I am Teacher Julia

Today was my second day of teaching. It surprises me a bit to say this, but I love it. Maybe after a while passes, the excitement will fade, but I think that this is going to be right up my alley. The reason why it surprises me is that I always said that I would never teach. At this point in time, I think I will only stay for one year, but after this year, I might get my TOEFL certification if I really enjoy it. God has blessed me with kids that are behaving. I am so happy that they are listening to me and haven't checked out yet. The only annoying thing is that my boss will not give me a break. His critiques should be for someone who has been teaching for a few months, but it has only been two days for me. He comes into my classes and observes them. After the class is over, he tells me everything I did wrong, and what I have to do next time. I am trying to be patient with him, and learn from his experience but it is already getting under my skin. Honestly, no one in the office likes his feedback which should speak volumes to him. On the first day of classes, I got in trouble because I talked too much in my advance speaking class. This class only has three girls, they are all painfully shy so it is like pulling teeth to get them to talk. They also have questions about the text we read together, so I try to explain the American idioms to them. Every time my boss walked by, he would see me answering their questions. He told me that it was not important for them to understand what they are reading. I almost laughed in his face, which would have been very disrespectful and unprofessional. My question for him is how can you read something you do not understand? Sure you can pronounce the words, but they hold no value, so there is no point in reading them. I will try to get them to talk more, but I am not going to stop answering their questions. I think it also scared him because the text was discussing moral situations, and the girls had to answer questions about the moral situations. It was cool because God opened a door for me to make sure that the girls know that no one is perfect. I think that perfection is highly valued in this culture, so my boss probably did not like that. I hope that they remember it, and do not forget it. It is amazing how much pressure these kids are under to perform well in everything. They go to school, and then they come to our program, which is essentially more school. Some of the kids have classes until 9pm. I think I am going to start praying over my students before class, that God will tug at their hearts.

Another fantastic thing is my co-workers. I love Chloe and Andrew, they are wonderful. They have been willing to help me figure out everything I have had questions about over the past few days. I am also learning more about Korean food, and I love it! There are some things I will probably never crave, such as dried squid, but for the most part it is all pretty good. The past few days I have been adventurous and tried dishes with seaweed, kimchi (I don't know how to spell it), and other things that I cannot even begin to spell or pronounce. Most of the food is really spicy, I love spicy food, so I feel like I am in food heaven right now. At the end of year, I know I will be wanting my American food back.

Tomorrow is the end of my first week. Thank you for all of your prayers, they are felt and continually needed. You can still be praying that I would be the gospel to my co-workers, students, and other acquaintances. Finally, that I will not get lost trying to find the church I am attending on Sunday. I have to ride the subway to get there and then walk, it should not be bad, but I am directionally challenged so we will see what happens. Love you all, and would love to hear how you are when you have the time. = )