So I’m writing this Sunday, I haven’t had time to update and no internet in my apartment still to put it online! I know this is long overdue but I will try to recap the best I can!
Tuesday- Tuesday morning I left, and it actually went pretty smoothly. I had two 50 pound suitcases, a laptop bag and another bag, all packed to the brim. It was a long day of travel but it went pretty smoothly, we had no delays or extra waiting so it went about as quickly as possible which was nice. It was hard saying goodbye to my family and Danny, who came with me to the airport… but at least there is lots of email and skype! I went to Denver first, on a two hour flight, then an hour layover, 2.5 hour flight to California, then a four hour layover in California and a 12 hour flight to Seoul. I slept on all three but not very much. I had a window seat for the first two and an aisle seat for the last one so that was nice. I watched three movies during the flight that we didn’t get to choose, they just kept replaying on different channels but I watched Source Code, The Adjustment Bureau, and Beastly… none of which were that good but oh well!
Wednesday- We got into the airport about 6:30pm but by the time we got to baggage claim, and customs and everything it was probably almost 7:30. Luckily, we got picked up by someone from the school who had a sign with our names on it which was pretty fun to have someone do that. We had about an hour car ride to the apartments, which at the time we didn’t know that’s where we were going, but we got let off at a corner with a gas station and two girls were waiting for us that are other teachers at the school. My apartment was not even a block away, and luckily I got to move in right away instead of going to a “Love Motel” which I had been warned about (I’ll let you figure out what they are…). So after a long exhausting day, the other teachers took me and Rachel (the other teacher I flew out of MN with) to eat dinner. It was my first experience eating Korean and it was pretty good! They have these big heater things in the middle of the tables and so it cooks the food right in front of you and then you make lettuce wraps with the cooked meat and then the tons of little sides they bring too. After dinner I was exhausted so I chose to go home while the others just went to get a drink. I was lucky since I could move in to my apartment right away, but it wasn’t furnished besides a bed with a bedspread and a pillow and then the kitchen appliances. I got home and immediately started crying, wishing I could go home. I was missing everyone terribly. I hated not having stuff in the apartment, didn’t know what to expect at the school and just felt completely homesick. I’m sure the long day of travel didn’t help things but I unpacked some stuff and went to bed.
Thursday- Today was my first day at the school. We don’t start school until 10am so although I could sleep in, my body was still pretty messed up from the flight that I woke up about 6, and couldn’t really fall back asleep. The school is only about a 15 minute walk from our apartments so that’s nice we don’t have to take any public transportation (sorry Danny, no busesJ). I had no idea what we would be doing that day but we just shadowed the other teachers and their classes. There are 3 teachers leaving this August, two of them have been here two years, and the other girl just finished her first year. I’m taking a girl named Maria’s kindergarten class so I met her students the first day. They are sooo adorable! There are two boys, and I think five or six girls. My name at the school is “Meghan Teacher” and the kids were so excited to have me sit in their class. I think this was honestly the first time I was excited about being here, seeing the kids’ faces and that I’d be teaching them! I also met my first graders that day…. So the schedule is everyone has Kindergarten in the morning, but some are different levels, mine have had English for a year or so but some other classes are literally just starting and they know zero English. Kindergarten goes from 10:00 to 12:30, then lunch, then Kindergarten from 1:30 to 2:50 I think? Then the afternoon schedule I’m still confused about. I have my first graders every afternoon for about an hour and a half everyday, but after that it gets confusing. Some teachers teach science (which has different levels) and then same with social studies, or “Story Town” which is just a book that has different stories in it and they pretty much just read it in class. Some of the kids have very high proficiency, and the higher classes even write essays and everything. We have some students that come only Tuesday and Thursday, but yeah I’m still figuring out what classes are when and who comes on what day. When I got home from school that day, they had put some furniture into my apartment, a desk that has a lid you can lift up and it has a mirror, a table in the kitchen, a chair, and a tv stand. I’m still waiting on the wardrobe though, which is the more important thing! I’ll remind
Friday- Today I just shadowed more teachers and more classes. I’m still not sure of the schedule! Then after work, we had an all staff dinner, well an all “foreign” staff dinner at least. There are 10 teachers at the school, and one guy who is starting tomorrow who is only part time. The teachers we are replacing leave on Tuesday or Wednesday. We went to anther Korean BBQ style place, I’m still not sure at all what anything is called or what it is we ate, but it was good! I’m getting way better at using chopsticks, especially for never having used them in the states. After that we just went out to a couple bars in Suji, where we live. A lot of English schools are in the area, and most of the teachers know the other teachers that work at the other schools, so it was pretty much all foreign people where we were. Everyone kind of bonds since it’s very obvious who is American (or Canadian, there are quite a few here too) and Korean! It’s not very easy to blend in, like in Paris when I wanted people to think I was French!
