Let's start out by recapping my final days and weeks at ECC. While it was a difficult decision to make, I knew that while I love the job, I needed a change in environments. One of the hardest things to do was saying goodbye to my students. Some of these kids I treated like my own, especially Mikey as some of you know. A lot of these kids I had taught for over a year and have developed strong relationships with them. My middle school class was one of the classes I most-despised in the beginning, but they became one of my favorite classes in the end. Some students were probably glad to see me go (and I'm okay with that), and some were not so happy (which made me feel like I did something right). As for the teachers, I am really going to miss most of them. Especially the Korean teachers that I became really close with like Sue, Sun, Monica, and Ashley. ECC was an amazing first job. I whole-heartily admit that if I didn't have such a great experience, job, friends, and management during my first year, I would have probably would have called it quits, came back to America, and resumed my life there. Instead, I've discovered what I really want to do with my life and that is the biggest reward in itself.
Fast forward to last Friday night/Saturday morning. We went out for our farewell/moving to Seoul party at Millertime in our area and then downtown to say our last goodbyes (Note: these "goodbye" parties have been occurring for, oh, the past few weeks). Anyways, it turned into a pretty fun night that ended in my phone dying in my sleep and Katelyn sleeping through her alarm. We originally wanted to wake up at 5:30 am and get into Seoul by 10:00 am to get our apartments figured out. But, waking up at 8:15 am instead didn't really allow that unless we discovered a space ship. We got into Seoul around 1:00 pm and met our realtor where we got our apartment information settled. We spent all Saturday unpacking, picking up boxes we had sent to our job that we couldn't fit into our suitcase, and going to Lotte World (much like Walmart but 10x bigger) to pick up a few things we needed. The rest of the night was spent exhausted and calling it an early night.
Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday was spent training. It was nice to actually have training sessions, multiple orientations, and observations. It felt like a "real" job as opposed to ECC. It's nice to have proper training, disciplinary actions, and finally, to dress business-like. I have to wear suits everyday, be clean-shaven, just to name a few. We get observed once every month for our first three months, then after that, quarterly. I work six days a week. That's right. Six. I work split-shifts this month because I am teaching adults which range from business men and women, university students, and house wives. The classroom setting is a lot different than teaching children (obviously) and it's a lot to get used to. I really have to change my teaching style. The lesson plans are all planned out for you but sometimes it's difficult because it is too structured. I like my classroom to be flexible, available for more conversation because I believe having conversation is the best way to improve a student's English-speaking skills.
Right now, on average, I work from 6:40am - 10:00 am and 5:00 pm to 10:00 pm, depending on the day. Sometimes I will finish earlier on Fridays. Those are for classes on Monday and Wednesdays, too. Then on Tuesday and Thursdays, I will work from 6:40am - 12:00pm and 5:00pm - 8:00 pm. So, while the hours are awkward during the week, but at least I get my days to work on graduate school, go to the gym, and get other things done that I normally wouldn't at ECC. As for Saturdays, I work from 9:00am-6:00pm for an extra $200 every Saturday. So, the pay is going to be quite nice.
Enough about the job. Today is my day off and for the second year in a row, I've yet to celebrate America's birthday in the States. Last year, if you remember, we had a rooftop party, but this year the party was non-existent. So, Happy 4th of July everyone from Korea! I'm basically spending my day off relaxing, hanging out at the coffee shop, doing laundry, working out (later tonight), and preparing for this week's work.
The area (Gangnam) is wonderful! Everything is hustle and bustle and constantly moving! It's so busy! I haven't had a lot of time to travel around Seoul since I've moved here but I plan on doing that maybe in the near future, hopefully within a couple of weeks. I have yet to make in definite travel plans except coming to American in November (which, by the way, MOM AND DAD: We need to discuss the time and days of this because I've got tell my supervisor).
Well, I don't have much else to say. I hope everyone is doing well! I am doing great and I know that this move and job is going to be great personally and professionally! Talk to some of you soon!
