First weekend in Daegu, South Korea

Ok, so here's what happened this weekend:

Friday night I went out after work with the group that Justin organized. It wa

s a bunch of the new foreign teachers that had just 

gotten into town (like me

) and were wanting to meet others, get out, have fun, and just re

lieve some stress. It was a lot of fun. We went to a few bars an

d drank a bit. The first stop was T-Birds, which was 

owned by a Canadian and was kind of small. Then we went to Commune's, which is like the popular foreign bar in downtown. There we had a few more drin

ks and a few of us signe

d up to play trivia for the night. My team consisted of Justin, Sarah, Ethan, and me...but eventually became Nate, Sarah, Me, Ethan, and sometimes Justin and Kelly, haha. We played for about two hours, getting steadily more drunk as we played, but ended up coming in third place! And there was even a Doctor Who question!!! I was so psyched about that one :-D And of course we got it right. After we played trivia,

 Sarah, Nate, Ethan, and I went to Burger King for some food because we were fucking starving and we ended up having some really interesting conversations. The

 best that night was the philosophical debate about the euphemism "it's like apples and oranges." haha. After BK, Sarah and I went home because we were exhausted.

SATURDAY: I woke up a little later than usual and got the apartment straightened up for the internet guys to come. They arrived on time

 

(novel concept! not like in America) and were done hooking up the internet in about 20 minutes. Had a little bit of trouble connecting it to my computer because I have a Macbook, but we got it worked ou

t eventually. So now I have internet!!! Spent the rest of the day pretty much relaxing, surfing the web, catching 

up with people, and goofing off around the apartment. Als

o did my first load of laundry, which is still drying. Around 9:00pm I took a taxi downtown to meet u

p with Sa

ra

h and some of the others for a night on 

the town. We went to a fe

w bars and a few dance clubs

. The first stop was actually McDonald's because I was fucki

ng starving. Then we went to the Holy Grill, which if I knew was going to be a stop and a restaurant, I would have eaten there instead. Some of us ordered fo

od (Sarah and I split a plate of poutine, which is like Can

adian and is basic

ally cheese fries smothered in gravy). It was pretty good. We had our first round of cocktails there, and then went to Commune's where we basically just stopped in to say hey to people. After that, we ended up at Itaewon Crew Pub and had a few pitchers of soju, which is a Korean alcohol that's cheap and good. It's like a smoother version of vodka and comes in different flavors. We had like three pitchers and played a few drinking games, including 100 Won (or the Korean version of quarters/chandelier/big cup...whichever you know it by). That got us pretty good and wasted, so we decided to go 

dancing at that point. We ended up at Club Monkey and it was pretty cool. Crowded and dark, but interesting. I took a lot of pictures there, so they can be viewed

 on my facebook for those of you that have it. After the club, we basically split up and went home for the night...it was 4:00am by this point. Sarah an

d I split a cab and she crashed at my place so we could use the internet before bed. 

SUNDAY: Sunday was less eventful and definitely alcohol free. The group from Saturday minus Jeff, Ashley, Nove, and Desmond, but plus Paige and Ryan ended up wandering through downtown and shopping. We went to the bookstore and I bought a book on trying to learning Korean. Then we stopped at a few 1000W stores (or dollar stores) so we could pick up a few things. After a few hours, we decided to go back to Sarah's place and just hang out there. We picked up some pizza and went back to her place for a bit. Nove came later after Shane and Paige 

left, and we just 

ended up talking more. Then I went home and c

rashed because I was so tired. 

But overall it was a great weekend and I can see myself having a lot of fun here after it. If every one is as eventful and fun, I could get used to this whole teaching thing.  Below are some of the pictures I took from this weekend and the stuff we got up too. Enjoy!

Massive Update: What's been going on in Korea!

September 1, 2008

I arrived in South Korea last night. It was a long journey (20 hour flight), but I finally made it. Along the way I began to feel the resolve of my situation and was able to finally conquer my anxiety. Granted, there is still the nervousness of starting a new job and how to handle teaching a language that to me is second nature, but foreign to my students. But at least the anxiety of moving to a foreign country for a year has passed. Thanks a lot in part to my mom and the letter she wrote me. I’m going to miss her so much this year. She really is my best friend and the person I love to just goof off with, and I know she’ll miss me too. So for her, I’ll be strong and be the man she knows I can be.

I arrived in Seoul last night around 5:20pm their time, after a 12.5 hour flight from San Francisco. Once I was in the airport, things got interesting. All the signs and the people were something to take in. And the language! I’ve never heard so much foreign language spoken in one place before…it was quite exhilarating. I was able to call my director and let her know that my flight was on time and that I would be arriving in Daegu at 8:30pm, as planned so she could pick me up. Which is exactly what she did, haha. When I stepped out of the door, she knew who I was immediately and came up to me. She had one of her students with her, her cousin actually, and I was able to hear how their English sounds. Her name is Jenny and she speaks pretty well, although sometimes a little broken and not understandable. It’s going to be an adjustment slowing my speech down to accommodate everyone. I’m not used to that.

