#hellosouthkorea

This morning, I woke up at 6:00am as usual. But instead of getting ready for work, I had to get ready for a meeting with Gwangju’s Office of Education. Because I had about 2 hours to get ready and no idea what the weather would be today I decided at about 6:30am to go out, walk over to the café by my apartment and stand outside stealing Wi-Fi to check the weather report.

So when I exit my building, I exit in a tiny alley/road on the side of my building (it’s a hill). I can walk down the alley to the road in front of my apartment building and that is the route I usually take, but I can also walk up the hill to the road behind my apartment building. Further background on my apartment area: my apartment is in a row of apartments and then there is the street and then there is also a row of apartments in front of it, with a street in front of that row.

Okay so now to the story. So at 6:30am I exit my building (on the side) and walk down hill to the road in front of my building where I normally walk. As I am walking down the short hill, I see that the street in front of the apartments in front of mine is ridiculously foggy. I think: “hmmm? I wonder what that is… why is it so foggy? Oh well…” and I keep walking.

When I get about halfway down my street a car rounds the corner and starts coming at me, trailing this thick white fog I saw in the street in front of mine. PANIC. Is this fog toxic? Is this a plot to kill me? Is this North Korea attacking? WHY MY STREET?! Irrational thoughts invade my mind and I turn around and start walking back to my building thinking I can avoid the death-fog coming toward me. I hear the car catching up and I can smell the fog a bit… I start walking faster. The car is definitely catching up… I round the corner to the side of my building with the entrance and when I know the car driver cannot see me and think what the hell is this crazy foreigner doing? I haul ass running up the hill to get to my apartment, for this irrational fear has led me to complete (maybe not complete) irrational paranoia.

I reach the entrance of my building (the door is always open to the stairwell) and wait there… Should I go up the five flights to my room? Am I safe here? There has to be other people out right now… Do all Koreans know that toxic fog is sprayed at 6am and they must stay in their houses? WHY HAVE I NOT HEARD ABOUT THIS?

I decided I was being irrational. I came back out of my apartment building as soon as the car passed and this time, went up the hill to avoid the now foggy road I normally take to the café.

Everything seems fine when I get there. There is even a guy who also appears to be snagging some Wi-Fi from outside the closed café. He seems Korean and he isn’t freaking out about this mysterious fog…

Then… the car comes back around. This time it passes the street behind my apartment. I can definitely smell the fog this time… it smells like black licorice and chemicals. That can’t be good... but the guy next to me is still not freaking out! I’m being irrational right? I mean someone would have told me if there was a deadly fog sprayed by my apartment right? The car comes back around and leaves my small apartment area.

Still, I am mystified (and my throat is a little sore tonight)? I asked a few people and we think maybe it was some sort of bug spray, especially since my apartment is backed up to a mountain. But still… If I die, we’ll know why.

(Possibly) Irrationally fearful,

My day started out pretty much how it continued and ended today. First, I woke up around 5am the first time due to it being crazy hot in my room. I turned on the air con. That’s when things got really creepy. My room is full of antique wood. My dresser/TV stand, my bed, my kitchen table and chairs… and what happens when they get really hot then you cool them down? They creak. So at 5am, not only am I stressed because I know later today I have to introduce myself to Poongam Elementary and all its teachers, but also, I’m alone on the fifth floor with constant creaking noises. O.o

I eventually fell asleep and woke up again around 7am. Hungry. I had no food in my apartment. So, I got ready fairly quickly and went out in search of coffee and something to eat.

When you research Korea, you learn that they have a really large café culture and they love their coffee. Coffee shops are everywhere, like multiple on the same street. Sometimes next to each other. However, what people don’t say is that the coffee culture is for the afternoon/evening. So, at 7am, the only coffee shop I managed to find (the only SHOP) that was open was a Dunkin Doughnuts. I hate that my first breakfast in Korea was at a Dunkin Doughnuts, but what can you do when nothing else is open and you can’t walk too far off the main road for fear of getting lost?! Not only was I in search of a coffee shop and breakfast and found myself failing miserably, I was also looking for Wi-Fi. Also a fail at Dunkin Doughnuts. This is a big deal seeing as how pretty much every shop and definitely every coffee shop in South Korea supposedly has free Wi-Fi.

Anyways, I ate a not so good breakfast sandwich and drank a coffee and paid 3 dollars for some Wi-Fi.

I got back to my apartment with some time to spare, so I cleaned more. My co-teacher said she would pick me up around 9:40am to take me to the school for the staff meeting. Right around 9:35am, I had a knock on my door. It was a Korean woman looking like she was ready for some business (as many do). And, she was only speaking to me in Korean. Pretty sure I looked like this O.O!? Wide eyed and confused. Finally, she said measure the walls and pointed at the corner of my wall where there is damage to the wall paper and she said fix. GOT IT! You’re here to measure my walls so you can fix them. Okay. So she did. Then, it took some time to get me to understand that she would be back on Friday at 2:00pm to put new wall paper up. She said only the top though and there is damage at the bottom too… Guess I will see tomorrow.

