Oh how time flies!

My first couple of days in Korea were a blur. Everything happened so fast and I was trying to keep up. I found out that my apartment would be getting a little face lift the first week I was here. The director of the school (also my visa sponsor), was getting me a TV, phone, cable, Internet, and a few other pieces of furniture to put in my apartment, so that it wouldn't be so bare anymore. She told me that she would get me a bigger refrigerator and a microwave at a later date. At that time, the things that I had were sufficient. I was eating Korean ramen noodles almost every night because I wasn't accustomed to cooking Korean style. You will rarely find a house or apartment with an oven in it here. As most of you know, we Americans love using the oven!! I guess that I am gonna have to get a toaster oven while I am here.

These are pictures of my apartment as it is now and not when I first got here.

I went shopping a couple of times that first week for supplies and groceries. The first time was with Agnes at E-Mart which is a huge supermarket with clothing, electronics, etc here in Korea; similar to our Walmart or Target, only with a lot more groceries. I had exchanged some money at the airport when I first got here, but only enough to get by for maybe a week. The second time I went to E-Mart was by myself. I was a little scared because if I needed something and couldn't tell what it was then I was just S.O.L. In quite a few other countries, at least the ones that I have been to, you can almost always find someone who speaks a little English; in Korea, however, this is not the case! I had made a list of things that I thought I needed and was trying to stay on budget. When I realized that I was gonna need more money, I did some sign language with one of the promoters and figured out that the ATM was on 2nd floor. I left my cart nearby, which was full to the brim, and went to get some more cash out. Apparently you have to find an international ATM in order to get money out from overseas. I just figured that E-Mart would have one being such a huge store where a few foreigners shop. I was wrong. The ATM spit out my card and a nasty note that I couldn't read because it was in the Korean characters. I ran out of there so fast that I left the cart there with one of my work folders in it. Needless to say, I didn't go back there for about a week hoping that they wouldn't recognize me as the girl who left a big cart of crap for them to put back on the shelves in all 5 levels of that huge mart!

That first weekend, Agnes, told me that she wanted to accommodate me as best as possible. Make me feel at home and take me out with her when she went shopping and so on. It just so happens that she was going to the city on Saturday for some shopping and some relaxation time in a nail salon. Now for those of you who don't know me very well, those are 2 things that are very high up on my list of things that I LOVE!! We would also be meeting her American friend and I would have someone to talk to more extensively, relate to a little better. I let her know that I needed some more money out of my account and she told me that there were plenty of Global ATMs where we were going.

Agnes called me the night before our big adventure and told me to get on the bus and meet her at a certain station about 30 min away. She gave me the bus number and told me where I could find a bus stop. My first experience on the bus was a little scary especially by myself. I couldn't understand the stops that the bus speaker was saying so I had to watch every bus stop to see the word written in English letters. I really thought that I had missed it so many times but finally we came to the right stop and I got off the bus. I was supposed to meet Agnes at a certain time and when she wasn't there at that time nor 20 minutes after that time, I thought that I had gotten off at the wrong stop or that there was somewhere else that I needed to be standing. Finally she pulled up, and apologized for being late 25 minutes after the agreed upon time. We parked and got on the subway (another first for me in Korea).

We got off at the appropriate station and I noticed that it was like an underground shopping center, right there in the subway station. Crazy! We got some Starbucks (which is a really big deal here; these people love their coffee) and headed to the nail salon. I got sparkles and little pink stars on my nails, which I love and they last a month. They put on the decorations and then a layer of this clear hard plastic stuff, but you can't even tell. It just looks like clear nail polish. It's awesome! After nails, we went and had lunch at this little market area where it is all outdoors and there are only about 8 stools per counter top restaurant and all of the restaurants are crammed together in this tiny little stretch of area. There are maybe 30 little restaurants in a 50 foot area.