When we left the airport, we met her husband Peter outside and he helped put my bags in the car. On the way to my apartment, they were all a chatter in Korean, and it was very interesting to just listen to, but also a little bit disconcerting. Now I know what Andrea means about people talking about her and now knowing what they are saying, haha. I kept hearing “teacher,” which is what they call me, every other sentence. Paul, the little boy, also kept asking me questions in English all about insects and different kinds of beetles. He’s very brilliant and has really good English. I was also impressed with his knowledge of entomology and wildlife in general.

On our way to my apartment, we drove through downtown Daegu and I was able to see it all lit up and the different shops. It’s definitely going to take me a few weeks to really get oriented and everything. I need to meet up with some of the English teachers who’ve been here for a while and walk around with them so they can show me some of the sites. We finally got my apartment at about 9:30 and it was exactly the way Tracy described it and the pictures she sent me. In fact, I believe it is the same one. It’s very small and there isn’t much left to the imagination. I’ve taken a few pictures of it, but being here is the only real way to experience the uniqueness of it. My shower is the weirdest…instead of the shower stall and tub as I expected, the shower is actually just the bathroom itself. There’s no stall or tub, just the toilet and sink on a tiled floor and a shower head above them…so I’m basically showering standing in front of the toilet, haha. It was a different experience last night. Also I didn’t realize that I had to turn on the hot water from a switch near the front door until after I got out of the shower last night, so my first Korean shower was a cold one.

This morning I was able to get everything unpacked and put away. Adjusting to the time difference made it possible for me to get up at 7:30am this morning. And since Jenny won’t be here until 3:00pm to get me, I’ve got a lot of free time on my hands. It’s only 9:30am right now, and I’ve already done everything I could do this morning. I’m afraid to walk outside and see the city by myself right now, just because of the possibility of getting lost. So, until I can actually get a tour or at least my bearings, I’ll just wait for Jenny. I have no idea what we’re going to do today, but I imagine she’ll show me around town a bit and the school of course. I have a shopping list of some things I need, so maybe we’ll be able to get that covered. I don’t expect to start today, but I’m not sure when I am going to start. I’m supposed to have three days to settle in as well as go through an orientation, so who knows exactly what will happen?

Until then, I guess I’ll just be patient and update as I can. One thing that is bothering me right now is the disconnection from the other half of the world. I don’t have internet yet and my cell phone doesn’t work like I thought it would, so I’m out of it, which I hate. As soon as I’m able, I’m getting my internet hooked up and buying a cell phone. Until then, I’m at the mercy of being out of the loop…as well as trying to find an internet café to use. Oh well. Til next update!

September 2, 2008

So it’s another new day here in South Korea. The conclusion to yesterday was an interesting one. After Jenny picked me up yesterday, she showed me where the school is and took me to lunch. We ate in a really interesting Korean restaurant that was pretty much like a sushi house, except fast food…if that makes sense. We sat down and ordered, and within two minutes we were eating. And it was delicious!! Most sushi I’ve had I’ve eaten with soy sauce or something like that, but this stuff didn’t even need it. It was just fine by itself and very delicious. After we finished eating, we went to the school and I was introduced to my fellow teachers and even some of the students. It was definitely a frightening experience, since everyone was speaking Korean.

The other teachers at the school seem to be pretty decent at English. MJ is probably the best and then there’s Robin, the only other male teacher there. His English is pretty good as well, so I was thankful for that. I sat in on a few classes yesterday and watched how they operated, and then even taught one of my own! OMG, I was scared! All I did was review material with the students, but I was completely lost on what to do since it wasn’t like I was teaching a brand new lesson. After we reviewed, we had some extra time, so I played a few games of hangman with the kids and they seemed to have a lot of fun doing that.

That class was very well behaved, but in some of the others I can already pick out the trouble makers and the ones I’ll have to watch out for. Overall though, the kids seemed to be pretty good. The only thing I saw that was confusing to me, was that they all spoke Korean in their classes…even the teachers taught in Korean. This bugs me a bit since they’re supposed to be learning English, but are being they aren’t using it to ask questions or anything like that. I wonder what it’s going to be like in my class since I don’t speak Korean and can’t answer their questions if they ask in Korean. I just got to remember to be strong and strict, but still be well liked…I can’t sacrifice authority for friendship. I guess that’s how many of my teachers felt in school.

Around 7:30, Jenny took me home since I was exhausted. Still getting used to the new time zone and everything was wearing me thin. On our way home, we ran by the Samsung store to pick me up a cell phone, but weren’t able to get it that night due to some delivery time conflict or something. I wasn’t sure since they were all speaking Korean and Jenny tried to explain it, but doesn’t speak the best English. So, we’re going to have to pick it up today instead. Hopefully I can also get her to take me to the market today since I have to pick up a few things for the apartment. She also told me she’d make a call about getting internet set up in my apartment, so I can finally get back in touch with the rest of the world.
Right now though, I’m just trying to figure out how to spend my mornings while I wait for her to come pick me up. I’ll update more tomorrow.

