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Published: August 7th 2009
I AM HERE!
From the time I left my house in the morning on August 1 at 8:30am to when I arrived at my apartment here on August 2 at 10:30pm I had been travelling for 19 hours taking into consideration time zones.
I was fortunate enough to meet an English teacher that was going back for her fourth year while I was waiting for my flight in Vancouver. She gave me the rundown of a basic day here in Korea and how you go about shopping and getting around. She even gave me money to use the phone when I got to South Korea so I could call Christy! Luckily she got to sit in first class, but I cannot complain because the seat I was given in economy class was right after first class meaning there was a wall in front of me and enough space to fully stretch out your legs! After 11 hours your body still gets very stiff though! As soon as I was on Korean Air I knew everything was going to be turned upside down in my life and I was in for an adventure. It was at that moment that I realized I was actually leaving. The first thing I noticed was how nice the people are. One of the older ladies who sat by me kept giving me her gum, even though I had my own so my ears wouldn’t hurt. Maybe her gum was special and mine was not? The other lady beside me helped convey the message that I had a peanut allergy to the stewardess who looked hurt that I would not eat the honey roasted peanut snack. It was on the flight that I had my first two Korean meals and mmm they were so good. Even bread tastes different here! The food is very tasty though and has a lot of flavour. On the flight they give you hot towels as well to cleanse yourself with and that was so nice. Before you could go into the bathrooms you had to allow them to clean them and make them smell fresh. Inside the bathroom you had free toothbrushes and toothpaste; they all brushed their teeth after they ate meaning long bathroom lines. The stewardesses were dressed so pretty and overall the flight was really not that bad. I watched four movies on my personal tv screen and yes they were in English. You got to choose between about 50 movies, tons of tv shows or music. I finally got to see Fast and the Furious and for those who have not watched it, watch it! Mmmm Paul Walker!! Once I got off the plane I thought I would be lost but there is English all over the airport and they speak it. What a relieve! It did not take long to go buy a bus ticket to Daejeon. A security guard at the airport saw me trying to use the phone, I have no idea how much to put in, he came over and called Christy for me on his cell phone. Now to go wait in the hottest, must humid weather I have ever stood in. Ugh, I thought I was going to melt. There is also a smell here which I am hoping I get used to soon. While waiting I met a few girls and two Aussie guys who were here teaching English. They were all on summer vacation in Japan! They don’t teach in the city I am in, but they told me they come here quite often and what bar they go to. Apparently I am in a party city with a wild night life. I am sure I will meet up with them again. Everyone talks to everyone here and are so, so nice. When the bus arrived I had to put my bags on the bottom as the bus driver could not lift them. I tried to make it look like it was harder than it really was so they wouldn’t think I was some big white lady. I slept the whole bus ride so I really did not get to see much.
Now when I got in Daejeon the first thing I thought was what a lively city. It was so bright and there were people everywhere! We drove by the river and on the banks you would think there was a special event with all the people out there, but nope that is normal. Oh and the trees here are really cool looking! As I am getting off the bus Christy and the directors are there screaming my name jumping up and down with excitement. You really do feel like a celebrity when you are here. They were both talking so fast with excitement and I was so tired, I had no idea what was going on. I am sure I looked like a lost puppy. They took me to the school first to call my mom. We then walked to my apartment from the school which took about a minute and there are two convenience stores, which they call supermarkets on the corner. We then made it my apartment, which was on the fourth floor!!! Stupid me for bringing two 70lbs suitcases! Christy and I took one and the two directors took the other. I apologize, but I have no idea how to spell their names. The male director tried to carry it on his back while his wife pushed from behind, it honestly was the funniest thing I had ever seen and I tried so hard not to laugh. My apartment is small, but it will do. I have a kitchen, a laundry room, a bathroom, and a bedroom/living room. I will post pictures! The shower is the whole bathroom, but I do have a western toilet. I have a washing machine and a rack for drying clothes. I have a full size fridge, and a stove range, no oven. In my room they bought me a really pretty blanket and mattress cover. This mattress cover is equivalent to a bedsheet. There are flowers all over it and it is exactly what I would have picked out. The bed will take some time to get used to as it is very hard. I have a tv and two racks for hanging my clothes on. Plus an air conditioner and fan, which is needed!! They showed me around and then left me to sleep. They had bought me some fancy breads, yogurt, juice, water and coffee in a can- still have not got the nerves to try it, for Monday. They told me to sleep and eat all day on Monday so I can get ready for teaching. I am sure I will be napping a lot as I feel very jet legged.
