Week one

If I sit on my bed awkwardly I can steal some internet from the neighbors. I thought I would use this chance to post some of what I have written (at various times) this week here. Of course I am leaving a lot out but this will be long enough as it is.

~ ~ ~

Every day this week I have consistently woken up at 4am. This is fine, however, as I can never manage to stay awake past 7pm—I have no internet, no TV (it mysteriously stopped working...once I care I'll have to investigate further), and really nothing to do besides unpack. Unpacking is such a daunting task, I have chosen sleep instead!

The first day of class was rather hard, although manageable and fun. I was very tired after the flight and was trying to take in everything at hand. I had 1^st and 2^nd grade. I won't go into too much detail about that other than to say...I can see why I went into secondary education instead of elementary! I have forgotten so many games and songs, etc. but I am also quickly learning. It is good. Next week I have 3^rd and 4^th grade. I have also agreed to teach an after-school class starting next week. After the first day my co-teacher explained that the children called my “very pretty”. She then said that I looked young for my age and said I was very skinny and asked if I dieted. She said, “Normally the English teachers are fat and so they look older.” I had to laugh at that.

Ok, on to the fun part. ^_^

After class on the first day, my co-teacher took me to “E-Mart” which is a very large Korean “grocery” store. It is like a Super-Walt-mart or a Meijer only it almost reminded me of being in a mall AND a grocery store. There were two different levels. As my apartment had nothing we shopped for the basics: plates, pans, etc. Then we started shopping for food. I can not even describe how large the fruit is here. A Korean Pear is the size of a large grapefruit (and also VERY tasty)! The carrot I bought was absolutely massive in size.

My co-teacher laughed when I asked for peanut butter at the store. She said that all the westerners ask for it. She also laughed when I paid for my groceries. Apparently the way I count money is very western as well. They have this system where they are able to quickly thumb through the money—it's very impressive to see and makes the western way look very clumsy. One of her students (I believe I will have him next week), was at the check out lane next to me and she pointed out to him to watch me. She said that she had a lesson on it the other week for his class and now he could see what she was talking about. Even out of class we are still teaching the students! ;-)

I bought a lot of food (including a LOT of meat as “it was a good deal”) and so my fridge is well stocked. Everything is so cheap here—with my entire bill (pans, new 'indoor' shoes and slippers, food, etc.) my bill only came to 180,000krw! Crazy.

I am very glad my co-teacher was with me at the market. She has helped me immensely since arriving. She reminds me a lot of Ally so of course I like her. :-p She has also taken me out to lunch when we went to the market and then lunch on Friday. On Friday we went to a Korean restaurant when she ordered me a “Korean chicken soup.” (Ally, she reminds me of you as she is super conscious of everything she eats and makes sure that I eat very well) The soup was a chicken (the entire thing) in a pot with herbs and rice. The rice was on the inside of the chicken—so you cut open the stomach and then eat some of the rice and meat at the same time. It was very good although hard for me to eat. We also had a cold tea (which was AMAZING) that she explained only a King was allowed to drink in the past. She joked that we were kings for the day. She also taught me proper pouring etiquette and how to hold my cup when someone is pouring. I hope I remember! Then, after pouring my drink she explained how to turn and hide the fact that I was drinking it and explained that is how to drink that type of drink.

The last topic I am going to write about is my apartment. I'll post pictures as it will probably be easier than describing it, so I won't talk much about it. The shower system here is actually quite nice—I have the hot water set for very hot like I like and the water pressure is just perfect. (At least, the water was nice and warm on the first day! Ever since...not so much. ^_^) The heating is also very nice. Everything is warmed through the floors which in turn makes all of the objects warm. I love it! My bed is always very toasty. Plus, the worst part of waking up in the morning is having to walk on a cold floor—well no more! The bathroom floor isn't heated, however, so it gets quite cold in there!

Speaking of the bathroom, the other day (Thursday) I saw there was a hair dryer left in the bathroom. Excited, as of course I didn't bring one, I plugged it in (yes, it was the correct watts to plug in) and turned it on. It made this weird humming noise and became really hot—and then the hair dryer caught on fire! Thankfully it was small enough that I could just blow it out! On Thursday morning I was also able to procure a nice hot shower. Ever since I haven't been able to get the warm water to stay on for more than a minute at most! I know I am doing something wrong, but as everything is written in Korean it has escaped me what. I don't know how many more cold showers I can endure, however, as it's also quite cold outside! Thankfully, I seemed to have managed to figure out how to keep it warm in here...

As for the food situation, I seem to be surviving quite well on one pan, one saucepan, one spoon, and a pair of chopsticks. The other day I made spaghetti and “meatballs” and the day before I had a simple dinner of “meat” and a sliced sweet potato. I put the “meat” in quotes as I am not quite sure what kind it is...It is a beef of some sort formed into a patty shape although it is unlike any meat I have ever tasted. It doesn't have a bad flavor, per say, but it's definitely a different flavor. It tastes good with A1 sauce, which apparently is quite popular here.

I do have a new favorite drink here. On the first day, while I met the principal, my co-teacher, and one other person that I have no idea who it was or what their position was, I was served this amazing yellow liquid in a cup with things that floated at the bottom. I tasted it and it was utterly delicious! It had a very strong yet sweet citrus taste. Later that afternoon while at the store I asked the co-teacher what the drink was and she said it was honey citron tea. We found it and I bought a large jar of it. Mmm. Aside from it's amazing taste it's really good for you and full of vitamin C. I don't know, but I am hoping it will taste good cold as well as I would like to continue to drink it during the summer months. I'm sure if I prepared it the way I would ice tea it would taste decent enough. Also, as I quickly discovered, the citron still has flavor even if I pour more than one cup of hot water onto it. While it's a little more faint in taste it's still good.

~ ~ ~

I have been able to go out and meet some really cool people a couple of nights this week thanks to Daniel, the other English teacher at the school. He has been great at explaining things and is just a regular fountain of knowledge.

I still haven't figured out the shower thing yet, although I have improvised in a very creative way. I'd tell you what I do but then you'd just laugh at me so I'll keep it to myself. :)

My sleep schedule is pretty stable now—no more waking up at 4! Now it's 6 am but so far that has been by choice.

I think that's about all for now.  Sorry it's so long and boring.  I promise something better once I have internet access.