Today was my last open class, I had the first one of the month and the last one. The lesson itself went fine, and the kids were slightly more well-behaved than normal (though they're usually pretty good.) The parents seemed to enjoy it, though I didn't look at them, and my boss said they had no problems, which means they're happy. But now I have planning for next month for my afternoon classes due, evaluations for this month, lessons for the week for Cherry and Lemon, and I'm getting ready for Halloween this Friday.
I'm also doing a separate week-long lesson with one of my afternoon classes on how to write directions in English, and then I'm going to film them giving the directions on how to play a Korean game to send to their pen pals. The kids are really excited about it, and my boss really likes the idea, too (which is always nice).
And I was sent a link the other day to a rather interesting article about escaping student loans by leaving the country. Though I haven't come here to escape my loans, but rather pay them off, I am concerned about the change in exchange rates since I got here. When I arrived in Korea 5 months ago, the exchange rate was just about even - 1,000 won = $1.00 (meaning I could easily send home $1000 each month and still have plenty to live on here). However now, it's around 1,000won = $.695.
I'm also doing a separate week-long lesson with one of my afternoon classes on how to write directions in English, and then I'm going to film them giving the directions on how to play a Korean game to send to their pen pals. The kids are really excited about it, and my boss really likes the idea, too (which is always nice).
And I was sent a link the other day to a rather interesting article about escaping student loans by leaving the country. Though I haven't come here to escape my loans, but rather pay them off, I am concerned about the change in exchange rates since I got here. When I arrived in Korea 5 months ago, the exchange rate was just about even - 1,000 won = $1.00 (meaning I could easily send home $1000 each month and still have plenty to live on here). However now, it's around 1,000won = $.695.
This makes it harder for me to send money home, as I'm still making the same amount per month, but I have to send more won home in order to keep the same amount in my American bank account to make my monthly payments. Though I would never consider changing my address to an international address just to avoid making payments, it does worry me that others in my position have been faced with that decision. It's amazing the things you start paying attention to (exchange rates, foreign policy, current political climate) when they affect you directly, and that in my case it only happened when I left America.
1 comment:
Sean's student loan has definitely left me in a lurch. I am taking DRASTIC measures to get rid of my other debt. $800 a month is a huge amount (though not as much as that one guy paying $2,400 - Sheesh!).
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