Back in Session

School is back in session, and boy was everyone happy! Although sleeping in and teaching in my PJs was nice, teaching online was a real challenge! And it wasn't very fun either. We were quarantined...and alone. It was so boring that some days I just had to get out of the house for some social interaction. I felt like I spent all day sitting at my computer replying to emails. The students didn't like it much either and felt overloaded with homework. Poor kids! Some of them didn't even realize lessons were being posted online until this week. Unfortunately, with the way things are going, we may end up closing again. So far about 40 schools in Korea have been shut down.

We started up again on Wednesday. As excited as I was to be returning to face to face instruction, I was dreading the day. I feared it would be mass chaos because the school has begun to implement "Swipe Away the Swine Flu" which requires each student to get their temperatures checked before school starts, dismissing the kids early to wash their hands before lunch, and using paper cups at the drinking fountains. The day went a lot smoother than I was expecting and after today I feel like we are starting to get the hang of the new procedures. Every now and then I forget to stop class early so we can wipe down the desks, computers and doorknobs, but other than that things are back to normal. I can say one thing, this experience made us all a lot more thankful for the chance to come to school each day!

Besides Swine flu excitement, not too much has been going on. We aren't allowed to travel yet, but my friends and I did purchase plane tickets to Japan for Chuseok (hopefully the let us in and out of the country!). I also bought a new road bike so I enjoyed a couple rides during the school closure. Now that school is back in session, volleyball is in full swing (no pun intended! :-P). I enjoy coaching the boys more than I thought I would. They are a great group and it is such a blessing to be around them everyday. They are so encouraging, and there are some really great leaders on the team. We are supposed to have our first game on Wednesday, but it is against our sister school, GSIS, who was closed down all this week due to cases of N1H1. If we don't end up playing, we will play our first game on Friday the 4th. We haven't had much practice, but I am excited with the progress I see already. I can't wait to play some games!

Pass the Swine (Flu)

Ever heard of the game "Pass the Pigs". You know, the one where you roll the pigs and get points for how they land. Well, a friend of mine cleverly gave the game a new name..."Pass the Swine Flu." Unfortunately, but a bit ironically, this title pretty much describes TCIS today.

Since school began we have been giving our student H1N1 questionnaires each morning. I really hadn't been taken them too seriously and thought the measure was a bit ridiculous. However, this week a ton of people have become sick so the Korean health officials came and tested many people who had been sent home this week. It hasn't been as noticeable in the MS, but about half the senior class was gone as well as some faculty. Today, as school came to an end we got an interesting announcement. School will be closed until further notice due to confirmed cases of H1N1!!! All school activities were canceled, dorm students were sent home, and we were told that we will most likely be closed at least the rest of the week...maybe longer. I guess normal procedure is that a school is closed for 6 days! After an all-staff meeting to update us on the situation, media crews were swarming the front gate. It was surreal! We are the first international school to be closed by the Korean health officials, but more are expected to follow. Apparently there are already two people who tested positive at KIS in Seoul. I'm starting to think it will be a miracle if we get all of our volleyball games in this year...I mean, it would require that neither school has been shut down due to the virus. :-S

Although I am kinda looking forward to these free personal days (we aren't supposed to be in groups with TCIS people or anywhere with large groups of people), this will bring great challenges to a school year that was off to a smooth start. We are going to be transitioning to online learning so that students aren't sitting at home doing nothing. It means that I am going to have to rethink some of my lessons and come up with things the students can do at home. Most of them do not have their textbooks (and the school is closed as of 10 AM tomorrow so I can't even scan pages) so I will have to get creative. I think overall it will be a great learning experience with ODL (Online Distance Learning) and using various technologies to communicate with students; but it means I have a lot of work to do!

Be praying for the members of our community that have H1N1 and pray also that we are able to reopen soon. I have a feeling this no school, no friend gathering, no traveling stuff is going to get real boring real fast!

Arrrrgreat Weekend!

Saturday a group of RAs and teachers decided it would be fun to escape the heat by heading to Caribbean Bay, a huge pirate-themed water park outside Seoul. Unfortunately, due to Saturday being Korean Liberation Day everyone else in the country had the same idea! We arrived at the park around 12 only to learn that we couldn't get in until 5 since the place was over capacity. Stupid overpopulation! However, after pondering for awhile about what we should do, some fellow foreigners told us that we could buy the tickets to Caribbean Bay and get into Everland, the amusement park next door, for my favorite price of FREE! So...we spent about 5 hours at Everland where I rode a couple rides (including the T-Express...the best wooden coaster I've ever ridden), ate some great burgers, sweated out every cold drink I purchased. By 5 I was ready to hop into the pool! When we got to Caribbean Bay it was still packed. After finally finding a locker we hit up the wave pool, which looked more like a wave of human bodies. It was fun though because instead of many waves in a row. there is one big tidal wave that pushes everyone back about 20 ft. See video here (but with even more people!): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zQleV-uw_yY&feature=related. We also went on an awesome waterslide that was like a rollar coaster because we were in tubes and the slide went up and down hills. Tons of fun! Not to mention we had a great time floating along the lazy river.

Even though I was pooped after a long day of fun, I decided to join my friend Christine and head to Seoul to visit Sylvia, another friend who used to teach at TCIS. We spent the night catching up on our summer travels, current lives, and the new school year. The next day we slept in and met some of Christine's friends for lunch. We ate at Dos Tacos...a pleasant hole-in-the-wall Mexican restaurant. Such a great find! It was a fabulous weekend, but today I'm exhausted. Time for some much-needed rest. Good night!

I'm back!

I have safely and smoothly arrived in Korea after a wonderful summer traveling, visiting friends, and spending time with my family. I have many stories from my around-the-world trip so if you want to hear some shoot me an email. In the meantime, I will be posting links to the pics I have. I also had a great time on RAGBRAI--Register's Annual Great Bike Ride Across Iowa--with Tami (my roommate from college), Sarah (who taught with me here in Korea last year), and many new friends. It was a great feeling of accomplishment when I finished the 7-day, 442 mile ride. It was definitely a challenge, but it was also a ton of fun. Training consumed most of my summer days which prevented me from getting bored in Washington, too.

Although the summer and the break from work were awesome, it feels good to be back. The community here is so caring and supportive. I had missed them. There are some really great new staff members as well. I got in early on Friday morning so I am almost over jet lag. I have spent my time so far doing things around my apartment that I wanted to do all last year and never had time to do. In addition I have been preparing for the first day of school which is quickly approaching on Monday the 10th. I can't believe it is here already! There is a lot to do, but I feel so much more prepared than last year when I had no idea what I was doing. My class load is exactly the same; 5 Spanish classes and 1 7th Sheltered Bible. The biggest adjustment this year will be that I do not have a heavy and light day/week. I teach 3 and have 2 free periods everyday. I am curious to see how I will like it or if it will make time go by slower or faster. This fall I will be helping coach JV volleyball so that will be really fun, but will also be another adjustment as I will be busy everyday after school. In general, I am very very excited to see my students and start the school year. I will be busy, but I am going to try to keep my blog updated regularly. Thanks for reading!