Oh and The Stories Begin...

It's been a full week here in Soko and I already have so many stories. My first week of teaching went by extremely fast. The kids are adorable and definitely a handful. It helps to be working with a variety of ages. It seems that most of the kids adapted well to me being the new teacher, but of course there are the few that will take some time to warm up.

Two times a week, one of my Elementary classes have to write a journal entry. On Thursday, the students were to write a letter to somebody of their choice. One of the students wrote a letter to me that read, 

"Dear Jenn Teacher,

I love you. Thank you for teaching me.

Your Friend,

Sara"

After reading this letter, I knew I made the right decision to come here. I felt so good about myself in knowing that I'm helping children learn a language that will hopefully help them in their future.

Of course, not everything can be peachy keen all the time. Probably one the most memorable events that I will ever experience happened to me on Thursday. As I was in the bathroom and washing my hands, I heard a voice scream out "TEACHER I'M DOOONE." Knowing what she was screaming about I stood still hoping it was a mistake and just wanted to run. Next thing I know, the door flies open and I get to to wipe a student's butt. Oh the joys, oh the joys! haha 

A side from the teaching, I've been able to go out and experience some nightlife. Not so much Korean,but still a nightlife. There's a really cool bar about 40 minutes from my place called "Travelers". It's a bar where lots of foreigners hang out. It reminds me a lot of some of the bars back home, which is really nice to have. They have pretty much any kind of American food you think of to eat. And props to them for having my favorite beer, Stella Artois.

I also went to my first baseball game in Korea. I went to see the LG Twins vs Doosan Bears last night, which was really exciting. They are professional league teams. What's really cool about the stadium is that you're allowed to bring in anything you wish. They sold KFC, Burger King and had lots of vendors. Also, you're allowed to bring your own booze. They make it even more convenient by having  a small store in and outside of the stadium to buy cheap beer to bring in. The games are really exciting and there's lots and lot of cheering. Each player has their own cheer. Every time a player would come up to bat, the fans would chant. Not to mention there are cheerleaders at the game. Not sure if that's because there isn't football, but it was cool nonetheless.

On top of everything, last night as I was walking back to my apartment after coming home from the bus stop. I witnessed my first Korean streaking. Yup, that's what I said. There were a group of kids and all of a sudden a young guy goes running up and down the street, nude. It was pretty comical. Ohhh Korea :)

I have a 3-day weekend to look forward to, because Monday is a Holiday. I'm not 100% sure of what I'll do, but I'm hoping to get some sightseeing in and possibly window shopping. Considering I live extremely close to Coach, Prada and Gucci, I might as well make the most of it.

It's Almost Like I Never Left Home

Having been in South Korea for only five days, I can happily say that I'm really enjoying it. My neighborhood is very nice. I feel very safe walking home at wee hours of the night alone, if needed. There are many Western amenities here which makes it feel like I never left the States. Just within a 15 minute walk, I'm near Papa Johns, Dominos,  Baskin Robbins and a Dunkin Donuts. Also, directly across the street from my work is a freakin' Popeyes. I mean you can't get more Western than some fried chicken and biscuits :) 

My work is very accessible which makes it nice to be able to walk if I don't feel like taking the bus. There are a lot of really cool places to go around here. There's even an Aveda hair salon that I will most likely be visiting. Sorry Raymond if you're reading this! You are still my #1 hair stylist.

I visited my first Korean BBQ the first night I was here. For those of you who don't know what a Korean BBQ is, it is basically when your group sits either on chairs or the floor in front of a grill. You choose your meat/s and grill them. Along with the meat, you are given different sides. We were given garlic, kimchi, salt/pepper and some other things I don't remember the names of. Then you are given lettuce wraps to wrap around your meats and sides. It's amazing!

 

I had my first Soju experience last night with two of my co-workers. Soju is a very popular liquor here in Korea. It's comparable to vodka. It comes in a beer bottle form and is sold in almost all convenience store.You don't want to drink it straight from the bottle because it's about 20% proof. Also in Korea, they sell liquor in all stores and there are no open container laws.

