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.

안녕히 계세요!

*Annyonghi kyesayo = Goodbye (to person staying)

The latest question people have been asking me about Korea is how long the flight is. Well, I didn't actually know until this morning at 4 am, two days before my departure date, when I finally received my e-ticket/flight itinerary from SMOE. (Just a little unnerving) Other than the minor detail of a plane ticket, I've been pretty much set to go. I have two giant suitcases in my room packed with clothes, shoes and toiletries. Everything else I hope to buy there or have my parents send. (Love you, Mom!)

I'm not really nervous anymore; I kind of just want to be there already. Yesterday I went to North to drop off some materials for other teachers and I ran into our three AP's. (That's Assistant Principals for my non-educator readers) They were like, aren't you supposed to be in Asia or something?

Almost. On Saturday morning I fly to Chicago, where I have a 3 1/2 hour layover, and then I have an almost 14 hour flight to the Incheon Airport in South Korea. From there, I am being picked up by a representative from SMOE who will take me to a training center for a weeklong orientation in Seoul. After that, I have no idea. I don't actually know where in Seoul I'll be living or teaching, or if they will honor my age request (junior high), etc.

Scary, but exciting at the same time. And if there is anything I've learned after two years of teaching high school, it's to be flexible and deal with whatever is thrown at me. (Literally, sometimes, as I've had both a water bottle and a paper airplane thrown at me) I've also dealt with nearly every travel disaster imaginable, (lost/stolen passports, sleeping at airports and train stations in Europe, etc..) so I think I'll be okay.

Either way, you can read all about it in my next post, which will actually be from Korea!

Annyonghi kyesayo until then :)

I just got back from an 8 day trip to New York and Washington DC to say goodbye to some friends out there and see the sights. More than anything, it made me realize that I am ready for my year (or more?) abroad.

One of my favorite parts of the trip was visiting Korea town in New York and trying Korean food for the first time. I've spent the last 6 months researching all things Korean, and the food was something I was a little nervous about. The traditional Korean dish, kimchi, is fermented cabbage usually, which sounded less than appetizing. I am happy to report that kimchi is delicious; as was everything else I tried. All the side dishes they brought us were soaked in something spicy and delicious, and the entree I ordered (the name escapes me) was a rice concoction with chicken, vegetables, and an amazing hot sauce that you added to your liking. It was fantastic and I can’t wait to try more.

The trip also made me realize that I will have no trouble meeting people to hang out and travel with when I’m there. I already have a few connections in Korea and made two more on this trip. One of my friends in New York is an actress who spent the last year on the Asian tour of 42nd Street. She is actually the one who talked me into Seoul in the first place, because she said it was a lot like New York. She has a friend who is a U.S. soldier stationed in Seoul, and he told her I could call him as soon as I get there and he would show me around. I’ve been told it’s handy to have military friends there because they have American products on the base that aren’t accessible to the general population. Anne (the actress) said if I was ever craving American snacks or something, he could hook me up. So that’s comforting to know. I've read that Korea doesn't have good cheese or chocolate, which are two staples of my diet, and I'm sure there are other random things I will crave once I'm there.

I was also telling Anne that I was worried about staying in touch with friends and family while I was abroad, (especially if I decide to stay another year) and she reminded me that I hadn't seen her for a year and a half, and here we were at a restaurant in New York picking back up where we left off. I realized that she was absolutely right. I have friends all over the country, and even if I don't see them for a while, it doesn't mean they are lost forever. I don't know why I worry so much about that.

In Washington DC, I stayed with my friend Caroline who works for an international non-profit called Freedom House. She is a former Peace Corps volunteer who has always been interested in international affairs, and she has been telling me I should go abroad for the past three years. We hung out with one of her co-workers who is planning to teach in Thailand this year, and she and I agreed to visit each other. Thailand was one of the countries I was considering teaching in, and it's definitely on my list of places to visit in Asia, so I'm thrilled to have a contact there.

