An Epic Avalonian Adventure: A Year in Korea

This past Tuesday the end of my fourth semester, yes, a whole year in Korea. It's nice to know I can actually hold down a job for a full year, if I choose to do so. And, it's nice to know I'm doing a good job. With that being said, it was a bit of a sad day. Two of my coworkers finished their contracts, one, Liz, is the Korean teacher I had sat next to in the office for the past year and the other, Jen, the only foreign female teacher. I've built a relationship with both of them the past year and I am going to miss them in the upcoming months. We went out after work to say goodbye to the old teachers and welcome the new teachers; so, I'm waiting to get some more of Spenser's photos so I can put a few of those up.

The schedule this semester, is hectic, to say the least, well, at least compared to what I have done in the past. I'll be teaching four classes on Monday and Friday, ranging from 9 year olds just starting to learning English to our highest level students. Wednesdays, I'll have the same schedule but stay until 10 teaching the kids preparing to enter Cheongshim Middle School, the premier Middle School in Korea. So, Wednesdays will be a long day. Tuesdays and Thursdays look good and perhaps the best news, Katrina will be starting at my school in the middle of July. So, that will be exciting.

Not much else is happening. I hope you enjoy the pictures of the kiddos. No major plans coming up, just waiting for Katrina to show up. I might do a hike or two here or there. Spenser and I are going to do a raw food, juice, and master cleanse diet this month - that's my monthly challenge. Hope everyone is doing well. Take care!

(Liz and myself)

(Myself and Jen)

(Last class on Tuesdays and Thursdays this past semester. I had all of the students, except one, before. So, I had a relationship with all the students. It was a fantastic class, my favorite of the semester for sure.)

(It was my third semester teaching Brian. A good student but an even better child.)

(Kristin and Thomas in the front with Sandy, grinning in the background)

(Ryan in the front, followed by Mary and R.P.T., and Sally and Brain in the back. R.P.T. stands for Raccoon Panda Terrious, a name the student gave himself because he has deep dark circles around his eyes and says he looks like a panda. Second semester with him and he was a blast with his off the wall comments. Nice Shot!)

(Ryan and Nichole. Nichole was a fantastic student and scored a 100% on almost all of her Reading Questions.)

(Thomas2 and Sandy. A lot of the students have the same name so we have a 1 and a 2.)

(This was my second class on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Not quite sure how to describe them. I think the toughest part of teaching them was never knowing what I was going to get. It wasn't like they were always bad and it wasn't like they were always good.)

(Sony, the class clown, well one of them, smiling)

(This was my first class on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Except for one student, they were a wonderful class. There's Jack, Justin, Oz, Paul, Kevin, Lucy, Stella, Annie, Christina, Julia, May, and Dina from right to left.)

(Annie in the front with Christina turning her back. Julia was behind Annie. Julia was a fantastic student and always had a smile on her face.)

(Ha. Ohhhh Paul. My third semester teaching Paul. He's a good kid but always tries to push his boundaries, to see if he can get away with something. As much as he was a pain at times, I did enjoy having him in class.)