(Finally) Getting Some Answers in Korea!
Today is officially day three in Korea, but it feels like much more. Is it because Michael and I landed at 12:20am and had to sit in the airport on a wooden bench until 10am, where we then took a 2.5-hour bus ride to our provincial office of education for a one-hour meeting, and then headed off with our co-teachers for another 40-minute drive to our new city, were shown our apartments and given about two hours to unpack before dinner and shopping until 9pm? Absolutely! Yesterday and today have been almost as busy, but we've actually gotten some rest. And some ANSWERS.
Anyone that has talked to me in the last several weeks about my upcoming move to South Korea has asked me: What city are you moving to? Where will you be living? Will you and Michael be separated? What age group are you teaching? How far is your school from where you will be living? All of which I had to answer with a fat "I DON'T KNOW." Which then would prompt comments of how brave I was, etc. etc. etc. Now, to be clear, I didn't like the fact that I was going in blindly any more than you liked hearing it. Probably less. BUT all I could do was go with the flow and hope for the best. No matter what the outcome, this was something that I was dead set on doing, so I was going to do it. And I got extremely lucky.
SO Michael and I both ended up in a rural city called Boryeong, which is located in the Chungnam province. To get here, we drove from Seoul Incheon airport, through fields and mountains and general nothingness for about 2.5 hours. The only bit of information that I had going into this was that Michael and I would both be placed in Chungnam, but not necessarily in the same city. If placed on either end of the province, we could have been looking at about a 2.5-hour distance. Luckily, we were not separated. In fact, we ended up getting apartments in the same building! I am teaching first through sixth grade in three different schools. Mondays at one, Tuesdays at another, and Wednesday-Friday at my main school. I have not visited the Monday/Tuesday schools, but my Wednesday-Friday school is about 15 minutes from my apartment by car, so I will need to take the bus. (My co-teacher has been picking me up for the first week.) Michael will be working a similar schedule, also at three schools.
The majority of our time so far has consisted of running about with our co-teachers getting necessary things done (opening bank accounts, registering for Korean IDs, medical checks, etc.) We spent the first two class periods at school both today and yesterday, before leaving to take care of business. I had a welcome "ceremony" first thing yesterday to meet the students and staff of my main school. There are 17 staff members and 42 students, with some grades consisting of as little as two students, and others with as many as 10. The students were excited and interested as soon as they saw me, being sure to yell "hi," grab a high-five, or poke me. I was introduced by the Vice Principal, before she handed the microphone over to me to introduce myself. I then opened up the room to questions from the students, where they asked me everything from how tall I am, how I got so tall, if I have a girlfriend, and... what my blood type is. And this, of course, was sandwiched between numerous people (students, staff, the principal) telling me how handsome I am. (*blushing*)
My co-teacher, Mr. Lee, myself, and my Vice Principal
Just Korea Things (The Shoes)
I'll end by telling you that my co-teacher made me take off my shoes in my own apartment because I'd get dirt in my living area. I also have to take off my shoes as soon as I get into my school's entryway and put on slippers. Some restaurants where you sit on the floor also make you leave your shoes at the door, as does a gym that I visited the other day.