Breaking News: Harrington's Survive First Day of School

It is not common practice for The Harrington Times to break from chronological order of news events, however, every once in awhile a story comes along that we believe our readers are eaer to hear. This is one such an example. We here at The Harrington Times expect that everyone is curious as to how the Harrington's are holding up in Korea and whether or not they survived their first day as Guest English Teachers in Daejeon, South Korea.

On Thursday, August 26th the Harrington's finally arrived in Daejeon after spending a week in Jeonju attending an Orientation conducted by English Program in Korea (EPIK). Arriving in Daejeon meant the couple would soon meet their Korean Co-Teachers and slowly begin discerning what the upcoming year of teaching would hold. The couple was eager to settle into a new home and begin living life in the ROK (Republic of Korea). This however was not possible on their first night as they had 4 apartments to choose from and were then required to allow EPIK and the landlords a day to furnish said apartment.

On Friday, August 27th the couple learned what their average week would consist of. Mike Harrington will be teaching 7th and 8th graders at Namsun Middle School with at least three different Korean Co-Teachers. Melissa Harrington will be teaching a wide range of Elementary Students at two different Elementary Schools. On Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursdays, Melissa will be teaching at Seongchon Elementary, grades 3rd - 6th with two different Korean Co-Teachers. On Wednesdays and Fridays Melissa will have the great joy of working with grades 1st-6th with the classroom teacher of each grade, that's 6 Korean Co-Teachers.

The weekend passed and Monday, August 30th arrived seeing Mike Teacher and Melissa Teacher to their first day of school. Mike knew he would be presenting some lessons and was thrilled to have his first class run smoothly and efficiently. The following classes posed a bit more stress and challenges as students appeared bored with the curriculum and Mike Teacher wondered if he'd really be required to teach straight from the book for the entire semester. Melissa Harrington arrived at Seongchon Elementary school expecting to spend a day lesson planning and getting to know her main Korean Co-Teacher. Much to her surprise, but not displeasure, she was informed the 5th grade students would be arriving AND she would be introducing herself on the schools news program. Half ready to give an introductory lesson, Melissa Teacher finished her powerpoint presentation and geared up to interact with some Energetic Korean 5th graders. The morning passed with few problems and offered Melissa more than a few moments to smile and be grateful for these new experiences.

There it is, a quick recount of the Harrington's first days in Daejeon, South Korea. The Harrington Times will continue to inform readers of the Harrington's new life in Korea while also attempting to fill in the summer travels gap.