Training for LCI Academy

 A short 9 hours after I got off the plane from my 24 hours of travel from the US, I was off to my first day of training. I was excited to meet 2 other new teachers who had been there a few days and could tell me a few things about what to expect out of my first day at LCI Academy. For most of the day I observed other classrooms and took notes of how they taught their children and the structure of the classroom. I got to meet the children I would be teaching for kindergarten (its called Kinder in Korea) and I was very excited about this! They all laughed and called me Teacher Nikki and started running up and down the hall. They often do not say Ms.Nikki, they often call me Teacher Nikki which is very cute when it is said in their Korean accents!

During lunch our boss took all the new teachers out for Korean. Its a very common meal to have a stew or porridge (rice with soup and other ingredients) as your meal. You also ALWAYS get a bunch of little side dishes with different sides like Kimchi, salad (which is usually like coleslaw), mini "pancakes", and some sauces sometimes. This was my meal; a crab and tofu stew with noodles and onions, mushrooms, and rice cakes in it. Very good, but a little spicy!

Then we went back to LCI to finish our day of training and learn about our PK (post kindergarten) classes. We stayed until 7pm, and I was exhausted! I got back to my apartment and met my roommate Claudia who had just arrived from Canada! She was just as tired as I was, so we went to sleep and began our 2nd day of training the next morning at 9am.

Over the next 2 days we finished training which included observing more classes and learning the curriculum. But it is also mandatory to get a health check in Korea before you can work here! So we all went to the hospital to have our check ups and we were given these gorgeous orange outfits to wear! We were very excited thinking it was just like a spa.....but when we all started changing we realized how short the pants were! These pants must have been a one size fits all, and we were hysterical laughing at Trista's capri pants. (the blonde who is 5'10) She already is taller than almost everyone we see, so this just sent us all into hysterics. We soon realized the fun was over when we got poked and prodded, but we had time to stop and capture the very orange moment.

 

By the time Friday afternoon came, we were all very nervous..... come Monday morning we would have our very own classes! We would not be observing or shadowing any longer! But I just wanted to start already because I knew I would be a wonderful teacher for these kids, and I couldn't wait for Monday to come. BUT..........I decided I should still enjoy the weekend anyway! :)