2 weeks in Seoul.

Tomorrow marks two weeks living in South Korea and I feel a new post is way overdue. Summing up the last two weeks in a single post will be a challenge, but here goes........

Seoul week 1:

As I mentioned in my previous post my first week was consumed by training. Training was pretty stressful. It was full of tests and mock teaching. The material itself was not very difficult but if you failed training you were without a job, no place to stay, and no plane ticket home, which put a lot of pressure on all of us trainees. ChungDahm (the school I work for) is not like other schools in the way that train their teachers. It is very common for English teachers to just be put in a classroom with little to no direction, so I do appreciate the training. I slept little, bonded quickly with my fellow trainees over dinner and studying (aka freetime), and....PASSED!!!! Not to brag, ok brag a little, my head instructor said that my final evaluations were the best he's seen in a very long time, if ever! I was pretty happy to hear this because training wasn't the most uplifting experience.

Immediately following training they ship everyone out to their separate locations. Not gonna lie, the transition was a little rough. I met some really great people during training so it was strange to be taxied away to a little apartment that had nothing (suppose to semi-furnished) and where I knew no one. Okay, I know thats lame, but I felt really alone. So I decided to get out and explore my new neighborhood. I made it a few blocks and then...got hit by a truck haha. Well thats a little dramatic, I was backed into, but it hurt none-the-less. I quickly learned the Koreans drive where ever they please, convenient by dangerous. No worries though, this was just a bad day, the only bad day!!!

Week 2:

A friend from training has been staying with me for last few days and it has been really nice to have the company and an exploring companion. We have wondered around Eunpyeong (my new homeland) quite a bit. We went to a local bar. Korean bar snacks= seaweed, nuts and soy sauce. And have tried a few local restaurants. A few nights ago we went to a small, side-street, restaurant that was amazing. It was traditional Korean bbq, you grill your meat on a charcoal grill in the middle of your table, so good! And the staff was super friendly, and helpful. Towards the end of out meal our neighboring table, about 4 Korean men wearing the recognizable soju glow, slyly passed us some of their meal. Im still not exactly sure what it was but it appeared to be some sort of shellfish, with a little spicy salad on the side. I am a HUGE texture person, and can't stomach the thought of eating something slimy, but I also didn't want to offended anyone. I put on my best poker face, chewed and swallowed, not one but two as quickly and politely as I could. I had to fight my slime-gag reflex, but I loved the experience! And so did the drunk Korean locals, "not afraid, not afraid!" they laughed and gave us more, great, haha!

I started work on monday. My co-workers all seem really nice. They have all been here for a few years at least and the branch seems more relaxed than others I have heard about. I job shadowed for the beginning of the week and subbed weds-fri for a teacher that left. It was really great to finally get in and start teaching. The kids are so adorable, well most of them haha! It was the last week of the term so all of the classes I taught were the students last day. It was little tough to jump in to a class on the last day and keep them interested. I could totally tell that they were like "ok I only have this teacher for one day, I can do whatever I want." Also all of the students had already taken their "level up" test so they knew weather or not they were moving up a level. It was basically like getting a sub on the last day before summer vacation. It was so much fun! I cant wait to start with my own classes on Monday!

So that basically sums up my first two weeks in Seoul. I feel like I'm forgetting some major events, but thats pretty much the gist of what I have been up to.

I wrap things up with some interesting things I have learned about Korea:

1. Heated floors make it really hard to wake up in the morning (when sleeping on the floor)

2. Men buy inserts called "shoe lifts" to make them appear taller, and will sometimes lie abouthow many they have in.

3. Like I mentioned before, they drive where ever and however the please, its nuts!

4. Statistic say that over 80% of girls have had plastic surgery.

5. Heated toilet seats kinda make you feel like you peed your pants.

6. Almost all business names are in English, but nothing inside is.

7. American fast food chains are everywhere, pizza hut, baskin robbins, burger king, dunkin donuts, starbucks, mc donalds, quiznos, pappa johns, is crazy.

8. Drinking soju makes using chopsticks very difficult.

and much, much more to add later......

I love and miss you all very much. There is a lot in the media right now about the tension between the North and South and I have gotten a lot of worried messages. Please know that I am safe and happy here. It is a little unsettling but we can only hope that it will all blow over soon, if not maybe I will be seeing you all soon!

LOVE FROM KOREA!

Hola From Seoul

I am finally in Seoul. Proof: I stained my shirt with kimchi ramen at dinner last night.

