Last Day of the Semester - Student Pics

My favorite class of the semester...not sure what the guy to the right of me is up too.

One of my best students attempt at a portrait. Much better than I could ever do.

One of my other good classes. John is pretty excited about that bucket full of candy.

Three students in my friend Liz's favorite class.

Not sure if he did that to himself or had it done to him. He looks pretty good either way.

I'd been meaning to take pictures of my students since the first day of class and finally had a good excuse to do so the final day of the semester. Some highlights here, though none can convey some of the hilarious things that come out of their mouths.

Student Phone Calls

Twice a semester we call each of our student for a one on one phone conversation. We have to ask them some questions based on the recent reading units. Much more interesting are the questions we get to make up. My favorite thing to ask is what they want to be when they grow up. I get plenty of predictable responses but plenty of unexpected dreams too. I had a particularly quiet student who said she wanted to be a rock star. I looked at her a little differently the rest of the semester.

Work - Avalon Office

My desk at work. On top of that big tube behind my name is a hat the guys who own the place I get my hair cut gave me. It says "force" in Korean. The kind Luke Skywalker has in abundance.

The room where the nearly 30 teachers at my campus work (half Korean, half foreign). It's a fun/noisy place to be.

My good friend Pete arriving at work in a newly purchased t.

Five of our foreign teachers on their last day. For all such occasions, including birthdays and weddings, we gather in our lobby for soda, pastries, and ice cream cake.

Waiting for the celebrated to blow out the candles so we can eat.

Some pictures of work life. We were just made to switch desks last week, in order to get to know more of our fellow Korean teachers, instead of sitting next to the same neighbors all the time. Its a good idea but always an insane day. 30 people trying to move into someone else's desk while that person waits for their new desk to be unoccupied. A lot like musical chairs, but musical chairs while holding 30 books and a pencil case in your arms.

Staff Dinner

The director of my school, Sophie, and my good friend Liz. And one of our TA's trying to get out of the frame.

Most of our elementary school staff out to dinner recently, celebrating the end of the semester.

The four young guys who work as Teaching Assistants at our campus. All great guys who keep our school running on a day to day basis.

My school does a great job of celebrating events. For the end of semester dinner we took over half a restaurant and ate family style. Its always fun to see the people you work with outside the office, though it can be tough to make small talk with your boss for an hour. Sadly I didn't stay long enough to watch the TA's start in on the soju.