Finally something worth writing about!

So I have been putting a lot of effort into my plans for next year. I mentioned before that I have visited a lot of universities with my resume package. Well, last week I got a call from Pukyoung National University for an interview. Initially I was told that I would be getting an interview on Friday (May 25). I was to prepare and model 1o minutes of a class as well as go through the interview itself. Then they called me back and said that the director of their program (apparently he's the new guy with the new ideas) wants to see me teach an actual lesson. This is a new system they have devised to choose their teachers. I am just the lucky son of a bitch who gets to be the very first candidate to do it. At first I felt a bit pissed off. I have to teach my first class at my Hogwan at 4:40, but they want me to teach a 3pm class. Also, they were initially a little hazy on the details. However, when I thought about it more I realized that although it was going to be stressful as hell it was probably the best thing for me. Teaching kids you have never met, with an unfamiliar textbook, classroom and materials is tough job interview. But I am a good teacher, and my best teaching skills is my rapport with kids. If I modeled a lesson they would have no idea of my real teaching abilities. Just a stilted pseudo lesson to compare with the other applicants. Anyway, I told them I could do it on the Tuesday of next week and they said they would get back to me with details about my class, book etc...

Monday rolls around and they tell me that the class has been rescheduled until Thursday. I supposed it was nice to have more prep time, but the stress of having this interview over my head for 8 days was really unpleasant. They told me I would have nine, grade 2 kids, the textbook I would use and the general assessment parameters they would use. I was also told that the director of FLEC (Foreign Language English Center, where I would be working) who is also a professor of English at the university, the assistant director and the manager, would all be sitting in the class watching the whole thing. Finally, I was told that since wednesday was the last day of the term I would now not be teaching an actual textbook chapter, but should instead review the key concepts from the book (nothing eight year olds like more than review!). So, NO pressure!

I bought the textbook I was supposed to be using and went over it Wednesday. I am glad I did all my homework because these kids are much lower than the ones I have been teaching at Unium. I supposed I should stop myself here for a minute. Even though it is a university job, you have both adult and children's English classes to teach. After 6 months or more, if you prove yourself a good teacher you may get to opportunity to stop teaching English classes and teach real university courses. One of my friends at the university is teaching introduction to political science. Anyway, the textbook is really low level English. I prepared some activities I thought would use the vocabulary from the book as well as keep the kids attention. For example, I made a mystery box with 5 items in it. The kids had to feel the objects, then draw and label them. Then the lesson progressed to making sentences. I HELD a ........ I FELT a ....... I TOUCHED a ........

I went to the school around 2:15 so that I would have time to look at my classroom and prepare materials etc... I talked with Donna, who is the main manager and foreign teacher liaison (she has the best English). She was very nice and helpful and got me set up in my room. I spent the next 30 minutes getting some extra workbook materials ready and nervously pacing. When the time rolled around.... Well, a classroom is my element, I took all that nervous energy and I channeled it into my lessons and my voice and I kept 9 hyperactive eight year olds (with almost no English) working and learning. The very first thing I did was establish with the children that when I raised my hand they should also do it and stop speaking. I explain almost entirely with gestures, but it worked. I think that may have been the most important thing I did.

After the class I had my interview. I am so glad I emphasized my classroom management skills in my lesson. The first thing that was said to me upon sitting down was how impressed they were at how I controlled the class. The assistant director actual said that I could teach some of their other teachers how to manage their class (a good sign? I think so!). They asked me about my other teaching experiences, my plans for Korea, why I wanted to work at Pukyoung etc.... However, what made me most hopeful about my chances was that they spent at least half of the interview talking about the contract. Did I know about the overtime options, how did I feel about taking part in the summer camp and did I know about how the holidays work? We spent 10 minutes just talking about living options, about whether I wanted to live on campus (free) or pay for my own apartment.

Anyway, they told me I would have their answer late next week and I left feeling quite positive. At 10 this morning I received an email asking if I could come provide them with a whole bunch of documents. The email started by saying it was the woman "doing the work on the contract." It ended by saying "I was told that you start from 1 September, 2007 and your pay will be 1,920,000won." No formal "we are pleased to offer you a position," but I guess this means that I have a university job for next year! I have emailed to confirm that this is a formal offer of a job (and not some contract bureaucrat dotting the i's), but hot damn!!!

Some of you might realize the pay is almost $400 less than my current job. However, the nice thing about universities is how much fewer hours your contract stipulates. Pukyoung requires 18 hours a week, while Unium requires 30 hours. So, if I actually worked enough overtime to equal my current hours I would be close to earning 3,000,000. Hopefully I won't have that much overtime, and I can find some privates now that I don't work all the after-school hours. Also, this means that I have over a month to visit family and take my trip around Korea. Anyway, I will post again when I have more details.

YAY!