Sunday October 10th 2010

Day 1 I am counting this as day one because it is the first time I have woken up in Korea – I have the basics in my apartment…the very basics, but it’s a start and today the adventure really begins. My apartment is tiny, but more than enough space for me to rattle around in, and I like that if I poke my head out over the edge of the bed I can see the front door. There is a little glass door I can pull over to shut off the kitchen and the front door from the rest of the apartment but I get the feeling that in the winter I am going to want the extra heat that comes from the gas cooker. Though the in-floor heating certainly warms the place up really quickly!

I am in a really great location, on the side of the building that the apartments are on there is a road and then a big park behind it, so you can only see the tops of the big apartment buildings behind the trees. I am on the fourth floor so it means I can leave my window open all the time – though again when it starts to get really cold there is another door that seals off the laundry area and window to keep the heat in, and its mostly opaque which means the light will still come through. I have a stand-alone cupboard which is just big enough for the clothes that I have brought and a massive fridge that is almost as big as the cupboard – if I filled it I would be eating for a few months! The bed is a bit hard but I think if I put a blanket under the sheet it will be a bit more comfortable and its big enough to be comfortable. The biggest challenge is that all the stuff in the apartment is written in Korean, like all the buttons on the washing machine and microwave, I have no idea how to use them! I also have a rice cooker which is very exciting except I don’t know how to use that either! I am going to have to get someone to teach me about it and which buttons to push.

 Doing a bit of shopping yesterday was also an experience, but I think I was so tired I wasn’t taking it all in, there are a few bits and pieces I have to get today so I’ll give it another shot now I’m not so tired! I got up this morning, feeling a little blue, the lack of internet and phone are getting to me a bit because I am completely cut off from everyone and I am not used to that. Everything feels like it’s so much more of a challenge than it was at home, or in any English speaking country for that matter. But I have to keep thinking about the positives and how much better it will all be once I have the internet sorted and once I get into a rhythm.

At least I know I won’t starve, I bought a bag of frozen dumplings yesterday, they had a taste test spot and they tasted great so I bought them, they are super easy to cook and I feel like I have eaten too much after I’ve had 6…and they are super cheap! I think it’s just going to be a matter of getting used to everything, and everything being so completely different means it might take more than 24 hours to get a handle on things, but I am sure I will manage. This is the adventure I wanted after all!

 Anyway I am meeting the school teacher this evening, at the Dunkin’ Donut, which I have yet to find, so today I am on a mission. I need to find an internet café, get a tea towel and some dish liquid, maybe some other interesting food items, and visit a phone shop because I am certain that if I ask enough people about a pre-paid sim card that eventually someone will give me something I can use! Other than that I am going to explore my immediate area, there was a little fruit market down the road I wanted to have a look at and I feel the need to do a bit of exploring! I have the address of my apartment with me and I can find my way from the school so I figure I can’t get too lost! I also have to code to my apartment with me – get this – no keys! There is a door handle and a keypad below it, you enter the pass-code and the door unlocks after a few beeps to let you know you have entered the right combination. So handy not having to carry keys! As long as I never forget to take the pass-code with me, coz I could be locked out, and I have a feeling that the company you call if you have a problem won’t have too many English speakers to help out! Anyway, I best keep getting ready, it’s almost mid-day already!

  Later the same day… Went for a walk…a 2-3 hour adventure really, I walked from my apartment all the way down past the main street in the city, and I found Osan Jeoung Market – a huge indoor / outdoor market that had everything from clothes and music, to food (alive and dead), fresh meat and vegetables. A very cool place to have found – I just kept thinking that I wished I had a bicycle, the city is flat so that’s the way a lot of people get around, and I could have put things in the basket of a bicycle to get the stuff home. I may have to look into that as an investment! So after wandering around till my feet hurt I decided to go to the “E-mart” which is the biggest department store / supermarket chain in Korea – and conveniently located about 5 minutes walk from my apartment and right next to my school. It’s a little like stepping into the future and definitely liking walking into another world at this store. Instead of little plastic signs hanging off the shelf to advertise certain items there are little screens that play advertising and sound, some of which only activate when you get close to them.

There are people cooking up things for taste testing everywhere and they all talk to you as you walk past in an effort to entice you to buy the product. Everything is colourful, bright and busy. Everyone has a smile for you, and most of them will try to help, even if that means they just keep speaking in Korean and try out different hand gestures until it looks like you might have understood! The one thing that I noticed most about today was that I didn’t see a single westerner, which explains a little why everyone was staring at me, I guess I look a little out of place! But anyone that noticed I saw them staring would smile and say hello. I’ve gotten very good at hello, thank you, and the one I used the most today – “no thank you”… I had one girl take me by the arm and try to lead me into a shop (a shop I couldn’t have afforded to breathe the air in I suspect…) but once I responded in Korean she seemed more surprised than anything and stopped for a chat instead. So I bought a few things that I needed, the tea towels (which are really tiny!), facecloths, and soap.

The soap smells delicious, apricot scented, which was the best of an intere
sting selection, but the one that had me laughing was the dish liquid. I could have orange scented, or I could go for something more exotic, like sunflower or wheat scented… maybe I’m not too smart but I couldn’t tell you what sunflowers or wheat actually smelled like! There were a few other options but I couldn’t decipher the labels, or figure out what the picture was, and there was no way to smell them. I opted for orange – my dishes now smell like orange juice. I had a bit of fun trying to find something that resembled spray and wipe too – though I think I was more successful with that, I managed to find a lemon scented one, came with a refill and all, they are very into packaging things together and discounting… It does sort of smell like lemon… but it definitely smells clean which is a good thing! So I came home and cleaned the bathroom, washed every dish in the place and washed all the floors, its always nicer when you’ve cleaned it yourself and it wasn’t really dirty – but the best part… took me 15 minutes to scrub the entire apartment from top to bottom! I also bought a few fun things – I really have no idea what they are, but I guess it will be trial an error until I figure out what I like and what I don’t!

