A Sprained Finger

Of course, playing Ultimate Frisbee means you will incur a few injuries. Bruises, scrapes, strained muscles, etc. are pretty normal. Last season I was plagued with plantar fasciitis, this year my injury was a sprained finger. After reaching back to grab a disc that was behind me, it caught my finger and pulled it back. Way back. I felt a pop and then pain. I knew it wasn't broken, but definitely sprained.

A trip to the local doctor confirmed this. Haha, that's a funny story. I went to the Dankook University hospital because it's on campus, and I get a discount for being a Dankook employee. Win-win right? Well, I went to the reception and asked to see a doctor. After getting an English translator on the phone, to whom I explained the injury, the receptionist refused to let me see a regular doctor that day. She kept saying 'Doctor, opsoyeo' which means there are none. But tomorrow, she said, finger specialist. All I needed was a proper splint (I had fashioned myself a makeshift one already out of cardboard and tape, but I needed a real one) and perhaps an x-ray to ensure there wasn't a fracture. Apparently this was not possible without a specialist's expertise.

So the next day I go to where she booked my appointment and I arrive at a sign that says 'ORTHOPEDIC SURGERY' - wait what?! All I needed was a splint and I got sent to a surgeon. In Canada, this would have taken months to get in, but here I only waited until the next day. Despite my hesitation, the doctor was really nice and he spoke English. The x-ray showed that the tendon had pulled away from the bone (over stretched) and he wanted to give it time to heal. He was very impressed with my makeshift splint and couldn't believe I had made it myself (it would seem no one in Korea takes health care into their own hands). He taped up my finger to a splint and advised me not to use it and come back in 2 weeks so he could show me 'finger exercises'.

Two weekends of Ultimate later (yes, I had to keep playing!), I went back to him. He took my splint off and buddied my middle finger to the ring finger to stop it from twisting. The joint was very stiff, but after stretching it all weekend (and playing some more ultimate - hehe) it is feeling better! Not 100%, but I can almost make a fist on my own. Hurray!

 Middle finger sprain!

First Day at My New Job!

Today was my first day teaching at Dankook University as an English professor. All in all, I think the day was successful.

I was woken up with a skype call from my sister and my grandad wishing me good luck. It was really nice to talk to them and have them remember that it was an important day for me.

My classes are large, approximately 40 in each class, with a couple classes that have fewer than 40. The students seem ok. Today was just an intro lesson to give them my info, the textbook, class rules, etc. I also teach a night class for life long learners and I was really impressed with them tonight. I had heard that the life long class is hit or miss; sometimes you get students that signed up on their own free will, and others who's company forces them to take an English class. All my students participated and we took up the full 2 hours. It seems they all want to learn, so that's good. I am the youngest person in the room, and I'm the teacher, so we'll see how this plays out. In Korean culture, age is associated with more respect. I already had one lady call me out on my age and while I had told myself that I would say I was 32, once put on the spot I couldn't lie about my age. The difference between 28 (Korean age) and 32 is small when the pupils are 50+. Oh well!

I have more preps and more teaching hours than I expected. I have 6 different courses that I'm teaching: 5 bridge writing, 1 professional writing, 1 bridge speaking, 1 listening and pronunciation, 1 life long learning, and 1 psypsy, which is a conversation class. Coupled with 2 hours of volunteer tutoring, I have 21.5 scheduled work hours, not including all the time I'll spend prepping and correcting online homework.

My colleagues seem great so far. One in particular has been giving me lots of advice and help with lesson planning. I owe her big time! Everyone is really dedicated to their jobs and committed to becoming better teachers. Such a change from working at Bugil, where being a good teacher is frowned upon! It's nice to have the respect and liberties in my classroom.

I have a desk in a shared office, where lots of the teachers from the department have a desk. The Korean English teachers that I have met in my office are really friendly. One even studied at McGill! He was quite excited to share in the Canadian connection. As real, tenured professors, they are all conducting research and publishing in journals. After discovering that my background is in neuroscience, and specifically second language acquisition, a couple of the teachers have asked if I would read over and edit their papers. It's so nice to be in an institution of higher learning again!

Anyway, that's all for now. Time for bed! Tuesdays are a long 12 hour day for me. As of right now, the decision to move on from Bugil seems to have been a good one. I'm happy at my new job!

Jennika

Back to Korea - New job!!

Well, now that I'm back in Korea it's time to make an announcement: I HAVE A NEW JOB!!! That's right folks, I will no longer be teaching at Bugil Academy. Over the summer, many disappointing actions from Bugil prompted my decision to leave. I applied for and was miraculously accepted to teach English at Dankook University in their General Education department. I have been given a 1 year contract and a lot more responsibility. This is a great step for my resume and confidence.

 Dankook is literally just down the road from Bugil. It is the closest university I could possibly have taught at and my commute to work in the morning is only a fraction longer than what it was to get to Bugil. Since I have a bicycle, it will only take 20 mins or so to get there.

Considering how stressed I was the last few months at Bugil, I am very happy for this change. JM is still teaching physics at Bugil with the Global Leader program and they are not associated with the department I was previously working in. The hardest part about leaving is that I did not get to say goodbye to my students and I have been struggling with this. I went to visit Bugil twice this week already, but it was really hard. I love those students wholeheartedly and I would do anything for them. Unfortunately, things did not work out at Bugil, so I'm really looking forward to a fresh start with my Dankook students!

Jennika

Given to me by the dean - my certificate of employment, in a blue velvet folder!