So my last night in the states, Kevan took me to a Country line dancing bar. I love to watch and I love the music. Kevan (would you believe it) was amazing at it and picked it up right away. I was annoyed :) Morning came way too quickly and he took me to the airport. I didn't feel any emotions except very very sad to leave him. I wasn't scared or excited. I felt like I was dreaming. The flight was of course long and I watched a million movies including the stupid "Vow" with Channing Tatum. It takes place in Chicago. I was very happy to be on the same plane as another teacher named Mandy from Portland (Kevan and Lara...her family has goats!!)
When we arrived, Mr. Joe picked us up and it took about an hour to get home. It was 8pm here. Several teachers were waiting for me when I got there. They gave me whirl-wind directions and tour and we were off to dinner. It was so American: the music, menu, ect.
I went home ..looked around and thought...ohmygosh what have I done???
The next morning, I was wide awake at 3am. I sent emails and actually unpacked. I love my place so much. I live alone, but the other teachers are very close. I wish I could take the place back with me.
I also went to work right away. The next two weeks are called intensives and very different from the normal school year. I won't say too much about it, but I have 20 kids and working with a guy from Australia named Ben. He has been here for almost three years. The morning goes by very fast. The afternoon goes by very very slow. The theme for the older children is the Olympics. Koreans are very excited about the Olympics.
I also went to work right away. The next two weeks are called intensives and very different from the normal school year. I won't say too much about it, but I have 20 kids and working with a guy from Australia named Ben. He has been here for almost three years. The morning goes by very fast. The afternoon goes by very very slow. The theme for the older children is the Olympics. Koreans are very excited about the Olympics.
The school has over 400 children. (The children speak basic English.It is unbelievable.) and there are 8 English teachers. We work in pairs. There is an Australian, girls from Canda and America, and even one girl from South Africa. They do feed us lunch here. It is traditional Korean food. Kimchi is always included. I love the food.
After my first day, my coworker took me to a gigantic store called E-mart. It has everything you could ever want. I bought pillows, a blanket...one knife and one fork and a few food items. There were a few dishes and chopsticks already at my place. I can't believe how excited I was to have a pillow and a fork. I love the walk to the E-mart! We actually have to jump over this rock path over a little creek. I will take a picture of it to show you what I mean. The area that I am living in is so wonderful and has everything. I am very lucky.
It sounds amazing! Have you encountered any language barriers yet? Can't wait to see more photos!
ReplyDeleteI am so excited for you (and for me because I get to experience this through you)!! I would recommend that you document everything, not for us, but a personal account that you can look back on later in life and say "YES!! I DID THIS!!"
ReplyDeleteNice to see your first post on location! It sounds wonderful. It's so cool that you're doing this, and blogging about it. I kept a journal for all of 2 days in Spain, and I really regret not doing more, so I hope you keep this up. I've found that homesickness goes down as I established a routine and the foreign became more familiar, the first few days probably feel completely surreal because you aren't settled yet. It also helps to have a routine contact from home, so set up skype dates or something if you can. =)
ReplyDeleteOh, and I love that you were so excited to have a fork and pillow. I accidentally moved without pillows and the first night just felt wrong without one.
And I just created a blogger profile on google because I couldn't figure out how else to post on your blog. See how special you are?
ReplyDeleteHaha you can't not have a blog Alison...don't you feel left out??? ;)
DeleteMy life is not nearly interesting enough to write about. My blog would be: "I got up today, sat around online for a while, then decided to shower. I unpacked some more boxes, cleaned some more, then showered again because I got dirty cleaning and unpacking. Then I realized it was 3 p.m. and I hadn't eaten, so I did that." Not exactly the adventures you're having.
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