New teachers and needing to make a decision...

Well we have 2 new teachers.  One came last week to replace Philip and one came this week to replace Andy.  Andy's last day is Wednesday. I am really sad to see him leave.  The kids cried when he told them he was leaving. The newest teacher is named Barbra.  She seems very nice, but she is a little jumpy.  I think she will get along with the kids well. She will be teaching Einstein with me. Right now I basically have 3 main classes.  Catie Teacher is too new to do much for Edison and Jocelyn Teacher is still settling in with Edison so I have been taking care of them this week especially since so many things were due for them. Also Edison and Columbus classes were on a TV show here in Korea. It will air this week and I am interested to see. Both Jocelyn and Edison class said it was dumb. I still want to know how it went. It was something to do with the science of shadows. 

Also I teach art to Davinci class and we had transportation as the topic. Well some how some of my students decided to draw me in their pictures. So I will share them with you. :)

This is Jennifer's drawing

This is Dana's drawing

This is Lumi's drawing

This is James's drawing

This is Jennifer's drawing colored in.

lol cute huh? Oh I love my babies even when they are brats.  Watching my friends leave is really hard and I know when I leave I am going to be a mess.  These kids have a way of wiggling into your heart and honestly in many ways I am like their parents.  I don't just teach them English. I play with them, I fix their booboos, I give them medicine, I wipe their butts, I teach them manners, and I feed them lunch and snack. See in many ways they are my kids and no matter how bad they are I really do love every single one of them.  I know the other teachers feel about the same. My boss has asked me to resign for another year. To be honest I haven't decided. To be honest I have mixed feelings about it. Oh course I miss everyone back home, but Korea has really become a second home for me. I really enjoy it here. I would love to see my Davinci class graduate (that wouldn't be till March 2014), but I don't know if I am willing to resign with my bosses.  Working where I work leaves a lot more to be desired to say the least, but I love my kids and to see them through would make me feel accomplished.  The only thing I know is I will be willing for sure to stay till this coming March to see Edison and Einstein through.  I have many things going on in my mind about this.  One of my friends would hate me if I resigned, because I could find a better job here in Korea, but they aren't my kids.  I know I sound crazy, but I have been teaching Davinci since their first day. I have watched them grow up and speak more and more English everyday! It is an amazing feeling to see that you had an impact.  Not only that but I know they love me too! Leaving any of my classes is going to kill me, but the bond I have with Davinci is different from the one I have with Edison or Einstein.  Don't get me wrong I love my kids and my favorite is in my Edison class. They all have a special place in my heart. Letting go will be hard. I know that, but the question is when will I have to say goodbye.  I have a lot more to consider before I make a final decision so my boss will need to wait awhile longer. 

Anyways this past week was my daddy's birthday! I posted this video of my new class singing to him on facebook, but I will post it here too! Happy Birthday again Daddy!!! I love you!!!

Well I have some more grading to do and some other things I need to finish up before work tomorrow! Besos!

So tired...

Well again it has been a busy week. I am super tired. I had 20 kids to phone teach for 10 minutes each. To say the least I had three 12 hour days. Friday we had Philip's going away party with Edison which I had them make cards.  Also we ate dinner with him.  Philip will be leaving on Tuesday morning so we will have dinner tomorrow night to say goodbye since we all have to work on Tuesday.  So we will have lost 3 teachers and only have gotten 1.  Her name is Katie. She seems nice, but she is fresh out of college so I am a little worried that she might struggle. Her friend is coming later this week, but next week we are losing Andy. Still leaving us 2 teachers down.  To be honest I am super tired, but I am afraid they will give Edison to Katie and to be honest I don't want that. Edison have trust issues with new teachers and I just don't see it going well. It took them 2 months for them to even start listening and about 4 before they were really well behaved for me. To be honest I rather them give me Edison over Einstein, but if anything I rather have 3 main classes then Katie taking them as main. She would be okay as secondary, but not main. Not until she has been teaching for a little bit. I really do worry, but I have no say in it.

Anyways we had birthday party on Friday.  So I had 3 from Davinci, 1 from Einstein and 1 from Edison. It was also Philip's birthday so we sang to him. :)

Alex, Kyra, and Emily from Davinci

Chennie and Emily

Emily is so unhappy

Chennie is so cute!

Blowing out candles.

Blowing out candles

oh Davinci

I love Alex!

Cute Emily

Silly Kyra

Happy Birthday!

Aiden and Emily. She hates it!

Aiden was talking to me.

Philip, Emily and Jocelyn Tr.

Aaron and Chennie

Marie Tr, Chennie and I

The goodbye cake I got Philip for his goodbye party with Edison

Also this weekend I went to a baseball game for the Doosan Bears.  It was a lot of fun and interesting.  So back home baseball teams are from different states, but in Korea they are different companies.  Doosan is a construction company. They have the LG Twins. So it is interesting and all the jerseys have the company names on it.  It made me laugh. Oh and fans here are really organized and crazy.  Each team has their own announcers and dancers that dance on a stage. I have some video and pictures.  I am off to bed. I am super tired! Besos!

snacks in Korea lol

A guy selling beer from a Keg in his backpack. They had a coffee one too!

Busy week...

