Day 1 – Saturday, 9/8/2012
We made it! I am back…where I started from a year and a half
ago. Literally. I’m floor crashing in a
former co-teacher’s apartment-2 floors above my old place. Good thing: I know
where I am, where to find food, coffee, and necessary supplies. Good start. I’m
crashing here to help out my boss who is also my friend’s mother. They paid
more for an animal friendly flight so my little buddy Lucifer could once again
travel the world with me so I’m staying on a floor for the training week
instead of a love motel. Thank you to Ms. Brittany for your gracious
hospitality. Another good point-Brittany
is out of town for the weekend. Good for her since I arrived at 7:30 this
morning and good for me cuz I can relax and adapt a bit.
So Boss and son dropped me and my boxes off here. I have the
weekend to myself to adapt. I report Monday at 1:00 PM!!!! OMG Afternoon start!! And that’s going in
early?! We shall see on Monday if this is the norm. I was under the impression
that I’d have morning Kindy classes…maybe not!
First thing that happens is Lu throws a fit in his carrier
demanding to be let out. And got himself all excited that upon opening the door
he proceeded to pee on Brittany’s floor (another good thing she isn’t here)
Poor little buddy held his bladder the whole 20+ hours! He had multiple potty
pads in his carrier but I can’t blame him for not wanting to travel in his own
waste. So yeah, he pee’d for about 2-3 solid minutes-no exaggeration.
After cleaning that up I decide to shower. Korea wins lesson
#1. Cold shower- you have to turn the water heater on in advance and turn it
back off when finished. Amazing eco-friendly design! I forgot. And by the time
I realized that the water wasn’t going to heat up, I was already committed to
the shower AND I feel a bit creepy walking into someone else’s apt naked. Even
if I am alone.
Intro to Korea wins: It’s a fun little running game that
started last year. Korea and I have a love/hate relationship. Just as things
are going nicely, it sneaks up and reminds me “BAM- you’re in a foreign
country- don’t get too comfy and think you belong here!” Its little things like
taking a cold shower because I forgot to turn on the heater. Or buying a shirt
and getting home to find out that looks are deceiving and No, it doesn’t fit.
Or buying toothpaste…mint flavor yeah that’s normal…nope. Green tea or I swear I
bought leaf flavored once. No joke it tasted like grass. So that is Korea wins. Every once in a while
I succeed at something and get a point, but I never take the lead.
I had dinner with a friend tonight. The city is grossly hot
and humid, but at least here was a little breeze. Ate barbecue- samgyepsol and soju J
Day 2 Sunday
Woke up on my own at 8AM, cuddled with Lu for a bit then
Skyped. Researched a little for groups to join/events/volunteering to
start with next week. I’m going to TRY to be more social this year. Brunch was
tuna out of the can and crackers. Since I’m not in my own place yet I figured
simple is best. Also, you can’t really
eat at a restaurant alone in Korea. It just isn’t done so unless you have a buddy,
you’re eating at home.
Lunch appointment at 2:00 with Ashley, who messaged that she
couldn’t make it until 3:00…and then was an hour late anyway- welcome back to Korean time. So lunch at 4:00
then went to see the Bourne movie. I spent $50 on beauty products- Korean body
care is a terrible addiction! Happened
to meet Brittany in the subway station on the way home, sat and chatted with
her and another teacher at my old place of employment- it wasn’t a dream- all
of the people there are miserable. It’s sad to see and terrible to remember how
that place just beats a person down.
Hoping and praying that this year’s school is better!!!!!!!!!
Day 3
Monday morning, up again at 8:00. Really up at 6:00ish but
forced myself to rest. CAN NOT BE JET-LAGGED TODAY! I start my new job today! Its raining again. 3 days in a row now.
Really regretting not packing my rain boots. Walked 10 minutes down to the coffee shop for some
caffeine and found a bagel! Yay.
SWEEEET! Just reserved a whole bunch of kitchen stuff
including a hot pot and coffee maker for only 40,000 won! A little under $40! Awesome deal thanks to early morning
freedom with coffee J
Yay KoreaBridge Classifieds.
1st day of work= all of my worries relieved.
