So- Today marks a full 9 months in Korea. And, I suddently realized that I’ve not posted any pictures of my school and the area I live in!
Today the area is covered in mist (pollution maybe), but I took a couple of good photos last week.
My school has about 300 students and has grades Kindergarden through 6th grade. My classroom is on the top floor- its the last four windows on the right.
My school is located into the small town (village? I’m not really sure how it translates) of Gagok. It really consists of 5 or 6 high-rise apartment complexes and one tiny main street of high-rise shops, all in the middle of factories and mountains. The view from the back of my classroom kind of gives you an idea of how it’s situated:
In the backyard we have an absolutely gorgeous garden~ where I believe they grow veg for the students. 
It has a gazebo, and a small pond. It’s interesting, because on any given day you can look out the window and see the janitor or the vice-principal gardening!
The school hierarchy is one of the most difficult things I’ve had to wrap my head around. I kind of slide by though- I’m pretty sure that everyone who works is is either afraid to talk to me or thinks that because I’m a strange foreigner I should be treated like a child.
One incident I can’t stop laughing about:
The Vice-Principal came to visit my classroom and happen to come in during a break period, when the kids were all running around and playing with balls and puppets. He, not realizing it was a break period, proceeded to start yelling at these kids (basically a sit down and shut up thing), scares they all into wide-eyed silence, turns to me and says “Good Morning!” and leaves.
It just seems to be the nature of my relationship with the school in general though. I think most of the staff aren’t really sure how to interact with me. They are always helpful and nice though.
And this is where I’ve committed another year of my life to working. Still waiting on the paper-work, but as far as I understand its a definite. 15 more months in Korea!
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