Cheongju Technical High School
청주 공업 고등학교
Cheongju Gong-eob Godeunghaggyo
Cheongju Gong Gyo for short

I met the WHOLE school staff today. i arrived an hour early because i was planning to walk around the school but i bumped into mr. lee who is the manager of the admin and he invited me in to the teachers lounge. i ended up reading my korean book and saying annyeonghaseyo to everyone that came in. some of the teachers attempted to talk to me but majority just bowed and said hi.

mr. park, the person who picked me up on friday, introduced me to the gyo gam soen saeng nim kim-ssi (vice principal mr. kim), mr. lee, mrs. park and ms. ji yeon. then we headed to the principals office and i met the gyo jang soen saeng nim Bong-ssi (principal mr. bong). i was so nervous! but then he said: nice to meet you. he understood my english and could speak little english. he is pretty funny. he said he was in Vegas over the summer and lost $50. lol. he also said: please teach us english.

then it was time for the staff meeting. the teachers had assigned seating so mr. park showed me where i was supposed to sit. my name wasnt on the roster so i sat on the side next to the podium. the meeting started when the principal and vice principal entered and sat facing the teachers. of course i didnt know what anyone was saying but the man sitting next to me told me when to go up. i went up to the front when they introduced all the new teachers. they introduced all 29 new teachers and then they sat down. of course they didnt introduce me. i was confused. i was going to head back to my seat but then the speaker told me to stay up there. the principal asked me to stand in the center, almost in front of him and man was i NERVOUS! there were like 93 pairs of eyes looking at this foreigner. lol. the principal introduced me for 2 mins and i just looked at everyone bc i had no idea what he was telling them other than jennifer arzadon, american, california, san jose state university. then he said something and passed the mic to me. uhhhh, i was so confused. one of the new english teacher had to come to my aid and told me that the principal wanted me to introduce myself. i basically said: hello my name is jennifer arzadon but you can call me jen. im from california and went to san jose state university. this is my first time in korea and i am very excited. gave the mic back to the principal. he said 2 sentences and everyone laughed. then he said a few more things. then i bowed and sat back down. the meeting lasted for an hour.

i can not believe how organized the school is. they gave each one of us a teacher’s diary which is basically a planner. they also gave us a very detailed plan of how the school year will progress. they are on top of it!

after the meeting mr. park introduced me to mrs. white (her english name) and her english was great! shes a new teacher at the high school but taught middle school english with a co-teacher. so she knew her stuff. she’s basically my go-to for anything. she’ll be co-teaching with me. i also met mrs. lee who is also one of my co. her english was good too. she’s been teaching at the school for 4 years. i have a 3rd co but he wasnt here today. so far both my co’s are great. mr park handed me over to mrs white and she took me to her friends studio. J.M. is what he wants me to call him and he is an artist. he treated us to lunch and they dropped me off at my apt.

mrs. white is going to take me to the immigration office on wed and will also take me shopping! yay! she told me to make a list of the things i needed and she will help me out. i basically need a rice cooker, water heater, cleaning supplies, cooking utensils/materials, food… my microwave is supposed to come today but i guess its coming tomorrow. im already thankful to mrs. white. i know ill be bugging her a lot. lol

im more nervous teaching now! mrs. lee told me that the freshmen boys are naughty and will be very curious about the native english teacher (me). ohhh man! mrs. white said: dont worry, i will take care of them if they get to rowdy. lol! this is gonna be interesting! mrs white also said that the moment she walked in to the school, everyone sorta felt relieved bc they didnt know what they were supposed to do with me. hahaha i dont blame them since im basically their guinea pig. all the other EPIK teachers are telling me that since im the 1st english teacher at that school, i should set the standards pretty high. i hope i can do that :D

while walking to the restaurant in downtown, we walked past a KFC! they have everything here! theres like 4 pizza stores next to my apt and now a KFC! YES!