My First Week

I have completed my first week in Korea. Well, technically I've been here six days because of my flight mishap, but whatevs. Same diff, right? Anyway, so far things have been great. Once I accepted that being confused 99% of the time is just a part of life now, things became easier. And who knows, maybe in a few months, I'll only be confused like 79% of the time. Just being optimistic, you guys.

My school is called ILS. It is a private kinder and elementary school. It is about a 10 minute walk from my apartment. The walk to work is very enjoyable. There is even a nice river walk for part of my journey. There are 7 foreign teachers at my school including me -3 from America and 4 from Canada. All of the other foreign teachers are very nice and helpful.

My school is at the top -the 8th floor.

My first day at school started on Tuesday, which was my first full day here in Korea. Although I didn't have to be at school until 9, I woke up around 3am and couldn't fall back asleep. Having fallen asleep around midnight the night before made for a very sleepy first day. That time change is a bitch. But what I could I expect, I do live in the future after all.

I mostly spent the day watching other foreign teachers. I felt a little sorry for them because many times my presence in the classroom was a distraction for the kids. Either they realised right away how fabulous I am, or just wanted to size up the new foreign teacher (probably the second one). After work I went with a few other teachers to eMart, which sort of reminded me a giant Sam's Club. I bought some breakfast supplies (aka milk and cereal).

My GIANT box of cereal

On my second day I started teaching. Not the whole day -just a class or two here and there. The class material has been pretty easy to teach so far. They pretty much give you a script. I think the harder part will just be class management. After my second day, some of the teachers at my school took me out for my first real Korea meal -Korean BBQ. It was so good!

Yummy!

Thursday and Friday were much like Wednesday- with me watching some classes and teaching a few as well. I went out for bibimbap on Thursday -which might be my favorite thing I've had since I've been here. And its only $4! Eating out here is so cheap -much more inexpensive than grocery shopping (my gallon of milk was $8). Friday, I stopped by 7 Eleven -there are two within 2 minutes of my apartment- and picked up some Korean Ramen to make at home.

Bibimbap 

Korean Ramen > American Ramen

Saturday we went on a field trip with the elementary kids. It was a very strange, but good experience. We all (teachers and students) met at a coffee shop in the morning, and then got onto buses to go to our destination. I have no clue what the place was called, but it was quite interesting. We herded the children into 2 lines (think Madeline) and gave everyone a wrist band. Then we boarded covered wagons and took a tour around a barren field while a Korean lady narrated. Everything was in Korean, but I can only assume she must have been saying something really interesting to balance out the incredibly boring field.

Lining up to get wristbands

Madeline lines. My heart melted every time I saw them all holding hands!

Two of my favorite elementary students, Sophia and Honey.

The rest of the day was spent herding the children from activity to activity. Highlights include cookie making, horseback riding, sledding, and feeding livestock. The most bizarre part of the day was a dog show -which was really just a man throwing frisbees at dogs, but the crowd seemed pretty impressed. My favorite part of the day was the free lunch! The teachers all got beef bulgogi and it was delicious!

Some of these kids were ridiculously artistic!

Lunch

As per Korean tradition, everyone took their shoes off in the restaurant. Getting 50 kids in and out of shoes is a pain. #koreaprobs

Weird dog show

Feeding sheep! The cutie in the green coat (Tony) is in one of my classes.

Last night I went out on my own for the first time. I ordered bibimbap at a restaurant and found a cafe that serves really good hot chocolate. Success! I'm really enjoying the daily challenges and successes of living in a foreign country. It makes you appreciate little things.

Awk selfie I took to document my first time successfully ordering food in Korea. My face is red because it was 25 degrees fahrenheit out!
*note the Kanuga sweatshirt

Today is my first day off. I've spent the day exploring my neighborhood, which is called Buldang-dong. I went to a coffee shop to use the internet (mine isn't working, but I've been assured they'll fix it tomorrow) in the morning and had some more hot chocolate (my favorite American comfort). Then I walked around for a bit before the cold forced me to duck into a fancy shopping mall across the street from my block. This ended up being a fantastic decision because I got to use a toilet with a heated seat! My tush was so comforted!

Why so cold, Korea?

Another awk selfie on the streets of Korea

All in all, it was a pretty successful day! Tomorrow is Monday and I begin my first week of full solo teaching days. I'm pretty excited to settle into the schedule. Until next time, y'all!