This is where I learned about the pushing and shoving of Korea. Koreans don't stop no matter what. They could be walking in a straight line and if you are in the way of that line, they will plow you over. They like to push in big crowds and they don't care much for waiting. They run red lights quite frequently, so even if there is a green walk sign, you should still be very careful and continuously look both ways. The car horn on each car gets used at least 4 times a day (*This is an exaggeration and is in no way a proven fact. It is simply an evaluation made by a witness to it all; an outsider).

We ate at the little outdoor counter top restaurant, which was famous for it's homemade noodles. It was delicious and extremely cheap. I couldn't finish all the food that we got for around $5. Then we did some shopping at the stores and the street vendor's shops and finished our day back at the underground mall in the subway station. Agnes' friend had to leave so we took the bus back to Anyang, the city that I live and work in. It wasn't until we got on the bus to head home, that I learned that we had been in Seoul all day, the countries capital, and by far largest city!! HA HA!

She suggested we ride the bus, so that I could see the landscape, all the way back to her car. Plus the subway would be too full at that time. She told me that there was a little coffee shop near her house that was having a kind of karaoke night. It was an invite only party though. I agreed after she told me that there would be at least one other English speaker there and that some of the Koreans would be able to speak a little English. We drove to the coffee shop and I realized that this was going to be a very small gathering in a very small coffee shop.

I was introduced to everyone and they tried to make me feel more at home by speaking some English. They brought out this special rice alcohol that Koreans like to drink and is very cheap. Most of the people there were over the age of 40 and were musicians of some sort. Some were singers while others played the guitar, and there were even a couple of accordion players. There were only about 12-15 people there and they were all close friends. They all took their turns singing and playing their instruments. It was actually a whole lot of fun even though I didn't understand most of what they were saying. A couple of them got drunk after a while and were acting very goofy. They kept doing cheers' like every 5 minutes or less.

I was still a little jet-lagged at this time and when I asked if we could leave because I didn't want to fall asleep on them, Agnes told me that it was too late for me to go back to my house so I would have to stay with her at her older sister's house. We got to the house and got cleaned up. When I asked where I would be sleeping, she showed me a spot on the floor where a couple of blankets had been placed. Now, if any of you know me very well at all, you know that I can't sleep in vehicles, or on the couch, or anywhere else that is not a bed...especially the floor!! I had a rough night and didn't sleep much but the fun day made up for that. When she took me back home, I slept most of the day.

That was my first week in Korea!

♪I'm a big kid now!♪

To continue with my story...I guess that I will just pick up where I left off.

That morning, I woke up at my apartment in Korea, I picked out the clothes for my first day of work at the school, also known as a hagwon here in Korea, and was patiently waiting when my director, Ashley, came to pick me up. We rode to school and she told me to try to remember the way that we were going because I would have to walk to school starting later in the week. The only problem was that there are so many one way streets by my apartment, that she kept telling me not to remember the way that we were driving, but to remember the way that she was pointing out. Yeah, I know...confusing!!

We got to school and she introduced me to the head teacher, Agnes, which is not her real given name, but her English name for school and teaching purposes. Actually, the only people who do not call her by this name are her family. I thought that was interesting, but sorry, I am rambling. There were 2 other teachers, all of them Korean, Jenny, who generally works with the older kids, and Belle, who doesn't speak English and works with the younger kids after the older kids get to our school. I was given a schedule with the previous teacher's name on it and was told that the printer was broken at the moment, so my name wouldn't be on the schedule until the printer was fixed. I was told that I was to shadow Agnes the first and second day to get the hang of things. In the morning, the schedule goes a little something like this...

M-F, 1st class: grades 1&2 (they are 7-8 years old); 2nd class: kindergarten (5-6 years old)

Then depending on the day, there is P.E., or Chinese, or Math class, or Arts and Crafts after the first two, all with the same kids. There are 12 altogether in the 2 classes. We eat lunch after that and then the bigger kids arrive from their other schools. When the bigger kids get to the school, we have 40 minute classes M, W, F, from 2:30-6:55PM and T, Th, from 2:30-5:30PM.

(FYI)As a little side note, Koreans take education very seriously. They go to school all year round. Sometimes they go from one school in the morning, to another in the afternoon, to a final school at night. Several kids even have school on Saturdays! Parents like to be very involved with their child's education and English is very important because it is a global language of money.

