Being a teacher is hard work!

Well, I survived teacher initiation. Last week, I got to experience the dreaded Open Class. While this is a stressful event for any teacher, my school decided to go over the top with it. The middle school I work at is a model school for English education, which means that they have an experimental program different from most of the schools here. Friday was the culmination of 12 months of this experimental program. Over 300 people were invited to come and watch/evaluate the English teachers teaching, followed by a big presentation of the research and a question/answer session with Koreans, as well as myself. They also video taped my class to send to the City Education Office. We created our lesson plans two weeks ago and spent the entire week practicing, preparing, fixing, and working on the lesson. On Thursday, the entire student body was commissioned to clean every inch of the school. Pretty much, I was more nervous than I had been in a long time.

 Friday came.

 I still had three other classes that morning, but I wasn't really paying attention during them. Finally it was time to start the open class. The video camera was on, people were crowding into the back of my classroom and there were about 4 people with huge cameras taking pictures. And it went alright. I did manage to completely forget about a section of dialogue that I was supposed to go over with the students, but in the end, I think it went pretty well. My co-teacher actually told me that she got a lot of complements on how confident my voice sounded. She then told me I should be nervous more often…Apparently I speak better when I am nervous. After the class ended, I was ushered to the gym for the big presentation of reports and the question/answer time. I was paying attention to every word spoken during that two hour presentation, and it was all in Korean. I just kept thinking that if I zoned out, it would be right then that they would switch to English and start asking me questions. Luckily, it never happened. Because they went over on time, my question/answer time got cut. They all apologized, but it was completely fine with me. :) It really doesn't bother me to talk in front of a class of students, but it is much different in front of an assembly of 300 people, most of whom are English teachers or city officials.

I also went hiking this weekend on Tae Hwa San Mountain . As a result, I came away having learned that hiking in America and hiking in Korea is very different;  especially when done with Koreans.
  1.  All Koreans hike. Really. It does not matter what age you are.
  2.  A full hiking outfit is a must. Only long pants are acceptable. And very tractioned shoes.
       And high socks. Oh, and also a vest if you have one. If you do not have adequate hiking
       clothes, it is obvious that you are not a real hiker. Guess who wore capris, short socks
       and regular tennis shoes...oh right. Me.
  3.  Koreans run up and down the mountain. Again, age makes no difference. And this is a
       literal one. You could even use the word prance. One of the men I hiked with on Sunday
       literally pranced up and down the mountain at top speed.
  4.  There is no point in gradually rising paths, paths that lead straight up or straight down the
       mountain are best. It is even better if they are rocky or all sand.
  5.  Do not slip or fall at any time, because your fellow hikers will spend the rest of the hike
       saying “slow” or “careful” over and over and over and over. Then they will give you a
       walking stick that is taller than you are, which actually just makes things more difficult.
  6.  It is apparently poisonous snake season. Or at least that is what the Koreans said.
  7.  Smurf (little blue guys) is pronounced “Smop” by Koreans. This will save you from a five
       minute conversation where you try to figure out what a “Smop” is.

It was actually a really fun experience. And the mountains are beautiful during fall. Looking out from the top of the mountain, it was the first time I realized that Cheonan is really in the country, even though it seems like a pretty big city.