Similarly, today on Facebook, I talked to a guy from high school who has lived in Osaka, Japan for the past six years. Not only did he give me lots of great advice about what to pack, he said to come visit him in Osaka, and he’d take me to all the best clubs in Tokyo. It just amazes me that there is no shortage of connections in this world if you seek them out. I already have a handful of people to show me around Seoul and to visit in nearby countries. At one point, I was afraid I’d made the wrong decision by leaving my job, family, and friends behind, but the last eight days have shown me that so far, this is one of the best decisions I’ve ever made. The next year will be full of new experiences and people, and I can’t wait.

12 days!

Seoul one of the “World’s most expensive cities”

One of the reasons that I picked South Korea for teaching abroad was that I would be able to save money. (My apartment and plane ticket are paid for) It turns out that might be a little harder than I thought. On my MSN news feed today I clicked on a story about the “World’s Most Expensive Cities” from Forbes.com. Much to my dismay, Seoul, South Korea, is number 5 on the list. U.S. cities New York and Los Angeles fell in the rankings due to the declining value of the dollar. (They are #22 and #55 on the list)

The survey “measures the relative cost of more than 200 items in each place, including housing, transport, food, clothing, household goods and entertainment. The survey is used to help American government agencies and multinational companies determine living costs for their expatriate employees, who usually demand a relatively high quality of life.”

I guess I need to learn more about this concept called “frugality” my mom’s always talking about. :)

People have been asking lately if I'm nervous/excited/etc. and the answer is yes. Once the countdown reached 30 days, I started to freak out a little bit. I've had plenty of things to distract me this summer: summer school, grad school, wedding planning (for my sister). I'm not really worried about being in Korea, I just hate saying goodbye and thinking that I'm missing out on what's going on back home. But I think that a year will fly by and when I come home it will be like I never left. That's what I'm hoping anyway...

Speaking of flying by, the next 24 days are going to do just that. I'm going to New York in 4 days to meet up with some friends from high school, then to DC for a few days to stay with a friend from college. When I get back, I will have 2 weeks left before I leave the country. It's such a weird feeling.

One thing that I will not be missing is the end of July/early August panic attack. Right now my teacher friends are mourning the end of summer and starting to plan for the coming year. This time last year I started to get teaching nightmares (i.e. showing up on the first day a half hour late, in the wrong classroom, with no lesson plan, etc.) Maybe I should be panicking about teaching over there, but I'm not...yet.

This blog was intended to document Korea happenings, but I thought I'd update it for my 3 or 4 avid readers.

After the last post, one of my former sophomores sent me a message saying he was surprised how busy teachers were in the summer. If there are people out there who think we sit around and stare at the walls all summer, I'm glad I can help dispel that myth. My schedule is not out of the ordinary for a teacher. I went to a barbeque with a bunch of teachers a few weeks ago, and none of them are sitting around bored. Most have housing projects, some are road-tripping, others are nannying or working other part time jobs, going to grad school, watching their kids, etc. Also, at summer school I've run into teachers who are organizing their classroom, prepping for next year, or working sports camps. But even if we did sit around and stare at the walls, we certainly deserve it. May (and the first week of June) was an incredibly chaotic month for me; I collected 3 sets of essays from my 130 sophomores, organized a field trip where we brought 160 students to the Guthrie, and helped organize the Mock Crash during Prom Week. When my non-teacher friends get jealous of my summers off, I ask them if they would trade places with me for the other 9 months of the year, and most say "no thanks."

Okay, I didn't mean for this post to be a teaching rant, but again, I make a point in life to dispel the myth that teaching is an easy job with cush hours and lots of vacation. I'm done now. On to Seattle...

