Hired and Wired

I've been pretty busy lately, this school year actually, I'm not making as many posts as I'd like to but I'm planning to enjoy my last four months in Korea. That's right, I'm moving! Korea will only be with me in spirit come September 2014. I've been hired as a home room teacher in a Middle-Eastern International School. I'm really excited to continue my adventure in Asia and live up to the name "Traveling Teacher." The contract is two years and that's exactly what I'd like: A year to figure it out, another one to build on it and to decide whether or not the climate is for me.

This opportunity excites me just like Korea although I think I'll have less free time to explore and engage myself in the new country. The weather will be pretty hot but school starts early in the day so hopefully naps can happen through the hot afternoons. Especially those first 5 days. The experience is going to be completely different from Korea, I'll have a chunk more lesson planning to do but mentors to help me through it. I'm just generally excited to get on with this new chapter.

After yesterday, I was almost ready to pack my bags and high-tail it out of the school. It wasn't the kids, it was the staff. Our annual volleyball tourney is starting and our gymless school is signed up. Firstly, I don't enjoy the fact its nine players a side, there are more rally points but at the same time the court is too congested. They put me at the net and I was pretty pumped thinking the setter would send some balls my way. Fat chance. Instead the new gym teacher, the king of the court, plays behind me and jumps up for every hit. The old guard of the volleyball crew (we're not a team) have the formula of setting it to the king. He probably hits at a 10% success rate. After the fifth time he came up to the net to hit the ball out of bounds I was checked-out of the game. Then I called for a ball and he jumped into me. I actually told him off after that because he has a big frame and if I break any bone in my body playing some rec league volleyball game I'll go apeshit. I told him to talk to me and that didn't change anything. "Oh that's because he probably doesn't speak English." No, you idiot, he's actually the go-between for everyone else on the team. Then I had dinner after with no one who speaks English and it was so brutal. The two eldest teachers with the most headway at the table talked the whole time and no one made any effort to make a side conversation. At least the food was good. Apologies for ranting.

I'm still writing a post about how Korea was twisting my arm to stay and I could barely feel it. It still does on some days but yesterday, that was a tipping point. I'm thinking of conjuring up an excuse to make the next time we play. Who ever leads us on the court does an awful job, you couldn't even tell we worked in the same school. Our two new guys did a really good job but still it's all individual they got most of our points off of blocks. I guess, my rotten mood came down to the team crew dynamic. There isn't a lot of pressure on this new school staff, it'll just be nice to have an intelligent conversation with a co-worker about something beyond the weather. I'm just peeking over the fence and the grass certainly looks greener on the other side.