Monday/Wednesday 2:30-6:30, Tuesday/Thursday 2:30-7:30, Friday 1:30-7:30. Two months a year will be intensives and I’ll
be working 9AM – 7:30 PM. Such a breeze
compared to my last schedule. The kids are good and the facility is nice. Today
was a GREAT day.
Day 4 Tuesday.
Woke up and went out with the goal of going to
HomePlus which is the store that the current teacher at the school says is
closest to our apartment. I thought I would go check out their cat food options
and such. Fail. It wasn’t open for another hour. Boooo reverse jet-lag! So instead I walked back along the river path
and tried to relax and enjoy the beautiful weather.
A little nervous about work today. Tuesday/Thursday classes
are a bit older than Monday/Wednesday classes and last year I had some pretty
bad experiences with the 5th-middle school age group.
It turned out to be not too bad. Yep, kids are kids and 5th
graders are rough. The middle school class was “bored”. Typical. I think I can
handle that as long as I stay strict.
Part of my job is to creat games and activities that tie
into the lessons. Fun things that the kids can do- it’s part of my job! OMG For
anyone who knows about my experiences as a “teacher” or rather English speaking
auto-bot from last year, you know how excited I am. I am supposed to ensure
that the kids have fun. Really. FUN. Not a word used in Korean schools…..EVER.
Ahhhh I love this school.
Also, I saw pictures of my soon to be apartment today which
only adds to my excitement! It’s big, and literally fully furnished! I have a
couch and chair, a table, a desk and book shelf, a TV….yeah. All of those
things. I am so spoiled and I haven’t
really even started this job yet.
Day 5 Wednesday.
It’s
becoming routine. Wake up around 7, occupy myself for a while, hour commute to
work via bus, then “home” again after.
Today the kids were super rowdy! Drove me crazy. I know that
the current teacher is almost done, therefore just isn’t going to spend the
energy to keep the class in order. ..can’t blame her. However, it will be a
rude wake-up call when I take over on Monday. Not putting up with that mess.
Cup ramyun and chocolate cake for dinner… it’s time to get
into my own place so I can grocery shop!
Day 6 Thursday
I went to the hospital for the health check, which is
required to get an Alien Registration Card. It consists of a blood test for
STDs, a urine screening for drugs, a chest X-ray, and a basic physical. Worked,
then went out with the other teacher for her goodbye dinner. I met foreigners!
Her group of friends was really nice and consisted of 2 British, 1 Canadian, 1
Greek, 1 South African, and another American. Wooo for non-Korean friends this
year!
Day 7 Friday
An easy day but still tiring. Today was goodbye Jessica day
at school so all of the classes ate a snack and played games or watched English
children’s TV shows. It was weird actually using class time for this. It made
me sad that I was forbidden to inform my students I was leaving last year so
it’s nice to see this school continuously being so friendly towards the foreign
teacher.
I woke up Friday night feeling miserably sick. The germs got
me! I didn’t even make it a week.
Day 8 Saturday
I have officially been back for a whole week! Today I was
picked up by the shuttle van driver and taken to my new apartment! WOOOO Its big and furnished, but quite dirty. I
spent the majority of the day cleaning and trying to organize myself. Jessica’s friends invited me out tonight J I met them for
Oktoberfest which sounds ridiculous in Korea but was quite fun. There is a
large German and Bulgarian population here and a large foreign population in
general. I had fun and actually got to hang out with other foreigners! And I got a cool mustache mug.
Day 9 Sunday
Woke up only slightly hung over and spent the entire day
cleaning and cleaning and cleaning. I never left the apartment.
Day 10 Monday.
Typhoon day! I woke up still feeling the effects of my cold and
the weather was a mess. I decided I wasn’t going to accomplish anything
important so I went back to sleep and was awoken by a call from the Director
saying school was cancelled. Of course, quickly after, the projected typhoon
calmed down and the weather was windy but fine for the rest of the day on my
side of the city. I continued my cleaning and organizing and even ran out for a
moment for more supplies.
Tomorrow officially begins my new job. Here we go for one more year in the Republic
of Korea!
By the way, Korea is beating me terribly once again in the
game of surviving in a foreign country, but I must say that I’m putting up a
fairly good fight this year. I’ll try to
remember to post some of the more amusing defeats.
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