New Additions!

This week has been a busy one! First Daniel and I started off the week getting internet in the apartment! YAY! You would think I would have updated my blog since then, but no...too busy! On Tuesday, Mr. O (the go-to man for everything at CDI) brought me a microwave to the apartment. This was only after constant hounding and persuasion on my part, but finally....no having to boil water for coffee or tea every morning! I also got a snazzy new pink cellphone. It's great and makes this cool sword noise every time you slide it open. Then on Wednesday, Alex and I got new bikes! We decided to shop around a bit, but after having lots of communication blunders, we went with two used bikes at the shop near by. I got a dirt cheap deal for a bike, rack, bungee...and most importantly a bell :) Finally, last night Lynley started chucking all her old stuff to me. She has been here a year and is heading back to New Zealand. So, our bare apartment went from nothing to something overnight. We now have two desks, a bookshelf, desktop computer, kitchen utensils, dishes, and random other necessary odds and ends. It feels more like a home now!

We have also had a busy weekend. We went with Lynley to Suwon on Friday night to check out the night life there. An E-Mart (kinda like Wal-mart) trip consumed the day on Saturday, and moving furniture and bowling tonight will take away today.

So the images are of my classroom, desk, and classroom view at my school. Its pretty nice and I love having windows, although its a distraction for some of the kids so I have to close some of the blinds at times. I love the kids I teach, with the exception of one or two. All of them are really smart and very motivated to learn English.

Things I've learned in Korea this week: bags at the supermarket cost 1,000 won apiece, Americans are around every corner especially military guys, ondol heating (under the floor) causes major mold problems, and cooking is way overrated :)

1 Month In!

We have officially been in Korea 1 month!
The time has really flown by! Passing the 1 month marker makes me feel confident that we can do this! At times, its been tough being in a different country and not speaking the language, but the great friends we've made and the experiences we've had makes up for all that. In the picture above are my co-workers. From the left, Daniel, Raine (from Iowa), Claire (a Korean secretary), Ben (California), Alice (my Korean co-teacher), Lynley (New Zealand), Aemily (my Head Instructor from Korea), Shawn (in the green jacket, Maine), Alex (Boston), and me!


Daniel and I at the "BBQ" place. It's Lynley's Going Away Party! Below, Alex, me and Lynley. Lynley has been here a whole year! She's excited to return home for a while, but she actually has plans to come back to Korea and teach some more. Lynley and Alex were the first people I met here in Dongtan and have been a huge help for me along the way!

As for other news, we got more snow this week! So, for all you back home in Tennessee I hope you're enjoying your sping weather :) Today was just cloudy and rainy, so thats an improvement from freezing and snowing! Daniel and I are heading into Seoul to check out some museums tomorrow. Got to do something indoors in this weather. I plan to take lots of pictures!

The Cool Kids of Training

The picture to the left is of our training group during our first week in Seoul. The only fun part of training was these people! We have, starting on the left, Nick (from Houston), Jarrett (Wisconnsin), Tony (Alaska), Elena (Manchester, England), Angie (Toronto, Canada), me, Andrew (California), and Daniel! Priscilla, from Boston, didn't make the pic for some unfortunate reason. So a total of 9 people were in my group, but over 80 trained in different groups throughout the week.

To the right, is a pic taken from the balcony of the training building. This is northern Seoul area. Not too pretty, but hey you guys are starting to beat down the doors requesting pictures...so there you are ha! I still haven't got my camera out for much...but hope to this weekend. Daniel and I (along with some others from training) are hoping to head to Seoul to check out a few museums. Its still cold here. We actually had a couple inches of snow just last week, so what better time to be inside checking out museum artifacts...yeah, that sounds nerdy lol! Really, I am just ready to get out of Dongtan for a while and see some more of the country!

Eatin' bugs!