I was informed that when you are away from your home they will act like your family. Christy is my mother, so she will take care of anything I need and any questions I may have. The elderly lady whom lives below me and owns the villa is an aunt and she is who I will go to if I need anything urgently.
Monday, August 3
I awoke at noon to the doorbell being rung. It was the man to connect my stove and ‘my aunt’. They both tried so hard to show me how to work the heater and stove. It took a little while to understand what they were trying to say as I had just awoken and they spoke very little English. I am sure I also looked scary to them with my curly hair all big from the humid and sticking up. Here is the funny thing. They do not use hot water here. There is a heater control that you need to turn on if you would like to heat your floor or water. By the way if you ever visit here, do not drink the water! You are forewarned. I was about to go back to bed when ‘my aunt’ came back up and made me some noodle soup. It was very sweet of her, but I wish she could have warned me how spicy it was. It was really delicious but I went through 2L of water trying to eat it. I have never had anything so spicy in my life!! Later on a guy came by and hooked up my TV and they have 78 channels for basic cable!! They really like their TV in Korea. There are a lot of silly reality shows and soap operas on and a few English channels. My favourite is the one that plays movies all day. It has movies like spiderman 3, fantastic 4, harry potter and such. They think we like our crime solving shows because there are 2 channels that show csi, house, bones, criminal minds and others. One channel does advertise for the new season of lost and some other shows like my ex boyfriends starting this fall. There is also an English fashion channel. It really is quite boring and it plays a lot of Paris Hilton shows, gag. For supper ‘my aunt’ came by again and made me some noodle dish and kimchi. Now kimchi will take some time to get used to that is for sure! This kimchi was in cabbage and it is so spicy. They really like their spicy food. Tomorrow Christy is going to come by and we are going to get some stuff for my place. She is also going to show me around the school and get me prepared for teaching on Wednesday. We are going to go to E-Mart by my place which is equivalent to Wal-Mart.
Tuesday, August 4
I woke up quiet early and did some organizing of my place and cleaning. ‘My aunt’ came and made me toast with strawberry jam for breakfast. The jam here has no sugar or anything, but you can find smuckers jam at e-mart. Food here is fresh and super healthy. She also brought me out to her garden which is on the roof. It is gorgeous and she let me take many cherry tomatoes that she had grown. Yum! Christy came by and brought me to lunch with the two directors Ms. Kris and Mr Seung. When you eat at a Korean restaurant you take off your shoes at the door and sit on the floor at a little table. We ate their favourite summer dish. It was a bowl with a milky liquid and lots of those long white beans and a few noodles. There was a lot of ice cubes in it as well. It was actually really good. They eat so much here though and I could not even finish a quarter of it. They thought it was because I did not like it, but their serving sizes are huge. We then went to E-Mart to get some things. I really needed hangers to hang my clothes up. As a gift Christy bought me an umbrella, it is purple : ) and a big white hat to keep the sun off of me. She said we are silly for sitting out in the sun because it ruins the skin. They use hats and umbrellas when it is hot because the ladies like ‘white’ skin. Maybe that is why they all look so young? A woman in her 40s would look about 25. They all dress and act young too. She walked me through this huge store and showed me where everything was. E-Mart is like a super centre wal-mart, but it has two floors. The samples at this store are amazing. You could go there anytime and find about 20 samples. It can be your meal because you can take as many as you want. I like it because I can try Korean food. They all try to speak some English to you and that is really neat. Everything has English on the labels so it is quite easy to find things. As well you can find most things you would find in Canada here. Christy and I also went to the school and we went over what I will teach and when. I teach 2 - 4 year old classes, which is 3 years old in Canada and 4 - 6 year old classes which is 5 years old in Canada. Here in Korea I am 24 because you are older here. I also teach after school classes which are intense English. I teach from 9:25 to 3:55 with a 35 min break Monday to Thursday and from 2:35 to 3:55 on Friday. The children here start school at 2 years Canadian age. It is called kindergarten for age 2-6(Canadian). They say school is very competitive so they need to start young and be really smart. I do have a syllabus to follow but I do my own planning and games for each class. It is quite a bit of work, but I think I will enjoy it. Later on that night I went back to E-Mart and bought some groceries consisting of cereal, milk, tea and juice. If you know me you will know I love my cereal and juice. I also bought cleaning supplies so I could clean my apartment. They are terrified of germs here, however they do not scrub when they clean.