Saturday- Saturday I got up and walked to Lotte Mart, a store much like our Target. I had to get a couple critical things, like toilet paper, and some towels. We had passed the Lotte on our way to dinner the night before so I decided to make the trek by myself and see what it was like. It’s only about a 10-15 minute walk away, and its pretty much a straight shot there, otherwise I probably would have waited for someone…I’m not very good ad directions! Beauty products were pretty expensive, about 12 dollars a bottle! Luckily, they had Pantene Pro V on sale for 6, see Mom, I’m still being a smart shopper… It did take me a while to understand what the sales lady was trying to say and to figure out which one was shampoo and which one was conditioner! I brought everything home and felt a lot better about my apartment now that it’s a little more liveable in! I still need silverware and more dishes but I’m waiting for the other teachers to leave to see what they have they can give before I buy anything new. Afterwards, I went and got lunch (Subway… sad I know) and then went to an internet café with some of the other teachers and was able to talk to my parents and Danny for a while. So they officially do know I made it to South Korea safely! I did have quite a technology breakdown though… my blog had apparently disappeared, my email wouldn’t let me log in, and everything was in Korean on the pages so I had no idea why! I think it’s all figured out now though (finally) but it was a stressful experience! We walked to Lotte Mart again after the café, and bought some bottled water. The water isn’t safe to drink, and you can get a huge bottle at “Family Mart” or convenient stores for about 1000 won, which is 1 dollar, but at Lotte you can buy 6 bottles for 4 dollars. It wasn’t fun to carry it back, but it’s way cheaper that way. I find it so baffling that a country that is so modern with everything else, like computers and technology, doesn’t have a clean water system. I’m completely anti-bottled water since it’s such a waste of resources, and they rarely get recycled, but we’re forced to have them here. Luckily, our school has a water bottle filler there so I’m just going to try and fill them up there until the bottles go bad. It’s quite frustrating though, especially when I’m used to drinking out of tap. Later, we all got ready and some of us went to get dinner and then made the trek to Seoul. It’s very cheap to get to Seoul by bus, not even 5000 won (5 dollars) but it can take anywhere from 45 minutes to an hour and a half depending on traffic. We were going out in Seoul to celebrate one of the teachers last weekend here. We went to an area that I guess is the more artsy side of Seoul. I guess art isn’t very recognized here, with such an emphasis on math and science. We were drinking outside in this park, and there is a silent rave going on. So everyone has headphones and are listening to the same song, but no one else can hear the music without the headphones, so it’s kind of funny to see people dancing and not really sure why! It was a really fun area, reminded me a lot of Paris. We just went out to a couple bars that night, but stayed out until 6am because that’s when the buses start running again to get back, and a taxi is much more expensive to take. I was exhausted by the time we left… and I’m sure staying up all night is not going to help me adjust to the jet lag, oh well!
Sunday- Today when I woke up, after about 3 hours of sleep, I walked to another internet café, but couldn’t find my adaptor and didn’t get much time on my computer to do anything… I did find it when I got back but I feel pressured to buy things in cafes and since I don’t like coffee I try and avoid having to waste money on stuff just to use their internet! When I came back, I organized my room a bit more, combined suitcases since they were taking up way too much space and then took a long long nap. I finally got up to go buy some milk and cereal for tomorrow’s breakfast, but then I realized I don’t have any spoons! So hopefully the teacher across the hall will let me borrow one. I also need to buy dish soap still… so much stuff to buy! And now I’m here writing this blog J
So after a couple of hard first days, I’m starting to feel a lot better about Korea. I now know how to walk to the school, a café, Lotte Mart, and another tiny grocery store. I still have no idea where anyone is talking about when they say city names or places, but I’m sure that will come in time. We don’t get our bank set up until a couple more weeks, once we get a physical and everything for our visa so I’m trying to spread out the money I brought which is hard when I have to buy a lot up front, like the beauty products and stuff for the apartment. I’m trying to postpone some of it as long as possible. The school will give us a cash advancement if we need to though, so it really isn’t a big deal if I run out this first month before I get paid. One thing that is kind of hard is I find myself comparing everything here to Paris and it’s very very different. I don’t really think any city will ever compare to Paris, at least that I’ve seen yet, and Korea isn’t exactly “pretty” in its architecture or anything and it’s a lot dirtier than Paris. I guess there a lot of good hiking trails around here though so I’m excited to see those and do that. I feel like I’ve been here longer than 5 days, which is good, and I’m really excited to start teaching! My first day is Wednesday, so tomorrow and Tuesday I’ll be shadowing and doing more orientation stuff so I’ll hopefully get internet this week and can update Wednesday how it goes!! Wish me luck!
Hope everyone is doing well back home, or wherever you are reading this! I can’t believe it’s almost September, this year is going to fly by, I can already tell!
