Work Evaluations and Inedible Tofu

   This week I finished my second full week as an English teacher! Different than the first, this week came with no less than 7 evaluations, 5 of which being surprises. For the most part I walked away satisfied with my evaluations and the feedback/discussions I've had with my observers, but myself and the other foreign teachers are having some similar grievances across the board. The biggest of which happens to be the fact that we're continuously being fed conflicting information. One day we'll have to come in to work early for a meeting on the importance of the students filling out every detail of their in-class workbooks, and the next time we're evaluated we'll be told that the foreign teachers are meant to be a source of fun and entertainment and not to be so heavy-handed with the class material. Apparently this game of micromanaging grab-ass is new to my co-workers who have been here longer, but no one appreciates it much. The saddest part is that when I arrived (barely a month ago) my co-workers all praised one of the other foreigner teachers on his positive attitude and optimism...and lately he's been the one to push back the most, coming purposefully late and unprepared to mock teaching evaluations, arguing against criticism he gets from our boss, and just generally not being the source of good energy he was just weeks ago.

   The good news is that I've gotten settled to the point that work is just one small part of my life :)

   On Monday/Wednesday/Friday I have Hapkido in the morning, and I'm very proud to say that at the end of April or beginning of May I will be testing for my next belt! It might seem kind of sudden, but I am the only white belt in the class so I get a lot of one-on-one instruction so I can learn more quickly. Doesn't mean I'll necessarily PASS the test, but I'll give it my best shot.

   Mondays and Wednesdays, immediately after Hapkido, I have Korean class. The best thing about studying Korean is that I'm getting the courage to use the language with people. For the first week or so I'd stumble through a situation when I knew very well a couple words or phrases that would smooth things over. Maybe it's fear of making a mistake, but sitting in class and actively learning gave me the confidence to start immersing myself in the language I hear and see all day, every day anyway. After only a week of lessons I've learned: how to read meat labels to figure out what kind of meat it is (most meat comes pre-chopped so pork and chicken look deceptively similar), tell people how long I've been in Korea/talk about units of time (yesterday, today, tomorrow, a week/month/year from now/ago, etc), and other helpful things like the words for "and", "however", and "but". Of course I've also learned some Korean in the classroom from my students (words like "homework", "sit down", and "SOMEONE FARTED!"- hey, I teach elementary-aged boys, what do you expect?)

   The biggest update from this week of my life would have to be 두부 (Dubu, meaning Tofu). I have a great time every day when I go out, but the apartment is far too quiet and lonely. So, along with one of my co-workers, I went out and got a new pet- a hamster! He's a baby Winter White, only 6 weeks old, and I can't even BEGIN to talk about how awesome he is. Typically hamsters are a lot of work to hand train. Unlike with a dog or cat, if you want a small rodent that does anything YouTube worthy, you have to put hours and hours into it. I don't know if I lucked out or if the department store I bought him from has a private breeder instead of a breeding mill as a supplier, but he's already hand trained! When I tried to lay my hand in the cage just to let him sniff it he hopped right in and up my arm to sit on my shoulder. He's only actively awake about 45 minutes a day since he's so young but he's had no problems sleeping on me both nights I've had him. I even got cheek licks today! Doesn't he look like a little lump of tofu?!

                                                                                                                       ~N.