New Schedule, 3 Day Weekend

My schedule has been completely changed as of tomorrow. I will no longer be teaching Science. I only had one class before, but I really liked my Science class. I got Language added to my arsenal. Thanks. I'm not much of a fan of the semantics and technicalities of language. I learned more English grammar because of Spanish class than I ever learned in an English class. Anyway, my Tuesday/Thursday schedule remains the same. The nice thing is that I now have a prep period everyday but Wednesday. I have two on Tuesday to make up for that though. The reason we are switching the schedule is because BIS hired a new teacher because our grade 2 classes are getting too big and too crazy. The new teacher will only be part-time and work Monday, Wednesday, Friday and is taking some of my most hated and most beloved classes. However, all the current teachers are dealing with the same situation. I had also planned two of the classes I lost until December so it kind of makes me feel like my work was useless. I have however designed and new lesson plan sheet which is much more efficient and visual than before.

Other than that, nothing else in the way of news. We have a three day weekend coming up because of National Foundation Day on Friday. It'll be nice to have a 3 day weekend, but other than dinner with friends on Thursday night, I don't have much planned. Maybe the HiSeoul festival, maybe palace tours, maybe a walk through Olympic Park. Perhaps swimming laps in the Olympic pool or checking out the shooting range? Who knows, but I am looking forward to a relaxing weekend and the weather looks promising thus far for a relaxing, outdoor weekend.

Back to Work

The vacation is over, but I had a great week off (more like 11 days because of weekends). I go back to work in about an hour and 35 minutes. It should be good. I am actually looking forward to going back because I've only taught for three weeks so far and while I was pretty settled in a routine, I kind of feel like I am starting all over again. I do have my lesson plans done though so at least I am prepared, less the test I am giving today and haven't written, but I have time after lunch to do that. Anyway, since my last update on vacation I only did one thing, I went to Namdaemun Market and it was pretty much the coolest thing ever. They say if you can't find it there, they don't make it and the statement definitely bears truth. I saw everything from jeans to dried fish and dog clothing to octopus. Some vendors had a gazillion pairs of shoes and other a million "designer" purses. It was fun and they had tons of food vendors, I however decided on a gyro on the street in front of the market, delicious. I can't wait to go back there and actually buy something, I was just impressed and overwhelmed with the amount of things for sale. If you are ever in Seoul you need to go to Namdaemun. Drying fish at Namdaemun
Kimchi and other things like kimchi
Shoes at Namdaemun

In other news, I read on another Korea blog, Seoul Eats that Andrew Zimmern from Bizarre Foods on the Travel Channel is going to be hosting a segment here in Seoul. I am a huge fan of the show and have probably seen every episode, but Seoul is huge so the chance that I meet/see him is very slim and since my knowledge of bizarre foods, or really any food, in Seoul is limited, I will just wait until the episode comes out and buy it on iTunes. He was in Spain and went to Madrid and ate at La Botin, where of course I too have dined and I make it a point of telling everyone that I have been there too, Seoul will be quite the same so be prepared.

This week is going to be hot and humid, not unlike any other week I have experienced in Seoul so far, but I think my tolerance has increased. Last summer I was in Mississippi in the hottest, most humid summer I have ever experienced. Wisconsin summers can get hot and humid, but I think Seoul is more like Wisconsin than Mississippi. It hasn't reached anything over 86 and about 90% humidity, which I can handle, even in pants walking to work.