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Published: September 16th 2008
Hey! This is a site I created to keep everyone up to date about what's going on with me in Korea. I've been here about a month, so I'll do my best to catch everyone up. I got here at the end of August. My first week was spent at orientation on the east coast in a city called Yangyang. It was beautiful there. Our hotel had the beach on one side and the mountains on the other. We spent the week in classes and going on field trips to differett nearby locations. Some of them were more interesting thatn others. I ended up skipping the last trip tp go lay on the beach instead. Some of the classes were helpful, but some wern't so much. I met some really cool people who I'll definitely be seeing throughout the year.
After orientation we all seperated to go to our different cities. I was placed in a city called Wonju. I live in a small suburb about 15 minutes away from the main city. When I got to my town I learned that they didn't have an apartment ready for me. I was told that there would be one ready soon,
Photo 2
This is the hotel we stayed at for orientationhowever when they showed it to me it was about the size of a walk-in closet. After telling them that I couldn't live there for a year, the school started looking for a bigger place. I spent the next two weekes in a hotel and only just moved into my house on friday!
My school is pretty big. It has four floors and students from Kindergarden to 6th grade. I teach every grade but kindergarden. everyone here is really nice. Some of the teachers speak a little English, but most do not. I also have a Korean co-teacher who is in every class with me. Her English is very good. It's knid of her job to make sure I don't die and that I have everything I need. Teaching hasn't been too bad so far. Sometimes it's hard to come up with ideas for lesson plans. The kids all seem to really enjoy having me teach them, so that makes things easier.
Some times during the week it can get pretty lonely. I'm the only westerner in my town, and I don't have internet at home yet, so I'm very seperated from everyone else. I go out of
town every weekend to see my friends. The bus system here is very nice and not very expensive, so it makes getting around easy. Overall, I'm adjusting to life pretty well. Some things here are weird and even more are awkward, but it's just part of the experience. I'll be uploading a ton of pictures with this entry so you can all see what I've been up to. I'll try to update this site once a week. Until next time,
Matt Shank
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Hannah
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Hey Matt! You don't have any comments, I'll be the first. Korea looks completely awesome. I'm really jealous of you and your photo-ops, haha. Um, I hope you don't mind, I linked your blog on mine under friends ;-) ( if you care... http://hannahgunnell.blogspot.com) Miss you! <3 Hannah Teddyroosevelt Hardinge