Tuesday was an early night since I wanted to be at the school for 8:30am. When I was almost asleep I hear an odd sound and on my window screen there was the largest bug I had ever seen. For those of you who know tar sand beetles, this was way bigger. I still get jitters thinking of it.
Wednesday, August 5
First things first let me talk about this heat. I think I am melting here and sweating away. It is ridiculous! I have never experienced a heat like this. Maggie, the other English teacher is from South Africa and she cannot even stand the heat. The other thing is the slippers. When you enter any room you take off your shoes and put on slippers. If you go to the washroom you take off those slippers and put on a pair of rubber slippers. When you go into a classroom in my school you have to have special slippers. They are horrified of germs. You also brush your teeth after every time you eat and they eat a lot here. You have two snacks in the morning, a huge lunch (equivalent to a full supper with 5 items) and two snacks in the afternoon. I only eat lunch and am full all day.
My students are the cutest things ever! They are so smart. My 4 year olds know English. Many 7 year olds (6 in Canada) in my school can have a conversation in English, as well as read what a grade 3 student in Canada reads. The school I am at is a private school that is for rich individuals. One student’s parents are both doctors at the University hospital. My first class of 4 year olds was horrified of me though and you would think I had 6 eyes with the way they looked at me. One even cried! My other classes were really good and wanted to know a lot about me. There are three floors of classes and I have to keep running the stairs with my supplies to my next class. With the heat that is so hard and I end up drinking so much water! I had my first Korean lunch in the kitchen. You take off your shoes and eat at a small table on the floor like at a restaurant. It was mushrooms, a noodle made out of fish, kimchi with green beans, a seaweed soup and rice with black beans. Most of it was good except the kimchi was still too spicy! The Korean teachers are very nice and there are 5 of them that teach English. Stephanie, the Korean teacher who sits across from me in the teacher room is so nice and we really get along. Maggie, the other foreign English teacher has been at the school for 3 years already and is really helping me get adjusted here. All the teachers find it funny how tall I am. Wait until they see my brother, by the way they are so excited you are coming Cody. They giggle and keep asking about you and then they say oh but I am married. LOL. They want to see a picture of you soon. The Korean teachers invited me out for supper and to a famous Korean play next Friday night. I am really excited for that! When I am at the school I am happy because I feel comfortable and all the kids are happy. They always blow you kisses and hug you. I already have a few favourites, bad I know. They are typical children though and act as any child would. I like teaching them because you can joke with them and have fun while they learn. I find it odd though giving a 6 year old (5 Canadian) homework. At the school the teachers do the cleaning and the foreign teachers take turns doing the afterschool snack dishes. I must have won the lottery because it is my month to do the dishes!
At night I cleaned for 5 hours scrubbing my fridge, stove and cupboards. I finally got the smell out of everything!! : ) Thanks mom for making me like that.
Thursday, August 6
I went to school at 8:30 again today to use the internet. I still have no internet in my house yet or phone. I have to wait to get my alien registration card before I get a phone. Soon though! Today was computer day with my classes and I had so much fun! The class that cried yesterday was the most talkative class for me today. All the students loved the Canadian stickers I gave them today. For lunch today I had rice, mushrooms, a seaweed soup, some small fish with eyes and all (ew, but I did eat it), and kimchi with some questionable vegetable. Kimchi is a spicy sauce like food that they put on many different things. The most famous one is with cabbage. I am getting used to the kimchi. It was funny today how the Korean English teachers and I talked about celebrities during lunch. Just like at home. In my after school classes I had one student break down in tears because he had forgot his workbook at home. What 5 year old does that? Only here. I almost forgot to say they all have English names as well as Korean names. One child keeps changing her English name daily though, she is quite the character. I also learned about punishment here. You cannot hit a child in school, but at home you do. In the stores they have a whole section of wooden spanking devices. The children here are really well behaved.