Yes, I ate my first bug ever last night! All I can say is. . . disgusting! In most Korean restaurants they serve a bowl of cooked bugs as like a side dish. So, last night Daniel and I ate at this wonderful restaurant. You are presented with tons of uncooked beef and in the middle of the table there is a small charcoal grill. You cook your meat slowly and they serve lots of sides while you are cooking. It's great! Minus the bugs! I just had to try one. . .and I'll never do it again. They look like little termites without the heads. They are kinda crunchy and gooey all at the same time. YUCK! Daniel laughed his head off! Well, at least I can say I've tried bugs. The rest of the meal was fantastic, though! Lots of salad, noodles, veggies and cabbage...cabbage everywhere! They love it here!

Daniel and I also went to see "Alice in Wonderland" at the cinema yesterday. It was great except for the minor elevator flaws (they skip certain floors here, and its always the one you need to go to) and communication errors with the ticket booth. Apparently you get to pick your seat when you purchase the ticket...so since Daniel and I got there right on time all the good seats were sold out. So it felt like we were actually in Wonderland, as close as we were sitting ha!

Ready to start my fourth week here in Korea! By the way, the picture above (left) is of our apartment! The laundry room is through the glass doors. Picture right, the bed, window to the street outside, refrigerator, bathroom door, kitchen entrance, wardrobe, computer desk. . . We're still waiting to get a table from a girl who is leaving to go home and a microwave from my school. It's a work in progress!

To Do. . .

Another week down! Things are starting to run smoother both in and out of my classroom. My kids are starting to understand more of what I say and the directions I give, which makes things infinitely easier! I'm also starting to learn lots of basic Korean words. You can't believe how fast it comes when people are shouting at you all day in it!

So far, no homesickness although I do think about you all back home often!!!! I'm sure its gonna hit me one of these days, but as of now, I'm pretty content here. My co-workers are pretty cool and it makes the walk to/from work more enjoyable. Its about 25 minutes to walk to school or 5 minutes on the bus. There's a total of 6 native English speakers at my school and they are from Boston, New Zealand, Maine, and random other places in the U.S.!

The food is soooo SPICY! I'm hoping I get used to that soon. I've been eating lots of kimchi, ramen, and rice...but a body can't survive on that alone haha! Daniel and I are heading into Suwon today to see a movie and hopefully (cross your fingers) eat at the Outback Steakhouse there...if its not ridiculously expensive :)

Above is a picture of a typical restaurant entree. The meat is served raw and you cook it in using a charcoal grill which is in the middle of the table. Traditional sides are radishes, cabbage salad, bugs, kimchi, etc...


On my "To Do" list these days: get a bike, learn hangul (Korean alphabet), most importantly....get internet! As I write this, sitting at the internet cafe, I'm surrounded by about 100 tiny Koreans playing computer games with the volume on high...ahhh, super annoying!

1 Down, 51 Weeks To Go!

Daniel and I are through our first week working with Chungdahm Learning (CDI)! Its great to be through the initial shock and have a little experience behind us. Week one was intense, but overall a great learning experience. My class schedule is pretty hectic this term. I have full class days on Mon./Wed./Fri. with over 70 students. Tue./Thurs. aren't so bad, with only 5 kids total. Grading and other paperwork is really bogging me down at the moment, but I should get the hang of things in a bit and be able to have lots more free time.

Yesterday, I had a kid to actually correct my southern accent. I said his name, Kyle, and he couldn't understand me! Apparently, there is an "l" in it haha and they laughed their heads off! They're so cute and VERY smart! These kids spend all day at school and then go to hagwons (English schools), taekwondo, etc. after school till 8 or 9pm! They're a little intense, but great to teach.

At the moment, we have no internet at the apartment. We have to wait on our ARC (Alien Registration Cards) to come through before we can get cellphones, internet, etc, so sorry for the lag time. It's allowing Daniel and I to spend more time outdoors "exploring" though. We live 2 minutes away from "central park," which is this huge, fabulous green park in the middle of such a sprawling city! Dongtan is great! Beautiful parks, family friendly, and clean. Our apartment is small, but liveable and we hope to be able to post pics an video soon!

Miss you all!