You Got to be Kidding Me

I am still observing - 3 classes scheduled for today and hopefully a medical check at some point since I wasn't able to eat since 12 last night. Yesterday, I was able to open a bank account and apparently, you earn interest in Korea if you have over $50 in your account, not the case in Japan. I did find out yesterday that I get shafted - yes, that's the best word - when it comes to vacation. According to the contract, I get 14 days of vacation including weekends. For the summer session, all the teachers get a three day break plus the weekend so there is five days. Then, after six months, you get to take another week off. I was thinking the five workdays plus the weekend for a total of seven. My math was wrong. Apparently, you include the weekend before and the weekend after your day off for a total of - nine. Nine plus five, there is your fourteen days off which is only eight actually work days. Needless to say, I was not very happy.

Anyway, as far as the job is concerned, it does not seem that difficult. I have to arrive every day by 2 pm and cannot leave until 10 pm, no exceptions. According to a teacher I spoke with yesterday, the Korean teachers are not allowed to fraternize with the native English speakers due to some problems in the past, if you catch my drift. I will be teaching two different classes and have a total of four books to teach from. The first part of the lesson is attendance and review. Then we go in to a bit of reading and writing following that. And, that is a typical lesson. There is still a bit I have yet to learn but feel confident that I could teach a class right now. In Japan, we were there a day and a half and were thrown into our first lesson.

As of now, I am just biding my time until the actual teaching begins. There really isn't a lot I can do at the moment, except perhaps look at my books. However, I have a feeling I will be able to do a bit of that tomorrow. I still do not know exactly when I will be moving in to my new apartment, hopefully Sunday. Again, the communication has been far from spectacular. So, I just continue to sit in the computer lab, by myself, with little to do except listen to music and check up on the Flyers.