School Overview (Dan)

To start off school life has been a bit busy. I have been on the move ever since the semester started. School here in Korea is structured differently than the States. For one it is completely ran by the government, and with government comes a lot of paper pushing, bureaucracy. To order a new ink cartridge for the printer, for example, can take awhile. There are forms that need to be filled out and signed. All while, I could easily go down to the Staples equivalent and buy it in twenty minutes. Instead there is a process that must be followed.
It is also a process to record my overtime hours. When I work extra teaching hours I must fill out a paper with my lesson plan and all. That paper must be filled out by my co-teacher with the Korean translation. I must then sign the paper and then go down to the first floor and get the administrators signature. From there I move to the Vice Principal and get his signature on the second floor. Also on the second floor I must go to the Principal's office and get his signature as well. This is all assuming they are all in their respective offices at the same time, which is never the case. I teach twice a week for this particular after school class and must get the signatures often. It's a hassle to say the least.
Another difference in the school system, is the start of the school year. The school year in Korea starts in March. The first semester goes from March to July. They have a little over a month of a summer vacation, and then the second semester begins in late August. The second semester for the most part lasts from August to December. The winter vacation is a little over two months long. The students do have to go back to school at the beginning of February for two weeks to wrap up the second semester. I have been told that those extra two weeks are designed to finish up any curriculum that was not covered in the bulk of the semester. I also have been told that most classes are usually taught with fun activities for the students.
Another major difference is the school hours for the faculty. Here teachers and faculty are at work from 8:40AM to 4:40AM. Though school lets out at 2:40 we are all obligated to stay the remainder of time. It is designed so the teacher does not take work home. It gives us plenty of time to lesson plan. I am usually done with my main English classes by lunch at 12:10. From their I have about two to three hours of free time to prepare for classes. I am running two after school classes at the moment. One of them is an special English class and the second is a writing class I have mentioned before. Other than those major differences school is school. Kids still act like kids.
Next post I will go into more detail about my co-workers and students.