With my days seeming to fly by, I can't believe it's already the weekend. Tonight I will celebrate Friday eve and join my co-workers for baked chicken and beverages. This weekend I have to go to the hospital to get a physical so I can get my alien registration card. Without my card, I can't open a bank account which in turns mean I don't get paid.

I'll post my address below for anyone who may want to send me a care package :) It's my school's address because I don't have one at my apartment. P.S. - 10 bucks if you can pronounce it ;)

ILS
Dong-chang Plaza 8th Floor
Jung-dong 84-1
Giheung-gu, Yongin-si, Gyeonggi-do
Seoul 446-911 Republic of Korea

"Jenn Teacher, You are the Best Teacher EVER!"

Ok ok so maybe that's not exactly how my first day of teaching went, but it was worth a try ;)

I walked in having somewhat of an idea as to what to expect thanks to Lauren Teacher emailing me very thorough notes on each class the night before. Of course having no experience or training, I was very nervous and scared only because I'm more of a visual learner. I am very lucky to have such amazing co-teachers. They helped me all throughout the day and eased a lot of my worries. 

Let me give you a run down on what my everyday schedule will mostly consist of . My work day begins around 10ish. On Monday, Wednesday and Friday my last class is finished at 7:10 pm. Yes, that's what I said! I think on Tuesdays and Thursday I'll be leaving around 4:30. That I'm not 100% sure yet. Children in Korea are very well advanced and sometimes will go to school until 9 pm. I've noticed in the last few days that the parents keep their children out a lot later than American children. 

I have a total of seven classes. The morning time is when I get to work with two Kinder classes. These are basically the babies. They are so adorable!  The classes are called Elmo class and Tweety class.  During these classes we emphasis a lot on reading and coloring. Sounds like my kind of work! I also have one class, Clifford class, for about 30 minutes on Monday to teach Math.

At around 2:30 pm on Monday, Wednesday and Friday is when Elementary classes start. Each class is around 45 minutes long and the oldest grade I will be teaching is fourth grade. During these classes we also emphasis on reading, but the reading is more advanced and we discuss the reading with more complex questions.

The children in Elementary classes were very helpful to me today. During one of my classes, one of the girls began to scream and point at my chest as I began to write my name on the blackboard. Of course I thought I had a bug on me, so I started to freak out.  haha Come to find out the children were screaming out because I was using a permanent marker on the blackboard. Oopsie! No worries, I got it off :)

So in a nut shell, that's what I learned on my first day of teaching. I'm sure I'll have a lot more stories to come.

Day #2

Today was a whole new day. I woke up around 4 am to clean. And man I went to work. I was able to unpack and just felt so much better. It's so crazy to think that I came from living in this big apartment with a queen sized bed, to an itty bitty living space. Definitely working on simplifying my life. This will be good for me :)

I was able to talk to my Mom and Dad for about 20 minutes this morning. After talking with them I decided to venture out on my own. Of course once I stepped out, it started raining. Korea has it out for me already haha. I walked down the street to this bakery called "Paris Baquette". It's literally 5 min from my house. They have all kinds of breads and pastries. Looks like I'll be getting my carbs fix afterall :)

After breakfast I came home and chilled before meeting up with Sarah. She's a teacher I will be working with at ILS. We walked over to Emart, which is like Walmart but so much better. It has almost anything you could ask for. It has a movie theater, bowling alley, department store and then groceries. I could spend hours in there. After that we went to lunch at "LunaRich". It's a nice little Italian place across from Emart. We had Gorgonzola pizza with honey. So amazing!

I'm now at home, thinking I'll take a nap before my jet lag gets the best of me. I need to be refreshed before heading out to dinner with the other teachers. I think I'm trying my first Korean BBQ! I'm also hoping someone can help me figure out my phone. It's all in Korean and I have no idea how to text haha.

I'm Here! - Day #1

Disclaimer: This a really long post. So if you get bored of reading, I will understand :)

Wow! I can't believe I'm here. This is so surreal. It was really tough leaving my family. There's no way to give someone a year's worth of hugs, but I sure tried. I am really going to miss them!

