Good Grief

Well, I managed to lose my job, interview for two new ones, and get hired at a new school all in the course of one evening.

Yesterday I got to work to see an email from Su, my recruiter: "Tyrel, please call me ASAP," and upon calling her was informed that my director can no longer afford to pay me due to the decrease in student enrollment at my school. Apparently, the economic crisis in Korea is causing many parents to pull their kids out of private academies. So I get canned as a result; there are simply not enough students at Young Jae to fill my classes and make my position on the payroll worth it to him. Super. Immediately I'm stressed to the max: "I'm now unemployed and broke in Korea, with no way to get home," I kept repeating to myself.

Well, the stress was short-lived. After a quick meeting with Su, I had two interviews with other academies lined up. I met the directors shortly after, and both places offered me positions. Today I signed a new contract that starts Monday; my last day at Young Jae is Friday. Talk about a ridiculous, light-speed-paced string of luck. And I couldn't be happier with my situation; for one, I'm moving to a brand new apartment building right next to the one I currently live in. In fact, I think they told me I'll be the first one to move onto that floor. I just did a walkthrough about an hour ago, and the apartment is incredible. Still not very big, but I have floor-to-ceiling windows with a view (my current apartment looks at a wall), and brand-new everything. They are going to fully furnish it tomorrow, and I should be making the whole quarter-block move by the weekend. Sweetness.

My new academy is also very modern. Built just over a year ago, CBS (no it's not a television studio) blew me away in terms of what they offer their students compared to where I am now. It seems more like a breeding ground for creativity more than an actual school: musical instrument rooms, art workshops, exercise rooms, dance studios, etc. And most of the Korean teachers there seem to speak English very well, which will be a nice change. The part that makes me giggle most is that I'm now going to be a kindergarten teacher. Monday will be the "Kindy's" very first day of school ever, so now instead of teaching the difference between, say, subordinate and independent clauses, I'll be teaching the ABC's, dancing, and singing songs. I'm pretty excited, although this will definitely be more of a test on my patience. And I'll need to remember to watch my step -- these Korean kiddies are pretty tiny, and I'd hate to be let go on account of crushing one of my students.

So all in all, things worked out pretty well. It's amazing how quickly it all went down, and how smooth of a transition it's going to be.

Hope you're all enjoying the negative temps back home! Annyong!