Then, Jongnim called and said she would be here soon. It was raining today so the air was fresh and I waited for her outside my apartment. I think we were a bit late because we were rushing to get into the school and find me some guest slippers. FIND ASAP: Indoor shoes (for two schools). Then she took me to meet the Vice Principal who only spoke a little English but mostly just spoke to me in Korean. He asked me some questions and Jongnim translated. He seems very nice and down to earth.

Next stop, the staff meeting. This was a room of about 45 people (mostly women) organized by grade into tables. I will be teaching 6th grade with Miso and Hyojeong. I think Jongnim teaches only 5th grade, but she was at our table. The first thing they all said when I walked in was “ohhhhh! So pretty!” haha Korea is going to do great/bad things for my ego. The meeting was all in Korean so I pretty much had no idea what was going on for about 45 minutes but Jongnim did tell me they were talking about the fires in the school. She also, said that I would go up and introduce myself when the Vice Principal said my name. I didn’t hear my name but then teachers around me were ushering me to the front and I was like ahhhhh okay… Korean or English!? Korean or English!? I went with Korean: “Anyeonghasayo, manneseo pangapseubnida (this got a lot of cheers), chonun Hayley imnida, Kamsahabnida.” – Translation: “hello, nice to meet you, my name is Hayley, thank you!” and then Jongnim said some things in Korean about me being from California. They all clapped and I sat down, not able to feel my limbs.

The meeting ended shortly after that and we went to the teacher’s room. I had to clean my desk (Wayne, the last English Teacher was kind of a slob, and I got the impression they weren’t too happy with him). Then my co-teacher Miso showed me how to use the computer and their messaging system. She also showed me the book she uses for her class and my schedule for Wednesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays. I asked her some questions about her teaching style and what she expects of me. She said she follows the book and teaches the class and I am there in case the students have questions that she can’t answer or that I have more experience with. She said that I could manage the class if she is helping a lower level student and vice versa and that I would be responsible for planning an activity/game that goes along for the lesson for that day and we would play it if there was time at the end of class. Also, what is different is usually you only have a class for 40 minutes, but she runs hers so that the students have two full periods of English, so we have them for 80 minutes. I guess this makes it so that they have two classes in a row rather than dispersed throughout the week. I am still confused as far as my role in the class while she is teaching the material from the book, but I am sure after being in the classroom and working together for a while it will come more naturally and make more sense.

So then, Jongnim got a call from the mechanic (I think) about my apartment and she needed to come to my apartment but since I was still working with Miso, she went and let me stay. After Miso told me everything, she kind of just left me to do whatever really and I began to assume that I was just waiting for Jongnim to come back and either take me home or tell me I could walk. But it was almost noon and I was getting hungry. At the staff meeting they gave us a little snack pack, so I started eating some of that and about halfway through a weird gooey snack, Miso said, “Okay, shut off your computer and we can go to lunch now.” Uhh okay.

I assumed we were going to lunch in the cafeteria since all the teachers seemed to be having a work day after the meeting, but then we headed for the doors and put our outdoor shoes on and pulled our umbrellas out. Alright… were going out for lunch… So then we got into Miso’s car and the other teachers were headed to their cars. We met at a traditional Korean restaurant (you take your shoes off at the door and sit on the floor during meals). The food was really good and I was able to ask a lot of questions about everything, not just teacher things. (Did I mention all the 6th grade teachers are girls?) This made it a lot more fun I think. Also, Miso told me in the car that she has only had boy co-teachers before me and was “hoping for a pretty girl!”

After lunch I assumed we were going back to school or she was going to take me home… we put our shoes on, pulled out our umbrellas, and walked the opposite direction of the car. Okay, we aren’t leaving yet… Not that I wanted to leave! I just had no idea what was going on. Then, Miso said that we were going to get coffee for dessert. I think we stayed at the coffee shop for maybe 2 hours. (It seemed like it) The girls were so funny and my cheeks hurt from smiling and laughing. They answered so many questions and asked me so many questions and helped me with my phone, and told me that when I smile I look a little bit like Cameron Diaz.

After that, my other co-teacher Hyojeong, who I teach only two class a week with, took me back to Lotte Mart because I had said I still needed some things for my apartment. We got a small vacuum and hair dryer (yay!!!) and some groceries. Then, she took me to the bank because Jongnim called and said in order to get my gas turned on I needed to pay a deposit. Then, she took me to see if I could get data on my cell phone. (I apparently cannot). After that she showed me a really good bakery (a lot of them have told me about it, so now I know of something I can bring in as a treatJ). And then she took me home.

They were all so nice! I feel so grateful and lucky and I don’t know how to show them yet just how much I appreciate everything! I still have not paid for a meal in Korea (other than my sad Dunkin Doughnuts).

