Time to Settle In

Last week I discovered that the "hot water" in the teacher's lunchroom is actually hot rice water that has rice at the bottom that you're not supposed to eat.This is how I've discovered most things here in Busan: Trial and Error!

A little over a week ago (which now feels light years away) I took a bus from Daejeon to Busan and waited at a central meeting point (the soccer field of a middle school) for my co-teacher to pick me up.

Here is a map of South Korea, I flew in near Seoul, bused to Daejeon for the orientation week and then bused to Busan.

My co-teacher arrived right on time with another one of my co-teachers. Together we all got lost trying to find my new apartment in the Haeundae area of Busan. Right away I realized that I had lucked out with my co-teachers. Both of them speak excellent English and were incredibly friendly and helpful. Kwon Ha Kim (Who I will be co-teaching the special weekly reading classes) drove her friends car while Mihye Cho (My main co-teacher who I share a classroom office with and who is the one in charge of me) called everyone she could to figure out where the apartment was. At first I thought it was strange and slightly worrying that they didn't know where I would be living. Then they told me that they decided to switch apartment buildings so it was all new for them too (Whew, that was a relief to find out!).

My room before I unpacked.

I am so glad they decided to switch, my apartment building is great! All the people in the building are foreign English teachers and some have been here for over a year. Did I mention that the apartment is a 10 min. walk away from the beach? And right across from a supermarket/bus stop/subway station/hospital? It couldn't be better!
I can't really say the same for my room, but I don't mind. Its small, perfect for one person.
The only problems were that upon arrival we realized that the internet was not set up, the tv was broken and the sink in the bathroom was broken. So my first day/evening was spent sitting on my floor with Miyhe while a procession of repairmen came in and out over the course of several hours. At least I know my landlady pretty well after all that!

This also gave Miyhe and I an opportunity to get to know each other. She is a very kind, intelligent and genuine person. Her English is also wonderful, which is a huge relief. On the first day we had conversations about religion, teaching styles, family dynamics, Korean culture and books.It was so great and made the idea of school seem much more enjoyable once I knew we could communicate more easily.

The first weekend was spent exploring the area around my apartment, navigating the subway, finding grocery/home stores (they have giant mega grocery/home stores called "Home Plus" that are multiple stories and have everything you could possibly need-except sheets for some reason) and checking out some hot spots in Busan.

Korean BBQ! that is a hole for hot coals and you grill the meat on top.

I was a bit nervous going into my first week of work, but I really had nothing to fear. The first day was stressful, I was immediately told to prepare a speech (in Korean!) introducing myself to the entire school over their TV system. I quickly ran through my few sentences that I had and then was whisked off to the broadcasting room where I ended up just standing in a line of other new Korean teachers and bowing at the appropriate moment. I was incredibly relieved and settled down to a day of figuring out what I would be doing.

Over the course of the week I learned more about my school schedule and my fellow co-teachers and workers. For now I will be teaching with Mihye for three days a week, Kwon-Ha (or Miss Kim) one day a week and Mr. Kim one day a week, with some classes here and there. I will also be doing two after school remedial style classes and one with the soccer players who miss classes for games (which everyone says will be "interesting"). My schedule is very nice, I teach classes in the mornings and then have the afternoons to lesson plan and do the after school classes. Last week I taught sporadically and when I did I just introduced myself and then observed the teacher with the class. It was a very low stress week teaching wise and gave me ample time to adjust to the fact that all my textbook teacher resources, computer and school wide messaging system is in Korean. Did I mention I have my own English library? I feel like Belle in Beauty and the Beast, so many books!

My side of the room! My desk is on the right

On Wednesday evening I went out to a wonderful BBQ place on the beach with the people in my apartment. It was beautiful and delicious! I can't wait for summer when it will be so nice to just walk down to the beach and relax.

Thursday night brought a special treat: My co-teacher (who now officially spoils me rotten with being an incredibly wonderful and helpful person) took me out to explore Shinesgae-the largest department store in the world! It was amazingly large and beautiful and was topped off with a tasty dinner at one of the fancy restaurants on the upper floors.

The outside of the largest department store in the world, Shinsegae!

 This lead to a return trip on Sunday to the movie theater where my friends and I saw Frozen in 4D. What does that mean? It means that your chair simulates the reindeer every time someone rides in the sleigh (which is just really funny), or shoots a water spray at you when someone gets wet. It was a pretty amusing special feature, but not one I would want for a horror movie (which I think is the real purpose and would be absolutely terrifying).
Now I am properly prepared to work with my students who love singing "Let it Go." To show you how truly obsessed people are here with Frozen, here is an impressive clip of the song perfectly timed to a students hand drawing of the scene.

Whiteboard "Let it Go"

On Friday I had a traditional meal with my fellow new Korean teachers (including Mihye) and my Principle and Vice Principle. It was delicious and I ate octopus for the first time (knowingly) and actually enjoyed it! I believe I am making process in my ability to eat seafood, which is great, because half the time, I know I'm ingesting some form of seafood but I don't know or care to know what it is (My favorite trick is to pretend its pasta of some kind and ignore the extra chewiness or crunch).

Cute Student Moment of the Week

A small 6th grade girl whispers to Mr. Kim while looking at me. Then she comes up to me, a bit shyly, and asks, " Do you like animals?" I reply, " Yes I do like animals!"
She says, "Oh, me too! We are the same!" Blushes, says "Bye teacher!" and walks away.
Best part of that? the words "animal" and "same" were on their vocab list for the day!

All and all this week has been busy and satisfying. Everything is still new, but its all be fun and exciting so far. Check in next time for some more teacher stories as I head into my first real full week!