I'm here!

I don't even know where to begin for this post. The past 2 days have been a blur of excitement, exhaustion, and confusion. I am severely jet-lagged and can't really think straight, and there is so much to take in. Right now I'm at my school in the teachers' office (the students stay in one classroom all day and the teachers go room-to-room) "resting" as they told me to do. There isn't much for me to do this week. I am observing teachers, meeting everyone and just getting oriented. Next week I have training with the other (native) English teachers, so I don't actually begin teaching until the week of September 8th. I will post more about my school later; the jet lag is making it difficult to form coherent sentences right now. I will say that I am teaching sophomores, or "1st graders," as they are called since it's their 1st year of high school.

Observations so far:
Koreans are incredibly friendly people. The ones I've met so far are very hospitable and want to help you in any way they can. One of my co-teachers even lent me his cell phone last night so I would have an alarm to wake me up in time for school. I did think that more people would be fluent in English, but many are either too shy to speak it or their English level is very low. I've been completely dependent on Min-jung, one of my co-teachers, for everything. She took me to my apartment last night and got me all set up. (sort of, I still don't have a phone or internet, which I've realized I'm completely dependent upon at home) She also showed me around the school and introduced me to a lot of staff members who were, for the most part, too shy to say anything in English. They are very embarrassed about mispronouncing things.

The students, on the other hand, are not shy at all. I haven't been in a classroom yet, but they keep popping by my desk in the teachers' office to say hello and introduce themselves. They're so cute.

Since their English is limited, sometimes things come out funny. Last night at dinner, Min-jung pointed to the barley rice we were eating, and said that it makes people "fart wind." Then this morning I got picked up by Joong, the chief of the researching department at the school. (Not sure what that is yet) He said, "Can you drink wine?" I wasn't sure what he was asking, so I jokingly said, "Now?" (It was 7:45 am) It turns out he was asking if I like to drink wine, because the teachers often go out for drinks after school. I don't know if it's a welcoming gesture or if they just drink a lot here, but several teachers mentioned wanting to go out and get drinks with me. Hopefully they don't mean tonight because all I want to do is go back to my apartment and sleep tonight.

Speaking of my apartment...I knew it was going to be very small, so I was prepared for that. What I wasn't prepared for is the shower, or lack thereof. What my "shower" consists of is a sprayer attached to the wall above the sink and a drain on the floor. I asked Min-jung how you're supposed to shower and she said you just get water all over the floor. At least I have a normal toilet.

Like I said before I'm completely dependent on Min-jung for everything right now and I feel really helpless. That's really hard to get used to as someone who is usually self-sufficient, but I'm just trying to go with the flow. After school today she's going to show me the bus route to my apartment, so I'm sure I'll get the hang of things soon. In the meantime I'm like a little kid who needs a babysitter.