My new gig

My life has always been unpredictable, but not so much as it has been in the last few months. I'm in the third week of my new assignment as an English professor at Chongshin University in Seoul. It's still difficult to believe that less than a month ago I was still teaching at my old institution. My time there ended on a Friday evening, and the very next Monday I was standing in front of these large classes of college students with different levels of English ability. On a small scale I've experienced some culture shock.

Some people have asked about my previous job. I enjoyed my first teaching assignment a great deal. I got some very good teaching experience and I was able to learn some important things about Korean students and culture related to a classroom setting. I also became friends with a number of students and a few teachers. I still keep in touch with many of them and hang out with them regularly.

However, my institute didn't renew my contract for various reasons, some with which I agreed and some with which I disagreed. My job performance, while good, was not over the top. Also my teaching style may have been too Western for some students. I'm quite aware of my weaknesses as a teacher and I take responsibility for those. But I'm also proud of my strengths and I'm disappointed that I wasn't given another chance. I've had great feedback from many students and I hoped that that would count for something, but it didn't. The other reasons were more abstract and I don't need to go into them; suffice it to say that it was time for me to move on. My managers did recommend me for a different division within the same company, but that turned out to be a dead end. I left on relatively good terms and everyone was excited about my new opportunity. I have great memories and the hiring manager even left open the possibility of hiring me again in the future.

The short story with my university job is that it came through the help of a teacher friend who works here. After doing an interview and a 15-minute "presentation" before some faculty, I was worried that they wouldn't like my teaching style, but apparently they believed in me enough to award me a two-year contract. The timing of everything was so crazy I still don't completely believe what has happened in the last few weeks. I was actually planning to go home in September and start work at a different institution in October.

A friend in New York asked me in an e-mail if I'm happier now. Interestingly, I'm not necessarily happier, although I definitely like my new work schedule and living situation. Actually I've been quite stressed out for the last three weeks. Many of my friends have told me recently: "You look great!" This surprises me because I don't feel great. The transition from Shinchon to Namseong and all of the other transitions have left me exhausted. However, I know that the Lord has been leading my steps and I rejoice in that.

My classes have gone well for the most part. Another teacher friend told me that university students don't always behave, and I'm finding that there's some truth to that. I had to bring down the hammer on a listening class Monday afternoon. Also, the some of the students' English levels are much lower than what I'm accustomed to; at my previous institution, I would normally send a student like that to a class with a bilingual Korean teacher. Here, I'm still responsible for that student; but I'm discovering that teaching these guys is a formidable but fun challenge. I didn't realize how much I was enjoying it until I was describing one of my classes to Myung-Ki while hanging out in Yeouido last night. Whenever I'm talking to people about English or language stuff in general, I tend to raise my voice and talk faster. It's really funny to watch.

Next week is Chuseok (Korea's three-day national holiday, similar to America's Thanksgiving) and I cannot wait for the chance to relax a little more.

Many have asked about my progress with Korean. My Korean has been coming along. My progress hasn't been as rapid as I'd like it to be, but I do have what I call "surprise moments." Yesterday I called Sang Yoon to ask about something and we had a short conversation in Korean before I ran out of things to say and had to switch back to English. I've had similar moments with JeaDo and Wan-Ryeol, who don't always speak to me in English. I surprise them and I surprise myself. Lately I've been worrying less about sentence structure and focusing more on listening practice and memorizing vocabulary. I'm also learning not to stress over my limitations. I've also picked up enough vocabulary and grammar stuff that I can use some Korean in the classroom; although it's not expected or required of me, students love it.

Today is my day off and I'm in the office right now catching up on some administrative stuff. I actually have my own desk, which is also kind of a shock. Later today I'm meeting Ki-Hwan for lunch. The last time Ki-Hwan and I hung out together, we were in a cafe in Shinchon and I was really depressed about my work situation. He's been a great encourager and I'm looking forward to seeing him today. It's raining outside. I'm listening to Jim Chappell's solo piano release "Laughter At Dawn" on my Mac book. Life is good.

Lately I've been updating my photo page a lot. Here is a link to my favorite photos:

http://flickr.com/photos/eastcoasttiger/sets/72157600957035360/

Also, here are links to videos of me singing "My Wait Is Over." There are two different versions of the song, one at the 10 a.m. service and the other at the 3 p.m. service next week. I was nervous on both of them, ha ha. Michael Kang Jr. did a great job learning the song from a raw cassette recording. (Note to Mac users: For some reason these videos don't appear on Macs. You have to watch them on a PC.)

http://myiwe.com/iTV/?id=893
http://myiwe.com/iTV/?id=895

Back to work.