Home sweet home

The past two days have been pretty overwhelming. But, aside from a few tears, a couple "What the hell am I doing here's?" and some lost in translations, I'm doing well. I arrived in Daejeon by bus on Friday. I was picked up by my co-teacher and two other administrators from the school I will be teaching at. They immediately drove me to the local immigration office to apply for my alien registration card, then brought me to my apartment where one frantically tried to set up my internet while another started scrubbing out my refrigerator with toilet paper. I just stood there in my socks in the middle of the yellow linoleum floor wondering how in the world I had gotten to this place. If it weren't for a few key things, I may have had a meltdown later when I was left alone for my first night in my little yellow shoe-box.

1) An english teacher had lived in the apartment before me and left some handy things. (Teaching books, a hairdryer that fits the socket here, a pot and utensils, and some cleaning supplies). It was nothing I couldn't buy later on my own but when my co-teacher and crew whisked me away to Home Plus superstore 15 minutes after first entering my new apartment and asked me what I needed, I was way to shocked and overwhelmed to even begin thinking about what I needed. What do I need? Howbout my mom to come over and unpack all my stuff and set it all up for me and then take me to Big Lots.

2) They got the internet working for me! It isn't wireless and the browser keeps coming up in all Korean even though I checked the box to " Always translate this page" but with no cell phone and no idea where I was in relation to... well, anything, internet access was (and still is) heaven. At orientation they had warned us that we wouldn't have internet for a few weeks so I am one of the lucky ones.

3) I am one of the lucky ones. My co-teacher has done way more than required and expected to make sure I have everything I need. After Home Plus my co-teacher and one of the other men (I'm still unsure of who he actually is- his business card said school general manager) took me to dinner, bought me some pastries to eat for breakfast, and got me a huge jug of water (no one drinks tap water here even though I think it would be fine). The next morning my co-teacher met me at my house, showed me the way to school, took me to the supermarket, showed me the subway system, and took me to lunch. Her English vocabulary is very good, but her conversation is not quite fluent. This, and the fact that the two of us seem to share the same reservation in new company, made for some awkward silences, which have since become less and less. Today she met me again so that I could show her the way to school without her leading me (she keeps testing me about where I live and what subway station I'm near, etc, etc). We talked almost the whole way. Then I took her to lunch! Rather than splitting bills here, Koreans take turns treating. And, it's typical to order 2-3 things between 2 people and share them. So, we shared a pizza and some seafood pasta. It's hard not to feel like friends after eating from the same dish.

So, while I still have so many questions and no idea what to expect come Tuesday when I start teaching, I am so grateful my co-teacher turned out to be nice and generous and truly interested in helping me. Since I first decided to come to Korea, people have been telling me I am brave, but it has definitely meant the most coming from my co-teacher.

sah rang he, Korea!

Tonight was the last day of orientation. That means tomorrow I'll be meeting my co-teachers and moving into my apartment! They have done an excellent job of getting me excited, from lectures about teaching English and understanding Korean culture to music and other performances by really talented kids. (Unfortunately I forgot to bring my camera to tonight's dinner/talent show, but I will try to snatch someone's video of the high school boy's folk drumming- it was absolutely incredible and will make you gasp to compare these kids with teenagers back home). I am falling in love with the country and the job before I've even started working. You might be thinking, "Well, sure Hayley, they dragged you around the world to teach their kids and aid them in their humble mission to conquer the world. Of course they are going to impress you with their Tae Kwon Do performances, fancy guest speakers, and full buffet dinners before dumping you at your school's doorstep." But, if I've learned anything about Korea this week, it's that community and relationships are the means and the end. Sharing food, drink, and talent is the Korean way of life.

That being said, the success of my entire year rests on the relationship I establish with my co-teacher(s). Epik has made it clear that this is by no means an easy process and warned us that not all co-teachers (who are Korean English teachers) want to work with a Native English teacher, not all of them speak English, and not all of them will even show up to class let alone help you plan a lesson. I'm hoping it's one of those, hope for the best, expect the worst type of deals.

My fate is revealed

I finally found out where and who I will be teaching for the next year. Although I had listed High School as my preference on my application form, I wasn't expecting anything after being placed in my 5th choice of city. Not that I am bummed about being placed in Daejeon. There is no beach but I am told it is a very beautiful city and a prime location at the hub of the Korean peninsula's transportation system. Which means, weekends in Busan and Seoul! So, I was neither disappointed nor surprised when I received my assignment for middle school. Middle schools actually. Since my school is small (around 300 students) I will be the native English teacher at two. For this I will receive a bonus of 100,000 won each month. Here's the kicker: they're all girls middle schools. Of this I have no thoughts yet but it is something I wasn't expecting.

