Poor Planning

On Saturday, we had to come in to work. This isn't a normal thing for us (though some hagwons are open on Saturday. Aish). The reason we came in is because we had a sort of open house. Basically the school and the teachers were on display for prospective students' parents.

It was, as these sorts of things always are, awkward. The foreign teachers had to line up at the door and greet incoming parents. Did I mention that Koreans are kind of afraid of foreigners? Now imagine someone with a slight fear of foreigners who is walking into a school on a Saturday, a little uncertain, a little fearful, and once she opens the door, she's inundated with twelve foreigners speaking in another language.

Awesome.

Anyway, the main reason for this open house is that in February most of our morning classes are done. All but two of our classes are graduating, and that leaves a pretty big hole in the school. A hole that might cause trouble for the teachers, being that we all still want to have jobs (for the most part, anyway). It doesn't take a genius (or administrator, which is NOT the same thing) to figure out that if we don't get enough replacement students, some of the teachers will go in February. Toward the top of that list would be yours truly, being that I'm one of the newest.

So that's interesting news for everyone back home. There's a small chance I might end up home sooner than I'd thought. But then again, English teaching jobs are pretty common out here, so I might just get another. If that's the case, I'd be staying at least six months extra.

So that's where we stand right now. Between the economy and swine flu, there's a chance some of the teachers will be out of work. It's not the end of the world, but it's something to consider.