February 25, 2014
Today was a very interesting day and not how I thought it would
go. My director picked me up at 9 this
morning to take me to the hospital for the medical exam I need in order to stay
in the county. My director is a woman
not to be messed with, just to let you know. She walks
as if there is a fire on her butt and doesn’t slow down for anything. Think of a typical American business woman on
her phone while driving, breastfeeding, and drinking coffee all while mapping
out the work schedule for the day, only multiply that by 10. That is my director.
I say this because I was rushed from one room to another
where they measured my eye sight (which I thought I would fail that test haha),
my hearing, my height, weight, and blood pressure. They then pushed me to the bathroom and told
me to pee in a cup. I was then rushed to
another room and told to lay down and pull my shirt up. So far up that everything was exposed, but I
was NOT to completely remove my shirt.
Honestly, it would been easier just to remove the shirt. Anyway, the doctor then clips these, well,
clips on my wrists, ankles, and bare chest (yes, even those…) to measure my
heart. I was a bit mortified because
that was never done like that before!
Anyway, she finishes, I dress and then they sit me at the desk and stick
a needle in my arm to draw blood. Before
I could say “ow” I was rushed to another room on the first floor where they
took an x-ray of my chest. I then speed-walked across the hospital lobby to meet with another doctor. After sitting in the waiting room for
literally 5 seconds, my director was tapping her feet and calling every nurse
to ask when it was my turn. I then get
called in, the doctor listens to my heart, says I’m good and we leave.
Yeah. That was only
the beginning of my day.
She then took me to the Paris
Baguette shop and told me to pick out some bread…quickly. I chose two items and she grabbed some
milk. She paid and we ran to the car and
drove to the school. When we got there
(after she parked in the handicap spot, oh and p.s. she’s not handicapped) we
went to the 8th floor where the school is and I was told to sit and
eat in the teacher’s room. I ate it quickly (not really knowing what was to
happen next) and waited. Another teacher
gave me a tour of the small school and then a Korean teacher handed me a schedule
for the day. I followed it to a tee,
observing the classrooms and helping out where I could. In the afternoon, they had an orientation for
the new Kindergarten students and their moms. I, along
with the other teachers, had to introduce ourselves and then do a song with the
children. We then took the kids into
classrooms and did a “cooking” activity where they assembled hamburgers, one
for them and one for mom. The kids were
then dropped off to their parents and we were pretty much done.
Overall I like the school.
The children are as cute as anything and the class sizes are small. The
children know a lot more English than I thought they would and they are fast
learners. I am looking forward to
working with them.
After work some of the teachers and I went out to dinner
around the corner from where I work in Dongtan and I ordered Kimbimbab. I enjoy this rice and veggie meal, though I
look forward to trying other foods soon too.
Oh and I took the bus home with two teachers. This was my first time on a Korean bus and it
was a very bumpy ride. A lot of stopping
short and I was dismayed at having put 2000 won in the box and not receiving
change. I should have gotten 900 back,
but here they don’t have those automatic money payment things on the buses,
where you zip the money in like a vending machine and it spits out the correct
change. Here I put the money in and the
driver was impatient as he gestured for me to keep moving. I wasn’t going to argue with a grumpy Korean!
When I got home everyone else went out to meet people or do
classes. I spent the evening working out
the subway maps and finding events to do in the area or around Seoul. I’ll keep you updated on any fun adventures I
undertake!
안녕!