Love,
Meghan
Tuesday- Tuesday morning I left, and it actually went pretty smoothly. I had two 50 pound suitcases, a laptop bag and another bag, all packed to the brim. It was a long day of travel but it went pretty smoothly, we had no delays or extra waiting so it went about as quickly as possible which was nice. It was hard saying goodbye to my family and Danny, who came with me to the airport… but at least there is lots of email and skype! I went to Denver first, on a two hour flight, then an hour layover, 2.5 hour flight to California, then a four hour layover in California and a 12 hour flight to Seoul. I slept on all three but not very much. I had a window seat for the first two and an aisle seat for the last one so that was nice. I watched three movies during the flight that we didn’t get to choose, they just kept replaying on different channels but I watched Source Code, The Adjustment Bureau, and Beastly… none of which were that good but oh well!
Wednesday- We got into the airport about 6:30pm but by the time we got to baggage claim, and customs and everything it was probably almost 7:30. Luckily, we got picked up by someone from the school who had a sign with our names on it which was pretty fun to have someone do that. We had about an hour car ride to the apartments, which at the time we didn’t know that’s where we were going, but we got let off at a corner with a gas station and two girls were waiting for us that are other teachers at the school. My apartment was not even a block away, and luckily I got to move in right away instead of going to a “Love Motel” which I had been warned about (I’ll let you figure out what they are…). So after a long exhausting day, the other teachers took me and Rachel (the other teacher I flew out of MN with) to eat dinner. It was my first experience eating Korean and it was pretty good! They have these big heater things in the middle of the tables and so it cooks the food right in front of you and then you make lettuce wraps with the cooked meat and then the tons of little sides they bring too. After dinner I was exhausted so I chose to go home while the others just went to get a drink. I was lucky since I could move in to my apartment right away, but it wasn’t furnished besides a bed with a bedspread and a pillow and then the kitchen appliances. I got home and immediately started crying, wishing I could go home. I was missing everyone terribly. I hated not having stuff in the apartment, didn’t know what to expect at the school and just felt completely homesick. I’m sure the long day of travel didn’t help things but I unpacked some stuff and went to bed.
Thursday- Today was my first day at the school. We don’t start school until 10am so although I could sleep in, my body was still pretty messed up from the flight that I woke up about 6, and couldn’t really fall back asleep. The school is only about a 15 minute walk from our apartments so that’s nice we don’t have to take any public transportation (sorry Danny, no busesJ). I had no idea what we would be doing that day but we just shadowed the other teachers and their classes. There are 3 teachers leaving this August, two of them have been here two years, and the other girl just finished her first year. I’m taking a girl named Maria’s kindergarten class so I met her students the first day. They are sooo adorable! There are two boys, and I think five or six girls. My name at the school is “Meghan Teacher” and the kids were so excited to have me sit in their class. I think this was honestly the first time I was excited about being here, seeing the kids’ faces and that I’d be teaching them! I also met my first graders that day…. So the schedule is everyone has Kindergarten in the morning, but some are different levels, mine have had English for a year or so but some other classes are literally just starting and they know zero English. Kindergarten goes from 10:00 to 12:30, then lunch, then Kindergarten from 1:30 to 2:50 I think? Then the afternoon schedule I’m still confused about. I have my first graders every afternoon for about an hour and a half everyday, but after that it gets confusing. Some teachers teach science (which has different levels) and then same with social studies, or “Story Town” which is just a book that has different stories in it and they pretty much just read it in class. Some of the kids have very high proficiency, and the higher classes even write essays and everything. We have some students that come only Tuesday and Thursday, but yeah I’m still figuring out what classes are when and who comes on what day. When I got home from school that day, they had put some furniture into my apartment, a desk that has a lid you can lift up and it has a mirror, a table in the kitchen, a chair, and a tv stand. I’m still waiting on the wardrobe though, which is the more important thing! I’ll remind
Friday- Today I just shadowed more teachers and more classes. I’m still not sure of the schedule! Then after work, we had an all staff dinner, well an all “foreign” staff dinner at least. There are 10 teachers at the school, and one guy who is starting tomorrow who is only part time. The teachers we are replacing leave on Tuesday or Wednesday. We went to anther Korean BBQ style place, I’m still not sure at all what anything is called or what it is we ate, but it was good! I’m getting way better at using chopsticks, especially for never having used them in the states. After that we just went out to a couple bars in Suji, where we live. A lot of English schools are in the area, and most of the teachers know the other teachers that work at the other schools, so it was pretty much all foreign people where we were. Everyone kind of bonds since it’s very obvious who is American (or Canadian, there are quite a few here too) and Korean! It’s not very easy to blend in, like in Paris when I wanted people to think I was French!
