The Beginnings...

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Hey all!
I finally made it to Korea. The flight was ridiculously long. When I flew out of San Francisco, the first couple of hours went by incredibly quickly. And then I felt like I was going to pull my hair out for the remaining 9. Driving to Dongtan, I recognized a Hyundai building and a Harley Davidson mega-store. This would suggest that Koreans like motorcycles. But I didn’t see anyone riding a motorcycle. So I have no idea.
It’s kind of amazing how cities always look relatively the same no matter where you are. There were skyscrapers and abandoned buildings and highways that look just like highways. City drivers are also always city drivers. We got cut off in traffic and I laughed. I think the owner was a little confused.
Once we got to Dongtan we went to the office first. A met a million people whose names I did not remember, and got my schedule for observation. It looks like I’m working really long hours, but I have these hour or 2 hour gaps between some of the classes, so I guess not.
I moved into my apartment and managed to get everything out of my suitcases before falling asleep. It started out really well, with me organizing everything and putting things in their correct spot. But by the end I was just taking things out of my suitcase and throwing them into the closet.
This morning I took the most challenging (and most rewarding) shower of my life in my new all-in-one unit. The trick is to get completely clean WITHOUT getting your towel wet. And then the shower spigot sheared off. I don’t know why. Hopefully someone will know how to fix that.
I’ve already navigated some tricky cultural areas. At dinner last night the owner and the director took me out for Chinese. I asked for water and they brought this bottle thing. So I went to drink it and they’re like “NO! Use a cup.” But I didn’t have a cup. So I never would have thought of that. I also got mildly reprimanded for walking into my apartment with shoes on.
I have the ugliest bed set in the world on a bed made out of cement. So hopefully I’ll be able to go to E-Mart soon and remedy that situation. I’ve been making a list of the things I need to buy, so I’ll have to figure out how to go about doing that pretty soon.
Within a block from my office there’s a Dunkin’ Donuts, a Baskin Robbins, and a Coldstone Creamery. So I think I’ll be OK.
Today I started out observing classes and it was a LONG day. They actually made me go home before I was supposed to because they decided it was too long. In the morning I was observing winter intensive courses, which I’ll be taking over in a couple of days. That’s great news because the other classes in the morning are pre-school/kindergarten and it will take a little while for me to get used to the noise. I was in a kindergarten room for lunch/activity and those little girls can scream! We get free lunch (always Korean food, and I understand, always just about the same thing) so that’s nice. I don’t have to worry about finding something to eat for lunch if I don’t want to. I observed a science class after lunch. Basically the IP (morning) program is like private kindergarten, so they do everything. Science, art, music, games, gym, Chinese, and it’s all in English (except the Chinese, I would assume). Today we learned about carbon paper. The girls were overwhelmed with excitement, which was adorable. They all showed me their 2!!! pictures of butterflies. In the afternoon I was just observing various English teachers and I don’t really know what my schedule will be except that I have the winter intensive classes, gym on Wednesdays and Thursdays, and science on Fridays.
Elia (the director) gave me a gift bag today with the essentials: Kleenex, slippers, a hand towel, and some green plastic bags she didn’t know how to explain. I’ll have to ask my neighbor the next time I see him.

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Comments

[Mom]

Wow!
Wow, Allison! It sounds like a very quick start. It is interesting that they didn't give you time to get your bearing around your apartment, but maybe the quicker you dive in, the better. How far is your apartment from your school?

[Uncle Roger]

I've only flown in and out of Korea but the differences between here and there are interesting. Evidently, you have many more U.S. businesses there than we do, probably because the economy is much better there. Everyone rides a small motorcycle here and Harleys are only people's dream.