First day back to school

A couple of Fridays ago was the first day back to school.  We arrived home from orientation on Wednesday, celebrated a Korean national holiday on Thursday with relaxing and shopping in the market (everyone had the day off so it was packed compared to most days), and went to school on Friday.  I was just recently switched to a different school because of new districting lines for a new city.  My two schools from last semester both moved to the new city they are building named Sejeong city, named after the man who created the Korean language Hangul.  This city will eventually become the new capital of Korea- a lot closer to us than Seoul!

A stand at the market- we got a mix of different sweets.
My favorite was a crispy sweet seaweed pancake cracker. 

           

I moved from Uirang to Uidang Elementary school- and saying these with a Korean accent makes them sound the exact same so it’s tough to differentiate the two!  I will be going to this school 3 times a week and my other school, Janggi, 2 times a week. 

Uidang is a lot further out of Gongju city than my previous school.  It's so far, that city buses don’t even travel to it!  So, in the mornings, I am picked up by a church bus along with about 15 other students.  On the first day, we arrived at school about 5 minutes after we were supposed to and I was rushed into the teacher’s room to meet everyone.

Along with 3 other new teachers, I stood at the front of the room to introduce myself.  The other teachers said a little about themselves in Korean, so I tried my hand at it as well.  I practiced a couple of sentences in my head while waiting for my turn.  The only thing I could come up with was “My name is Malia.  I am an English teacher.  Nice to meet you.”  I threw that out there and they all seemed impressed that I could speak at least a little Korean.  Then I was told by the Principal to introduce myself in English- so I guess my stressing over what to say in Korean was not necessary. 

After this, some other teachers said a few words and then we were shuffled outside into the cafeteria for an opening ceremony.  Uidang is a smaller school than my other two schools but they are in the process of expanding.  So, their cafeteria is a smaller building not connected to the school.  I stood in the back of the room as all of the students- grade 1 through 6 filed in.  They sat down and fell silent when the Principal stood at the podium.  She introduced us new teachers, along with the previous ones before the children sang the school song.  We finished the ceremony and walked back into the teacher’s room.  I was given my schedule but wasn’t told when it would go into effect, so I was prepared to start that day just in case.

           

Kindergarten class with their parents, teachers, and bouquets of lollipops.

Later, one of the teachers rushed in to get me.  We quickly walked back to the cafeteria where they were having another ceremony for the younger children.  The room was now packed with the Kindergartners, 1^st graders, 6^th graders (only present to sing the school song) and all of their families.  We sang the national anthem and the students sang the school song before starting.  Then, the younger students were called up individually to receive presents.  The children’s faces all beamed while they were given lollypop bouquets and mysterious wrapped boxes.  They all swung their presents around and hit each other with them before saying good-bye to their parents to start the first day of school.

Lollipop Bouquet

I ended up not teaching any classes that day, instead just prepared for the coming week.  At the ceremony and throughout the day, I was introduced to what seemed like the entire city let alone the school.  I had a great first day, and since then, it has just gotten better and better.  My students are all adorable and sweet and my co-workers are very friendly!