On another note, I learned the Korean version of "Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes" today, as well as my new favorite word in Korean: ji na da. It means thick. Not exactly the most useful word to know, but it's easy to say and reminds me of Spanish.

Field trip

They took my temperature again today. Apparently when I arrived (the first thing they did was stick a thermometer in our ears) I was .5 degrees over the average and so they will continue to test me until it goes down. It hasn't so far so and I'm not sure what they will do when it doesn't. Ironically, I am still quite freezing here.

Yesterday was the Epik Orientation field trip. Part one was the Korean Folk Village. The most interesting part was definately the 65+ man on the tightrope. Next stop was a ceramic center in Icheon. After moseying around for a couple hours we got to paint out own ceramic coffee cups. I painted flowers on mine. Creative, I know. We finished the day with a banquet at a restaurant. Besides ceramics, Icheon is famous for it's rice and we were lucky enough to taste the best rice in the world. To the untrained palate, however, the only thing I noticed different was a big gray bean hidden in the pot. The dongdong ju (rice wine) far surpassed the rice in popularity within our crowd.

It was a nice day but I look back at my pictures and they're sad because they're either empty of people or have only me in them. The waegook in Korea who feels like she's back in 9th grade and just wishing she had some friends.

Epik medical exams

Today we had our medical exams. They were fairly intense, especially with the threat of being sent home immediately (without your entry allowance!) if they deem you unfit to work in Korea. Aside from the basic eye exam and blood pressure test (both of which I passed with flying colors!), we had to give a vile of blood and a dixie cup of pee. The sample of pee was promptly poured into a second vile by a lovely Korean woman with bare hands who dipped in a narcotics test strip, scribbled some numbers on a form, and handed us back the cup. Next we were asked about our health history (no, I have never had angina, no I don't wheeze when I exercise...) and then led to a bus with an x-ray machine inside. Who knew all that mumbo jumbo of strapping on a lead vest, and pushing a button from the next room was unnecessary detail? At any rate, it's clear they take health pretty seriously here. I've seen quite a few Koreans from all age groups sporting surgical masks on the street. A teenager back home wouldn't be caught dead in a surgical mask swine flu or no. Back home people think that those masks are either for paranoid hypochondriacs or people with immune deficiencies. Actually, you're supposed to wear them if you are sick to protect those around you from your germs. How nice Koreans look out for each other that way. People on BART could really take a page out of their book. Then again, these are the same Koreans that share soup from the same bowl and straws from the same glass (or so I'm told). But I'm learning quickly that in Korea, good intentions and efforts to show respect for others always supersede logic.

First day in Korea

I'm finally here in Korea at the EPIK Orientation. I keep going back and forth from being excited about where I am and pleased with my decision to do this to feeling completely insane. I landed last night at Inch'on International Airport. Landings are always my favorite part of flying. When you're going somewhere you've never been it's like descending on a different planet. The hills and valleys, the patterns of roads, the clusters of buildings... everywhere so similar but so foreign at the same time. And then when you come back from a trip, nothing compares to that feeling of relief and familiarity when you touch down back at home. I've got 12 months to look forward to that! Actually, if I'm lucky enough to squeeze a trip or two to Japan or China into my year, maybe I'll get that feeling when I land back in Korea. Boy does that seem far-fetched right now. From the airport I took a bus with other EPIK teachers to Eulji University where I am staying for the next ten days before I move to Daejeon. It seems many of the other new teachers either came with someone they know or latched on to the first person they met and are pretending to be best buddies already. I generally find these orientation things a bit awkward but I'm sure I'll have some friends by the end of it if not going to my city then at least for travelling later. Food has been great so far! Much better than in Spain. Who'd have thought? Well, I have a week and a half of being herded around in a pack from health exams to teaching English 101 and survival Korean. We're required to wear our EPIK sweatshirts on our Seoul expedition this Sunday. I might have to break the rules. Oh yeah, and speaking of breaking the rules, no shoes are allowed in the dorm rooms. They kindly provided us with nifty slippers (the likes of which you would find on a porch beneath a pair of hanging underpants in San Francisco), but I'm still having trouble following this one.