Oh hello, Korea!

Hey everyone! I'm sorry I have been an absolute failure at blogging so far. I wish I could say that Korea has just been one big blast, but in all honesty it's been quite a roller coaster and bit of a mixed bag. That's not to say there hasn't been a lot of amazing moments, there has, but culture shock/ missing home/ and trying to get used to my school and teaching has been really challenging! You should also check out Mari's blog, which has some really good details on our time here so far: http://evengauchosgrowup.tumblr.com/

My time in Korea began with a one week orientation at Jeonju University-a school about 4 hours away from Seoul and pretty much out in the middle of nowhere! It was absolutely freezing, as in -4 degrees celsius and Mari and I just didn't know how to hang. Pretty much all of the Californians/South Africans were totally freaking out while everyone from the UK just thought we were silly. We were split into groups by the city/province we were working in, and mine and Mari's was one of four for Busan. Orientation was a mix of fun, going to all day classes about teaching, and some solid going out at night.
The teachers definitely scared us into thinking the worst, and we were all a bit freaked out. But really, the best part of orientation was meeting some cool people that I actually really like and can hang with in Busan! Mari and I keep joking that we're so happy we haven't scared them away yet... I'll keep you posted once they realize how crazy we are. We took a taekwondo class (can't you tell by our awesome poses) and went on a "field trip" to a classic little village. Pretty much in every picture from here on out we are posing. Koreans just love to pose in their pictures! Usually its the 2 finger peace sign, but theres also a little angel face and cheeky fingers as well.

Not only do we like to pose with Koreans, but Koreans like to pose with us! 

The move from Jeonju to Busan is where the crazy really starts.  We were all dropped off at a meeting spot where our luggage was waiting for us. One by one cars came up and they called out our names-it was liking waiting after school for your mom except way more scary! What made it so insane was the amount of variables completely out of our control. If you know me you know I'm a bit of a control freak, so that idea doesn't really bode well for me. There's co-teachers, apartments, schools, students... a lot that can really affect your stay here.

Every co-teacher is different; some may not be helpful, some may not want to help you teach, and others may want full control of the class.  Every school is very different too; each has different teaching styles, sizes, and goals. With all these thoughts floating through my mind I waited patiently for my name to be called. All week we had been practicing how to meet our co-teachers/VP/Principal (meaning bows, the right Korean greetings...) and finally my name was called and I was ready to impress my teacher with my new knowledge! Instead, she said "hello, I'm not your teacher, lets put your luggage in the car." I was pretty confused for the ride but made some small talk and just kept thinking it will all make sense soon. We arrived at my school to meet the VP/Principal it only got more confusing, however. I met the VP, trying my best to be polite in Korean terms, and then met the previous foreign teacher who had been working at my school for 3 years. At first I was really excited to get some insider info, but it took me a couple days to figure out that although he seemed like a really good teacher he was also a total jerk! He told me all of these negative things about the school and my co-teachers, how everything was changing for the worse, that my co-teacher's were lazy and gossipy, and that he had really done so much to make the school better.

After that nice little intro I finally met my real co-teacher who got up, and said "I'm nervous and I've never done this before", and then sat down. I actually didn't fully realize she was my co-teacher until about four hours later, but I'll get to that in a little bit. I got in the car with the two women I had met thus far and we drove to Mega-Mart. Apparently they were taking me to get supplies for my apartment, but what it felt like was two women who had forgotten I was there, speaking entirely in Korean and putting random things into my basket, and then asking me a random question here and there. Let's just say the experience was weird and didn't feel very comforting. The entire day was just a strange mix of emotions and I honestly didn't know how I was feeling or if I had made the right decision. My co-teacher, Mrs Park, has definitely grown on me since that day. She is sweet and is only trying to do her best, but because she is a new teacher at the school and has never been a co-teacher before, she's just a little lost too. It's common to feel out of the loop here, so I just need to learn how to roll with the punches.

A cute little market by Mari's house!

My apartment is in a really good location. It's really small but it's clean (and not moldy, like some others) and it's safe, so I definitely can't complain. One metro stop away is KSU, a university and a hotspot for foreigners and Korean college kids to go out every night of the week. Mari is only four metro stops away, and I have friends scattered all around Busan, which is pretty nice. I've been really enjoying going out to new restaurants and bars, although we have had some serious mishaps along the way. One night we accidentally only ordered pig skin and pig fat for our BBQ, and another night we had some kind of intestine! Mari and another friend literall hid the crispy pig skin in napkins in their purse until they could find a place to dispose of the evidence. There are so many cool bars here too, you could literally never go into the same one for a whole year if that was your agenda. Since Korea is such a small country, everything is vertical. There could be a PC bang on one floor, two levels of a bar, a darts club, and then a dancing club.

To sum it up: The past week and a half has been filled with  a lot of confusion and emotions! I'm teaching 5th and 6th graders at Daeyeon Elementary school in Busan. I have 2 co-teachers who are a little older but seem quite nice. I am not quite sure what they want from me / how they want me to teach the class, and it's hard because Koreans often say one thing but mean another. Miscommunication is easy and you could ask the same question 3 times and get 3 totally different answers! At the moment I think I'm leading the class, but I must stick directly to the book (which is very very boring and repetitive). I really want to be a good teacher and get my kids involved in English. Oh, did I mention I'm teaching about 800 kids every week!

There's a big community of teachers in my program in Busan, and everyone is running around trying to make friends and go out as much as possible. I'm definitely eager to make the right friends and get in my groove. Right now I feel a little out of whack in all sorts-school, friends, house... I know it will all come together little by little but I'm ready to feel a bit more settled and comfortable in both my teaching position and my life outside of school. We have done some exploring around our areas and I know there's a lot more to see. The beaches are gorgeous, and the neon city lights at night are absolutely beautiful. More pictures to come soon!

Sorry for such a long blog post (not to mention its a bit on the sour side) but I really just wanted to fill you guys in on what's really going on! Promise the next one will be more fun and come sooner rather than later :)