First Week of School

WOOHOOO. We've made it through the first week of school and like all first weeks it's been the longest of my life. It's hard to believe that the students arrived only last Sunday -- It feels like I've been here forever.

Everything has been running smoothly. I'm getting used to cafeteria food, exploring the local running routes, and continuing to get to know the girls in the house.

On a typical day I've been waking up around 7:30, going for breakfast and then a run or zumba, followed by lunch. Work starts in the early afternoon. I'm in the bio department every day and I'll be taking over a couple grade 7 science classes on weather. I'm teaching one boys class and one girls class, since they split up the classes based on gender here.

Following my time prepping or in the classroom, I head to afternoon activities. During the week I'm booked in cross country running, ceramics and cycling club.

So far this week I only had the chance to go to cycling club. It's my first time really getting to cycle off road, and on Friday we went out in the pouring rain, which was still fun. We got soaked within the first two minutes and then spent the rest of the half hour exploring the winding roads behind the school.

In the evenings after dinner I'm in house, tutoring the seventh grade girls and going around helping the tutor on duty put the girls to bed. The students in the house are lively with vibrant and varying personalities. I'm still learning names, though, it it'll probably take me until half term to get everyone sorted out.

Thursday is my day off, and it's dedicated to working out, going to the beach or into town, and getting some much-needed rest. We also have Friday nights off, and this week a few of us went into Jeju City for samgyupsal, or Korean BBQ, where we were given meat to cook at a grill built right into the table.

Monday afternoons are for house competitions, and the sum total of the house competition rankings contributes to the overall house competition prize, which Jeoji house has won both years running. So far we're in third this year, but I'm sure the soccer competition on Monday will make up some lost points.