Valentine's Day

As I mentioned before, Valentine's Day is celebrated a bit differently in Korea. Typically the girl gives the guy chocolates. I did get a small bag of homemade chocolates from one student. At 10:30 we were "dismissed" so we could go to graduation. It was held at the Eunpyeong-gu Cultural Center right across the street. Our school does not have an auditorium or any real big space that could hold a large number of people.

A little before graduation started they played a slideshow with some pictures of the 6th graders when they were younger and then recent pictures/memories from the year. It was interesting the way the ceremony was done, but I'm not sure what exactly happened since it was all in Korean. I think at one point, the top student from each class came on stage to get a certificate as the representative from their class. Like I said, I'm not really sure. After graduation I tried to find the teachers from my office because we were having lunch together. I waited out in the lobby and said bye to students as they walked by with their parents and families. Of the 200 6th graders I had, only one asked to get a picture with me. She was one of the more memorable students and very sweet. My COT found me and we walked to the restaurant. We had kimchi jjigae (kimchi stew) for lunch and then returned to school.

I met one of my new COT; she was a 4th grade homeroom teacher. Her English is pretty good and she seems nice and interested in working together and sharing the daily task. How very, very nice for a change. A few minutes before I was going to leave, some new teachers came into our office and everyone started talking about desks and moving around and stuff. I was getting really concerned and they kept circling my space. The head teacher across from me tried to explain what was happening but I was really confused. Then, one of the new teachers took a sticky note and wrote her name and put it on my computer. I was getting a little upset and didn't understand why I was losing my desk. So, I asked the head teacher in Korean, "where is my new desk?" and then she explained I was getting a new OFFICE and I'll be an office that's next to my classroom (currently the social workers office) and will share with one COT. Ooooh, okay!

I took off and went to Myeongdong to meet Jacob. He greeted me with a small bouquet of pink roses. We went to a coffee shop and sat and talked for a bit. Then we went to the California Pizza Kitchen where Jacob had made reservations for us for Valentine's Day dinner. We ordered a salad and pizza. After dinner, we walked to my building for class and Jacob waited in the cafe downstairs for me.

The first night of level 2B! Class was okay. We covered food and flavors. I liked the teacher from my previous level a little bit better; she was a better teacher and much more organized. This teacher is nice, but she seems a bit scattered and she jumped around a bit in presenting materials so it was more confusing.

After class, Jacob and I returned to my place to do gifts. In addition to the roses, he gave me a giant bar of Hershey's chocolate and a picture from and picture from our trip to Malaysia. I ironically also had pictures to give him and a bandana he had wanted for awhile. He headed out after we exchanged gifts.

Chocolates from my student

At graduation, a little blurry

Roses