Monday, August 4, 2008

Long Post!!

Well, I made it through my first day of school. I got to observe the kindergarten class, but then had to jump right in and teach my three elementary classes... it was a little nuts and a lot overwhelming and i'm ready to jump right in again tomorrow!!! :)

First things first, though - let's do a recap of my arrival.

Dylan dropped me off at the airport and had some Burger King while we waited:



Then I had a short trip to Detroit, where I had (probably my last) hummus and pita and Bud Light, sitting at a cafe right next to my airplane (747-400)



My flight wasn't too bad, I got suckered into changing seats with this old man (losing my awesome exit row seat) but it worked out because I would have been sitting next to a screaming baby the whole flight. I'll sacrifice leg room for peace and quiet any day!!!

When I got to Tokyo I was exhausted. I ended up sleeping in the airport there and on the flight into Seoul. In Seoul I was picked up by a suicidal maniac van driver who scared the pee right out of me... The Good Lord was hearing from me a lot during that hour-plus ride!!!

When I got to my apartment we were met by Jason, who is the Korean Manager of the school. His English isn't great, but he's super-nice and helpful. I have to punch in a code to get in the building, then another code to get into my apartment (no keys!). Here are the pics of my apartment - Imagine starting facing the door and just turning right in a circle.













So that's home sweet home for a year... pretty tight quarters, but it's no big deal cuz it's just me.

On Saturday I woke up and had a very real "What the hell am I DOING here?!?!" moment. I decided the only way to push past was to get out there, so I showered and dressed and went wandering up and down this major street by my apartment. I was really looking for a plug-in adapter and/or an international payphone, but found neither. When I got back to the apartment I called Sharon, who is like our Korean supervisor, to ask about either one of those things. She ended up giving me the number of another teacher here. Poor Kristen...

I called her near tears asking about the adapter. I said "I just need to call my mom and let her know I'm alive!" Kristen was awesome and let me come over and use her computer to call. She fed me juice and let me cry :) She and her husband Jake are also here teaching for a year, and are still in their first trimester of teaching :) They ended up taking me around and giving me a much better tour than I gave myself. Then we all went to Kimbap Paradise for lunch:



It was delicious. I actually just had it for dinner again tonight (yes, i had an entire meal for $2).

Then we went back to their apartment and they called some other teachers and we played the Law and Order drinking game (stupid Ice-T with his stupid greasy ponytail). Afterwards someone mentioned that food would be good, so we went for Galbi. This is a traditional Korean barbecue (and it was awesome) You cook the meat over this little grill on your table (cutting it with scissors), and wrap the meat with random veggies/noodles/rice in a lettuce leaf. It was soooo good. Here's pictures!

This is the grill (and a bottle of soju)


This is AJ cutting the meat with scissors:


Here are three of the people that helped make my first full day in Korea awesome: That's Kristen (Colorado), AJ and Danielle (Buffalo-ish, New York)

PS - AJ's shirt is wet cuz it was POURING outside that night.

Here are the other three that rocked my first day: It's me (of course I helped that day rock!), George (Australia), and Jake (Colorado, and Kristen's husband)


I think that's it for now... I'll try to take pictures of my walk to school tomorrow so you guys can see the town a bit... For now, I'm super-tired and DYING to hear from anyone at home. So let me hear from you, people!!!

Oh - PS - advice to anyone who goes overseas and is bracing for culture shock: BRING FAMILY GUY DVDS!! They have helped me so much when my head is spinning from so much KOREAN EVERYTHING!

LOVE YOU ALL!!!!!

7 comments:

Unknown said...

Glad you made it! I'm glad that your apartment is clean if small. Your mom was in the basement when you called earlier, so she'll be posting you later. Love you, and keep your chin up. I'm glad the food is cheap - just remember you'll be hungry again in an hour (just like Mexican food) - LOL

XOXOXO - Aunt Karen

Anonymous said...

Yea your first day of teaching is over. Congrats...one less hurdle to go over. I'm happy it went well. I like the pictures can't wait to see more. The family reunion was nice, around 100 people came. Next year it will be in KC at Aunt Rae's. Sorry I missed your phone call this morning I was with your sister while she was being violated by the Dr.s. The test came out ok, no ulcer but she should know more in 4 or 5 days. I love you, your new friends look like a lot of fun...talk to you soon,
love mom

Anonymous said...

Man your right you do shower in the toilet. Was that a gas line running along your stove to end it all quick if you want to??
Please make your damn bed before you take more home photos (by the way I think you had some Galbi stuck in your teeth when your photo at the restaurant was taken)
I love you
CJ

Anonymous said...

Where the hell am I gonna sleep when I go visit you?!

Emily Lucille said...

Jonas, did you see that little balcony room?? it's totally big enough for a sleeping bag!!!

Anonymous said...

Awesome! That makes me happy :D

Anonymous said...

Hellooooo George! ;)