for some reason the taxi driver didnt want to take me to school today. he mightve been getting ready to go on break bc he just parked his car when i got out. the 2nd taxi driver took me :]

immediatly upon arriving at school, i was practically escorted to where my office was at. they kept apologizing for not having my desk set up. i kept telling them that the table that was there was fine. the principal came in and checked on me, apologized for not having my desk ready. he looked super worried and distraught about it. he talked to some other teachers about the situation for 15mins. they kept walking around the room and trying to find a spot. there are 6 teachers in our office and 5 of them have their office space.

staff meeting at 9-930am. they went over how today was going to play out. they also had the list of every teachers' schedule for the year! talk about being ORGANIZED! i was worried there for a second bc everyone at EPIK said to be ready for people now knowing what to do. but man, my school is the complete opposite! everyday they are breaking the stereotype that we learned at the orientation. got my schedule, my co is in the process of translating it for me. we the new teachers also received welcome bags filled with school goodies! im loving my school more and more!

we then headed to the middle of the school, the soccer field, basketball courts, track and field area where all the upperclassmen were lined up in rows according to their homerooms. the student president was front row center. everyone was facing the stage. the teachers lined up in front of the students. there was some welcoming words from the principal, vice principal and head teacher. then all the new teachers had to go on stage. the principal introduced each teacher by saying their name and what class they were teaching. the teachers came up and bowed. he introduced each teacher and then i was told to go up next to the principal. my co, vice principal and head teacher all "escorted" me to the principal. the principal did a 2 min speech to which i only caught my name, american and california. right when he said my name, there was an obvious stir within the rows of students and some hoots, awwws and some yelling. hahaha yeaaaaa, it was a little hard trying to look mean and serious. after that i looked at the principal, bowed to him and then bowed to the students and went back in line.

since i dont teach the upperclassmen, i basically chilled in our office and chatted with other teachers brave enough to talk to me. amazingly all 3 teachers that i talked to today had very good english! 1 of them actually lived in milpitas for 3 months back in the day when silicon valley was just starting up. he talked about gambling in reno. lol first the principal gambling in vegas and now him gambling in reno... haha the routine to talking to me is to offer me a drink (coffee, tea, juice...) and then we start our conversation. lol

lunch time came and the principal and vice principal wanted to have lunch with all the new teachers at a nearby restuarant. i can already feel like part of the family :] we had bulgolgi stew but it wasnt really stew. it was good though. the principal caught my eye when we had started eating and his eyes were asking me if i liked it, to which i nodded and smiled happily. he returned with a smile. then the head teacher came over to me and asked how i was liking the food and i replied with a giant smile and a "i like it! its perfect to eat this on such a cold day!" and then he smiled and look relieved.

my co said that a lot of the teachers want to talk to me but are scared to bc of their english. i guess ill be the one making the 1st move. lol a lot of the teachers were amazed that i knew how to use chopsticks. it was kinda funny bc they were all looking at me at the corner of their eyes. hahaha when i picked up some kimchi, theyre was a low sigh that went down the table. :D after lunch my co took me to the immigration office and applied for my alien registration card. my co is super awesome! she talked about her sons and inviting me over for dinner one day. she said: you have to eat whatever i cook and like it bc im not good at cooking. lol! how awesome is she?! she also said that she wants me to correct her english even if its front of the students bc she doesnt want the students to make the same mistake. OMG! that was something that EPIK stressed we not do and here she is telling me to do it! then we talked about pets and how her son has a hamster that she doesnt like. then we went to home plus to go buy some stuff. she's totally looking after me bc a lot of what was on my list, she said i can get the education office to buy for me since theres money reserved for each EPIK teacher. we were not told of this. lol theyre keeping it on the down low. haha we were short on time so shes taking me shopping again tomorrow. went back to school and bumped into the v.principal to which he was really worried that i didnt have a proper desk yet. he followed us to our office and obviously looked distressed about me not having a desk. the principal and v.principal both had the same distress signal and worriness. its so cute. i keep telling them that its ok but that doesnt seem to work. the v.principal did all the same things the principal did in the morning.

the principal and v.principal treat me like im made of glass and worry about me so much. its super cute. i think they just want to make a great 1st impression. also, ive noticed that this school is really organized, almost militaristic but in a good way. hopefully things continue to be in good terms like this. :]

i FINALLY saw edithe today! omg! that took forever! and we found out that we are less than 10min away by taxi! we decided to meet at the home plus next to the daehyun primall. jeez that was too easy! tried to find some work pants, no luck. ended up getting a mr. rogers jacket. i guess i wasnt looking at the right place for pants. on a happier note: we ate super good food from street vendors! talk about total tourists! ha! i wish i knew what they were called. the circle one is what i get almost everyday from a mom&pop shop down the street. sooo good!

the weather suddenly shifted and decided to be cold again. i am not ready for this cold.

i get to meet my students tomorrow!!