September 3, 2008

It is another glorious morning here in South Korea. Each morning I wake up and still can’t believe I’m here doing this. It’s just so daunting. Also, I wake up missing my bed from home…the mattress I sleep on here is very hard. I’m going to try and get a mattress pad if I can find one.

Yesterday went pretty well. Much better than the first two so far. A representative from the head office of E. Bo-Young Talking Club came to the school to train me and help me through my classes, which I was very grateful for. She was a big help and I got to understand a lot more about ways to interact with my students. After the day was over yesterday, Jenny, Sunny (the rep), and I went out to eat some traditional Korean food. It is called sumgapsa (not sure that’s spelled right…) and was very, very good. It was an interesting thing to experience. Basically it was pork that was cooked before us on a hotplate that looked like a turtle, but served with many different things. There were sauces of all kinds, kimchi, a delicious salad with bananas and pineapple, rice, and a traditional Korean soup which was very hot and spicy. The pork was cut up with scissors in front of us, and once it was cooked, we used our chopsticks to dip the pieces into a sauce to eat. Very delicious!

During dinner I got my first phone call on my new cell phone. It was Justin, a friend I met on Facebook.com who happens to be teaching in Daegu as well. Unfortunately since I was at dinner, I had to tell him I’d call him back, so I wouldn’t be rude. Dinner was very enjoyable and the conversation was interesting. Sunny helped translate between me and Jenny, who still doesn’t speak that great of English. But overall, I think it was a successful conversation.

After dinner, we returned to the school for a few minutes and Jenny gave me my schedule for today. I’m teaching four classes today and then Sunny is coming back at 7:00pm to teach the final two of the day, since I haven’t been instructed in the material yet. After that, I think I’m pretty much on my own. One good thing about yesterday was that I had a break between my classes and was able to use the computer at the school to send out a few brief emails. Mainly to people in Daegu with my new cell number so we could get together. Jenny said that the internet guys should be coming either today or tomorrow and setting me up with the internet at my apartment. Hopefully that’s true and they come soon.

After work tonight, Robin, one of the other teachers, is taking me to the market so I can get some of the stuff I need to buy for the apartment. Mainly stuff I couldn’t bring with me like laundry soap. After that, Justin has invited me out to meet up with him and some of the other foreigners at a club downtown, so that should be a fun experience. I’m ready to get out and explore the city, see what’s out there. So, hopefully I don’t get lost, haha. :-D

September 4, 2008

Yesterday was a lot better in the teaching department. I was able to actually get through my classes without any sort of major problem, and even really enjoyed teaching my B1 students. They were a lot of fun to play with and seemed really enthusiastic. I did run into a snag near the end of the day when Sunny, the Talking Club rep, didn’t make it because she got sick. So I had to cover the last two classes, which were the more advanced classes, by myself.

One amazing thing that happened yesterday was that I got to talk to Andrea during one of my breaks! We talked for like thirty minutes, but it felt so good to see and hear her. Thanks to webcam and skype :-D She seems to be doing really well in Japan. We talked about our different situations and experiences thus far, and even talked about who would visit each other first and when. So, hopefully by the end of the month, she’ll have made it over to Korea for a weekend or something. That would be AWESOME!!

After work last night, Robin took me to the market, called E-Mart. It’s basically the Korean version of Wal-Mart, but way cooler. It was like three stories and had a parking garage on the top floor! We were able to get the majority of the stuff that I needed on my list, and it only cost me about 80,000 WON, which is about $80 in America. If we had bought the same amount of stuff in America, it would have run more than that though. After the market, we dropped off my stuff at my apartment, and then Robin called me a cab to take me downtown.

Once I was in downtown, Justin met me and showed me the way to the bar, where he introduced me to all the other foreigners he knew. It was so great to hang out with other English speakers!!! I had a great time, drank a few, and really enjoyed myself. Everyone I met seemed really cool and I’m looking forward to hanging out with them a lot more. Apparently tomorrow a group is supposed to be going out around downtown, so I’m looking forward to that. The only bad thing that happened last night, was trying to get home. The cab driver doesn’t speak English and it was hard to convey where I needed to go. Jenny drew me a map to give them, but he seemed confused by it. Eventually I did make it home, but I was very close to calling MJ and having her talk to the cabbie, despite it being 3:00AM.

My plans for today basically are just working. I go in here in an hour or so, and then I’m teaching all day until 9:30. I’ve got new classes that I haven’t covered yet today, and I forgot to bring the books home to make lesson plans with, so I’m winging it today. They are lower level classes, so it shouldn’t be too hard to muddle through.

Again, still waiting on the internet to get installed in my apartment, but until then I’ll just have to keep using the school’s or find a PC café. Meeting everyone last night and actually taking my first taxi, while scary, makes me want to get out and finally explore my area of town. Maybe I can meet up with some of the others in my area for dinner later tonight or something. I’ll let you know what happens :-D