training to avoid trauma.

I had to wake early the morning after my arrival to make my way to a city about an hour and a half away from Busan. Because Headquarters did not want to train me in Seoul, I was to meet one of the trainers in another city, as he was there on some other business. Nerves on edge and clutching my directions like an amulet, I safely made it to Changwon without incident. I trained for about two hours and then headed back to Busan to teach my first day of classes: what chaos! My hours for work are from 1p-9p. Monday, Wednesday, and Friday my actual classes run from 2:30 to 7:10 (the periods before and after are for prepping and grading). Tuesday and Thursday my classes run from 3:00 to 7:45. My Monday, Wednesday, Friday schedule is a whirlwind as I have 6 different classes that change every 45 minutes. Five minute melees signify the transition of classes as one group of students tramples the other in an attempt to secure their prized seat. Tuesday and Thursday are much more relaxed as I only have 4 actual classes that meet for two periods, rather than one, making the transitions much more calm and less frequent.

My first day was pure mayhem: attempting to remember everything I had been told that morning, struggling to make it through the lesson in the proper time frame, desperately trying to remember everyone's English name (or give them one if such was the case), and keeping up with the integrated technology - it makes me exhausted just remembering it. But, needless to say, I made it through my first day alive and knew that once I got the hang of everything the level of insanity would subside. Dealing with swathes of children who, more often than not, have no idea what you are saying to them can lead to strained communication and frustration. That evening I went home and collapsed from my 13-hour day, not looking forward to a repeat performance the following morning.