KOREA

Welcome To KOREA!!!!!!
So, I arrived in Korea on the 21st of April after a 14 hour flight, (which by luck ended up being quite comfortable with no one in between me and another American guy) a 3 hour bus ride to my city where I was met by the director of my school and brought to my 'hotel'. I was unaware that it was a "Love Hotel"...It is actually situated in a nice part of the city, close to many shops and convenient stores and restaurants, and pretty close to my school.
Well...I crashed as soon as I got to my room, because I needed to be at school at 10am the next (friday) morning, for observation. I followed teachers around and observed their classes to get an idea of how I should or would be teaching them. I was so friggin tired that I was barely coherent. I met my other foreign teachers...with me, it makes 6, while there are also 6 Korean teachers. I ended up going to dinner with 2 of my foreign co-workers, which was really nice. The restaurant was right across, basically, from my hotel, so it was easy to just go back and do nothing. I got a massive plate of garlic fried rice and some other stuff for 4 dollars. It was really good (I would end up going there for lunch on Saturday because I was afraid to go to a restaurant by myself.) and I was lucky to have a little help ordering and whatnot because I was with friends.
That weekend I just kinda vegged. No responsibilities, nothing to do....went to the mini shop (E-mart) that is pretty much like a mix between a Walgreens and a gas station/711. It's really really "convenient"...kinda like a convenience store, I suppose :D
Monday, I walked to work by myself. Well, actually I got lost by myself. I made it there 15-20 minutes after I was supposed to be there, and actually they were going to send someone out to find me. Leave it to me. I wouldnt be ME if I didn't get lost. Yay for my horrible sense of direction. HOWEVER....during the day---it's one way..at night, OH MY GOSH...totally different. It is so lit up and crazy, it's difficult to recognize things you see everyday. I'll eventually get used to the city...I hope. :)
So, yeah...that's Daejeon for now. I've had some pretty good food. Some co-workers took me to dinner as a "welcome"..we had a bunch of different stuff...I can't even tell you the names, because I don't know..but it was delicious.

Interesting fact about Korea: There aren't garbage cans ANYWHERE...

Pre-Departure!

So, it is just about 8 days until I depart to Daejeon, Korea where I will teach English for at least a year! Whoa! So, the big question is: How can I pack everything I need/want into 2 suitcases?! Besides the ordeal of packing...I'll be mentally preparing myself for a country I (let's face it) know very little about. I have several Korean friends that I have learned a lot from and have gotten advice from and whatnot....but Korea! New language, new people, new culture, new environment, DELICIOUS, SPICY, AMAZING new Korean food, living on my own, teaching....I am SO EXCITED!
My self-teaching of Korean hasn't really gone very well so far, but I am hoping once I arrive and really try, I will be able to pick up and piece together some sentences relatively quickly. I'm very interested in the language, so I will try my hardest.
I've never taught before except for tutoring or helping foreign friends with their English. I am a certified TESOL/TEFL instructor, but that won't be useful until I'm thrown into a classroom. I have so many ideas about how to teach young children, I cannot wait to see how much flexibility I have and how willing the children are to learn. I'm trying to keep my mind WIDE open as to how this is going to pan out. The internet is great for a lot of stuff, especially the fact that I was able to find this job, BUT---it is also horrible for putting ideas into your mind about how things are going to work out. There is always good with bad and vice-versa.
Anyways, I'm ready to go, I'm ready for new challenges, meeting new people, making new friends and just experiencing something totally different. Departure is April 20th 10:02am. BRING IT ON!