Day 77 March 4 Wednesday
11 weeks
Today was my first day taking a new way to school. I got on the subway at Eung-am staion on line 6 which is less than a 10 min walk from my officetel. I stayed on line 6 for about 4-5 stops then got off at my stop Gusan. I didn’t have to do any transfers! On the way home I go to the Gusan station and my stop, Eung-am is the next stop over.
I finally got a bed!! I have never been so happy to get a bed. Last night was painful! The bed will still be painful though because their beds are hard as a rock. As soon as I get paid I am getting a memory foam mattress pad. It will be worth the investment in the long run. I might also get a firmer pillow.
Now I’m still missing my transformer. Guess I’ll be going to school with dirty hair in a ponytail. I can’t dry my hair without my transformer (the hairdryer is 110 volts and I’m not buying a hair dryer). If he lost my transformer I’ll make him get me a new one because he and the other guy were the ones who were in charge of bring my luggage over to my apartment. MK said he will call his coworker and see if its at his house since he is the person who brought my stuff over in his car.
I went out to lunch with one of the Korean elementary teachers. We went to mcdonalds. Then she helped me get some medicine at the pharmacy. I’ve had a cough for the past 2 days. I got ten pills for 1,500 which is about one dollar. I have to take the pills with a meal. 2 pills 3 times a day. I’m not coughing as much so that’s good.
I have to meet MK in Nokbeon on Friday at 2pm to get a bank account. I already have one but schools around here are particular about what bank they want to use and they do direct deposit.
Next Tuesday March 10 I have to go to Uijeongbu at 1pm to cancel my Visa with Avalon. I don’t know what time I will get back to the school. I have class at 4:10. It’s a long distance to go from Eung-am to Uijeongbu. I don’t know how long the visa cancellation process will take. I wanted to do it earlier in the day but 1pm was the earliest they could do it. After I cancel it I can apply for another visa and I’ll have to go to Japan to get it. I just hate that I won’t be able to spend much money in Japan because I don’t have much. Yuck! I’ll just have to take lots of pictures and buy one souvenir.
Today was the day when I was only going to have 3 classes. Then I found out that one of the classes didn’t have any students so I wouldn’t be teaching it. I wonder if they will ever get any students in that class this semester. It’s the highest level. I only had 2 classes. I didn’t start teaching till 7:10 and I was done at 8:45. I like it! Next week I have to teach the classes I would have taught on Monday on Wednesday. So next Wednesday I will have 4 classes. Then the next week I’ll go back to 2 classes if they don’t get anyone in the highest level. So far I have 32 students. I teach every level. I haven’t met my students in 2 levels. I’ll meet them on Wednesday.
I had 6 students in all today. In my first class there was one boy. He’s in the 10th level which is the highest level right now. I don’t think he understood me when I asked him what grade he was in. He just looked at me. He does a good job of speaking and reading. He knew how to answer all the questions. After class the Korean teacher asked me how he was and I said that he did good. And she said “really?” I asked “Why do you think he is bad?” She said he was shy and wouldn’t talk in class. I told her he talked every time I asked him to. He answered the questions, read the passages and even got all the answers right. Maybe he is just shy in her class. I don’t know.
My last class was good. They all participated and grasped the concepts. There were 5 students and they were all in 6th grade. They are in the 8th level.
Tomorrow I will have 5 classes. I will teach speaking in 3 classes and writing in 2 classes. Same students that I saw on Tuesday.
My laundry is broken. That’s what MK calls it. I call it a washing machine. Anyway someone from maintenance is coming to fix it at 1pm tomorrow.
I went to Emart tonight to go shopping. Emart is literally right in front of my officetel. Very short walk. I like Emart. I think they have a bigger selection than home plus and I’ve heard the prices are better. They have 7 levels of shopping in Emart. You can get from one level to another by an escalator without stairs. They have B1-level 6. Everything you need is in Emart. It’s like Walmart except 10 times bigger. I found a 1.5 liter bottle of Mountain Dew at Emart. That’s the first place I’ve seen a bottle. Their bottles are 1.5 not 2 liters. I was curious. I tasted it when I got home. It doesn’t have the same sweet taste as back in America.
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