Well this week has been very busy. Last Sunday we lost two teachers and we don't have new teachers yet so it has been a very busy week for me. I gained a new Kindy class called Einstein. They seem to like me and I know this because they come up to me and tell me they love me and that they don't want me to leave. I feel this happens because I am their first female foreign teacher they have every had. They are pretty good kids and speak English well. They are a seven year old class in their second year of learning English. They are one year less then Edison and one year above Davinci. They don't like that I teach my other classes.  In fact to be honest none of my students are happy that I teach other classes.  I see Einstein the most and Davinci the least.  Getting a new classes is really stressful and I have no time to rest. I am always running around trying to get things done in my classes. I also am having to pick up where one teach left off and Matt and I teach differently. So I am dealing with transitioning what Matt did with them and how I teach. I am keeping somethings that Matt did and doing things that I do as well, because I am me and not Matt. It is really hard. Einstein is nice but I love my other kids more. I don't say that to be mean, but I don't have a bond with Einstein yet.  Davinci and Edison are kids I have had since I started teaching.

Other then that we have workshop coming up so I am running around trying to get things ready for it since I have 3 of the seven classes.  Philip is leaving next week. He teaches Edison with me and I am sad to see him leave. To be honest I am not ready to say goodbye again.  It is hard because it is still surreal that Matt and Kevin are gone. It feels like they are just sick and were out for the week. At other times though because this week was so busy it feels like they have been gone for a long time.  It is really weird.  Davinci on Monday cried with me because they realized Kevin Tr. isn't coming back. I felt really bad for them.  They were poorly behaved this week especially for Leah who basically took over for Kevin. I hope they warm up to her soon because I don't have enough time to take care of Davinci and all my other classes. I had to go control them so much this week and she feels bad that she has to interrupt my class to help her.  I wish they would listen. I feel bad for my Edison class too because they went from seeing me all the time to once or twice a day. They keep asking me why and I told them I am not teaching Einstein and I can tell they are jealous. It has been a really down week and all of the teachers are really tired. This week I have 20 students to phone teach so they next 4 nights I will be staying late to phone teach. I'm not looking forward to it, but I have to do it.  Anyways I should head to bed so I am not tired tomorrow! I hope everyone has a good week! Besos!

So many tears and saying goodbye...

I'm not going to lie, this post is going to be sad. It is currently 11:40pm on Sunday Sept. 2, 2012.  I just got home from taking 2 of my friends to the airport. They have finished their contract and now are going home. Kevin who was my co teacher for Davinci is going back to Scotland and was here for 12 months.  Matt is going back to England and was here for 20 months. I found out on Thursday that I will be getting one of Matt's classes called Einstein.  I have taught them before when I combined them with Edison to teach art, but not actual work. They are a smart class so I am not too worried. This means I will have 2 main classes now and 1 secondary meaning I will have a lot more work.  It is going to get worse though because the main teacher for Edison is leaving in 2 weeks meaning I will have 3 main classes. We are supposed to get a new teacher, but I am not sure when that will be.  On top of this I will have 5 main Elementary classes. Needless to say I'm not going to be sleeping anytime soon.

This week has been really hard. I had to say goodbye to my friends, but I also had to have my Davinci kids say goodbye to Kevin.  It was really hard not to cry, because Kevin really loves those kids. It killed him to say goodbye and I am not sure they will understand until tomorrow comes and there is no Kevin Tr. I am really worried about them and now with another class I will even see them less. I will be spending most of my time with Einstein and I wonder how they will take to me.

On Friday, Emily from my Edison class, got stung by a bee on the bus.  The bus lady took her to the Korean Tr and Emily hugged her, but as soon as she saw me she clung to me.  She cried so hard and her hand was swollen.  Jocelyn Tr tried to take her so she could calm her down Emily just cried harder.  Marie Tr. tried to take her from me and she screamed.  In the end they let her stay with me. They wanted to take her so I could teach Aiden, but since she wouldn't let anyone touch her I just told Aiden to start his writing while I held her.  Now Emily got an ice pack and held it against my back and neck for 15 minutes.  I finally got her to stop crying then Jocelyn Tr. brought the phone so she could talk to her mom and she just started crying all over again.  In the end she went home with her grandma.  Poor baby she really was in pain.  I was so surprised that she wanted to stay with me, but I then realized that she only trusts Philip and I so unless it was Philip trying to take her she wouldn't let go.  I mean Emily had her legs wrapped around me and wasn't letting go for anything.  She was so afraid that I was going to leave, when I sat down and asked her to move her legs.  It wasn't till I told her that I wasn't going to let her go that she did what I wanted.

I am worried about how tomorrow is going to go. Also I am sure Edison is not going to be happy they have to share me with Einstein now. They don't like that I am with Davinci and now I see them very little. I am super worried.

Today was my twin's wedding!!! Congratulations to the happy couple! I am so sad I missed it, but lucky enough my mom and sister went in my place so I got a couple of pictures and even sent a short video message to them.

They look so beautiful!

Anyways, I ate dinner with Matt Friday night, Saturday night and we ate at the airport for the last time.  It was really hard and one thing I didn't prepare for when I left home was having to say goodbye here.  My chances of seeing these people when we leave is very slim and it really makes me said.  They are my family here and we are always together.  These goodbyes were some of the hardest I have ever had to say. So I will end with the video of Davinci saying goodbye to Kev and pictures of the last few night and even the one from the airport. On a happier note Happy Birthday to my sorority sister Ale!!! Have a wonderful day!!! Anyways, I am off to try to sleep and hopefully not cry anymore. Besos!

Blowing out the candles.

Saying goodbye to the class.

Looking at the book that Davinci, Lucy and I made for Kev.

Team Davinci

Matt is behind me and Kev is across from me

At the airport