Yangsan - the first 48 hours

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I have officially survived my first two full days in Yangsan, South Korea. And that's including the (now) two times I have left my apartment without my co-teacher 😉

In the last 48 hours, I have visited the immigration office; gotten my health check done; opened a bank account; visited my school and met a few of my students; met my co-teacher, principal, vice principal, and a few other teachers; found and completed unpacked in my new apartment; and found the nearest convenience store (7/11) and EMart... which is like Wal-Mart, but looks/feels a little more like a Home Depot... except it's green.

Yesterday, while in Busan, my co-teacher treated me to lunch. I tried kimchi for the first time and have come to the conclusion that, at least the traditional style, is far too spicy for my taste! I didn't mind the soybean soup I tried though 😊 The real test for me will be how well I am able to use the chopsticks at a traditional Korean restaurant...

The school I will be teaching at is an all boys middle school. The school is about a mile from my house, which I will walk every day. After 12 months of walking two miles a day, I better be in great shape when I come home! 😊 I managed to find my way to school by myself this morning, only checking the GPS on my phone to make sure I will still going in the right direction. It's pretty easy to get to, but there are some steep hills! Doesn't help that our office is on the 4th floor; immediately after walking a mile, a steep hill at the end, I have to walk up several flights of stairs. Seriously, I had better be in great shape when I come home!

Schools are set up very differently here... when I say middle school, it's not necessarily the same age group you would think of in the US. In Korea, students attend kindergarten from about the ages of 5-7. From 8-13, they attend elementary school; middle school is 14-16; and high school is 17-19. At each level, there are grades... but it starts over with grade 1. For example, at the middle school I will have students in Grade 1-3. The same will go for high school. In March, when the new term starts, I will also be working at the elementary school; I will likely just have students ages 10-13, which isn't much different than our middle schools.

This region of Korea reminds me a bit of home. There are mountains (not huge, but they're beautiful!) and trees that seem similar. The weather certainly feels a bit like New England right now! The roads and cars aren't very different from what I would see back home. Some of the trucks / vans are different, but overall it already feels a little like home.

My apartment is fairly small, but plenty of space for what I need. Unfortunately, no dishes or towels or anything were left behind so I will have to buy those for myself. I will also need to actually go in to the EMart and buy some groceries... sink or swim test number 1!

Today is my first day teaching. Due to exams finishing today, I will only have one 35-minute class from 3-3:35. It's now 9:40am, and I have been awake since 4:00 this morning. Hopefully I will have plenty to do to keep me occupied until my first class!



As always, much love to all of you back home; and thanks for reading!

~Cassie

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