Getting Into a Routine

I apologize for the lack of new content on the blog. I'm coming up on three weeks in Korea on Tuesday, and I'm already pretty well acclimated. I don't randomly wake up at 3am anymore (because of the time change), and I'm pretty comfortable with getting around to the essential destinations (grocery store, subway station, downtown Seoul).

This past week was interesting in regards to teaching. I taught the same introductory lesson to all 22 of my classes. It was a fun lesson that involved a game and lots of student interaction, but I was happy to be moving on. I decided I would make two different lessons per week. The 7th graders have one (on after-school clubs), and the 8th and 9th graders (giving directions), another. I decided to ask the students to give themselves English names (like when I was Juan in our Spanish Classes growing up). Some of the students came up with some pretty funny names. My favorites were Beyonce, Ohno, Malaria(?), and Obama.

On the social side of things, my co-teachers took me out for my welcome dinner on Wednesday. I was expecting a traditional Korean Restaurant, but was surprised when we went to VIPS (it's like a Korean Applebee's). I guess they thought I missed my homelands food already. We had forks (not chopsticks), $30 steak, and a buffet that even 'The Biggest Loser' couldn't resist (pizza, cheescake, pancakes, oh my). Afterwards we went to a Norabong. "What is a Norabong?" you ask. It's karaoke on a more personal level. You get a private room that looks like a mock living room, and you sing some karaoke. My female, middle-aged co-teachers loved it. Who would have thought...drinking, singing, and dancing on a school night? My one co-teacher, Youngei, was using the fire extinguisher as a prop by the end of the night (acting like it was a video camera and filming us singing). Definitely a fun bonding experience. I liked the Norabong enough to go with some other Americans on Friday. I've got the singing fever!

I've met many other teachers through mutual friends. A group of teachers I went out with Saturday in Seoul I met through various college and high school friends. It helps when many teachers here went to Madison (about an hour from good old smelly Milwaukee). So plenty of Minnesotans and Sconnies. On Saturday we explored a few neighborhoods in Seoul. We ended up in Itaewon later in the evening. The Itaewon District of Seoul is infamous for being the foreigner ghetto. There's a huge U.S. Military base nearby, and it has influenced the area greatly. I felt like I was back in the U.S. when I walked down the street. Everything is in English, and they even have a Taco Bell 'coming soon' (a scarce thing to find in the East). All in all, a good weekend. I'm exhausted now as I prepare for the week of work ahead. I'll begin teaching after school classes this week (Monday my intermediate class and Friday my Advanced class). I'll get paid well for that, and I'm excited to have a group of highly motivated students put together in one class. More later this week. Thanks for tuning in.

Top picture: One of the many interesting stops we made in the Itaewon neighborhood of Seoul...a Russian Night Club
Bottom picture: A view of my hood. This busy street is where most of the shops and restaurants are

Teaching: Lesson 1

Over a week since I first arrived, and I finally got some time in the classroom. My health report came back alright, and my school decided it was time to throw me out to the wolves that are my students. My introduction lesson involved a game and candy, which my students didn't seem to have a hard time enjoying. My first class was a group of 9th graders, and it went extremely well. My next class, 7th graders, was a nightmare. They comprehend similar amounts of English to the 9th graders, but have much more energy and a much shorter attention span. My co-teacher actually took a few students aside and gave them a tongue lashing. After class they stayed behind and cleaned the room. When they finished, they formally apologized to me and bowed. That's respect, baby. I took the ringleader aside after class and just about wanted to smack him. He made me realize what a bastard I must have been for my teachers, growing up.

Walking down my street, I randomly ran into another foreigner. Tom happens to be from Canada, and has been in Korea for 10 years. He did not mind showing me around, and networked me to a few of his Korean friends, Mr. Yoon and Mr. Kim. Mr. Yoon works as a private school English tutor and likes to drink. Mr. Kim is the owner of our neighborhood sushi restaurant, and allowed me to gorge on as much sushi that I could eat.

The 'English Lab' is split into two different classrooms. The one with desks and monitors is the classroom I've been using for teaching. I haven't used the 'Reading Room'yet,(the one with progressive circular windows).

First Weekend in Retrospect

It's Sunday evening now, and The Bourne Ultimatum is on TV (the first decent program yet). It's pretty remarkable I can get western tv channels in my apartment. Unfortunately I'm not allowed to sign up for internet yet, as I still lack many basic rights without my Alien Registration Card (ARC). On the plus side, I'll be getting the ARC this week and my neighbors wi-fi is as strong as ever. On Friday night I went to the neighboring city with a teacher I met at a workshop earlier this week, and had a fun time picking all the veteran teachers' brain's for knowledge. There was plenty to be had.
Saturday I successfully traveled by the Seoul Subway system to another neighboring city named Ansan (I'm not really sure where cities start and end here, they just seem to continue on forever). There, I joined my next door neighbor from childhood, Chris Kamrath, who is here on his second year. His friends were all very accommodating. It's the time of year when there are many teachers coming and going, and Chris' friend was leaving in a week. To celebrate, his friend organized a very well put together bike tour around the city, complete with checkpoints, challenges (usually involving drink), and fun. Imagine seeing 30 Asians bike through your neighborhood (it probably was much weirder for the Koreans seeing all of us). All in all, good exercise and a good opportunity to meet new people from all over the area. I did some shopping this afternoon at Home Plus, which is basically a Target/Macy's combined with a grocery store. It's a scary place for a white man to be on a weekend. Very busy, even considering the high density of the population in my province.

Below is a video of the apartment. Sorry for the poor quality, I had to compress the file to be able to upload it.

First Impressions

The first several hours I've been in Korea have been stimulating to say the least. Our plane arrived in a snowstorm, and it took about 1 1/2 hours to get to my school. I was met by a few of my co-teachers. They in turn took me to my apartment, where I dropped off my plethora of luggage. The apartment itself is actually quite nice for one person. I've got my very own kitchen, bathroom, office, and large living room/bedroom. Plus I'm able to steal wi-fi off of the neighbors! I didn't have much time to get settled in, as my co-teachers insisted we go out for a bite to eat. I was the only one who ate, but it was something familiar; a ham and cheese sandwich. I also am fortunate to have a Dunkin' Donuts, Baskin Robbins, and McDonald's close by. Such immersion. My exhaustion soon gave in, and we left for a convenience store so I had supplies to survive the night (bottled water, toilet paper, coffee). I later found out the teacher before me left a years supply of TP at the apartment.
(Above Picture) The Incheon Bridge was completed Oct. 2009, connecting the island airport to the mainland. It's over 13 miles long and cost over 1 billion dollars to construct. Cool!

It's been on the go ever since I landed. I slept for about 6 hours, and then got in my suit and tie to go to school this morning. I was introduced to many different teachers (I don't think I remember any of their names). I was not on my guard when I walked the halls during passing time when a mob of kids surrounded me (I'm talking like 100 screaming 14 year olds). Some gave me high fives, others yelled various greetings, but most looked at me slack-jawed as if I was Godzilla himself. Frankly, I'm a little terrified to walk out there again. I'll be at a workshop with other English Teachers this afternoon, and will slowly throughout the next few weeks acclimate myself to my surroundings. Much more to come.