Saturday- Saturday I got up and walked to Lotte Mart, a store much like our Target. I had to get a couple critical things, like toilet paper, and some towels. We had passed the Lotte on our way to dinner the night before so I decided to make the trek by myself and see what it was like. It’s only about a 10-15 minute walk away, and its pretty much a straight shot there, otherwise I probably would have waited for someone…I’m not very good ad directions! Beauty products were pretty expensive, about 12 dollars a bottle! Luckily, they had Pantene Pro V on sale for 6, see Mom, I’m still being a smart shopper… It did take me a while to understand what the sales lady was trying to say and to figure out which one was shampoo and which one was conditioner! I brought everything home and felt a lot better about my apartment now that it’s a little more liveable in! I still need silverware and more dishes but I’m waiting for the other teachers to leave to see what they have they can give before I buy anything new. Afterwards, I went and got lunch (Subway… sad I know) and then went to an internet café with some of the other teachers and was able to talk to my parents and Danny for a while. So they officially do know I made it to South Korea safely! I did have quite a technology breakdown though… my blog had apparently disappeared, my email wouldn’t let me log in, and everything was in Korean on the pages so I had no idea why! I think it’s all figured out now though (finally) but it was a stressful experience! We walked to Lotte Mart again after the café, and bought some bottled water. The water isn’t safe to drink, and you can get a huge bottle at “Family Mart” or convenient stores for about 1000 won, which is 1 dollar, but at Lotte you can buy 6 bottles for 4 dollars. It wasn’t fun to carry it back, but it’s way cheaper that way. I find it so baffling that a country that is so modern with everything else, like computers and technology, doesn’t have a clean water system. I’m completely anti-bottled water since it’s such a waste of resources, and they rarely get recycled, but we’re forced to have them here. Luckily, our school has a water bottle filler there so I’m just going to try and fill them up there until the bottles go bad. It’s quite frustrating though, especially when I’m used to drinking out of tap. Later, we all got ready and some of us went to get dinner and then made the trek to Seoul. It’s very cheap to get to Seoul by bus, not even 5000 won (5 dollars) but it can take anywhere from 45 minutes to an hour and a half depending on traffic. We were going out in Seoul to celebrate one of the teachers last weekend here. We went to an area that I guess is the more artsy side of Seoul. I guess art isn’t very recognized here, with such an emphasis on math and science. We were drinking outside in this park, and there is a silent rave going on. So everyone has headphones and are listening to the same song, but no one else can hear the music without the headphones, so it’s kind of funny to see people dancing and not really sure why! It was a really fun area, reminded me a lot of Paris. We just went out to a couple bars that night, but stayed out until 6am because that’s when the buses start running again to get back, and a taxi is much more expensive to take. I was exhausted by the time we left… and I’m sure staying up all night is not going to help me adjust to the jet lag, oh well!
Sunday- Today when I woke up, after about 3 hours of sleep, I walked to another internet café, but couldn’t find my adaptor and didn’t get much time on my computer to do anything… I did find it when I got back but I feel pressured to buy things in cafes and since I don’t like coffee I try and avoid having to waste money on stuff just to use their internet! When I came back, I organized my room a bit more, combined suitcases since they were taking up way too much space and then took a long long nap. I finally got up to go buy some milk and cereal for tomorrow’s breakfast, but then I realized I don’t have any spoons! So hopefully the teacher across the hall will let me borrow one. I also need to buy dish soap still… so much stuff to buy! And now I’m here writing this blog J
So after a couple of hard first days, I’m starting to feel a lot better about Korea. I now know how to walk to the school, a café, Lotte Mart, and another tiny grocery store. I still have no idea where anyone is talking about when they say city names or places, but I’m sure that will come in time. We don’t get our bank set up until a couple more weeks, once we get a physical and everything for our visa so I’m trying to spread out the money I brought which is hard when I have to buy a lot up front, like the beauty products and stuff for the apartment. I’m trying to postpone some of it as long as possible. The school will give us a cash advancement if we need to though, so it really isn’t a big deal if I run out this first month before I get paid. One thing that is kind of hard is I find myself comparing everything here to Paris and it’s very very different. I don’t really think any city will ever compare to Paris, at least that I’ve seen yet, and Korea isn’t exactly “pretty” in its architecture or anything and it’s a lot dirtier than Paris. I guess there a lot of good hiking trails around here though so I’m excited to see those and do that. I feel like I’ve been here longer than 5 days, which is good, and I’m really excited to start teaching! My first day is Wednesday, so tomorrow and Tuesday I’ll be shadowing and doing more orientation stuff so I’ll hopefully get internet this week and can update Wednesday how it goes!! Wish me luck!
Hope everyone is doing well back home, or wherever you are reading this! I can’t believe it’s almost September, this year is going to fly by, I can already tell!
Love,
Meghan
