This week was just as interesting as the last. Students adjusting to their schedule, teachers exhausted, and the excitement never waining. Every day is filled with new adventures either in the school or as part of the boarding staff. So far, one student has been expelled with probably a few more to follow. The students are really interesting to observe when considering different aspects of this new environment--socially, adaptively, communicatively, and of course behaviorally.
There is a surprising hierarchy that I never expected. Students are very divided by age and grade. It seems that some will gladly give way to the older groups. For example, sixth graders would never play soccer with the 8th graders or would never volunteer to lead if an 8th grader is present. There has even been some bullying among the 8th graders to make the 6th graders bow to them. We are definitely trying to put a stop to that! There is even a huge separation between male and female students; even beyond that of just the awkward middle school years. It makes for an interesting case study!
Adaptively, some are doing better than others. According to the headmaster, this is the first boarding school in South Korea. Some kids absolutely love being away from their parents, while others seem to know the drill of being pushed off to someone else, and others are truly enjoying the experience for what it is: an opportunity to make it to an American university. Overall, the students are adapting to the standards and expectations we have set for them. It's still early yet.
Communicatively, the students are much lower than anticipated. I thought their English skills would be much better. That's not saying that they aren't heavily motivated, but rather more of a challenge to me for them to truly understand the material. I'm glad I enjoy challenges! HA! They have the same challenges as any English Language Learners (ELL). I know they will get better as the days get on, and patience is definitely a must. It's been quite the challenge enforcing the English only policy.
Behaviorally, kids are kids no matter the country. It seems they love testing the boundaries with the adults. However, they are extremely loyal to you if they feel you have been wronged in any way. They are supportive and there isn't a time where you can walk past them without the students acknowledging you with a "Hello" or a wave. Cute!
In other news, new positions are opening as they school is getting more and more organized. I applied and now have the opportunity to be the Athletic Coordinator for the school. What an awesome experience! I know it will have many challenges to come, but it should be yet another adventure, and it wasn't like I had enough to do anyway, HA! Leigh Anne is hoping for some sort of curriculum position. She would be awesome!
I also celebrated my birthday this week. It was nice, all the children sang to me. The staff all wished me a happy birthday. Even the following day, some of the students would see me, giggle, and wish me a "Happy Yesterbirthday!" Cute! Some of our friends got a little party together for a little celebration. It was great to see everyone. It was funny, though, due to my birthday being smack dab in the middle of the week. The party ended at 9 p.m. because we all had to get up early. It was fun, though.
Yesterday, we went car shopping! We found that used car salesmen can be the same no matter what country you're in, haha. We stopped at this one lot where this one salesman spoke very broken English. We must have looked at eight or nine different cars, but just couldn't find one we liked. We could tell how frustrating we were to this man; the fact he had to walk us from one end to the other. Originally, I had a van type car in mind...rightly named the Damas (I never pronounced it correctly!) They wouldn't sell it to me saying it didn't have enough power for someone of my stature. I'll have a picture for you next time. It would have been fantastic! So, we went to the next lot and there we found a car in our price range. It's some sort of Daewoo. Again, sorry for the lack of pictures, but we don't even get to pick it up until Wednesday anyway. I think it will be a good little car for us.
We start again tomorrow and look forward to what the week has in story. We should finally be getting our cellphones and hopefully more classroom supplies. We are just enjoying the evening, eating dumplings and watching a little T.V. Is it stereotypical for us to be watching Kung Fu Hustle?
We miss you guys and love all of you! I promise to have pictures for you next time.
Cheers!
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