(no subject)
and it's cold outside! and inside too! my school has yet to turn the heat on. koreans are real cheapskates when it comes to ac and heating. i think they partly think it's unhealthy to for some weird reason...so they leave the windows open too for good air circulation. OHYEAH! going to the bathroom is like going to an outhouse! even when they have the heat on in the classrooms there's still no heat in the hallways or bathrooms. so you have to suffer sometime or another all winter. if i told a korean person that americans use their heater all winter with the windows closed they'd probably have to pick their jaw up off the floor.
but i only have to deal with this for 16 more days! today is day 16 and it's almost over so more like 15.5! yipeeee! i'm SO excited! i'm getting so homesick! i haven't been sleeping well and everything :o( part of that is just stress though because jens's co-teacher has turned psycho on us. she's had to negotiate with the principal a lot over our vacation and so now all of the sudden she says she hates jens. that's right- HATE! all because he's making her do her job. of course didn't want the job in the first place. she barely knows english and didn't want to teach it but because she was new she had to. so she says she's hates jens and all foreigners and that all koreans in mokpo hate foreigners. oh and that her principal is going to get all the foreigners' contracts changed to make foreigners' lives less easy (less vacation, less sick days, etc.) i think she's just pmsing or something though because all that sounds like an exaggeration to us. let's hope it is.
we've had such trouble getting our vacation time squared away though. it seems that korean bosses hate for their employees to take any vacation ever. almost every single person i know that has told their school about the vacation they want to take has gotten trouble over it. the thing i still don't get is why we have to be in the country if we don't have class and we don't have camps or anything. they don't need us here, period. it's probably just because they have to be here so they think we should have to be here too. but i'd like to see them try living in america for two years without wanting to get away for as long as possible sometimes.
so we thought everything was squared away. both our schools were set to sign papers, etc. and then all of the sudden yesterday jens's principal says she wants to have a meeting with him before signing the paper. he think that she's going to make him agree to doing an extra class next year before she signs. seems like koreans always have to get the upper hand and get their way. i told jens- just go with it. i want my vacation and we have to make sure that our schools are going to give us good reviews come april when we want to change schools. a bad review could hurt out chances of getting the jobs we want.
we want our friends' jobs that live near us. the guy is at a high school and the girl is at an elem. school. but i want the high school job. i've got to get out of elem. it's driving me nuts! mostly because the curriculum we're forced to use it complete and utter crap. the kids aren't learning english and the koreans just don't get it. either they don't notice or don't know what to do about it. so i want to teach high school where i can plan my own lessons and pretty much do whatever i want. the kids' english will still be crap but at least i won't have to put up with annoying dubbed dialogs and monotonous curriculum.
the only problem i'm going to have is the main co-teacher at the high school is insane. everything else about the job is great though! lol i'll get my own classroom AND my own office! with my OWN ac!!!! heaven! i may have to bring my space heater up there in the winter though. (i have my space heater right next to me at my desk right now lol)
so yeah- we were going to bring sadie with us when we visited home this winter but we can't because of a rabies shot. her first one has expired and if we got one now it'd be too late. it has to be given one month before her arrival in the states or else she'll have to be in quarintined until the one month date is up. so we're not going to bother with it. we're looking for people to watch her while we're gone now. honestly, it's a bit of a relief because i was worried about traveling with her in a taxi, a bus and then a looooong plane right- plus coming back. it would not have been fun. we'll just wait and bring her when we move back home for good. who knows when that'll be.
i'm excited for christmas!!! since both mine and jens's dads work on xmas day we're having xmas with my family on xmas eve night (my mom works xmas eve day lol) and then we're having xmas with jens's immediate family the day after xmas and then xmas with his extended family two days after xmas! we're gonna have at least 4 days of xmas! woohoo!
alright i have to run and go teach my extra class now. i'm having them make xmas ornaments today! yay! talk to you later! merry christmas!
but i only have to deal with this for 16 more days! today is day 16 and it's almost over so more like 15.5! yipeeee! i'm SO excited! i'm getting so homesick! i haven't been sleeping well and everything :o( part of that is just stress though because jens's co-teacher has turned psycho on us. she's had to negotiate with the principal a lot over our vacation and so now all of the sudden she says she hates jens. that's right- HATE! all because he's making her do her job. of course didn't want the job in the first place. she barely knows english and didn't want to teach it but because she was new she had to. so she says she's hates jens and all foreigners and that all koreans in mokpo hate foreigners. oh and that her principal is going to get all the foreigners' contracts changed to make foreigners' lives less easy (less vacation, less sick days, etc.) i think she's just pmsing or something though because all that sounds like an exaggeration to us. let's hope it is.
we've had such trouble getting our vacation time squared away though. it seems that korean bosses hate for their employees to take any vacation ever. almost every single person i know that has told their school about the vacation they want to take has gotten trouble over it. the thing i still don't get is why we have to be in the country if we don't have class and we don't have camps or anything. they don't need us here, period. it's probably just because they have to be here so they think we should have to be here too. but i'd like to see them try living in america for two years without wanting to get away for as long as possible sometimes.
so we thought everything was squared away. both our schools were set to sign papers, etc. and then all of the sudden yesterday jens's principal says she wants to have a meeting with him before signing the paper. he think that she's going to make him agree to doing an extra class next year before she signs. seems like koreans always have to get the upper hand and get their way. i told jens- just go with it. i want my vacation and we have to make sure that our schools are going to give us good reviews come april when we want to change schools. a bad review could hurt out chances of getting the jobs we want.
we want our friends' jobs that live near us. the guy is at a high school and the girl is at an elem. school. but i want the high school job. i've got to get out of elem. it's driving me nuts! mostly because the curriculum we're forced to use it complete and utter crap. the kids aren't learning english and the koreans just don't get it. either they don't notice or don't know what to do about it. so i want to teach high school where i can plan my own lessons and pretty much do whatever i want. the kids' english will still be crap but at least i won't have to put up with annoying dubbed dialogs and monotonous curriculum.
the only problem i'm going to have is the main co-teacher at the high school is insane. everything else about the job is great though! lol i'll get my own classroom AND my own office! with my OWN ac!!!! heaven! i may have to bring my space heater up there in the winter though. (i have my space heater right next to me at my desk right now lol)
so yeah- we were going to bring sadie with us when we visited home this winter but we can't because of a rabies shot. her first one has expired and if we got one now it'd be too late. it has to be given one month before her arrival in the states or else she'll have to be in quarintined until the one month date is up. so we're not going to bother with it. we're looking for people to watch her while we're gone now. honestly, it's a bit of a relief because i was worried about traveling with her in a taxi, a bus and then a looooong plane right- plus coming back. it would not have been fun. we'll just wait and bring her when we move back home for good. who knows when that'll be.
i'm excited for christmas!!! since both mine and jens's dads work on xmas day we're having xmas with my family on xmas eve night (my mom works xmas eve day lol) and then we're having xmas with jens's immediate family the day after xmas and then xmas with his extended family two days after xmas! we're gonna have at least 4 days of xmas! woohoo!
alright i have to run and go teach my extra class now. i'm having them make xmas ornaments today! yay! talk to you later! merry christmas!