5.

When I woke up this morning I planned on writing my 5 month anniversary blog post while desk warming (which was a "maybe" all day task) but I never got the chance.

Shocking I know. I was at school for over eight hours and I was fairly busy the whole time (I add fairly because some time I just stood/sat while everyone else spoke in Korean and I waited).

I'll back up. I haven't been to school in two weeks because I had teacher training for seven days and then I was on vacation for three of them. The training was good but it would've been more helpful if I had a training when I first got here. I did enjoy learning new activities to do with the students and meeting all of the new teachers. It was also nice to get away from the school for awhile, it was like a breath of fresh air to be around so much English. Vacation on the other hand, was full of me sleeping and eating because I got another nasty cold. I think my body knew I had a few days off and decided to stop fighting.

I came into school today knowing the following: it is a new school year, there is a new principle, I have two new CTs, and that I "maybe" won't have classes. When I walked down my hall I was greeted by the two 2nd graders (now 3rd graders) that came to my winter camp. The rest of the new 3rd graders watched me walk by with big eyes, some were even brave enough to say hello. I noticed the kids seemed to get smaller - then I saw that the classrooms were changed! Last year I walked down the 4th grade hall to get to my room and now I pass some 3rd and 2nd grade classrooms.

When I reached the end of the hall I noticed the English "experience" room (that I have been in once) was open. Inside was one of my new CTs. She is a mom of two of my students and has been teaching English for the last 6 years. Her English is great and she seems very sweet. Since she has been teaching for so long she expects A LOT more out of me, which is going to take some time getting used to. I am a little nervous at the thought of leading a 40 minute class by myself for every 6th grade class but she promises she will help manage the classes.

So how did I spend all of my time? 70% on waygook.com looking up teaching ideas for this week. 10% listening to various meetings in Korean. 10% hearing about my new role. 10% moving the new CT into her room. Good thing I had made my introduction powerpoint on vacation or else I wouldn't be ready for tomorrows classes.

My large silver lining is that the CT I share my classroom with is still my CT and she wants to take coffee breaks with me this year.

Flexibility continues to be key when teaching in Korea. Hopefully I'll have more time to update this week. Bless friends.