I am posting this from a PC Bang... I wrote this 24 hours ago.. I will right another one tonight about my first day..
Ok so it has been a few days since my last update. So much has happened so I will try to remember all of it.
Friday was fool of four different lectures (Cooperative Learning, Lesson Planning, Cooperative Learning, Secondary School and Korean). See quite a long, long day. I believe that night around 12 of us went to a karaoke place again. It was so much fun with the group of us that went.
Saturday we had 3 lectures and then time to plan our final lessons. My group was assigned the lesson “Invitation” so we demonstrated and taught how to ask someone to come over to your party. It was not a fun lesson compared to the lessons that others had. Saturday night after everyone finished planning with their groups a few of us hangout in one of the dorm rooms and hen a group went back to karaoke. I called it an early night though not long after we got there I was exhausted and knew Sunday would be a long day.
So Sunday, the day we had all been dreading and looking forward to all week I called it “D-Day” because we were presenting our lessons and finding out our assigned schools and towns. Our lesson went surprisingly well and so did the others. There are so many lucky Korean students in the Gyeongbuk province now all having us as teachers, or so I would like to think. As the list was put up before signing the final contract it was worse than waiting for any sports team list or Bid Day list to be put up. The verdict was in and I was assigned to an elementary school in Seonggu (SeongJu-Gun when you Google it). Most of my friends got elementary. We are all relatively close to each other; it just looks like miles and miles away on a map. After signing contracts we all rushed to get ready for our final dinner and awards ceremony. The venue that it was held in was massive. Of course it had to be to hold 321 EPIK teachers. The buffet was massive, with way too many choices. After dinner each group had the chance to perform a talent. All week the lecturers told the leaders that Group 6 was the most lively and fun group… but instead of doing something totally crazy, like singing and dancing, we chose to sing a song about prepositions. I mean we are here to be teachers, right? I think the crowd thought we were crazy, for all week we were loud and obnoxious singing and being extremely loud in the cafeteria and on the field trip. Oh well. So after the awards we all took pictures together with our new best friends, of a week.
We had to all pack our luggage and get it moved down to the lobby before midnight to avoid congestion Monday morning. It took me around 30 minutes to get it down to the lobby from the 12th floor because of the speed of a turtle elevator in the dorm. Once everyone got their belongings down to the lobby my group of friends met in the cafeteria and played catch phrase, which I discovered is not my game. It was great to spend one last night with each other before we split off into unknown towns and villages.
Monday morning came way too early. We had to be ready to load the bus at 8:30. So we all met for breakfast before. It took 3 huge buses and a big moving truck to get the entire Gyeongbuk province moved, there was around 110 of us that I know of. After a delicious bibimbap meal together we were dropped off in a parking lot to meet our co-teachers. This was the moment it hit me that I would no longer be with my new friends. I’ll admit a shed a few tears as I hugged my new friends good-bye. It is so crazy how we made such special bonds in such a short amount of time. I’ll never forget our times together…. But as we are already all making plans I know we will see each other pretty much every weekend. Thank the Lord Korean is really easy to get around for the most part.
I have two co-teacher; Anne and HyunJin. Anne speaks the best English of the two. They picked me up in Gumi, which I around 45 minutes from Seongju, with Anne’s crazy driving. Once we arrived in Seongju they took me to my one room apartment. I will post pictures as soon as I have internet at my apartment. When you walk in the entrance there is the area to store your shoes right after you step into the little kitchenette. Past the kitchen is the bathroom, Korean style, shower connected to the sink, all in one room with a drain in the floor. Through the sliding doors in the kithen is my bedroom/living room/ dining area all in one. It was a bed, tv table, kitchen table, another cabinet with a rice cooker and microwave in it and then an amour closet. Very spcious, lots of room to have things all over the floor, so I will feel right at home eventually haha. The sliding doors in that room leads to the washing machine room that has windows that open so the wind can dry your clothes when hanging up.
After getting my suitcases in and up to the 2nd floor, really third floor because the parking area, we headed to the school. It is around a 10 minute walk. Only one turn really. Part of my school is two stories the other section is 4 stories. Pretty large, and in the front there is a soccer field with track going around it. I’m pumped for that so I can go run my frustration off.
After touring the school we went to E-Mart to get a few groceries and then to a market to buy bedding for me. It was then time for dinner, I was hungry because it was around 5:3 and that’s what time we had been fed dinner at orientation. We all joked that we were like babies on a feeding schedule there because like clock work we would always be hungry right when the time to eat rolled around. The co-teachers took me to a pork restaurant and we cooked it on the table ourselves. Anne brought her 8 year old son along, he was precious, and had great English skills.
As some of you may have seen on the news a typhoon hit all of Korea. Knowing this was about to happen Anne let me borrow her sons phone so she could call me about school if it was going to be cancelled. Not having a cell phone or internet at my apartment is a huge negative, I don’t believe I can get it until I get my Alien Registration Card, so that may be two weeks… Sad Face!!!! When I got back to m apartment I decided to walk to the PC Bang near my apartment, on the way I stopped to get a drink from GS25, a convenience store. When I cam out I met Nicola, who was at orientation with me. We decided to roam around together. We found another PC Bang and went in to get online. It was so nice to finally be connected with the world again. The group on Facebook for Group 6 was blowing up with stories of everyone’s adventure thus far in their towns. After getting caught up on Facebook I left to go back home. It was nice out, just a light breeze. When I woke up Tuesday morning it was raining, I decided since I didn’t know how to turn on the hot water I would just pull my hair back in a ponytail for class. So I laid back down, at 7 my teacher text me to till me we would start school at 10:30… score, I could have a couple of more hours of sleep. As I was about to walk out the door at 10 she called saying school was cancelled because of the weather. With this news my day was made, I put my pajamas back on and crawled into bed. It was just windy at this point because students walk to school they cancelled not knowing how the weather would be later in the day. I found Law & Order SVU on TV in English!!! After watching it I set out to find a coffee shop. I found a really cute one near my school, but it didn’t have wifi, but I still enjoyed a drink. I then went back to the PC Bang that I was at with Nicola the night before. While in there I contacted Bonnie (she went to Lander last year and lives in Seongju). She came and picked me up. It is crazy how of all the towns in SK I get placed in her hometown. It felt so nice to have someone that I knew right away. She decided to take me to Waeghan, about 10 minutes by car. We went to “Mr. Pizza” to eat. It was very good, I have left overs!!!! After that we went to a face care product store and she bought me some facemask since I treated her to dinner. We then grabbed ice cream before showing me the train and bus terminals. When we got back into Seongju we went to the bus terminal there so I could find out how to get to Daegu and Gumi to meet up with friends this weekend. Bonnie and I may actually go to Daegu tomorrow after school.
Knowing I knew nothing basically Boonie took me back to E-Mart to help me get rice and eggs. When we got to my apartment she showed me how to use my rice cooker and turned on the hot water for me. Ahhh so thankful!!
It was then time for me to go back to my PC Bang, I’m probably their most valued customer a this point. It’s less than $1 an hour. When I got back to my apartment I had a lovely hot shower, so amazing after my cold one Monday night.
Love ya’ll, miss ya’ll!!
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