March snow

I think it's currently the "Winter is Jealous of Spring" season in Korea. For a week or so, the weather was warm, sunny and extremely pleasant after the many days of below freezing temperatures this winter.

Then suddenly this happened:

And then 2 or 3 days later...

...all the snow was gone again.

Staying late at work

I left work around 8:20 pm today.

It's not the first time I've left work that late. I've been leaving work late since I first started teaching.

I was just thinking about how I feel differently about working late now than I did at my elementary school.

I think one of the things that really got to me was the emphasis on looking busy at my elementary school. The reason I work late is to get work done early. It sounds almost like an oxymoron, but if I get my planning and materials finished on Monday night, then I can relax the rest of the week. That should be the way it is, right? Not so in my elementary school. I was always busy for some reason. While other teachers were watching Korean dramas, I was planning, making materials, grading, etc. I don't know why I was so busy. Many other Native English Teachers were bored to tears.

But then again, I understood when other teachers would make a big show about how stressed or busy they were. They often made sure everyone knew when they weren't feeling well. Looking busy was more important than effectively doing work. Not to say that they weren't actually very busy. The newer and younger the teacher, the more work that teacher would have. But that didn't stop them from having enough time to watch movies and TV shows during preparation time.

At this new job, the other lecturers are often gone right after their classes are finished. It's really nice to see.

I want to do a good job and I like that my primary objective is to do a good job and not to just look like I'm doing a good job. I would be at work much later than the other teachers at my elementary school and performed beyond my responsibilities in my classes, but if I wasn't in the office 20 minutes early for my first class, they'd make sure I knew that they had been watching the clock. In fact, they would constantly tell me that I was perfect... *except* for me being late. But, perhaps this is my own childishness, I didn't understand why it was so important for me to be there so early when I had everything prepared and ready. My co-teachers would tell me they were nervous I would be absent even though I've always given them as advanced notice as possible when I knew I'd be absent from being sick. I think the biggest reason they're nervous, particularly my two newest co-teachers, was because I did all the planning and they just went along for the ride. It's their own responsibility to co-plan with me, yet they didn't.

But I'll stop complaining because it wasn't that bad. I did get quite irritated from time to time, more so during my last semester than the first. I actually decided to leave because I could feel them trying to bully me into doing things that were not my responsibility, even though I was already doing much more than I was obligated to do for them. My new co-teacher even told me, "If you want to stay at this school, then you must do the after school program." The thing was - they wanted me to stay. I would have wanted to stay as well if it wasn't for the stressful and alienating atmosphere that developed in the last semester. (And there I just complained again! Haha. Oops.)

At my new job, I still want to do a good job... and get better. I like that my responsibility is to my students, not to putting up a front to please my co-workers or the administrators.

In any case, I'm finished all my major planning and preparing for this week. I usually do end up tweaking things here and there, but I'm so happy that I won't be punished for getting work done early any more.

My first day ... again.

As my first day at my new job came to a close, most (not all) of my nervousness had passed. I'm feeling hopeful and so thankful for all the blessings I've received coming to Korea and even before then.

My students are much older now, but still adorable in a very different way. I'm looking forward to seeing them grow in their English skills and in their characters through the semester.

And perhaps even more than that, I'm looking forward to seeing myself grow even further. One thing I've learned through teaching is that I may be the "teacher," but I have so very much to learn from my "students."

I'm filled with hope today.