meandering home and then trying to not snack prior to making a real meal or going out to eat before we fall asleep.  From time to time though we succumb to snacks.



The dry goods cabinet. Stocked with leftover treats from Canada, cereal, Korean Vachon cakes, and....

 

Doritos!!!! In the past we also had other Korean snacks; Oreo type cookies with pineapple, vanilla, or chocolate frosting.

 

This week, Jennika's office mate, Gwang Ho, the biology teacher, took us out for Korean pancakes. It was similar to tempura and we had kimchi, green onions, pumpkin, sausage, minced meat, etc., all in tempura form. To drink with the meal we had a nutty milky alcohol drink called makgeolli and left me with a bit of dizzy head. No, we haven't tried Soju yet.



Korean pancakes and makgeolli!

We also ate at an Indian restaurant and Pizza Hut both downtown about a 5 min walk from home. It was nice to eat some familiar foods even though Korean fare is delicious. Korean meals often center around rice. We eat rice every day at the school cafeteria and so bread products (and cheese!!) taste extra delicious when we get our teeth on them.



Our Indian meal. Notice no rice, but we do have Naan.

 

One fantastic addition to the dining experience Korea brings is the service buzzer. A waiter will bring you to your table, and then leave until you ring a noiseless buzzer located on the wall or on your table. The waiter will then show up ready to take your order or help you. After your order they promptly bring you the check and you can pay when you desire. If ever you need anything, you ring the bell.



The buzzer!

 

The First Week of Teaching

Well the first week of teaching is now done. I teach four classes a day and have about four hours of prep, but I still feel like I'm struggling to keep up with planning. I'm hoping I can get on top of things this week and start getting ahead of the game soon.

My students are all very motivated and I can't wait to see them in physics problem solving action. Next week I'm starting Electricity and Magnetism with both my Physics B and Physics C courses. We should get to some hairy math and problem solving soon.

Here are some pictures of my walk up the school driveway.

This is the entrance to the school. Our baseball team has done very well. They won 29 games in a row. I think we will get to see them in action in September.

This is the girls residence. It is to the right when you enter the school grounds.

This is the first glimpse of the boys school in the distance. To the right are the tennis courts.

The Tennis Courts

Sand surfaced.

Here is a view of the soccer field with the gym and girls school in the distance.

The Global Leader Program is mostly held in Summit Hall.

Here is my desk in summit hall.

Next blog I will take you on a tour of my physics lab; the disorganization and a look at some of the equipment.

Cheers, JMS

Oh Cheonan ... how hot you are!

It's my first week of teaching and this is what I have to look forward to:

We live about a 20 minute walk from work and today I was soooo sweaty by the time I got to the school. It is ridiculously humid here. I haven't seen a day below 90% humidity. Thankfully we have an AC unit in our bedroom to keep us cool. But drying laundry takes a few days.

I'm going to try and not become "that" sweaty girl at work. Hopefully it will cool down!

Lost in Translation

Well, I have arrived in Korea!!! Late on Saturday night KST (Korean Standard Time) I got in the apartment, which is so beautiful - even more so than in the pictures - and all I wanted to do was shower and go to bed. So I found my towel, my pyjamas, and my shampoo. Then I encountered my first moment of poor English translation. I'm sure over the course of my time in Korea there will be many incidents to report. But this will probably always be my favourite one.

From the pictures of the apartment you may have seen our amazing shower. It has 2 heads and a few extra jets that can be turned on. It is very luxurious. My guess is that when engineering such a shower piece, they were trying to decide on an English name for their trademark. Something that would stand out. Something that reflected all their product was about. Showering is for the skin right? So why not call it FORSKIN®? This, my friends, is what I get to look at every morning when I take a shower. And every morning it makes my day. 

Our lovely shower

EPIC FAIL.

I wonder if anyone ever told them?

Change

Change is hard. Change means that you are getting older, learning to adapt, moving forward with life. It also means that moment is now in the past. You can never go back. It is a part of who you once were, not who you are any longer.

I'm finding this move very difficult. Many things that have been a constant in my life are changing. Sure, I had a hard time in Montreal and moving would seem to be the greatest change of all. But there were also good things, great friends and fond memories. I had the same apartment for 3 years; it was my home through all the bad times. I miss waking up and having the sun pour in my window. I miss my little niche in the big city.



View of Mount Royal from my balcony



My little garden and the view of downtown/McGill campus

My bedroom nook

My kitchen .. it was small but great!



My living room

And today I washed my car .. for the last time. This is a big one for me. Sunshine and I have been partners for five and a half years .. sorry JM but she's my one true love! We've travelled all over together, she's been a safe haven for me through all my moves to new places, and my little ray of sunshine on rainy days (yes, I'm corny). Truly this car has been a staple in my life and I'm going to miss her. Tomorrow I am selling her and then she will no longer be mine.

Her good side



I know that this move symbolizes me finally getting what I've been dreaming of for years and it means I'm moving forward with my life .. but change is hard!

Probably the hardest of all is leaving behind my grandfather. We had dinner on Monday and he was concerned about me going to this far away place and being alone. I assured him that I will be with JM and that there are plenty of nice people at our schools. There appears to be the potential for a good group of friends. He seemed a little more comfortable knowing I have people I am already in contact with over there.

My grandfather is one of the greatest people I have ever known. He is a WWII veteran, got his PhD in geology from McGill, never stopped learning (he taught me how to use the internet in the 90s), and to this day is still young at heart. When he turned 89 earlier this year, I asked him how it felt to be old. He replied 'Old? Who's old? 89's not old .... 90's old.' He is still witty and can kick anyone's butt at a game of pool, despite have the old man shakes. Don't let that tremor fool you - he'll bet you out of all your quarters.

