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!