Welcome to Worwick Franklin- can you come in to work today?
That may not be exactly what happened, but it’s kind of how my intro to my new school felt.
On Monday, February 20th I went to visit my new
school, Worwick Franklin, for the first time. I met
with the director and we talked VERY briefly about my start date and my
apartment (I was originally told I would start work on March 5th and
I could move into my apartment on Saturday February 25th- both of
those pieces of information changed fairly soon after). I also got to briefly meet the three
teachers who would be leaving at the end of the month and the other teacher who arrived at the end of December and will be staying at the school with
me and the other new mystery teachers.
The school is very cute. It's on the 5th floor of an office building and there’s a little climbing wall in
the “Fun House”/playroom, there are tons of books and cute little classrooms
with very small class sizes. I haven't taken too many photos around school yet, but they're on the way- I promise.
On Tuesday of that week I was called into work because one of the other teacher's was sick, so even though my start date was this Monday I already had a day of teaching at Worwick under my belt.
On Tuesday of that week I was called into work because one of the other teacher's was sick, so even though my start date was this Monday I already had a day of teaching at Worwick under my belt.
Kindergarten in Korea is much more like pre-school is in the
States. Kindergarten classes are
not found in public elementary schools so Kindergarten is treated more like
pre-school as a way to prepare students to enter 1st grade. The school’s graduation was this past
Sunday and I was asked to come.
Honestly, I debated about going.
I hadn’t even started work yet and I already had to cut out part of my
Sunday to go to a work function- but I figured it was for the best, and I could
earn some brownie points in the process and decided to go.
The event was held at the Busan Westin Chosun, which is VERY
nice and has an absolutely stunning view of Haeundae Beach.
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| This was a very hastily taken photo right outside the Hotel as we were leaving. The view from the hotel is even better. |
The Graduation itself was part Talent Show and
part award ceremony.
One of the teachers was the Emcee and the 'graduation/award' part of the afternoon was first.
The 7 year olds who are about to begin 1st grade wore caps and gowns- much like pre-school graduation, and the 5 and 6 year old students who were moving up a level wore white. And much like pre-school graduations in the States parents were fawning all over their kids, while the students were busy trying to yell into the microphones or mess with their outfits. Just another reminder that some things are universal.
After awards like 'Best Reader' and 'the Friendship Award' were given out to each class, the students went to the back and changed costumes. In the meantime they had a Korean entertainer to occupy the guests. He pitted one side of the room against the other and had little competitions to see how in sync people could be while counting and hitting each other on the back.
I tried to quasi-stealthily take a photo of this. I thankfully wasn't sitting near enough to people to have to participate. Instead, I made a shopping list for my new apartment. After the cats, I mean children had be wrangled into new costumes came the dancing portion of our evening.
The 5 and 6 year-olds came out first and did a dance to Secret's 'Shy Boy', which Annie Kerkian can tell you is an awesome song. Can I also say there are few things more pathetically funny than Korean children of both genders in crop tops and odd shorts. If you don't believe me, please refer to this awesome video I took last year at DaeGyo's talent show.
After the younger students finished, the 7 year old recent graduates came out and danced to a Kpop song that I surprisingly didn't know or even recognize. They came out in these white robes that made them look like boxers.
Then once the song started they took off the robes for a big reveal of... more crop tops.
After the Monkeys, came the Gingerbread Man. This class had NO problems with volume and were the kids that really liked saying random things into the microphone.
The next drama was the first of the graduating classes and was my favorite play of the afternoon. I had seen them practicing the day I came to meet the director and I'm such a sucker for call and screamed response that I took a short video to show you the adorableness of my 'friend' Scary Dino.
The final play was the "Wizard of Oz", but I think Toto said more than "Dorothy"- it was a class full of boys so I don't remember if he was called Dorothy or not.
With random teaching and info changing at rapid speed it was a big reminder that yes I am for sure back in Korea. I'm also very excited to say that I'm going to go visit my old school tomorrow on their first day of school since I have the day off, which I really can't wait for!
Happy Korean Independence Day!
From Busan with Love,
Jenna
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