The Children Have Arrived!

A quick catch up: I didn't post during orientation because it was basically the same thing every day. It was ice breakers and team building during the day, hang out and meet people at night. It was good fun, but not all that informative. The last few days of orientation involved getting down to business and getting real details about daily life. This culminated in the staff party the night before the kids arrived. All English staff, Korean staff, teachers, and families were invited to a party in the gym with tons of food, beer, and karaoke. It was a good time, and the perfect end to the orientation. You could tell there was a cohesive group of people in the gym, and it felt good.

Yesterday, we decorated our floor all morning, and students began arriving at 1:30PM. I was a lot more nervous than I thought I would be, mostly for meeting the parents! Everyone arrived by 3:30 or so, and by 4, parents had left, and it was time to get down to business. I can already tell that learning names will be a bit difficult! We have 19 boys between 6th and 8th grade, and room for 3 more. There are three dorm staff members on the floor; there's me (overseas assistant), Jennifer (Korean assistant), and Bryan (the house specialist). So far I've bonded well with both of them, and it's been relatively smooth sailing besides some minor communication with students. It'll be a bit of a learning process, as all three of us are new.

I can already tell who my troublemakers are. Some of the former middle school specialists warned me about who they would be, but I didn't even need to know names. It's typical middle school boy stuff: being rough, swearing, being disrespectful when someone else is talking, some bullying. I think we made it pretty clear that we run a tight ship though. The boys loved that I worked for the Cubs, and during some free time, I even jammed on guitar with one of my students. A small faction of the boys has taken to calling me Mr. Hulk after we did some dodgeball and basketball last night. I think that's a good thing? It's weird enough to hear Mr. Bedell and Mr. Ryan. It makes me feel old.

The wake up calls are the hardest part. We assign student leaders each week to wake up early and rouse their peers. Today, the house leaders were up at 6 (they needed to be up at 7), and were waking people up by 6:30. I attribute it to being excited for the school day. While they're in classes, I'm free to do as I please. At 3, we have a staff meeting, and at 4, kids are out of school. I have Monday and Tuesday off, so those days will be best for me for catching up.

The homesickness hadn't really set in until I saw the kids saying goodbye to their parents yesterday. I really do miss all of my friends at home. I've done a good job of keeping in touch with many already, but I'm starting to realize how far away I am! However, I have this feeling that already this experience is helping me grow. It's reassuring to know I'm in the right place.

It's pouring today, so I went on a sopping wet bike ride, which was fun. My coworker Matt was nice enough to give me his old bike. It needs some work, but Bryan enjoys working on bikes and has offered to help! As soon as my visa goes through, I'm going to look into a car or scooter so that I can really start exploring. There's great rock climbing, hiking, and surfing here on the island. So I think I will have to start getting into all of those!

Anyway, not much else to report for now. Miss you all! Email me at ryanbedell3@gmail.com or rbedell@kis.ac, and we can set up some Skype! Have a good rest of your week, folks.

-Ryan