So far so good. Seoul is an amazing city with beautiful people. I have really enjoyed my first two days here, although I have not had much free time to get out and explore.

I am still finding it hard to believe that I am actually here, in South Korea, whoa! My flight here was ok. The day or two before I left I went into totally pre-departure panic mode, but I think I kept it together pretty well. Before I leave for any big adventure or trip panic mode sets in and I have a mini freak out stress-fest break down. Am I crazy for leaving everything and everyone I know behind? What am I doing? Did I make the right choice? But I think this is all a fairly normal reaction to moving to a new place, let alone a completely foreign country. (Sorry family if I was crazy this last week.)

My flight left at the crack of dawn friday morn. I always seem to have really random, unlucky things happen to me, and friday morning was no exception. I woke up to find that a mosquito had bitten my eyelid during the night. So I had to begin my trip with one eye swollen and red. It looked like I had crazy intense pink eye. Perfect for meeting new people. Anyways, my whole family woke up at 4 am to drive me to the airport. And like every other flight I have ever taken, I made it with only a few minutes to spare. Just enough time to check in, say goodbye, and then awkwardly say goodbye again through the glass walls. Also, my good friend Katie got up with the sun and met me at the airport before I left, she's pretty freakin amazing. (Thank you Katie for the wonderful card and send off.)

My flight from yakima to seattle was a little rough. I was happy to make it to seattle without puking coffee up everywhere. From Seattle to San Fran was a little smoother, except for the lady behind me that kept comparing our plane to the Titanic. She was sure that our pilot had no idea what he was doing and that we were all going to die. From San Fran to Korea was.......long, very long. The food was sick, my tray table was broken and the movies were ok. I watched Salt, Cyrus and Twilight, yes you can make fun of me now haha. Then I slept and slept and slept, and 13 hours later I was in KOREA, yay!!!

Luckily I made it through immigration, retrieved my luggage, bought a bus ticket and found my bus stop really easily. While waiting for the bus I noticed a guy about my age, looking pretty lost, and reading from what appeared to be the same arrival paperwork I had. I am generally pretty outgoing, and when traveling abroad I loose all shyness. Turns out he was in my program and we soon met another girl that was also in Chung Dahm with us! It was really nice not be alone while taking the bus to the City Air Terminal and then taking a taxi from there to our hotel. And the girl, Victoria (ps she's super friendly and fun) is one of my roommates at the hotel for the week. I have two other roommates here. AND lucky for me one of them is Korean American, so she has been showing us around, translating, helping us order food and showing us how to navigate the subway system. I really feel spoiled!!!

Today was the first day of training. blaaah. We had tests, and tests and more tests. And then we had to go to the hospital here in Seoul for even more tests; blood test, urine tests (way different than in the states, gross!), hearing tests, color blind/vision test, chest xrays and blood pressure. It was a very long and stressful day. Wish me luck in passing all of the tests. Besides the endless tests, I did get to meet the other teachers that are also training this week. So far they are all very cool, its nice to be with such positive, friendly people. There is just an overall excitement about being here.

Anyways, I should be studying for training tomorrow, blah. Korea is amazing and I wish you could all be here to experience this with me.

I miss you all very much. Please take care of yourselves and each other. And please be in touch.

A Thankful Nomad

With my departure date quickly approaching, I wanted to take a moment to thank those that have helped me out the last few months.

I made the decision to leave way back in July. So by the beginning of August I found myself without an apartment and with most everything I own sold or packed away in storage, but still employed. Basically I was without a home, and became a nomad of sorts.

At first this made me a bit nervous, but I shortly realized what amazing, generous and caring people I have in my life. It seemed that every time I mentioned that I was kinda "couch surfing" that someone would offer me a place to stay with them, their family, or with some one they knew. Although there were some afternoons where I wasn't sure where I would be staying that night, overall that past few months have been so fun.

Being a nomad and bouncing around from friend's couch to friend's couch gave me the opportunity to visit and spend time with people that I don't get to see as often as I would like. Its so easy to get caught up in the busyness of everyday life and not take the time to call or hang out with friends. It sometimes feels that you have to have a reason or event to take a break from the everyday and spend time with someone. Crashing on a friend's couch in the middle of the week, or living in their guest room for a month or so, gave me the opportunity to spend quality time with those I love.

So thank you so much friends for all the love and support and shelter you have given me these last few months. I am so grateful to have you all in my life.