‘My anut’, the lady who owns the villa and lives below me came up with her son today. He speaks English and we had quite a long chat. What a really nice man. I also got to meet his son who is 5 Korean age. He came up to my home and we watched some of harry potter together! I cannot say how nice the people here are enough times.
I finally did some exploring. I walked for a bit just to see what was around me. Everything is so close and crowded here. You have small stores everywhere under apartments. In one street you would find maybe 20 stores and they are all so bright. You have to see the bakeries, they are to die for! They have food vendors right on the street and many outdoor places to eat. I found the post office, police station among many, many other stores today. I also found the river and home plus. I am going to go there on the weekend because I was told it is the place to go and shop. The streets here are crazy. The main areas have normal streets like in Canada with lights and crosswalks but everywhere else there is one lane that is so narrow. I have no idea how no one hits a person or other vehicle because on this one lane you have cars coming from two directions plus people walking. The cars just honk at you if you are in there way and you better run or they will run you down. Parking is something you have to see. They park wherever they fit. And I mean wherever. Oh and people will ride their scooters down the sidewalk parts and almost hit you. It was raining when I was out so I got to use my umbrella : ). I thought the rain would make the heat more bearable, but I was so wrong. It made it worse because now it is hot and sticky outside, ugh! I finally got a food sticker and garbage bags! What I do is make a Korean teacher write what I want on paper and then I bring that to a store with me. The way they do garbage here is interesting. What you do is you put your garbage in a special bag and put it outside your place on the street. You also put your recycling in a different bag and put it outside at any time. Someone will come collect it twice a day. You do not put any food in the garbage though. You have a special container you put it in and once a day you put it outside your apartment door and someone will come empty it. I also finally figured out what this noise was. I would hear someone screaming something out a megaphone many times throughout the day. It is someone driving a truck selling fresh fruit.
I found my favourite Korean dish, yes I have one already. It is mondu and it is sooooo good. I have a ton of it in my freezer. It is minced pork with green onions and some other vegetables wrapped in thin pasta. It is amazing! I also like the mandarin oranges here and the grapes. They are huge!
I will quickly answer two questions many people keep asking me. Yes I have gotten use to the smell. I really cannot even remember what the smell was. As well, for people speaking Korean it does not bother me. I actually find life here quiet because I just tune it all out. I don’t understand so it is all background noise to me.
I should go to bed though since I have to help judge the English contest tomorrow morning. I am also getting a Korean bank account : ) Night!
Friday, August 7
Today was the day of the English contest for 7 year olds. I was one of the judges and you would be amazed at how well some of these children can speak. I wish I could have slept in today since the contest was at 10, but the heat woke me up at 6:30am. After the contest I ate lunch since the cooks at the school feel I need to eat more. Everyone thinks I am so odd because I do not eat like them. Today was meat day : ) We got a chicken and noodle mixture as a side dish. You only get about ½ cup of each of the side dishes. Your main dish is about 2 cups of steamed rice. We also had kimchi with green beans and I ate all of it today. I did not eat the kimchi and anchovies because they did not look appealing. The soup was really good. It was cold lemon water with bean sprouts and cucumbers. After lunch Christy and I went to set up a bank account for me. That took about an hour and I understood none of it. Christy explained after what was said. I know have a chequing card (bank card), internet and phone banking. Everything is in English on the phone, internet and atm. Yay! Well good news is I finally have the internet.
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Grandpa H
non-member comment
Found your blog
Grandma and I just read your blog this morning - very very entertaining. In the extreme heat you may wish to take the odd salt pill. Check at their pharmacy. When you perspire you loose salt. We've had very cool temperatures here this week and rain. We are so proud of you tackling a whole new culture and gaining that valuable experience. Grandpa