Back to the story...That morning, I followed Agnes around for the 2 classes in the morning with the little ones. We sang songs that she had made dances to go with including, "Under the Sea," from The Little Mermaid. We learned simple words and even started to put them into sentences. I knew that those 2 classes would be difficult because the kids spoke very little English and after shadowing the first couple of days, I would have those 2 classes alone.

We ate a delicious traditional Korean lunch, which I found out was prepared by our very own school chef. After lunch the director came to me and told me that I would be doing the afternoon classes with the big kids all by myself since there was no one else to teach them. I stumbled through the first day of lessons. The kids were very helpful at showing me where we were at in the books. Luckily for me, most classes had a student book and a work book, so I could follow along and throw in a bit of teaching if they didn't understand something. Most of the classes were already in the middle of a unit and didn't require much teaching. Their English was much better than the little ones. Plus, most of the books have Cd's that go with them and all I had to do was just pop it into the player and it would do the rest. I guarantee that the first couple of days were so boring for those poor kids, they had to be, because they were for me!! I felt a little bit useless until I got the hang of things!

That day, Ashley told me that I wouldn't be getting a TV or Internet for another 2 days. She told me that her father, the owner of the school, would take me around the market that is by my house and show me different places that I could shop and/or eat. I thought that I would be able to stop and grab a few things while walking through the market but Hong Kong, Ashley's dad (Hey, I don't know...that is what he told me to call him because his actual name is too complicated for us silly Americans!), was grabbing me by the arm and basically dragging me through the market. (I had fun retelling this story the next day to all of the teachers at school and listening to them make fun of Hong Kong dragging me through the market.)

That night I was absolutely exhausted mentally and physically and still very much jet-lagged!! I fell asleep the moment my head hit the pillow at 9:00PM and woke at 4AM. I was getting a little better about my sleeping transition.

That is all for today! Until next time...

My adventure across the giant pond!

Ok! So, several people have been asking me about what is going on in my life now that I live halfway around the world. I have decided to solve this bombardment of questions with a blog. I will write about my life and you can come and read about it if you choose. Also, if you have questions, feel free to ask and I will try to answer them as best as possible. The funny thing about all of this is that I have actually been kind of keeping a journal of sorts since I got here because I wanted to try to remember things they way they were and how I felt at exactly the time when they occurred.

Enough rambling and on with my story...

Monday May 10th, 2010, 3:00AM, Anyang, South Korea:
(At this time I was very much jet-lagged and wasn't able to sleep through the whole night, which is why I wrote this at 3AM!)

I received an email from my sponsoring company, for teaching English abroad, on April 29th saying that I needed to be in Korea on May 5th. Now for those of you who are not good at math (Kasey!) that is only 6 days; less than a week. At this point, I had been expecting to be there in the middle of May but wasn't sure about the actual date. When I received this email, I began to immediately freak out. I had been planning a short trip that weekend to see my family. Hector was taking a trip there to see a friend and graciously offered for me to ride along to visit with my family. I had wanted to spend about a week with the family before I left, but I had figured that I had time and that it didn't have to be right away.

I got the email at 5:30PM on Thursday evening. I immediately made a phone call and found a storage facility where I could keep all of my stuff that was only about 5 blocks away, but the man told me I had to hurry because they closed in 30 minutes. I had begun to pack up the house that I was currently living in but not nearly enough and my stuff was still everywhere. I went to the facility and got a unit in time. I took 2 loads that evening and 3 or 4 the next day. Luckily, they had massive carts and an elevator otherwise it would have made for some heavy lifting! It was kind of hectic because I not only had to pack all my stuff for storage, but I had to sort through and determine what I would need to take to Korea and pack that separately, plus there was the issue of my cat. She likes to hide when I leave the house because she thinks that I am going to take her to the vet. She hates the vet! You have to be tricky in order to get her to come out. Treats don't even usually work! HAHA!