The beginning of my trip started out a little slow. My flight was to depart from Roanoke on Friday at 5:47 am (EST), but of course we didn't take off until around 8:15 am (EST). After only having a total of about four hours of sleep, having nothing to eat and sitting on a plane that was not moving for 2.5 hours, I was not a happy camper. There was a nice, very talkative, girl from South Dakota next to me and she helped to make the wait go by faster.

I finally arrived in Chicago about 10:35 am (EST). This didn't give me as much as a layover as I was expecting, but it was just enough time. I was able to locate my gate, grab some food and exchange currency. I was going to wait until I got to Korea to exchange currency at the bank, but I'll pay for convenience.

My flight took off as scheduled at 1:00 pm (EST) from Chicago to Seoul. The plane was HUGE and so nice. I probably sound like a big nerd, but I've never flown overseas and had no idea what to expect.

The plane had a total of 42 rows with nine seats across. I was lucky enough to get a window seat, as well as being seated next to two very nice Korean women. One of them is actually an English teacher in Seoul. She gave me her contact information just in case I had any trouble. After about 15 minutes of being on the plane I was knocked out. I was then awaken almost an hour after take off so I could be given goodies and food. They supplied me with headphones, indoor slippers, a pillow and blanket, and a menu.

Here's one of my meals...

Keepin' it Western

I arrived in Seoul around 4 pm Korean time / 3 am (EST). A driver picked me up and drove me to my apartment. As I arrived, I was so nervous as to what to expect. I walked up the stairs, behind the driver who was carrying my luggage and opened the door. My stomach just sank. My first thought was, "What the hell am I doing here?" The place was left in a bit of mess. The studio apartment is very very small. I began to get discouraged, so I called my Director. She said she was coming over at 8 pm to help get me acclimated around the apartment. As she arrived, I felt very comfortable knowing she was so helpful and willing to correct the issue. She said it wouldn't be until Monday before she could have someone come in to clean.

I decided that was fine and that I could deal with it. I think the best part of my evening was turning on the TV to find "Sex and the City". Ahhh!

Wait! What am I doing?

And the final countdown as of today is...1 day!! Guess you could say I'm freakin' out. I have a pretty good idea as to what to expect, but my biggest worry is starting a new job. It's always a little nerve-wracking starting a new job, especially when you don't have a whole lot of experience teaching English to children.

I began packing my two HUGE 29" suitcases yesterday. Of course after all the packing, I forgot they need to be under 50 lbs. All things considered, I weighed my bags and they were 10 lbs over. Oopsie! According the Asiana Airlines I'm allowed two 50 lbs suitcases free. If I go over, it's $200/per suticase. No thank you! My parents are going to send the rest of my winter stuff to me. I had to forgo my boots :( ~sniff sniff~

Tomorrow at 5:37am begins my big adventure. I, again, want to thank all of my friends and family for supporting me with this decision! It wasn't the easiest decision to make considering I left a life in Norfolk that I had made after 5 years. Now I'm going to a new country where no one knows me, and starting a whole new life. Thank you all for the positive and motivational thoughts.

Love y'all <3

Soakin' Up Some Lazy Days

I have been out of work for almost 2 weeks and I have become a big lump of lazy. I had hoped to use this time at home, in Roanoke, for working out. Hahaha I just had to laugh at myself. Yeah the workout thing has not happened.

I have really enjoyed being at home. I forgot home much I miss this boring, little town. I'm missing Norfolk and all my friends there, but it's been great catching up with friends and family in Roanoke. I just need to remember, I have a plane to catch in 12 days.

There's still a lot I need to do before I leave. I bought my oversized luggage this weekend. They're just big enough to stuff two people in them if anyone would like to join me ;) I'm generally a really good packer but I'm dreading all this. What am I going to do with all my shoes? haha

As promised, here's my flight itinerary. I'll be flying Asiana Airlines.

Depart: Roanoke Municipal Arpt 05:47 AM Friday, July 29 

Arrive: Chicago O'Hare Int'l Arpt 06:50 AM  

*** 5 hour layover :( ***

Depart: Chicago O'Hare Int'l Arpt. 12:00 PM  Friday, July 29          

Arrive: Seoul Incheon Int'l 04:00 PM  Saturday, July 30