New Semester

I'm trying to write blog entries a bit more often now.  We'll see how it goes.

Last week was the beginning of the new semester for my school.  Korean schools seem a bit backwards compared to schools in the U.S.  Last Wednesday marked the first day of the new school year, thus my old devilish 6th graders have moved on to be someone else's problem, and my two favorite classes have each moved up a year.  Also, due to new national education policy I will teach each class three times a week.  I'll spend my time with the 5th and 6th graders for 20 of my 22 classes, and I'll teach an advanced class of 3rd and 4th graders twice a week to complete my required 22.  I'm excited for the new semester for a few reasons, but the biggest being that I get to focus on two grades and hopefully get to know those kids a bit more than last year.

Also, the English department is looking a bit different than last semester due to Fran's departure, and Edward becoming a homeroom teacher for the 2nd grade.  Now I share the office with two women, Julie and Annie.  They both speak a reasonable amount of English, and they're both very nice.  I'll be teaching with Julie; so far our classes have gone well.  Julie is a bit more active in the classes, and it allows me to work some more one-on-one with some of the students who struggle.  Julie seems to be just what I needed to recover some of the energy and excitement I brought to the classroom for the first few months here.

My school has also become an English Specialized School, which is good news for me.  Prior to the certification my school doubted they'd have the money to retain me for next year.  However, with this certification comes a larger budget for English, and last week the principal asked me if I'd like to resign my contract.  I haven't decided what I'll do next year, but it is nice to have options.

Finally, another weekend has come and gone.  Nothing of substance really occurred, I only reaffirmed my my commitment to beer and sleeping.  I saw the movie 'Rango' with Nate and was not impressed, but it did get me out of my apartment for a few hours.


here are some pictures of our farewell faculty dinner:

Fran in the middle

Mr. Saw, hilarious teacher.  Moving to Seoul.