Short on the Deets

Its Day 14 and I just realized, after much continued and repetitive questioning, that I made a mistake- I didn’t fill you in on the deets (details for all you old folk) of my typical day.

I wake up bright and early :) (that is a fake smile, which is slightly hard to portray on the internet) at 6 am. WOOF. I roll out of bed and into the shower, which typically isn’t warm yet because the water heater is just heating up. Talk about waking up… I finish getting ready and make sure to NEVER expose my goodies or my shoulders. Although the Korean culture is big on pants so tight you forget how to truly take a deep breathe and high heels that will eventually lead to varicose veins, you are an outright whore if you even think about showing some shoulder or a millimeter of your chest.

Around 7:15, I take a stroll to the bus stop just 5 minutes away and wait for the number 20 bus. Since it is usually packed before I even get on, I find a place to hang on for dear life. As we run stoplights and turn until the bus almost tips, we arrive at more stops to pick up loads of people. Now I’m talking Mexican style here- they pack these things DEEP. The awkward butt rub is bound to occur, and if you’re sitting, you will definitely have someone else’s private parts staring you straight in the eye.

I get off at the Pyeongtaek outdoor market and run across the street to transfer to the 2-2 bus, which I ride until I arrive at Jangdang Middle School. If I’m lucky, one of my students will be on the bus with me. But bless his soul, the poor kid can’t speak a lick of English. So we just sit there awkwardly, basically pretending that we don’t even know each other.

After this 45 minute excursion, I arrive at school and begin lesson planning, checking email, or preparing for the day ahead. Mondays and Fridays are the worst- Mondays I teach all 3 grade levels, so I have to make sure that I’m prepared for the whole week and Fridays I teach the lowest level students, who basically just stare blankly, despite my extra-slow-I-just-added-an-extra-syllable-in-there speech.

Classes end at 3:10, but the students must stay at school until 4:30 (which, yes, means I must stay till then too… Thank you Mr. Vice Principal for being so kind). On Tuesdays and Thursdays, though, I am lucky enough to have an afterschool class, where I basically just play games with the children. Thursdays also include a “Mother’s Class”, which allows the parents of my students to learn English. Although I have not yet started these classes, I will teach the same material to the parents that I do to their children to enhance English conversations at home.

On a daily basis, other teachers will bring in vitamins or specialty drinks to boost your immune system and children run up to me in the halls just to tell me that I am so beautiful (talk about a confidence boost!). Lunch is always provided and thus far I can’t complain.

Making small talk in the hall way is monotonous- when you ask a child how he/she is doing, they ALL respond, as if they were robots, “I’m fine, thank you. And you.” Ugh it kills me. But I am slowly teaching them other responses. Oh and Thursdays (my favorite days), I always get a proposal from Eom Jae Ho. This week it was, “Teacher, if you wait 10 years I will be rich and then you can marry me. Just wait 10 years.” How adorable! And, of course, he’s my best student!

After school I do a reverse order of my bus route, with just as much awkwardness. Once Brandon gets home, we usually go out to dinner, as its dirt cheap here to eat some good cooking! And then hang around the house, watching movies, playing rummy, or just lounging, until these 2 old geezers pass out at 10pm.