And just like that, more updates!

So, there was one other interview, and I'm actually waiting for another, which is 15 minutes late now, but it's moot because I decided to take the job I went in and interviewed for on Tuesday. It's in Seoul, so YEAH kids, I'm moving on up to the big city-- and less pollution, if you can believe it. I'm replacing an Irish girl who posted the job on a facebook page. Meaning I got plenty of time to talk to the teacher I'm replacing. She liked her school, hence her helping them find her replacement.

I talked to the head teacher there, Anna, on the phone last Thursday, then did the 2 hour train ride (because I don't know where to catch the Seoul bus near work) to Seoul to meet the owner and see the school. Well, I wanted that; the phone interview was sufficient for Anna to say I had the job.

The school smells mildewy but is fine; I really liked the owner (though I'd honestly have really liked Hetty if I met her without experiencing what I have), got to talk to Ashling more (I love her name). The only other native teacher is, as Ashling accurately described, a socially awkward guy who has been in Korea too long, which again is why they soo want another woman. Met the Korean teachers, who seemed very nice.

And then Ashling sent pics of the apartment. And that more or less sealed the deal for me. It's bigger than a pygmy's apartment, and is a loft! There's more than a foot between the bed and... anything else! Ashling told me it was a major selling point for her too. I mean, I think the bathroom alone is twice the size of what I have now.

Yesterday Hetty told me that Marcianna, my blessed replacement, is arriving the 14th. So we will plan on my moving out of the apartment on the 18th. Unsurprisingly, this was music to my ears. Well, not the moving part, that I never enjoy, but I will pack up some kitchen stuff and one piece of luggage at least and Nathalie already kindly offered to help with storing stuff, as have others.

Today I heard from the school I interviewed with last week, that I mentioned in my previous post. He had, of course, called Hetty. He texted to say that he had had a really positive view of me, but Hetty told him I "showed lack of adaptability to new environments and lack of enthusiasm to develop better quality of education."

When I first read that, I started second-guessing myself, because I remembered it as lack of adaptability in general, and I thought, do I? Maybe she's right and that's a fair criticism. I've always hated change, despite my desperate need to change countries and cultures on a regular basis. And as unpleasant as it is, criticism can be very helpful in a number of ways. I don't want to be unfair and say it's not my fault, everyone else sucked and/or failed, not me. But having typed it out, without the immediacy of responding while at school getting ready to go to class, I can honestly say being unable to adapt to new environments isn't really one of my weaknesses-- I have done that every time I left the country. Smaller scale when it's temporary on vacation, but it's still what you do. And while I hated Chile, I still adjusted to being there. I adjusted to this apartment-- it wasn't ideal but I knew it would be small, having been to Asia before.

No, the fact is she is still seeing me through the prism of her initial arrival, which was smack-dab in the middle of my culture shock, which is likewise not an uncommon occurrence. At all. In fact, Hetty lived in a smallish town in Canada for 3 months (it was supposed to be 6 months, she never mentioned why it wasn't).... The fact is is 9 out of 10 teachers are going to have it, so if you're going to own a school like this you'd best accept that and be able to see through it and understand it. So, while I can agree that I'm not THE most flexible/adaptable person, having worked through my culture shock in about 4 months isn't that bad.

As for the education crack, well I'm going to go with that's just utter crap, given Anna-teacher's assessment before she left, hearing that my students like me, and that just today Heidi-teacher, my Elmo-whisperer, asked me if I was sure I had to leave and couldn't stay here to teach at ILS. It may be a comment on how utterly useless and awful Hetty's Hessed program is, which NO ONE wanted to touch with a 10 foot pole, and it was "gifted" to me (I've always thought it was entirely possible it was done to punish me, lol). But in any event, apparently her criticism will prove as useful as teaching algebra to 4-year-olds.