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.
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