Catching Up in Seoul
We saw old friends!
Our friends Chante and William from CEV were oh so kind to store some of our stuff from our apartment last year, so last weekend they made the trek up to Incheon to give us two of our suitcases. We spent Friday night in Incheon and tried out a place called Grasshopper for some food and a couple of brewskies. This place has the coolest entrance with a mural on the outside of the doors. It looks almost secretive. When we went in, it was around Midnight:30 and there were only two other people inside. It was fairly small and dark but had colored lights and stuffed animals in some areas...typical Korea, ha! After a lot of catching up, we went back to the apartment where we have no furniture except a bed, so we sat on the floor and played one of our new board games, Cash 'N Guns - so much fun!
In the morning, we headed off to Seoul to meet up with two of our other friends from last year, Hannah and Madison! We had SO much fun catching up and walking around the city. Chante and William wanted to show us a bit of their home so we had an incredible South African Braai (barbecue) for lunch. We tried some S.A. beer, a Springbokkie shot (that tasted like an Andes mint!), and multiple platters of glorious, glorious meat! I loved it so much and will definitely be trying to find more South African food from now on.
After lunch, we went bowling! This one was not a Rock'n Bowl with club music and neon lights, but a rather typical bowling alley that you would see in the States, but much cleaner and much smaller. After I crushed them with my mad bowling skillz, (you were so close, Hannah!) we headed out and went back to the hostel to relax. We of course went for some Korean BBQ later that night and then out to a chill bar with darts and lovely drinks. We had intended for a big fun night out, but half of us had only been back in Korea for a week so the jet lag was still kicking our butts come 10 PM. It wasn't very long before we were back in the hostel snoozing away.
We started our first week teaching!
We work from 2-10 PM but are able to leave at 9 every day since all of the English teachers are finished. Each teacher has a different schedule so it keeps it interesting, but on average we all teach about five classes a day. For all of those who think we didn't work last year, you're right...we didn't. But this year we definitely have more to do and I am actually very excited! We work with the same students all semester, and have kids ranging from 7-14 years old. My lowest level is two 7 year old boys who are a bit energetic. I am teaching them the alphabet. In my highest level class, we are learning about pollution and the environment! They are all so sweet and overall my students are great. Luke is happy with his classes with the exception of one of them which is a bit crazy. It's his first class MWF so he's at least able to get it out of the way first thing.
Overall, we are pleased with the school and the program. Our bosses are amazing and the staff are all very nice. But the first week was a bit hectic when it came to organization. We were getting our materials and books (digital copies only) anywhere from an hour before class to 10 minutes into class. From finding board markers and HDMI cords to figuring out which classroom you are in and what students still need their books! We made it through though and I'm sure it will only get better now that materials have been passed out and we've had a full week to figure things out.
On to week two!
