Prescription Refill…

(April 1st)

Gizmo got me up at four o’clock this morning.  The little king wanted his whiskas soft food.  However I’m trying to get him into the idea of breakfast at six.  So for two hours Gizmo meowed. And meowed.  And batted me in the face, and bit my nose, ear, shoulder.  And knocked things over.  The result is that I’m in dreadful need of sleep.  And when I need sleep, I’m notoriously easy to set off.

I got to one of my schools at 7:50 and waited around for my ride to the school where I’d be teaching.  When I got there, the school nurse had taken over the desk I had been using since the year started now that the computer was working there again.  I asked one of the teachers where I could sit, she found a spot for me between the printer and the fax machine that was just big enough for my laptop (a 13.3 inch notebook at that).  No internet access, and no plug-in.  My fuse was now lit.

After prepping my classes one of my ko-teachers comes up and starts speaking to me in Korean.   I tell him I don’t understand, and he repeats himself.  I tell him again I don’t understand and  I ask him in Korean : su-op issoyo/opsoyo? Literally, ‘class have/not have?’ He repeated himself again so I reminded him curtly that I only speak a little bit of Korean.

Finally the answer: ‘opsoyo.’

I went back to prepping my remaining classes.   This only makes me angrier, I could have spent that prep time on other classes, but he elected to inform me of the cancellation while I was gathering my stuff to go to class.  I’m still pretty upset about my workspace today.   Last year,  I’d spend my morning prepping in the lab, and during the afternoon I’d take all my stuff over to the library. They told me it was because they didn’t have space due to another teacher who had been scheduled to visit that same day.  It makes me wonder exactly what they were thinking when they made my schedule that year.  To realize they did the same thing to me again this year is even more grating.   Thank goodness I’ve only got to go there twice a week.

My other schools have changed as well.  At my middle school I’ve got a new partner teacher.  Nice enough guy, but I preferred my situation last year.   At the final school, my partner teacher got a promotion and is now usually too busy to even come to the classroom a lot the time, so far I’ve already taught over ten classes on my own and he’s been anywhere from ten to 30 minutes late for an additional ten or twelve classes.    So much for co-operative teaching.

Anyways here’s the big lesson I learned (again) today.  If you come over here and have serious misgivings about a place of work, don’t go back.  I made that mistake in my second year, there were a few issues between a couple of teachers and the school management but  I stilled signed up for another year a few months later, I remember saying after I finished my second year what a mistake it had been.  I also remember saying I wouldn’t sign on for another year if I had significant issues again.  Yet here I am… again.

(Some days later)

I’ve been busy settling back into academic life this week, so I haven’t been cooking or writing. I reread what I posted and decided to let it stand.  It’s worth noting that not everyday is a ‘fun-filled’ adventure.  I’ve given a lot of thought to the situation this year.  It’s best to concentrate on the positives, good salary, good vacation, some of my partners are excellent teachers, and most importantly… I still enjoy going into a classroom and teaching.  As long as I’ve got that I can put up with the other stuff, at least until this particular contract expires.

Outside of work, things are going nicely.  April marks my first pain-free month since the motorcycle accident.  So I am swimming again, starting yoga, and looking forward to spring & summer so that I may get back to the mountains and do some hiking.