So I decided to start a blog for everyone who wants to know what it is like to live and work in a foreign country. Can't say how regularly I will update this but I will try. So how would I describe this experiences so far. In one word, INTERESTING!!! I love it here in Seoul. I have only been here about three days so far but my experience has been a great one.
The flight here to Seoul takes about 14 hours. Luckily, the flight wasn't too crowded and it was a smooth flight. An interesting note though, to fly to Korea you fly north to the Artic then over the sea to Russia. Then you fly south through Russia, China and then down into Korea. The temperture in the air was -80 degrees. The plane was just a bit chilly.
After I got here, I met with the driver who spoke no English. He was a nice man who seemed to want to talk with me but we just lacked the communication. That was a very strange feeling not being able to talk to someone. But we drove the hour trip into Seoul. Where I am staying is the very, very northern tip of Seoul. We are almost out of Seoul actually. The lanscape here actually reminds me of Tennesse a bit. Its very hilly and beautiful. There are some georgeous mountains that I can see from my house. I told my mom that its a lot like Tennesse except with out the rednecks. (Sorry, all my friends from TN. Just couldn't help that one :-) )
The city is very modern, lots of skyscapers everywhere. Its kind of a cross between the modern world and the old world. There are lots of restaurants and shops along with open air markets. There are mom and pop shops next to Burger King and Starbucks. Its a very lively place and lots of people walk everywhere. The neighborhood where I live reminds me a lot of an old neighborhood in New York City. Its has that feel to it. I live in an apartment just a few blocks from where I am teaching at English Friends Academy. My next door neighbors are Jenny and Robert Black. They are fellow Americans and teachers where I work. They have been very kind in showing me around and helping me get the hang of stuff.
The school where I teach is a Kindergarten/Hogwan. In the morning, I teach Kindergarten classes. The kids range from 5-7 years old, Korean ages which is like 4-6 in our ages. They count the time in the womb as living so when a baby is born they are 1 years old. I teach a variety of classes such as story, conversation, picture dictionary (aka vocab), and phone English (how to understand English when talking on the telephone which can be very different than talking to someone in person. In the afternoon, I teach the "hogwan" which literally means classes. In Korea, there are hogwans for everything like swimming, piano or sports. Parents send their kids to these afterschool classes. I teach in the English hogwan. I teach a variety of subjects to different level classes,
At lunch, we eat with the kids. I love Korean food. I had never tried it till I got here. Its very, very spicy. They eat lots of rice, seaweed, and seafood (like squid). Before you get all grossed out, its actually very good. Seaweed is usually dried and salted so its like eating a very thin salty cracker of sorts. They also eat kimchi which is a spicy cabbage in a sauce. Its very very hot!!! I mean like burn your mouth, make your nose water hot. It reminds me of a spicy coleslaw. The Koreans also love pork. Lots of their restuarants they have low tables with a burner in the middle. You fried your food on the burner at the table. Also, when you sit on the ground to eat usually. The tables are very low and you sit indian style. You also have to take off your shoes when you enter a restuarant (or many places like a home).
The people here are very nice, polite and helpful. They don't overtly stare at you because you are a foreigner but you do kinda feel them looking at you. The Korean word for foreigner is "Way-gook-en". You do here that a lot when you pass by. Where we live there are not a lot of foreigners. Though in Seoul, there a lot of ex-pats (Americans living abroad) here. I really stand out here because of my dark skin and hair. This is the first country where I stand out so much because of my looks. Its kinds of funny/weird at times but I am starting to get used to it. You can talk with people here. Most people speak at least a little Engligh. English is very big here.
There are so many things to talk about but for now I will leave off. I will try to post pics both here and on my facebook so check them out. Until then, 안녕 (goodbye) from Korea!
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