Morphing Into an EFL Teacher

Being a teacher means being creative and thinking outside the box. Today, we presented a mini-lesson with a partner. My partner and I decided to do an activity on homophones. I had one idea in mind, but when the critiques began, there were several great ideas provided by the other teachers. This collaborative learning method has been quite efficient and helpful. I'm am nervous about providing my students the best possible way to learn English. I suppose all the other teachers are feeling the same way. Teaching is such a personal job, close to the heart and requires a lot of emotional investment. As a teacher, you can either spark an everlasting interest in a subject or possibly turn your student completely off. I've been praying that I can do the former.

I think I mentioned before that being here at this orientation center has felt like being a freshman on a college campus. Although the ages and backgrounds vary, people are inevitably trying to fit into the "right" crowd and vying for position among cliques. I've comfortably spent time with a few similar minded girls till last night. Last night I participated in a mini basketball tournament put hastily on by one of the teachers. I guess I played well enough to elicit merit from the "cool kids." It's funny how people's perceptions change in an instant. Yesterday, I was just an unnoticed girl with nerdy glasses. Today, I'm getting high fives from strangers. An interesting observation, yes.

And one other interesting observation before I sign off. Back at home, when people found out that I was coming here, the conversation went something like this:

Me: Yea, I'm going to Korea.

Someone: Wow! That's awesome! What are you going to there?

Me: I'm going to teach English.

Someone: Oh! What about your boyfriend?

Hmmm... On one hand, I could understand the legitimacy of the question. Yet, the other part of me thinks, "what about him?" He's a huge part of my life, but this is my own little adventure, isn't it? All my life, I've hated to be stuck with another. You'd think my younger sister would hate to be known as "Linda's little sister," but I cringed when I would be assumed to be a part of another whole. I liked to think of myself as whole. But is this what happens when you are in a relationship? Does everything you do have to be tied back to your significant other? We're relational beings, but I think we've still got to stand alone. I hope to I can be my own person for the rest of my life -- but I'll let you know how that goes once I'm old and gray and have had my obligatory one child.

Mandatory Pictures:

the cafeteria... good, wholesome korean food!

the multi-purpose field... soccer, basketball, volleyball, badminton... you name it, you do it!