juice

So I thought I might run you all through a typical day in my life.  Despite today being my slacker day, as well as juice day, I think it bears enough resemblance to regular life to warrant the title "a day in the life."

Generally I wake up at 6:40 am.  I'm supposed to be at school at 8:10.  Why I'm supposed to be there at this time is a mystery to me.  School doesn't start until 8:50 and I don't really have a whole lot to do before school.  Every other English teacher I know (including all the teachers at Jordan's two schools) don't have to be at school until 8:30.  And even when I come "late" at 8:20 or so, most of the teachers aren't here.  I'm starting to suspect that Ms Park comes at 8:10 and for some reason thinks I should to.  I have plans to casually come later and later every day.

After breakfast of cinnamon toast and PG tips (the only tea I like, carried to Korea all the way from England in a giant box), I get on the  bus at 7:37.  I then sit on the bus for about 40 minutes.  I take this bus, not because it' fast (there are much faster ones) but because it takes me right from my door to the school door (although it took me several weeks to realize that the bus went down the school street and I used to walk a few blocks).  And it's the bus they told me take and gets me to school late; I figure it's nicer to sit on the bus then sit at my desk (on the bus I can iPod it up).

I get to school at the aforementioned time of 8:20 and then sit around for a while, checking me email, doing some stalking on facebook, maybe updating my status so that everyone can know what I'm up to that morning.  I generally always have class first period (although it's true that at least twice a week my classes happen at different times than it says on my schedule, unfortunately they aren't often canceled they just happen at later times.  I think this might be because the teachers are going on outings and need to rearrange their classes so all the free time is in a chunk.)  In class I often work right out of the (extremley dull) textbook.  Mostly we are doing listen and repeat excercises so that all the students can learn to talk like me.  Generally these are so dull that I fall asleep and start randomly changing the words, much to everyone's confusion (like when I called Jane a he, or read 'student' instead of 'earthquake').  I always claim that I am testing them (apparently people really do this, so I guess I'm okay).  Sometimes I try and make the lesson more exciting by saying 'shampoo' as ridiculously as possible, or trying to get the students to say "I can't believe it" like they really mean it.  Sometimes if I can make a connection I show a movie from youtube or do a crossword puzzle.

On Monday's and Tuesday's I work with Miss Doo and the first years.  This week Miss Doo wanted to play a game, so we played "My Hopes and Dreams" Bingo. Everyone was very excited about it, so much so that they didn't want class to end.  I gave out candy prizes, which I think is what the big excitment was all about.  I think my students are some of the best behaved middle schoolers in the country.  They don't seem particularily well behaved, but from the stories I've heard from others, I think they must be impressive.  Although I was a  bit annoyed with one boy who thought copying words off a list was too difficult and tried to copy his neighbor's sheet.  He was then annoyed with me when I told him he had to copy off the other sheet, not his neighbor's.

This afternoon's class was topped off by the arrival of a small snow flurry, which I think out manuvered bingo for most-exciting-thing-to-be-happening-at-that-moment.  While I'm sitting here we are still enjoying a small falling of snow.

When I'm not in class, I'm generally sitting at my desk "working" on things.  Sometimes I do actually work making plans for next class.  I generally do most of my school planning on Tuesday (today) because I have about a four hour break in the middle of the day.  I have to plan about 3.75 activities.  Some of the classes are in somewhat the same place, so I do something of the same thing.  For one of my classes I still haven't found where my co-teacher's office is, so I just wing that one (meaning I show up and ask the kids what page in the book they're on, then we play some hangman).

I also have cafeteria lunch everyday, and I get to sit at the special teacher's table.  We even have our own place to get food.  I prefer to go before the actual lunch hour since it's seriously loud when the students are there, but none of the teachers really talk during lunch anyway (although I have a few fans who get excited when I come in for lunch and ask me lots of questions and try and get me to hold my chopsticks the right way).  Today, however, I didn't eat lunch as I'm just drinking my juice in an effort to let my digestive system rest.  However, in the afternoon we are often given tasty treats and today is no different.  I have sitting next to me a tasty rice cake, the best kind of rice cake Miss Doo says, and I'm determining if it counts as juice.  I fear that I will have to take it home for Jordan.

I leave school at exactly 4:30 everyday, if it's getting close to 4:30 (like 4:27) and I haven't left yet, Miss Kim who sits next to me tells me I should go.  Today I'll probably sneak out a few minutes early so I can catch an earlier bus home.

Once home I generally make juice and have dinner, we go out frequently because there are lots of tasty and cheap restaurants around.  Tonight though I will just have juice.  At that point any kind of entertainment might proceed, knitting, movies, Harry Potter, the Sims...And then around 9:30 it's time for bed.

So as you can see, I really do lead a thrilling life.