Korean Windows

Today was my first day teaching the teachers. The day started off without a hitch. I woke up two minutes early to make sure my lesson plan was in order and had Daniel proofread my plans. I got to school around 8:35. As I ran up the stairs I realized I forgot to send my lesson plan to my email so I could have Michelle print it out and make copies. Not to worry I brought our laptop just in case I ran into any problems. I borrowed Michelle’s USB drive to save my lesson plan. After about ten minutes of trying to figure out where the “save as” option on window’s XP 2007, I finally found it. Then I saved my lesson plan on the USB drive and took it over to Michelle’s desk so she could print it. She was busy getting ready for class and said she would print out the lesson plan after lunch. At home, I would I have taken care of this myself or made other arrangements to prepare for the class. Since I’m in Korea, the computer software is in Korean and it makes using Microsoft Word extremely difficult so I had to wait. All morning long, I had this weird feeling in my stomach that something was wrong but I didn’t have the time or resources to do anything. At 12:20, lunch time finally came and I hurried and ate my food while everyone was taking their sweet time. I mentioned to Michelle that I still needed to print out my lesson plan she tells me Oh! I forgot to tell you the teacher’s English class has been moved up from to 2:00 to 1:20. Sheer panic takes over my body… Seriously what are you suppose to say to that but I just smiled and responded with ok! I look at the time and it is 12:50 I have 30 minutes to print and make copies which is a good amount of time. At 12:55, we finally make it back to the English classroom and Michelle tried to open my lesson plan. She pulls up the file and because our laptop has a different version of windows, it’s not compatible with Korean edition of windows on the work computers.
Michelle suggested we go to the staff lounge and print out the lesson plan. But still the file would not come up. I tried to install the work printer to the laptop, but it too did not work. Of course the instructions would be in Korean. Just then I remembered I sent Michelle a copy of an old lesson plan I was going to use before. I was able to pull up the document from my email and display it on the electronic blackboard/ 90” T.V. in the classroom. With two minutes to spare I waited for the 5 teachers to show up which included 3 teachers and my 2 co teachers…lol. There was a school assembly at 1:20 and with the time change several teachers were unable to make it. The class is supposed to have 15 teachers. The first class was about getting acquainted and introducing themselves to others. It was fairly easy because I did not know the level of the teacher’s English skills. I had them say, hi what’s your name, what do like to do for fun, etc. The class seemed too easy for the teachers so I made some last minute adjustments. We sat around in a small group. I asked them basic questions about themselves. The class was a success. Once I got going I had a good time and felt comfortable. At the end I asked them if there was anything specific they wanted to learn. They said they mainly wanted to practice their conversation skills. Next class I will pick a topic and we will sit around and discuss it. It’s my dream job, sitting around talking to people and getting paid for it.
TaN