Friday, November 06, 2009

Hello again. I'm in Korea now and wishing I was back in New Orleans. No jobs going on in the States, so I took one out here in Asia. I love Korea. It's a wonderful, interesting, honorable country. I am not so good on the teaching children thing. I think I might come into my own on this teaching thing if I give it some more time, but wow, I have 10 classes and 4 of them are almost beyond my control. Screaming kids, climbing on desks, speaking insults in Korean to each other and here I am trying to do the right thing and actually keep on teaching them. I think I'm way over my head sometimes. I have many students that make it almost worth while, but there are some that just leave me thinking this whole effort is pointless. I'm on my 3rd month and I think I will make it past this negative feeling. I am told that months 3-5 are insanity for most western teachers here. That gives me some comfort, at least knowing that this is probably the hardest point in this latest journey. I'm sure it's not all the kids. I'm sure it's part of being somewhere where you don't know what's up or down as well. I have great support from my fellow employees. (English speaking natives and Korean teachers) I hope it all works out because the money is good without living expenses and even though I am down emotionally, I feel like I'm growing somehow. I am going into Seoul tomorrow to buy an acoustic guitar. I hope it will give me some peace of mind and allow me to release some of the things I wish to express. I think this experience is good for me and maybe good for others, but if you have any attachments, like kids or a loved one, I think you would be hurting a whole lot more than I am now. Just a thought, but to clarify, it would be a good experience for someone like me. (Alone without attachments) I have good friends here now that play D&D and video games and sometimes drink, so I do have some lucky familiarities to home.