Well, I'm off to go visit him. This may be the last time I see him before I leave for Korea. This dinner is going to be another hard one ...

Jennika

James Albert Soles, 1944

My grandad

A tour of the apartment

This is the entrance. On the mantel is a crochet piece my mother made for me when I was a young thing. The words on the piece are "I just got to be me." The hat was given to me on my first tour of Bugil Academy

Sporting my best Angus Young finery.  In the entrance of course.

The bathroom just to the right of the entrance.

Spare-bedroom number 1. It has airconditioning. 

The view of the living room from the entrance. 

View of the living room from the second spare bedroom.

The kitchen (a bit messy). Looking from the living room. Tons of cupboard space.

The second spare bedroom. Not lucky enough for it's own airconditioning, but it does have a queen-sized bed

Master bedroom.

Master bathroom.

Forecast: Hot and Humid!

Here is a link to check out the weather in Cheonan. This week it has been 30+ degrees every day, feeling like 40+ with the humidity. And it doesn't even break at night!

Hot, hot, hot. I hope it cools down for when I arrive!

Walking Downtown

It is freaking hot here, but I try to go out at least once a day so that I don’t become a hermit. I sleep about four hours at night and mid afternoon (to beat the heat). The buildings are covered in banners explaining what is going on inside but I can’t read korean yet. There are two things I’ve liked on my walks. First, there is a river that goes through Shinbu-dong with a nice walkway. Secondly, downtown near a art museum there are some fantastic sculptures. 

The river.

He looks dashing!

That is all. 

JaM’s

This is where we live

We are living in Shinbu-dong, Cheonan-si on the 13th floor of a condo-building. There is a view of the downtown core of Cheonan city, which is only a 5 min walk. School is only a 15 min walk away so we have a great location. The apartment has three bedrooms, kitchen, living room, two bathrooms and an enclosed balcony. Very huge, compared to my standards and ginormous to typical expat housing. (Most ESL teachers only get a studio or bachelor apartment.) 

In some ways the apartment seems futuristic. The master bath has a Japanese toilet and one of those showers with wall shower heads included. I’m not sure if you are familiar with the Japanese technology but here is a link to a video that goes through the experience.

Here is a map of where our apartment is (A) and where the school is (B). Zoom out to get an idea of where we are in the world.

I’m very happy with our little home and I can’t wait to fill it up with memories with Jennika.

Good night! 

JaM’s

Shopping in Cheonan

Last night, when I got into the apartment, Mr. Lee should me how to work a few things; there is a button you must press with your feet to engage the kitchen faucet; a button to turn on the hot water and heat; as well as keyless entry to the building and our apartment. The apartment was spotless and had a few goodies for me to enjoy for breakfast. I feel like Bugil Academy is going to treat us very well. 

The apartment complex

Today, Mr. Lee took Mr. James (another fresh teacher from california) to e-mart to shop for basic supplies. The store is a bit like k-mart. It was interesting but I didn’t find spices to season my food. There are a few Asian grocers near bye I will try them soon. 

Cheers, 

JaM's

What a difference a week makes ...

Well, here I am. Sitting in my Montreal apartment having my last breakfast. Today is my last day in the city; I move all my things tomorrow morning back to Courtice and then in a week I'll be off to Korea. Jean-Marc left for Korea on Tuesday morning. I just received an email from him telling me that he arrived safely and that our apartment is beautiful. I can't believe it is actually happening. I feel like I'm living a dream and it's all coming together. Moving to Korea to teach, something I've dreamed of for over 4 years? Check. Great position, seemingly great colleagues, opportunity to save money and travel? Check. Fantastic boyfriend who is coming with me? Check. And that third one I never anticipated.

So from the last update, JM's visa was processed and he picked it up on Monday no problem. We packed his stuff in my little car early Tuesday morning (3:30am) and took him to the airport. He flew out at 6am but had a 7 hour delay in Detroit, which meant he didn't actually leave North America until 7pm that night. But he arrived safely the next day in Korea.

As for me, I received my visa issuance number 3 days after it was sent for processing. I applied for my visa on Monday and it is ready for pick up today .. Thursday. I can't believe how fast immigration was. I booked my flight today for August 10th. I leave Toronto at 8am and have a 3 hour lay over in San Francisco. Not bad!

Alright, back to packing. I still have so much to do before my Dad arrives tomorrow morning.

Cheers,

Jennika

The flight to Korea

After a hassle with Delta Airlines over baggage, Jennika saw me off at Pierre Elliot Trudeau airport. Montreal to New York then to Detroit, it all went well. When I got to the gate for my departure I was bumped up to 1st class!!!! Fricking amazing! I was going to spend 12+ hours in first class. I sat down to a chair filled with swag and a electronically adjustable chair with a message button. Waiting on the tarmac, our pilot clued us in on some problems with the telecom system. We were grounded for over six hours, until they finally resolved the issue. (Got a coupon for delta and a meal in the airport gratis). I loved first class. I propped my seat into bed mode after we were on our way and had my four course meal with enough vino and port to make me tipsy. I woke up with two hours left in the flight watched some movies and got into Seoul without a hitch. 

At the airport Mr. Lee, the program coordinator for the Global Leader Program (my school), met me and drove me home. He spent the whole day at the airport waiting for me. Luckily he enjoyed watching the olympics. An hour and a half later we arrived at the apartment.