Seattle was really fun, but for some reason I thought it was going to be warm and sunny and I packed as such. (It is June after all) I stepped off the plane to freezing cold, damp weather and grey skies. I guess I should have anticpated this, but I figured it would be at least as warm as Minneosta. My cousin, who has lived there for 8 years now, said it's been unusually cold for June, but otherwise the weather was pretty typical of Seattle. Everyone knows it's rainy in Seattle, but I guess I had to see it to believe it. I was contemplating moving there for awhile after returning from Korea, and while it's a cool city with lots of art, music, & outdoor sports appeal, I wasn't a fan of the weather. Maybe I'll stick to the So Cal plan. A friend of mine also told me that Denver has 300 days of sunshine a year. I think I'll look into that as well. Although I've lived in Minneosta since I was 13, (and from age 0-4) I despise cold and vow every January to move somewhere warm.

In other news, my younger sister got engaged last Saturday. She and her fiance are planning to wed in October or November of 2009. I've known it was coming for a while, and her fiance is practically a member of the family already, (he actually gets an Easter basket) but it's still a little weird. Like one of my mom's daycare kids pointed out yesterday, "she's getting married BEFORE you!" Gotta love kids and their frankness. I just told her that I wanted to travel the world first.

The pictures above are from Seattle and the Jack Johnson concert my other sister and I went to on Sunday. We are huge fans and were not disappointed. I also really dug Mason Jennings, who opened for him. I play two of his songs ("Fighter Girl" and "I love you and Buddha too") repeatedly on iTunes. I have a tendency to fixate on one or two songs and listen to them relentlessly. (My roommates in college just loved that) Anyway if you're into mellow alternative music, you should check him out. He's probably more appropriately categorized as a folk artist, (his voice is a little Bob Dylan-esque) but iTunes says Alternative, and iTunes knows all.

P.S. The last day and a half I was in Seattle it was clear and sunny, and that's when I took most of my pictures. I might have been exaggerating a little about it being "freezing." I just wasn't dressed appropriately...and I hate cold.

Summer "break"

I have decided to go with the public school job. I didn’t want to flake out and come home after 6 months, and a year and a half seemed like too much to commit to right now, so the year-long contract was the deciding factor. I still think the vacation days the private school was offering would have been really nice for all the traveling I want to do. I’ll just have to do a lot of weekend trips.

This is my first week of summer break, but it hasn’t really been much of a break yet. I spent two days cleaning out my classroom, which still isn’t clean, I’ve been running around getting all my documents for Korea in order, and the online course at UST I signed up for began this week. Tomorrow morning I’m flying to Seattle for the weekend to visit my cousin and two friends from high school who recently moved out there. Then I fly back on Monday, and start teaching summer school the next day. I probably should have given myself more downtime, but I think it’s better than last summer when I spent one too many afternoons sitting in my apartment watching “America’s Next Top Model” marathons on T.V. ☺

I already know that the next two months are going to fly by, and before I know it, I’ll be leaving for Korea. I’m not quite ready yet. I did meet with a gal on Tuesday who has been teaching over there for the past year who gave me lots of great advice and a list of places to find necessities in Seoul, so that was really helpful. But I think no matter how many people I talk to or books I read or how much research I do, I’m not going to feel “ready” when the time comes. I’ve just got to deal with it.

Placement?

I have a big decision to make in the next few days. I got offered two positions; one with Seoul Public Schools and another with a private English immersion school. The public school job would last a year, and I'd most likely be placed with junior high or high school students. (They don't actually give you your placement until you arrive for orientation) The private school job would involve teaching 1st graders in all subjects for 6 months, with the option to renew my contract after 6 months and probably switch to older students. The private school offers 4 weeks of paid vacation in that first 6 months, whereas the public schools offer 22 days paid vacation for the entire year. The pay is pretty comparable, so it really comes down to the age range.

I originally was hoping to teach older students, because that's the age I plan to teach when I move back to the states, but who knows, maybe I'll love 1st graders. If I don't, I can always renegotiate my contract after 6 months. The 4 weeks of paid vacation is also very enticing...

I really don't know at this point. I'm working with two recruiters; one who is a big advocate for private schools and the other who thinks the public schools would be a better fit for me. It's hard to know who to believe.

In any case, I have to make the decision this week, so I'll keep everyone posted.