Lots of Stuff

So, this is my first update since getting into Korea. I’ve been here almost a week now, but have just not had the time or energy for an update. In order to get caught up, I’ll divide this update into a few separate topics. Enjoy.

Also, my plan was to load this update with picutres of my apartment, but my camera has just started acting really strange, so the pictures will have to wait until I get the camera situation under control.

The Flight and Arriving in Korea

I left for the airport on Monday (3/30) at 10:00am for a 1:30pm flight to Korea. Before I left home I was a little worried about the weight of my backs. I was shuffling my stuff around until the last moment, but at the airport the bags made it through with no problems. I don’t even think the ticketing woman even looked at how much they weighed.

The security line was pretty fast and after a short wait in the gate, I was on the plane and head to Seoul. I lucked out in seat assignment, as there was nobody in the middle seat next to me. The service was also very good and even though it was a long flight, almost 14 hours, it was very bearable.

For me, the most interesting part of my flight was the first meal service. The flight attendants were offering choice between a Western meal and the Korean meal. I was feeling adventurous (and slightly light headed from my free plane beer), so I chose the Korean meal (I’ve got to get used to it anyway). I actually really enjoyed it, even for an airplane meal. The only thing I really did not like was the seaweed soup that was served with it. It was a little funky for me, especially for a gigantic cup of soup.

My slight soup issue aside, I had a pretty good flight and we were soon landing in Korea. The Seoul (Incheon) airport is very well laid out and I was amazed how quick immigration was. On the plane I was preparing myself to explain the whole purpose of my visit through some broken Korean phrases and some loud and slow English, but I was waived right on through.

After immigration and customs and walked out into the main arrivals level of the airport to meet the coordinator of the group I was employed through. I was immediately confronted by a barrage of cameras, lights, microphones and Korean soldiers. I was a little freaked and didn’t really know what was going on, but later found out that the media was waiting for Korea’s World Champion figure skater to return from a competition in LA.

I pretty quickly met up with the group coordinator and another teacher who arrived on a flight just after mine. We were then taken by van to the hotel where we would spend the next few days in teacher orientation.

Orientation Time

My arrival time in Korea was at 5:00pm on March 31, 13 hours ahead of EST. Our orientation was scheduled to start at 8:00am the next day. I knew before I left that this would be the case, so I planned to stay awake on the plane and just try sleep when I got in.

Although the idea was good, my body wanted no part of it. I was exhausted and went to bed at about 10:00pm, but still managed to only get 3 hours of sleep. Even though I was tired, my body kept telling me it was the middle of the day. I finally compromised with myself and wound up laying in bed listening to my iPod for about 6 hours. I couldn’t sleep at all during that time.

The actual orientation sessions were, overall, extremely informative and well planned and put together. On the first day we had a basic introduction and heard lectures from a variety of officials from Incheon, the city I’m living and teaching in.

On the second day we were separated into elementary/secondary teacher groups and given lectures on how to teach/co-teach a class. These were very helpful and made me both more relaxed and more nervous about teaching.

On the third day we were taken on what can only be described as a crazy tour of the city. Our first stop was to a Korean cultural center where we all dressed in traditional Korean clothes and played traditional Korean games. We then watched a really cool demonstration of a very traditional form of Taekwondo. After that we were taken to several office buildings, the highlight of which was the lobby of Incheon city hall where we got to look at giant models of future buildings and see items that are the pride of Korea, such as a right out of the factory luxury Kia.

The cherry on top of the Incheon city tour sundae, though, was the Booze cruise we were taken on in the afternoon. Personally, I have no idea why you would take a group of teachers who are being trained on a booze cruise, but they did, and it ended up being pretty fun. Most of the passengers were older Koreans and they all REALLY loved to dance. Not just any kind of dance, but loud, bass thoumping, wall shaking, techno dance. I actually made it onto the dance floor a few times, but the elderly Korean women wore me out. Everytime I would trie to leave to take a break, they would pull me back in the circle.

I was also given a very odd snack by one group of Koreans. I’m still not sure what it is, but I think it can be best described as ball of yeast that is slightly sweet. Whatever it was, it was the most awful chewing thing I’ve eaten for a while.

I should also take the time to discuss the floor toilets. I mention them now, because they were on the ship, but they can also be found everywhere throughout Korea. They are basically exactly what I’ve said they are. Toilets in the floor (the look like urinals mounted on the floor) that you squat over. For me, it is not a very pleasant way to go, but I guess it gets the job done.

On Saturday, the final day of our orientation, we finally met our co-teachers. For those that don’t know, a co-teacher is a person assigned to you that not only teaches with you, but helps you do things such as register with the immigration office, get a bank account and cell phone, join a gym, etc. Basically the stuff that you would be unable to do yourself.

My co-teacher, Lauren (her English name), is very nice and I think we will work together well. After meeting her, she drove me to my apartment, which is about an hour away from where the orientation was being held. After showing me the important things I need to know in the apartment, like reading/understanding the washing machine, she took me to my school and showed me my office and English classroom.

My apartment and neighborhood

After Lauren left, I quickly dove into exploring my apartment and my neighborhood. I’ve include a few pictures of the inside of my apartment. Although it is a studio, it feels pretty big.

There is a wall to wall window, so that helps. I also have some really nice wooden floors, which I’m guessing is common here. I have no oven, but I do have a nice cook top and lots of cabinets. I also have a couch, washer, big bed and a TV. The only kind of weird part is the bathroom. The shower are is kind of divided from the rest of the room, but not really. Basically there is a drain in the floor so you just close the bathroom door and get ready and shower all at the same time. This morning I did notice a rod that could be used to put a curtain on, but it would be really narrow, so I decided there was not really a point in closing off the shower.

The actual building is pretty interesting too. One of the most interesting things, I find, is that the mail is put into slots, but not into private locking boxes. If someone wanted to take your mail the easily could, but I guess that doesn’t happen too much around here. There are also several businesses on the first two floors of my building. There are two pizza restaurants and a takeout restaurant on the first floor. On the second floor, there is a hair salon, a restaurant and an Internet café, which could be convenient. I haven’t had to use it so far, though, because I’ve been able to connect to the Internet from my apartment.

I’m living in a place called Yeongjong Airport Town. It is a relatively new town that was built around the time the airport opened in 2001. The town center is fairly small, but is packed with a ton of stuff. Because I can’t read Korean, I couldn’t tell you what the different businesses are, but there are a lot of them. I’ve also found an interesting store near my house called Lotte. It is a lot like a Super Wal-Mart and it is only a couple of blocks away. I’ve found almost everything I’ve needed there, but I think they may be a little expensive. There is also a train station a few blocks from my apartment, so it will be pretty easy to get to other friends in Incheon and to get to Seoul.

So, that should get you caught up. I start work at Gong Hang middle school tomorrow and I’m being thrown into the fire with five classes and I have to introduce myself at a staff meeting. I’m just hoping everything goes well, but I have no reason to think it won’t.

Well, congratulations if you’ve made it this far. I’ll try to update you on my first day of school soon.

JW