Korean Job Discussion Forums

[tonyvu]

Can anyone recall what it was like the very first day of class/work? I searched for this topic but maybe the keywords weren't there. I, and probably others who haven't started, would like to know the emotions and experiences that everyone here has gone through. Any advice on what to expect and what one should do on Day 1 would be helpful...

[sheba]

Day one... I show up to work, everyone is very awkward and shy, there is no prep so i sit around twiddling my thumbs... the bell rings and i am given some books and told good luck... i had to ask where the classroom was, the age and level of the students etc the teachers didnt help me at all - not that they didnt want to but were just too shy to talk to me at that stage... I had no idea what the hell to do and it was that way all week!! I was so nervous... I taught each class once a week, so it was day one all over again with the students... after a couple weeks I got into a routine though and it just gets better from there. I was pretty exhausted by the evening just because I had adrenaline (nerves) running all day... But the start of a job is fine, students are so well behaved... once they get used to you theyll start testing the waters though!! (expect that after about 5 classes together).

First day should just be about introductions... the students will probably be very shy too and may not say a single thing all class. If youre from a different country than the previous teacher, they may not understand your accent either, and even if they do understand they might be too shy to follow any instructions..... You could start by telling them about your family, your country, your life back home etc but remember to talk slowly and clearly. You can compare your country with korea, size population etc... Draw pictures on the board to help them understand, kids love that.

For example, Im from NZ so I drew both countries to show size difference (students laughed at my pictures too which lightens the mood), then a stick figure and the population. Students over there dont seem to know a lot about the rest of the world so they were pretty amazed to see than NZ is 3 times the size with less than one tenth the population... my parents are farmers so I drew pictures of each kind of animal they have and how many there are... korea certainly isnt an agricultural country so they seemed to find that interesting. I drew my house (they all live in small apartments), I told them we have 4 seasons which are opposite to korean seasons... they just seemed amazed at how different everything was. I compared students lives, giving basic timetables... they couldnt believe we didnt go to hagwons after school or have tutoring and that we played so much sport.... Just remember to keep it simple, use pictures and number, and throw in a game or 2.... Anyway, it worked well for me.

You could also give students English names... maybe take some photos to pass around of you from back home, take some cards, maybe you can teach them a simple card game, or with bigger classes, play some games like hangman. It can be a very long lesson when the students just sit there and say nothing so youll have to go prepared!

Good luck with your first day!! Let us know how it goes...

[nomad-ish]

i arrived at the airport sunday evening, and was originally told that my co-teacher would be picking me up to take me to my apartment. instead, a cabbie with a sign and absolutely no english took my bags and started off with them... i waved to the other foreigner from my flight to follow, because the cabbie didn't realize there were 2 names on his sign.

anyways, during the long cab ride we tried to talk to the cabbie to figure out where we were going. no luck, then we arrived at a hotel and were dropped off really quickly. so we checked in, saw a few other foreign teachers in the hallways and were told to meet downstairs in the restaurant early the next morning to get our paperwork in order with the public school board.

the next morning, we met some lady from the school board and then eventually our co-teachers started showing up and taking us away. my first stop was my school were i was taken to meet the principal and vp and sat around at my desk, then to my apartment where a whole bunch of people were trying to figure out my washer and were bringing furniture in...

honestly, my chronology of my first day is a bit messed up, i don't remember the order of things-- i think i may have gone back to school after my apartment and sat around some more, i can't remember. your first day will probably be like that: unorganized and stressful, plus you'll be very tired.

my only suggestions to you are to bring a few small presents for your principal, vp, and main co-teacher (or director, etc. if at a hagwon) and hold off on making any important decisions until you can think straight again.

good luck!

[knee-highs]

[sheba]

Getting to Korea...

I arrived at incheon and had to make my way to Gimpo airport for a domestic flight... not that difficult but kinda scary first time in a new (non-english) country...

I arrived at my local city with my boss and 2 teachers waiting to pick me up. I was jet lagged smelly and still dressed for the opposite season... but we went straight to a restaurant to have lunch, to work to meet the teachers, to the grocery store for food, and then finally back to my apartment to have a shower and go to bed... Id been up for about 30 hours at that point, and then had to start working the next day.

[Young FRANKenstein]

[tonyvu]