After my last class yesterday, I looked around our new staff room and noticed that I was the only foreign teacher to decorate his or her desk. In the short two days I’ve had my desk back, it has already become my sanctuary, my harbor in a rough sea.
Each item I have chosen specifically to maximize my happiness and mental well being. Each desk is built like a mini-cubicle, walls on three sides, two drawers, and a small bookshelf placed precariously on top of the walls of the desk. In my two desk drawers, I have snacks, office supplies, and a small stockpile of over-the-counter meds. On my bookshelves, I have more snacks, a couple of personal books (at the moment “Brysons Dictionary of Troublesome Words” “The Bicycle Diaries” and my Kindle), a basket with my supply of markers and other necessities for class, and my text books.
On my left wall, I have a small, orange dinosaur sticker a student gave me, a birthday card from my two Korean teachers from last semester, Rachel and Christine, and a birthday card from Aunt Susan and Uncle Bob. To my right, a Picasso calender a student brought me from his trip to Spain, a folder with important school documents, my class schedule, and a homework assignment from one of my favorite students last year (a book report on Carl Hiaasen’s “Hoot”).
Straight ahead, I have a laminated picture of some tropical beach left by my predecessor. He said that if I ever get frustrated, I should just concentrate on that picture, “That’s the goal,” he added. Although my goal isn’t some tropical paradise, I kept it so I could concentrate on “a goal” even if it wasn’t the one prescribed. I have two headlines from The Onion that I found particularly funny, you can see them here and here. There is a small yellow sticky note pad to remind me of things I have to do. I have a postcard from couchsurfing.org that reads, “The World is smaller than you think.” And I have two pictures, one of my dad and grandparents, given to me before I departed by Grandpa Duke, and a picture of Sydney with an 8-week-old Bentley, the Australian Shepherd that lived next door.
On my actual desk, I have two calenders: one is the official “Korea Poly School” monthly calender, and the other is the previously alluded to Onion calender; today’s headline reads, “Mainstream Media At It Again, Bloggers Report.” I keep my coffee mug, a small basket with scissors and board markers, and most importantly, a statuette of a ROK (Republic of Korea) soldier in a taekwondo pose. He reminds me to be tough, physically and mentally and endure the bad times.
For five minutes of bliss between classes, I have my desk.