Most frustrating day EVER!

Let me just say this. UGH.

Okay. I feel marginally better.

It all started after classes this afternoon when 3 fourth graders wandered into my room. I thought to myself, "This is a bit strange...I wonder what they're doing here. Hyun told me that after school classes don't start until next week." Hyun looks up from her desk and says "Oh - here is your fourth grade after school class." I gave her a look that said "Uh, excuse me?" And she explained that their teacher called earlier in the day and said that she wanted after school classes to start today and Hyun just said it was okay. Without asking me. Without even telling me. "You have lesson plan?" she asked. She had given me the lesson plan template on Friday at 4 PM. So, no, I don't have lesson plan. She says, "Oh. I have meeting. Bye bye."

And I'm all alone with 9 4th graders without a plan, a textbook, or a translator. Brilliant.

Things actually worked out better than expected, I gave them English names (Tony, Tim, Steven, Grant, Sunny, Emily, Mary and Kari), they made nametags, we learned the days of the week, we made a paper chain of new words we had learned, and we played hangman. Hyun came back in after that class and semi-apologized, and I told her it wasn't that big of a deal.

AND THEN.

The lesson plan template she had given me was on a Word document, and it was incredibly hard to imput information. I thought to myself, "Self, wouldn't this be 100x easier in Excel?" So I made an Excel document instead. When I showed it to Hyun, you'd have thought I proposed selling the children on the black market. So back to the incredibly inefficient Word document.

I had finished 4 lessons (one week's worth) and asked her when the administration needed the rest (28 more). She said, "Well, adminstration lady not here tomorrow, so...Wednesday, 9 AM." Once again me with the look that says "Excuse me?" It had taken me about an hour to do 4. So, I would need 7 more hours to complete the rest. And I was supposed to go on a 3rd grade field trip tomorrow from 9-4. Impossible. Absolutely impossible.

I felt like Cinderella, when her stepmother told her that she could go to the ball, as long as she did the washing and the mending and the cleaning etc. There would be no 3rd grade field trip in my future.

So I will be at school all day tomorrow, lesson planning my little heart out. All in all, not that big of a deal.

AND THEN.

As I was getting ready to leave, clearly stressed out, Hyun tells me that she added another student to my advanced 6th grade after school class. The five in the class already are brilliant students (all girls of course), very advanced and motivated. Hyun tells me that she added a fifth-grade boy who's english is very low level.

Once again. Me. With the look.

"Why?" I ask her, rather angrily. I know that I cannot teach 5 advanced students and one beginner at the same time. And I will not, I will not cater to the low level student, which is precisely what Hyun wants me to do. That's what class is for. Its not fair for the upper level students to have to sit there for 40 minutes doing worksheets because I have to explain the lesson (without a translator) to a student who should be in the 4th grade class. And if I speak and teach at an advanced level and completely lose the beginner student, its not fair to him either.

So I told her no. I told her that I wouldn't teach him in that class.

You'll recall in a previous post how much Koreans tell their superiors no. But I'd had enough.
It was time to go American, baby. I put my foot down. We had reached the breaking point and enough was enough.

Hyun seemed...stunned. She kept tying to push me but she had my answer. About 5 minutes later, I started to cry. And I ran out of the room. And I continued walking hurriedly until I got to the busstop.

And that was my day.

Please leave an encouraging message if you would :) Love you -

Jess