It was a hot night last night, but I managed to sleep okay. There are two blue lights that cannot be shut off at night in my room and those irritated me so much! I cannot stand any light when I'm sleeping, so I did toss and turn a bit, and struggled to keep the blanket above my head to keep out the light. I woke up bright and early at 7am ready to go for the day. I will also have to remember to keep my phone on silent while I sleep (which I normally do) because it is your daytime while I sleep and my phone wouldn't stop vibrating because of notifications, though I do feel the love :)
My shower was interesting. I knew before coming here that the bathroom is literally just one big room, the shower isn't sectioned off like the bathrooms at home. I knew that the whole bathroom would get wet as well. But what a weird experience. The shower in the hotel at least has a tub underneath it, instead of just tile with a drain, but still weird. I don't understand why they don't just install shower curtains and save everything from getting wet - cause everything does get wet. It's also a bit weird to be showering in such a big, open, exposed area.
I was pleasantly surprised with the hotel's shampoo and conditioner though. Normally if I stray from my brand of conditioner my hair doesn't do well and stays completely knotted, but these ones were just as good!
I ended up getting ready faster than expected and had about an hour to kill before someone was supposed to show up to take me to school. So I ate a banana and some almonds that I picked up the night before then checked all of my phone notifications and got to Skype with Claudia and Bruno aka my second parents as well which was so wonderful. I am definitely missing the weather they were enjoying and missing spending time with them as well. Unfortunately I had to cut the conversation short as my doorbell rang - time to go to school!
Chris walked me to school and I got to meet all of the staff and the other teachers - so in addition to those mentioned last time, there is also Sarah (who I had been e-mailing), Jessica (who prefers to be called Jess), Rachel and Grace. And of course the Korean staff, who I am still putting names to faces. It was nice because most of the teachers already have plans for the week break next week, which is fine, but means I would be figuring out a lot on my own. What was nice was that Jess immediately asked what my plans were for the break and offered to hang out and explore with me since she is not going anywhere. She is from Pennsylvania and has been here for 10 months (I think that's what she said).
My day basically consisted of observing different teachers in their classrooms and me taking notes on how they do things and how they interact with the students. Honestly it just felt like I was doing my practicum all over again. By the afternoon, I was ready to crash. However the students are very cute and there is a lot to learn in terms of their lessons plans and how things are supposed to be done in the classroom. I can say for sure that the students are expected to cover a lot of material and quickly - in my opinion, too much material too quickly - not necessarily an approach I agree with, but I know this is common in Korea. I was given a drawing and lots of stickers from the students today.
Although I'm still not really sure what my schedule will be like, it seems most of the teachers work more than the contracted hours (getting paid overtime of course) and it seems as if everyone is at the school from 10-7 Monday to Friday. But I'm sure I will learn more about my schedule in the next two days. We do get an hour break for lunch, so I joined Grace, Rachel, Elliot, Nate and Ben to a place they called the Big Tomato (although everything was in Korean, so who knows if it's actually called that) and had some Bibimbap. The portions are huge, so I couldn't finish it, but it wasn't bad ... some weird stick looking things in it that I tried to avoid as well.
Once school was finally done at 7, I went back to the staff room and those who were still there were busy doing prep for tomorrow. I wasn't really sure what I was going to do, but knew I was starving. Luckily, Jess asked if I had plans on her way out and invited me out to get food with her. She took me to a place she goes to often and we had what I like to call cracker crumb pork chops = fried and breaded pork. I really liked it, a taste of home that's for sure.
We went to the bottom restaurant which is right beside the school. You also can't really tell that the school is where it is.. here are pictures of outside the school from the street: 
Pretty generic looking if you ask me! After eating, Jess and I walked around the block where the school is. There is a very big Starbucks near by as well as a Cheesecake Factory and numerous other shops. We also stopped in a small grocery store so I could take a better look at what they had and bought some Pringles. Also, it's a good thing Jess invited me to dinner because I did not know I was going to be left alone to find my way home! And I would have totally gotten lost had I not been with her! She offered to walk me part way and I thought I was heading the right way and I wasn't! We eventually figured it out and she walked me the whole way despite the fact that she isn't good with finding her way around either. She also lent me her phone (she has two) in case I get lost getting to school tomorrow, but I think I'll be okay. We are also both Pisces and she was born two days before me and we seem to have a fair amount in common.
So that was day 1. Tomorrow will be another long day of orientation. I thought I would get to go on the fieldtrip with them tomorrow but sadly I do not :( Instead while they are gone, I have orientation with the Korean staff and then prep time. I'm not sure what I'm supposed to be doing in my prep time, but I suppose I'll figure that out tomorrow!
Lastly, I will leave you with pictures of the outside of my hotel - which they call "love hotels" because a lot of Korean couples escape here for private time since they generally live with their parents along with their own kids. It is so private - they cover the cars' license plates so no one can truly know who is staying at the hotel. Also, I'm on the fourth floor, but there is no 4 button, only F. Not sure why, that was interesting to figure out too.
Goodnight!
PS - the cleaning people emptied all of my garbage cans, but left the bag of garbage sitting on the floor in my room ... ?
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