I was told to take the train to Dugye Station. It was a 2-hour ride from Seoul and someone was supposed to meet me at the station. I didn't know what to expect. Would there be a brass band? Would all the teachers turn out with confetti and balloons? Would it be an old man with my name written on a sign? It turned out it was nothing. Zip. I waited for 30 minutes wondering what the hell kind of people would forget their new teacher. Luckily the taxi driver knew where the school was.
They apologized once (not enough) and introduced me. There are three other foreigners - all guys from Canada. They're a good bunch but they love to tell scary stories of violence and American-hating Koreans. But I've grown used to Canadians telling me how much everyone hates America, even though I've rarely seen it in my travels.
I had two days of training where I went to class with the current teachers. Five minutes into the first class teacher handed it to me and left - walked out. Baptism by fire. But it wasn't a problem and I taught almost every class those two days. Then I was required to teach a lesson to the teachers acting as 8-year olds. I put Nathan in the corner for bad behavior.
The Korean kids are excellent. They have just enough attitude to make things interesting, they aren't shy, and you don't have to pull teeth to get them to speak. In fact, I had several coming up to me and shouting "Who are you?" Yesterday was my first real day and my classes were packed with students with nicknames like Giggles, Nike, Bedhead, Bill Gates, Adidas, Jay Leno, SARS, Cruella, Pencil, Boss, and Downtown. Yes, they pick these names themselves.
I'll tell you about my town and apartment soon...
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