New Term

I was the first person in the building today. Nice and quiet!

I have discovered that people are finding my blog when they are deciding if they should come to Korea. Almost all of my posts show the great things about life here. (It really is great here!) Lately, things haven't been going well at work and I think I should blog about this as well. Aran is a very professional place to work. My boss is kind and helpful. We get paid on time. Yet, when in Korea, you have to expect the unexpected at any time. Korean school year starts in March. The new term brought many changes for me. I lost my co-teacher Anushca. She went back home to South Africa to get married and I have a new teacher Monica. She is fabulous. She is hard working and speaks both Korean and English. This has been so helpful. Last term, I had two immersion classes that were two hours each and one elementary class that was also two hours. I came midway through the year and the children were set in their routines and it was very easy for me to catch on. Now, it is the beginning of the year and immersion changed to an after school type program. I got switched to teaching a 4 year old class, two classes of 5's, a two hour elementary class, and one 80 min. immersion class that is now after school. All the classes are fine except for the immersion after school class. I have never had a problem with classroom management. At most, there is always one student that is challenging. In the past, I have had a child threaten to "cut up my pretty little things." I have had a child throw himself down on the floor crying every single day for a month. Teaching young people is hard, but I am capable. Now, I am lost. I have no respect from this class. One kid growls at me; the girls sit in groups and gossip in Korean; one is sleeping; one is staring out the window; one tries to hide up in the loft. Keep in mind they are only 5 years old. I hate this part of my day. I hate it sooooo much. It has to get better, but they don't have routines and have limited English ability They are tired of school and are telling their parents that they hate English. I can't do amazing things with them because of my management problems. My boss had a talk with me and at this school that is a very very bad thing. It is making my decision to come home an easier one. I can't wait to have my own classroom again. I will be able to communicate with parents face to face either directly or through a translator and not through my boss hours or days later. I just can't convey how frustrating the last two weeks have been. I will keep you posted on my progress. Just believe me, Korea is not always rainbows and butterflies!