Week 3 Report

Not a whole lot to report this week.

I taught Math Class on Monday with Stella, then Culture Class on Wednesday with Stella. We had the same group of kids both days, which was kind of nice, because I'd started to remember some of their names. They were pretty rowdy, but I prefer energetic kids to the apathetic or painfully shy ones. At least that energy can be redirected. Classes went pretty well, we didn't run out of things to do, and the kids seemed to have fun with it.

Tuesday and Thursday were pretty much just lesson planning days for me, though I went home early on Thursday with some stomach troubles. I've been eating rice, cup noodles, instant soup, and not much else for the past week or so, with a similar diet awaiting me for the next few weeks until payday. Apparently $750 USD doesn't stretch over 6 weeks of living expenses very well, especially when one has a lot of start up costs, like groceries, bedding, small appliances, cleaning supplies, toiletries, a bus card, etc... So, I'm broke.

But don't worry too much. I've got basic staples, so I won't starve, and I just got a bit of cash loaned to me so I can buy other groceries like fruits and veggies to avoid malnourishment. It's going to be tight until payday, but I've had worse.

We got our class schedules and lesson plan outlines for the upcoming semester on Friday. I'll be co-teaching the library program with Nana, which is going to be perhaps more work lesson planning-wise than the teachers who are working mainly in the experience rooms, but I don't mind. It's 12 weeks per semester, and this upcoming one starts on November 1st, so I've got all of next week to work out the lesson plans for five different levels of students for the next three months. That includes finding songs, games, crafts, and other activities for each lesson. It's going to be a challenge, but I think we'll manage.

My first proper break will come at the end of January/early February. Chris may be coming out to visit then, or we might wait until the weather is nicer, near the end of April. Nothing's set in stone just yet.

This weekend is mostly going to be spent doing laundry, cleaning my apartment, and maybe doing a bit of grocery shopping. I may also attempt to use my Wacom and actually make some art. Or write on some of my many unfinished projects. On top of that, I'm gearing up for National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) and even though I'm not sure if I'll be able to keep up this year (since classes proper start the same day as NaNo), I'm going to give it a go. I'm also going to attempt to make it to one of the meetups, maybe make some new friends.

Of course, that means my blog posts will be sort of scarce throughout November, but I'm fairly certain there won't be anything super interesting to talk about anyway, outside of NaNo and classes. I'll be sure to let you know if there is.

No pictures this week; haven't been taking any. Maybe Sunday I'll walk around with my camera and explore Anyang a bit. That sounds nice.

Cheers,

-Maria