Desk Warming in the Time of Coronavirus

I'm told that when the school year begins, whenever that may be, my work hours will be from 8:30am - 4:30pm, Monday through Friday.  This consists of 22 hours of teaching per week, plus lesson preparation and other duties.  Although, in the time of coronavirus, school life is a little more casual. Without classes to teach, I've been asked to arrive at school sometime around 9am and leave at 4:30pm. Quietly slipping out for a two-hour lunch is the unspoken norm.

I'm trying to get a head start on my lesson planning for the year, but a lot of it is guesswork because I haven't met several of the Korean-English teachers I will be working with. I don't really know what I'm doing so it's slow going, but I've managed to put a few lessons together.  I just hope the students, if I ever meet them, enjoy the lessons.

My desk in the faculty office.

Desk warming, as it's known around here, is the requirement to report to the office during school closures, holidays, or otherwise when there are no classes. Apparently, it's in the contract that I need to be at the school for 40 hours per week, no matter what, even when the students stay home because of a global pandemic.  I have the option to use some of my vacation days, but I was hoping to save those for a trip this summer. When you're a teacher without students it feels like your only purpose for being at work is to warm the desk and chair with the body heat emitted from your backside.

I'm managing to stay productive enough to make coming to school worthwhile, but it can be very tiresome. Most of the full-time teachers are away, so the office is terribly quiet. Other teachers may come in for a day, then I won't see them for a week or more. One day, I watched a teacher quietly fall asleep in her chair.

As fun as planning middle school lessons is, every once in a while I need to do something to break the drudgery. Water, coffee, and tea are freely available in the faculty office. On special days, someone may bring in snacks. Yesterday I ate a bunch of puffed corn. The day before, a teacher supplied nougat icecream.

I spend a fair amount of my time wandering around the school to stretch my legs and get my bearings. Even though there are CCTV cameras throughout the school and the vice-principal could be watching my every move, I am enjoying the quiet hallways and the student artwork. I suppose at this early stage I can still use the excuse of being "lost" if anyone wondered why I was neglecting my desk warming.

The clear highlight of this school is the incredible view of the port from the upper-floor windows.

If I become sufficiently bored, I'll take a walk around the school grounds and share some photos.  I should have plenty of time. Desk warming continues until April 6th, at least.