First Weekend

So first I want to describe my school. It's like a corporation, they own a few schools in the city and are starting one in Seoul, and possibly somewhere else too? Anyway, there is the main campus in Bongsun-dong with Reading Star (elem.) and Avalon (middle). I thought I would be at that campus, but I am at Kuhmo-dong (which actually has a different spelling, but that's how it sounds) and the schools are Langcon (elem.) and Avalon (middle). I like the area we are in and the fact that most of us teach at both schools...I think I'll get so much more experience that way. Today will be the first day of classes for Avalon. We won't have to teach though because the students are taking tests and there won't be time. I think I'll just be handing out books and going over the syllabi that I made up. Hopefully they're good :-) I probably will give them too much homework...I guess we'll see.

This weekend was my first chance to get out and see things. Friday we went for dinner and then went out. Apparently we missed dinner with our coworkers though which I'm sad about...but it will happen again this Friday! Anyway, one of my coworkers and I went downtown and ran into Danielle and then saw Megan!! It was so exciting. Also, I don't know what time bars close here, but you can definitely be out until the sun comes up...

Saturday one of the girls from another class was moving out and my coworker Ashley was getting some stuff from her place so I went along to help carry stuff. I ended up getting a hairdryer and some other stuff from Rupsha (who was moving out) so I was VERY excited. And yesterday Ashley and I went shopping and I got a few other little things, like an orange teapot for $5 :-) And she had an extra comforter that I asked if I could use because my school supplied one is really ugly. So I feel much more settled now that I have more comfortable stuff.

Saturday we went out to celebrate a birthday and to say goodbye to the girls who were leaving. A lot of the people I work with were there, so it was a lot of fun.

So, now you're updated a little bit more. There are pictures on Facebook, and probably at some point I will start a new picture page thing...somehow...anyone have recommendations?

Realllllly quick...

Soo some people have asked what Kimbap is...it's a LITTLE bit similar to sushi without the raw fish. The basic Kimbap is rice and vegetables and maybe ham wrapped in seaweed...yummy...and only about $1. You can also get it with other things in it though too, like tuna.

I plan on taking and posting lots of pictures as soon as I can get out and around to explore some, which probably won't be until this weekend. I will also update more then too, I hope.

So now I need to go prepare for my mock classes tomorrow...

The Journey to Korea and First Day Adventures

So, as some of you know, I was pretty worried about flying by myself...3 separate flights with stops in Chicago and Japan...my stomach was in knots waiting to board the first flight, but once we got in the air and an episode of The Office was the in-flight entertainment, I felt much better.

The second flight was a 12 hour flight. Wow, I did not think it would be anything like it was. I was hoping to sleep through most of it, but I was way too uncomfortable, even after 2 Benadryl. I was also worried about the landing in Japan because I wasn't sure how easy it would be to understand what was going on. Luckily, I was sitting next to a guy who has traveled to Thailand multiple times and various other places, who was willing to answer my many questions and put me more at ease. The food on this flight was kind of good...they fed us like 3 times.

So, the layover in Japan was uneventful, lucky again, Trey(said traveler from 12 hour flight) also had 3 hours before his flight so the time passed quickly. The flight into Seoul was also uneventful because I did fall asleep and this time, it was a better sleep that I did NOT want to wake up from. Immigration and customs and baggage claim were easy, so that leaves the bus ride.

I had a paper to show the lady selling tickets where I was going because there are 2 bus terminals apparently and I wanted to get the right one. So I got on the bus and the driver didn't speak any English. He made a stop, I'm assuming so everyone could go to the bathroom and get snacks, but I didn't know what he said or how long he said he would have, so I stayed safely on the bus. There was some miscommunication about picking me up at the bus station so I nervously waited longer than I should have, but finally I found the 2 guys who were sent to pick me up.

So they took me to the school and introduced me to another co-worker and showed me how to get to my apt. Then they talked to me about what I was doing that day and where other teachers live in the building. Oh, by the way, this is about 2am...

So today I woke up and unpacked and got ready to be at the school by 1:15, but it turns out it was supposed to be 1:50...oh well...I knocked on 3 doors until finally a coworker answered who came to pick me up when it got closer and showed me the way to school and showed me around the 2 schools. Oh, and also showed me how to turn on the hot water after my cold shower experience. Oh yeah, and he bought me my first Kimbap...yummy :-) Then I took a bus to main campus to meet with my director and observe a class. She told me about the high standards they set for their students and teachers...then I came back to Langcon and observed some more classes and another co-worker showed me around the area where we live and took me to get toilet paper because there was only a little bit when I got here. So pretty much uneventful, but I learned a lot.

So tomorrow I will be going to the hospital and observing more classes.

I bought some pizza looking stuff on my way home...it looked like a pastry with pizza toppings on it...beneath all the pizza toppings was a hot dog...haha...surprise! This food is going to be interesting.

I'm still scared but in a really good way because I think this is going to be a very interesting year.

I promise to hopefully not make all my posts so long...I'll keep it simple from now on.

I'll probably think of more I want to say and maybe post later.

Until then...