Day 68: Big Changes On The Horizon

So in the last week or so Steven has been really inaccessible and not overly friendly at work. I wasn't sure if it was because maybe I've done something wrong, or I've unknowingly offended him in some way, or that he wasn't pleased with my performance as a teacher, or maybe just because he's perpetually over-worked and stressed out and so busy keeping the school running. Well after trying unsuccessfully to have a chat with him in the last few days (he's always coming and going, never around, always busy with something else that I don't want to interrupt) I finally got the chance to chat with him over coffee this morning at the office before work started. And I didn't even have to bring it up - he initiated the conversation all on his own....

So there's good news and there's bad news....

The good news is that everything is fine with me! (ie: he's not upset with me, thinks I'm doing great in the classroom, etc.) He apologized for being so busy lately and for not being around to help me teach the afternoon classes which I had been pretty much doing all on my own for the last week and a half. He also apologized for being late (again!) with my pay. Payday was last Thursday (the 15th) and he's promised to pay me *in full* next Friday...here's hoping he comes through with that promise! It's not that I'm desperate for money or starving at home or anything, but I'm just not comfortable with the informality of pay around here. I'm used to getting paid exactly on the same day every single time - I don't know if it's just my school or maybe Korea in general but they seem to be a lot more lax about pay schedules and stuff around here...

Anyways, here's the bad news (although it may turn out to be good news in the end...) REI, I believe, is having financial problems. Steven didn't say this himself, but I've pieced this together based on what's happened in the last few weeks, and what he announced today (I'll get to that in a minute.) When I first arrived at REI there were 4 Korean teachers and me teaching the kids. We're now down to 2 Korean teachers and me, have merged our 6's and 7's together into one classroom (a pain in the ass, as they each have separate lessons still but the fact that the two tables are right next to each other means they're constantly distracting each other - it makes classroom management that much more difficult) and we've lost about 1/4 of our students it seems in the last 2 months. Our classes are getting smaller, and this, I assume, is why they've been letting teachers go. And they've been late for both of my paydays so far which leads me to believe that the school is seriously short on cash these days.

So the big announcement is that REI is going to change it's education program in the mornings. We're losing our kindergarten classes completely and will instead begin to teach adults in the morning. Afternoon elementary classes will stay the same (I assume.) All our kindergartens will be sent to another school in May, and the school will begin advertising it's new program for parents/adults immediately. This is both sad news and possibly good news. If it means a better financial situation for the school (and as a result, for me as well) then it's good news for sure. But in the process both our remaining kindergarten teachers will be let go, and I'll have to say goodbye to all my kinders!!! I've really grown attached to them and even though they can be quite difficult to teach at times, they're absolutely adorable and I still love 'em to pieces! I'm honestly going to be really sad to have to say goodbye to all of them knowing that I'll probably never see any of them again.

But, like I said, if this improves the financial situation for the school then I guess in the big picture this is a good thing. Teaching adults will be *very* different for me, but I'm kinda looking forward to it at the same time. When teaching adults, you get to focus 100% of your time on teaching English, not trying to balance lessons with 'baby-sitting'. The adults will be there because they *want* to learn and are paying for it themselves, and I'll no longer have to deal with crying, fighting, marker/cookie/pencil stealing, name-calling, or just trying to get the kids to sit and LISTEN. But, I will no longer have students running up and giving me hugs every morning, drawing me pictures, giving me little candies as presents, sitting on my lap or cuddling during movie or reading time, or fun little games where I get to see their eyes light up.

There's nothing really that I can do other than to just 'roll with the changes' and hope that things work out for our school. I've been considering the worst case scenario which is that the school has to close and I therefore lose my job. As much as this would suck, I'm actually not too worried about it. There's TONS of teaching jobs here in Korea, and between Steven's connections and all those schools that my friends work at, I'm pretty sure I could find a new job quite quickly. Still, I want to avoid that as it would be a big paperwork hassle, and I'd have to move, and start all over again, and I just really like being at my school with my students.

I'm going to stay positive though and hope that all of this works out. Steven seems pretty confident it will, and I have faith in him that he has my best interests at heart and is looking out for me too. Still, I'm going to be mentally prepared in case the worst case scenario does occur. With all luck, this new education program will bring in lots of adult students and therefore lots of income for the school. Who knows - perhaps in a month or two from now all of this worry will be a distant memory and things will be flourishing at REI. Until then, I'm just handling it all one day at a time.