Hello, blogosphere! As I write this, I am officially finished with my first week of training -- woohoo!!! Today was a crazy busy awesome day, so hold on tight.
I started out the morning by waking up an hour earlier than usual so that I could Skype with my best buddy EE before going to school. Delightful way to start my day :) And I get to do the same with SC and JH on Monday! I've found it's the best time (other than weekends) to connect in real time with the folks back home. Sadly her computer had some sort of meltdown, so we were cut a bit short! I hopped on the shuttle to find lots of new faces! Returning staff reported this morning, so the bus ride over had lots of new folks. I grabbed some coffee and headed to the blackbox where we had our morning meeting. Our headmaster did a brief introduction, then all the new faculty and staff introduced ourselves! We were asked to share (among other things) something fun about the summer, and EE's and my road trip got a lot of appreciative murmurs, as well as follow-up questions in my conversations throughout the day. Rockin'.
After all that we had a quick ice breaker, which may be familiar to some of you -- take off your shoes, throw them into the circle, grab two new unmatched shoes, and try to make a circle so that all the pairs are together. Then we shared our names and fun facts with the people on either side of us -- which for me was the elementary school principal and vice principal, both of whom I already knew! Having already used my two go-to facts (motorcycle license and road trip), I hesitantly shared my 11 piercings. Those who know me well may recall that I've been a bit nervous about how those would be received. The VP immediately asked which was the most unusual, and the principal told me she loved my tragus. Guess the piercings are cool to stay in ;)
Before heading over to snack, I introduced myself to a guy I had seen earlier wandering around holding a microphone. And I was right, this was indeed their tech theatre director! I got a chance to chat with him and walk around the spaces a little bit. He described their theatres as Ferrari on the outside, VW on the inside -- looks sharp, but a lot of things were installed incorrectly or not fully installed (e.g. they don't even have a headset system). Most of what we'll be doing over the coming year (other than servicing plays, concerts, and other events in the venue) will be continuing the task of making it a more workable space. One thing he threw out there which made me absolutely drool was getting sound board consoles for iPad -- such a dream! Fingers crossed.
After a snack (tortilla chips with salsa, which I think was actually watered-down ketchup with a few peppers and onions...let's make salsa the #1 product I miss so far), we had a session on the school's strategic plan for the coming years. The new headmaster comes from an independent school background, which is really appealing to me as someone who was educated at an independent high school! Hearing his ideas and plans was really interesting and informative. Following that we did another quick icebreaker wherein we learned the school song, made a welcome poster for the students, and took pictures on Philosopher's Lawn. During that craziness I met Mr. W, affectionately known as Woodzy, who is one of the teachers on the third grade team!
I had lunch with one of my future roommates, RP -- she'll move in in December. I had SO much fun chatting with her, we had loads to talk about! We both love food, and she's a baker while I'm more of a cook, so we should be well-fed :) We also talked about travel, education, and our own histories. I look forward to many more chats with her! After that we had a division breakout and started generating our "one piece of paper," a one-page statement of who we are as individuals and as educators. Mrs. W and Mrs. C presented it as they would teach it to a class, which was really fun -- I love when educators do that! I made some good progress, and we'll continue to work on them throughout next week.
Finally, to wrap up the day, we had time to do what we needed. The third grade team decided to meet and just chat and get to know each other. I found myself to be the youngest, the only woman, and the only American in the group. My fellow third grade intern mentioned the oddity of me being the only female whereas most elementary school teachers get used to being the only male. Fortunately, I am women's college educated and can certainly tackle this group! It was lovely to chat with all of them, and we also discussed the possibility of rotating the interns every trimester so we get a chance to work with all three of the lead teachers. I'm really stoked about that idea; I love observing as many teachers as I can and stealing bits and pieces from everyone as I figure out who I am and how I'll run my own classroom someday!
After lots of giggling and playing with LP (the 15-month-old from next door) on the shuttle, I headed back home and sat in front of the A/C for about an hour. After I felt sufficiently refreshed, I went for a wander around the neighborhood, stopping into the nearest CU Mart and grocery store to see what they had and pick up a couple more small things. Back home for a quick dinner, then heading out for drinks with the boys -- the third grade team is hitting Dream City for "a beer or three." Coming soon: boat trip to Wolmido Island, an Incheon Wyverns baseball game, and the arrival of my other new roommate. Until next time!
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Currently reading: Korea Unmasked
Current high: excited to start work with the grade 3 team!
Current low: even with my A/C on it's still mad hot in here
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