I got back to my apartment around 4pm and headed straight for the café right by my apartment so I could get some Wi-Fi, but as soon as I was about to order, I got a call from someone speaking Korean. Turns out it was my gas guy. I was really excited about the fast response because I thought it would be another day or so before I had hot water! He said he would be at my apartment in 10 minutes, so I turned around and headed back.

This was a funny experience. When he got here, he quickly shuffled in, quickly slipped his shoes off (no shoes in Korean homes), and swiftly walked into my kitchen and dropped to his hands and knees to the floor. He was sorting through some papers that I needed to sign, but I was still in shock and was just standing there like okay, I guess I will just wait here? Then, he was here and there and the kitchen smelled like gas and then it was done and he said call him when I have my alien registration number. And then he quickly shuffled back out.

I finally made it to the café. I didn’t want more caffeine so I was looking at the tea and just took the first one I translated because I was being lazy and it was the cheapest one on the menu. Le-I-mon tea ju-seyo. FINALLY Wi-Fi!! I was doing a million things at once. I ran out of minutes on my phone for calls and texts last night. Luckily I can still receive calls, but I cannot make any and that’s not a good thing when you’re in a foreign country and don’t know the language. So I was trying to pay for more minutes. I think it was a success? But it said it may take 48 hours for them to send the info to add the minutes :/. Then, I heard that another English teacher lived close by, so we met up and got dinner. I know that there are other English teachers around, that they exist and that they have made it here and through a year teaching alive, but they still kind of seem like mythical creatures, so it was nice to meet one in person and know it’s true! He gave me a short tour and we got dinner. Still, I have not paid for my own meal! I don’t know how to express my thanks enough to the people that have helped me out here and made me feel so welcome in just 48 hours. I hope they know how grateful I am!

So, here I am. Second night in the apartment. Already I have hot water and food in my refrigerator – two things I did not have last night. Tomorrow, I do not have to go into work, so I will probably do more shopping in order to get the necessities and then get Wi-Fi and be back here by 2:00pm for the wall paper ladyJ.

I’ll update you in a day or two!

Tuesday was an exciting day… Kind of. Gladly, I woke up feeling normal again! Also this meant I could actually eat food, yay! Then as my group was first to present, we presented our lesson plan and were given feedback – all constructive and really helpful. This activity was truly for our benefit only. Then we had to watch other groups present until midafternoon. After that we met with our MOE (Metropolitan Office of Education).

Mine was GMOE (Gwangju). I always pictured this being one on one, but actually I was just in a classroom with all the other EPIK teachers going to Gwangju listening to a presentation by our Program Manager (an American from Oregon!). She answered a lot of valuable and important questions and also, I learned which school was my Central (main) School (Poongam Elementary) and my Visiting School (Sangmu Elementary). I also learned the names of my co-teachers that I will meet tomorrow and a very general run down of how tomorrow will work.

After that we had our closing ceremony. People talked, there was a slideshow, some speeches, and many thanks. I really did almost cry through all this because of excitement and nostalgia.

Yay! Dinner time. BEST DINNER EVER. We had a banquet in the gym and it was the best Korean food I’ve had so far. Also, we had forks. And real cups! (We’ve been using small, metal, shot-sized glasses in the cafeteria – really makes you see the difference in cultures with America super-sizing everything).

After dinner, me and some of the girls here went out for ice cream. They have a big there here about shaved ice, called, Bingsu. The one I had was flavored syrup, shaved ice, cookie crumbs, ice cream, whip cream and oreo cookies. I was only able to eat half and even then I felt like I was going to puke. The whole thing was huge. Probably the size of my face or head. Last, we just had to bring our luggage down to the lobby to be loaded first thing in the morning on a truck going to our city.

A lot of people are going out drinking, and to Norebangs (karaoke bars), but if you know me, you know I stayed inside, working on my lesson plan and preparing to meet my co-teacher, school, principal and move into my apartment tomorrow J we leave at 930 am!

Talk to you soon,

Sunday and Monday were fairly uneventful.

Sunday was full of classes. We had two morning classes and two evening classes and Korean class after dinner. We also started working on our group lesson plan.

Monday was slightly more epic, only because I was sick. I woke up crazy dizzy, over heated, and feeling like I was going to vomit. I tried going to the nurse, but she wasn’t there, so I stuck to eating saltine crackers and ramen noodles for the day, in case it was something with my stomach that was making me sick (this seemed most likely, especially after I had my temperature checked after lunch and it was confirmed normal). Slowly I began to feel better.

Monday was the last day to prepare for our presentation of our lesson plan. We started in the morning, finalizing our plans and materials and worked after dinner until almost 9pm practicing the lesson and finalizing those details. Luckily we would be first to go on Tuesday.

The idea of the lesson plan is that you were allowed to randomly choose a topic and your group was pre assigned and that is the topic your group would plan and present for. We got the lowest grade level – Elementary Grade 3 – and the topic of “What’s this?” So, we had to teach our “students” (the rest of our class) how to use the term “What’s this?” and how to respond.