Everything was packed and we left Kansas City at about 5PM on Friday evening. I also still had to take a trip to Chicago at some point because I hadn't done my Visa interview with the Korean Consulate. When I called to make an appointment with them to do the interview, the only time that they had available was 10AM on Wednesday, May 5th. My passport with the Visa in it would be completed and ready to pick up on Friday at 3PM. I relayed this information to my company and they booked me a flight on Friday evening out of O'hare, in Chicago, at 6:20PM. That gave me about an hour to make it through Chicago's awful traffic, right about rush hour time, to the airport in order to check in a couple of hours in advance for an international flight.

I stayed in Bonne Terre until Tuesday evening. I said goodbye to the family and told them all to download Skype so that we could talk for free. Then I began the long drive to Chicago. On Wednesday morning I prepared for my interview with some of the questions from the Consulate website that were to be asked of me. I had my answers pretty well memorized only to be completely and totally shocked. First, when I got to the Consulate, the woman at the front desk was very rude and asked me if I had paid attention to her when we talked on the phone because obviously I hadn't; I was missing a page that was required for the interview. Eventually, after the lecture from her, she handed the form to me and it took less than a minute to fill out. She was hyped up for no reason at all. I went in to my interview which lasted 45 minutes and the man didn't ask me a single question that I had prepared for. Later, I found out that these interviews only last about 5-8 minutes at the most, so my sponsor concluded that he must have really liked me! Afterward, I went to a Mexican restaurant with Natalie to celebrate Cinco de Mayo, and ended up awake all night, being sick out of my mind, throwing up that nasty Mexican food (I seriously did not drink one drop of alcohol!).

On Friday after I picked up my passport with my worker's Visa in it, I headed straight for the airport through massive amounts of traffic. I made it with only 1 1/2 hours until my flight. When I was checking in at the ticket counter, there were problems with my ticket (OF COURSE!). Apparently, when flying in and out of some countries, you have to have both tickets already purchased, basically ensuring that you are not going to stay in that country permanently unauthorized! I had a one-way ticket into the country but not out! The attendant did some maneuvering after I told her that I had a worker's Visa and got my boarding pass ready. When she asked how many bags I had, and found out that I had 4, she told me that I would have to go stand in another line because I had too many suitcases for her line apparently. I think that she took pity on me and finally agreed to help me. She checked all 4 bags, one of which was overweight, without saying anything and without charging me extra.

On the flight, I got a window seat and sat next to a Korean man who said absolutely nothing to me the whole 13 hour flight! When I got to Korea, it was 6AM Korean time, and I had my very own driver with my name on a sign waiting at the airport, just like you see in the movies! The only difference was that his sign said, "Keagon Turner." LOL. I assumed that was me, gathered my things, (in Korea, those airport carts are free to use, just something I thought was really cool) and hopped in the car. The driver didn't speak a word of English, but that didn't deter him from trying to be a sightseeing tour guide as we drove for 45 minutes.

I got to my apartment at 7AM Sunday morning and met the director of my school. She showed me in, told me to rest, told me that she got enough food for me for a day or so, and that she would be back at 9:30AM the next morning to take me to school. All of this lasted less than 5 minutes and then she was gone. I looked around for a while and thought that I was in Hell! There was a bed, a couch, a small ground table, and a mini fridge. There was no oven, no microwave, no TV, a very small closet with only shelf space, very few cooking supplies and no utensils.

I decided that I was tired so I laid down to sleep. When I woke up later I decided to check Internet reception. I realized that none of my electronics had been charged in over 24 hours and that they were all dead! How was I supposed to know what time it was? Luckily, I remember that I brought with me my volleyball officiating bag that I had mostly cleaned out minus a few of the smaller compartments. In one of those small compartments was the wrist stopwatch that I had purchased for last season. Thank you volleyball!! The only problem now was remembering whether I had set it forward for daylight savings time. Korean time is 14 hours ahead of central time, but only in the spring. It is 15 hours ahead in the fall and winter. Needless to say, I was ready over an hour ahead of time for my ride the next morning.

That is enough for today! To be continued...