Sunday, March 12, 2006

my life in Korea begins...

Well... I am finally back in Korea.
My home is quite nice. It is in a very old, more 'traditional style' building. It is not an apartment or villa (I was in a villa before) but rather, a "multi-family house". Basically, it is 3 floors. There is a business on the first floor, I have most of the second floor (there is a small one room deal on the second floor as well) and the owner is on the third floor. I have a bedroom with a double bed, dresser and closet. I have a very large living room with 2 dressers, a desk, a small table and a TV. My kitchen is tiny, though. My bathroom is very Korean... no sink, no mirror.... just the toilet in one corner, a washing machine in another corner, and a shower hose and tap coming out of the wall in between. The bathroom is not heated, so there is a little electric heater on the wall, above where the 'shower' is. I have A LOT of cleaning to do, as it wasn't cleaned by the last tenant. There are even dirty old shoes in the shoe closet by the door. Yuck!!!
I picked up Tokki yesterday. Tokki is a rabbit that I have adopted. His previous owner was the ex-girlfriend of a friend of mine. Tokki is so cute, but is a bit scared and nervous at the moment. I will take him to the Vet this week to make sure all is well. His toenails REALLY need some trimming. They are around a cm long!!! My friend, Anthony, has had Tokki in his apartment for the past week. He hasn't let the rabbit out, though, because Tokki really likes to chew things, and Anthony is not a big fan of little animals. As a result, Tokki has been very bored and restless.
My schools are great. Yes, there are 2, with the same owners.
At 10 am, I start work teaching kindy classes at a kindy school. There are up to 30 students and two Korean teachers in a class. There are several floors in the building. The first and second floors are all classrooms, each with a piano, TV, tables, play area, etc. The roof has a playground and a small swimming pool for summer. The basement has a larger playground/play area, and a Taekwondo school (part of the kindy school, or owned by the same people, I think). There is also a piano school within (also part of the same thing).
My job is to spend 15 minutes with each class, reading a book and then singing a song with the students. I go through 8 classes, and then there is a lunch break. The school has a kitchen and a couple of cooks. After lunch, I go to two more classes. I only teach at the kindy school 4 days a week. I get to choose which day I get the morning off.
Then I head down the parking lot to my hagwon, LCC. I start teaching there at 2 pm. I have 2 40-45 minute breaks there, and finish at 6pm. The classes are small and I am just teaching from books. (I have taught with most of the books already, my last time in Korea).
I have to go to the Immigration Office tomorrow morning to apply for my Alien Registration. I have to have my Alien card in order to get my phone and Internet set up.

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