Tuesday, August 30, 2011

Korea - August 31, 2011

Hello everyone!

I intend to keep all of you updated on my travels and adventures and whatever else I'm doing in Korea. For those of you who don't know, I moved to Korea on the 29th of August, 2011, to work at ECC School in Jeon Ju, South Korea. This school runs all year around and is an "extra-curricular" school for Korean children to learn English.

Let me start with the plane ride. It was my first time flying (surprise!), and for my first time, it was pretty smooth. The night before my flight my dad, Zach (younger brother) and I went to the Pearson Airport in Toronto to check it out and figure out basically exactly what I needed to do. Early on Sunday morning we went to the airport. I checked in my luggage, had my money exchanged to Korean Won, boarded the plane, and flew here. It was a very long flight (13 hrs), and when we had 3 hrs left, I was itching to get off of the plane and see this wonderful place called Korea.

After getting of the plane at Incheon, I got my luggage, and hung around the airport for a bit until I went to the information kiosk and asked for help to get a limousine bus to Jeon Ju. We went through Seoul, Gimbo, Daejon, Iksan. The bus made a stop but I didn't know which city. The bus driver had no idea about English so I didn't even bother asking him how long the stop would last; I was also too chicken to just ask a Korean if they knew English so that I could find out when the bus left again. So I just got off, hung around and felt the air for the first time in a long time, and got back on when the bus driver came back. We made a short stop at Iksan before heading to Jeon Ju. This was basically at a gas station/mechanic shop. I got off the bus, and this old man directed me straight to the bathroom in Korean. I found it, and when I came out after going, the bus was just about to leave. It's a good thing that the stop light to get back onto the road lasted about 5 minutes.



Oh, and I should mention. I think many of you know the saying, "shit a brick." You know, like, "I got so scared I almost shit a brick." Well, this bus driver was nuts. He commanded the road, but when he swung around a corned, my eyes opened and I almost shit a brick. It was ridiculous. Fast driving, lane changing all the time. Not to mention the fact that while driving fast on a superhighway AND following other cars within inches, this bus was HUGE and it was not an automatic. On kind of the same note, nearly everything I see is Hyundai, KIA, Daewoo, Mercedes, Toyota, and BMW.



After the bus ride, I got off the bus close the the Core Hotel in Jeon Ju. I couldn't even see the hotel because we were parked about a block away from it, but I knew it was the end of the ride because everyone got off and I (thankfully) saw Kelsey Hunter waiting with the ESL school manager to pick me up. They brought me to my apartment (check out the pictures if you haven't already). The apartment is pretty nice. My mattress is incredibly hard, but yet I was still able to sleep like a baby last night because I was incredibly exhausted. I think I'm starting to feel the effects of jet lag, but since I have no idea what jet lag is supposed to feel like, I'm not even sure that it's jet lag. Meh. I got through today pretty well.



Last night my future roommate (Kaylene Kramer, with whom I work 7 years ago in Chatham doing corn detassling) came and picked me up from my apartment. We went down the street to the main street by the apartment. A main street in Jeon Ju is eight lanes wide. Mopeds do as they please. Taxis pretty much do the same thing. Traffic is insane. So crossing this thing felt like crossing the Jordan. Seriously, it's crazy. If you think Toronto drivers are crazy (and suck at driving; no offense to those of you who live in Toronto), you have nothing on Koreans. I'm not even kidding. Anyway, we walked down to the Mcdonald's about 15 minutes down the street. I got some decent food for the first time in a while - a McChicken combo. Then we went about a 1/2 hr down the other way to E-mart (they call it E-martah) were I bought my first thing in Korea - an alarm clock. Yes, I brought mine from home. Yes, I plugged in the adapter into the wall. Yes, I then plugged in my alarm clock into the adapter and it worked. Yes, I came back and the bloody thing was fried. So now I have a nice new one with the Korean plug on the end. And it goes "beeep beeep beeep" instead of the traditional "RANH RANH RANH RANH." Blasted noise.

I woke up this morning at 8:15am (it's 1:25am, August 31, 2011 as I write this. It 12:30pm, August 30, 2011 for you). Showered for the first time in what seemed like a week...which is pretty close to reality but not that long. It was a nice wake up. I actually woke up about 15 minutes before my 8:15am alarm, and the was because of the birds and such - the city was started to move. The rear window picture from my apartment has a bit of forest in it; if you were to look straight out, you would see a bit of forest. I swear I heard monkeys. I asked Kelsey (a former Redeemerite) if there were any monkeys around here or in that forest, and she said she didn't think so. But I swear I heard monkeys. But boy, it was a beautiful sleep.



While in my payamas I showed Kelsey what I had chosen to wear. There was some disparity between what I was told I should be wearing and what I actually have to wear. I'm not pointing and fingers (*cough Jordan couch*), but Kelsey said that my dress shirt, dress pants, dress shoes, and tie was too formal. So I didn't wear the tie and unbuttoned the top couple buttons so it was a little more casual. But it was still good because Koreans are big on first impressions. And off to the school we went.

School started at 10am and we were there for 9:30. Before the bell wrang I had to go into the play room where all of the kids were; the youngest group, 4-6 is in the morning and has a few blocks in the afternoon. There I had to introduce myself to all of the kids. Talk about not knowing what to say to a group of kids in which many speak very few words of English. I observed 6 classes throughout the day. Four of these classes were with the young ones, and 2 were with the elementary-aged kids (9-10). They spoke much more English and their comprehension is much better. After observing these classes and getting a lot of advice from a veteran teacher of 5 years, I felt like I would be most comfortable teaching at that level. I don't know what classes I'll have (I start teaching next week), but I do know that I'm taking over the Kitty class, which is like 3-4 year olds. They don't know very many words and speak a lot of Korean (which could help me learn it); they also like to run around a lot. They like to do what they please a lot of the time, but a lot of it is just trying to ask them questions in order to receive an answer in English. This also means that English loses its rules, including word order, e.g., "Johnny, clean up Johnny book please." It'll be interesting. I can't wait to find a groove.



In terms of culture, this place is amazing. I love the land. People stare at me often. I am an incredible minority now. It's kind of weird going from a majority to a minority. I am incredibly humbled because I don't know the culture, the language, the rules of engagement for conversation, etc. It will be challenging. My stomach will have to get used to a lot of new stuff. Today I ate a pork loin, cabbage, some corn, rice, and a bowl of broth that tasted like fish. It was a very good meal. I think I should also mention that the cost of living here is lower than in Canada. For example, my meal, which filled me, tasted good, and is healthier than usual North American food, only costs roughly $4. And I had a big appetite.



After I got home from the school, which is about a 15 minute walk down to another busy street, I took some pictures of the apartment, uploaded them, and took a nap. At about 9pm this evening I went out with Kaylene, got a small Korean pepperoni pizza (amazing, tasted good and had a typical asian spicyness to it, cost 5,900 won or $6). Then we went to 711, where I grabbed a Pepsi and saw little cans of Heineken and said, "Praise the Lord." Right underneath the 711 is a bar/lounge/band place/foreign-people hangout called Radio Star, where I made my first Korean friend, Young Jo Yoon. He plays bass. His favourite band is the Red Hot Chili Peppers. He was sad that John Frusciante was no longer the guitarist. I am so happy that the first friend I made here is a musician. And that brings me to writing this blog.



I thank the Lord for all his blessings. Considering how well this has all worked out, regardless of the little hiccups that happened in getting here in terms of both the paperwork and the flight, I can see how much God works through his children and affirms his plan. I ask for your continued support. I covet your prayers. I will also keep you in my prayers. Until next time, take luck, care for it, and God bless.