A typical day

I thought it might be a good idea to let everyone know what a typical day looks like for Lacey and I so here goes....

We are suppose to arrive at work at 9:30am for morning chapel but Lacey and I are usually about 10 minutes early because the bus is a bit unpredictable. Originally we thought we would be able to walk to work (and we can, it just takes 40 minutes) but we find that taking the bus is much easier and faster, especially since it is still pretty cold outside. So Lacey and I hop on a bus about 9am and ride for 10 minutes and then walk another 5 minutes from the bus stop to the school.
In the morning we usually quickly prepare any last minute things for the day and then go out to the common area at school where we have morning chapel from 9:30 - 10.

After that classes begin and the first class ends at 10:30. All other classes last for 40 minutes but since chapel usually runs long, the first class of the day is only 30 minutes. We have first, second, and third period in the morning all with a 5 minute break in between. We then have lunch from 12pm until 1pm. Having an hour for lunch is really nice and allows us to catch our breath after 3 quick classes in the morning. Some days we eat in the cafeteria with the students (the same common area as they use for chapel) if the food is good. Fortunately, we have the option of going out if the food is not good and lately we have been taking that option.
When we eat out, we go down to the convenience store to get a drink and then to our favorite sandwich shop about a 5 minute walk from school. We eat in a nearby park on our way back towards school. All and all, lunch usually costs less than 10 dollars for Lacey and I both to eat and be full. Sometimes I will even hurry back to school and eat some of the rice leftover from lunch to make sure I am stuffed.

At 1pm classes start again and we have fourth period and fifth period and then regular school is finished. At 3pm some of the students go home and some of them stay if they are enrolled in after school classes. After school classes include some electives like Spanish, French and Multimedia. Others need to improve their English skills so they are in ESL. Still others are younger students (grades 1-4) that go to other schools during the day and just come join our school for a sort of tutoring-style class. I think the main focus for those students is to get some English practice while "studying" another subject like Science. So from 3pm til 5:50pm I teach 4 different science classes for 40 minutes each. First I teach grade 2, then grade 1, then grade 4, then grade 3. Lacey also rotates through and teaches reading. Like I said though, these classes are not the school's primary focus so we do not usually have very involved lesson plans. We basically just lead the students through their books while helping them learn new words.
By 5:50pm we are both pretty tired and its time to wrap up our things and head home. We take the same bus back home and are usually in our apartments by about 6:20pm. If Lacey is in the mood to cook, we eat in, if not, we eat out. Sometimes we go to a nearby pizza place and get a cheap dinner and sometimes we hop on the subway and go to Seoul and eat out at a nice American restaurant like Tony Roma's.

After dinner is study time if we need to prepare for our classes the next day or just relax time where we can send emails or watch TV. If we have the energy, we will head out and explore some more of our city always trying to find the new secret treasure. (Yesterday I discovered a laundry mat!)

So now my clothes are clean and its back to teaching for me. See ya!