I bought what I think is a bag of chips…and from what I can tell on the label they might be spicy – I have no idea what they’ll taste like but there is a cartoon of a little dude on the front and he looks quite happy to be eating them so I’m hoping they taste good! I also got something that looks a little like a fat pikelet, there is a picture on the front of a honey comb so I am guessing they either taste like honey or there is honey in the middle and from what I can tell you put them in the toaster before you eat them…but I could be wrong! I love the little taste testing stands, I tried this drinking yoghurt today and it was so yummy I bought some, guess they know how well it works – you really don’t need to eat lunch before you go! The one thing I am looking forward to trying is what looks like KFC chicken – but all the packs were way too big for me to manage and from the pictures on the walls of the shop on the corner of the street where I live I saw the same food so I am guessing I can get a single sere from there.

Oh…the coolest thing? Everything can be delivered… from Korean food, to Pizza to…wait for it…McDonalds! You can call McDonalds and they will deliver it to your apartment! Most places will also deliver alcohol and cigarettes. I just keeping thinking about the number of nights I had had a few too many drinkies to drive and I would have killed to have Macca’s delivered! I walked past my school today and couldn’t help but smile when I saw what I am guessing are my students playing baseball on the field to the side of the school. They were having a great time, I thought about stopping to watch, and then I thought I might look a bit creepy watching them through the fence! It’s so different to the schools in Australia in that it’s right in the middle of the city next to big shopping centre’s etc. There are no real “school grounds” surrounding it – it’s just a building like any other aside from the fenced park to the side.

 Walking through the backstreets the other thing that really struck me was that almost every shop had music playing. There were always lights and sounds and people. The music varied a lot as well, most of it was Korean pop music and nice to listen to even if I don’t know what the words mean, but there was a fair amount of western music as well. I laughed aloud when I walked past a shop and recognized the music as “Air Supply”! A few general observations… there is no such thing as a parking space, as long as it’s not on one of the really busy main roads, apparently you can park anywhere you want! This includes; on pedestrian crossings, facing either way on a side street wherever you can find one, and double parking if you are in a hurry. There is also no such thing as J-walking, walking down the middle of the street is perfectly acceptable, again providing it’s not a main road, and cars will just beep to let you know they are approaching, even if you are not right in the middle of the road. I realized this beeping rule when I jumped the first time it happened and a couple of older Korean men started laughing at me.

Generally if you’re a pedestrian they will just drive around you, or if you’re really in the way they beep and you move…when you feel like it…no hurry! They drive on the other side of the road and the steering wheel is on the other side of the car, like in the US, and I think the rule is that you don’t look when you pull out of a parking space, you just go and if there is anyone coming they will beep. For pedestrians there is no keep to the left rule, you walk where you want, and on an escalator you stand right in the middle – everyone expects this so they are a lot more patient. It does surprise me how few people speak English, and maybe it’s different because I am living in Osan which is a little further out, maybe in Seoul it is more common. Most people will still try to help – I asked a question of a girl in a shop yesterday and I ended up with six people around me trying to make sense of my question and figure out how to answer it… very helpful – but I think I am going to need to learn Korean as soon as possible!

The one thing that’s super nice over here is that people keep stopping me in the street to tell me I’m beautiful…I am going to have to work to make sure I don’t get a big head! It’s a little bit random though, it comes from the women more often than the men, and they will literally stop you by putting a hand on your arm and then come out with a compliment, very flattering but I spend half my life blushing! The other thing of interest I saw today, which could have been part of the Suwon cultural festival that’s on this weekend, was a fly over by what looked like fighter jets. They flew past and almost a minute later the sound hit – really incredible, these things were fast and super maneuverable! Given that I don’t have TV at the moment I am hoping that it was a demonstration and not that North Korea have declared war… I would love to have access to news… but even if I did I am picking it would all be in Korean so not much good to me at this point! Anyway, relying on the understanding that peace continues I am going to go make myself some dumplings and have a rest before I head out to meet the school teacher, Yun. (I found the Dunkin’ Donut…also about a 5 minute walk!) Ciao!


Later Still… I have just come home and had a shower, made sure I had the powerpoint I put together ready to show the students tomorrow, and got my folder and bits together so I am all organized. I had coffee with Yun, I ended up going about 30 minutes early and to my delight I could access the free wi-fi from the adidas store that was next to Dunkin’ Donut! It was great to talk to her, I had loads of questions about the school, how the classes would be run, and about the students themselves. I told her a few of the ideas I had and she was very excited about them so I am filled with excitement about tomorrow and I am feeling very positive about the whole thing. She said the students are very excited to meet me and have lots of questions which is also a good thing. Tomorrow I am only teaching two classes, the school decided it would be best if I didn’t have too much on during my first two days so I am only teaching after lunch, the morning tomorrow will be used to meet everyone, the other English teachers and the Principal and vice-Principal.

Tomorrow night Yun will collect me and take me up to the hospital to have my medical done so I can begin to get sorted for my Alien registration card. As soon as I have that then I can open a bank account – and get a drivers’ license if I want one – I think I am going to steer clear of driving at this point! I asked her about what the students call the teachers and she said most of the time they refer to them as “teacher” but that the last native English speaking teacher they had was from Canada and he let the kids call him Adam. Apparently the kids formed a real bond with him and he stayed for two years. I was also excited to learn about the upcoming events, I missed the teacher conference on the 6th of October, but there is a day out organized where they take all the native English teachers on a tour of Seoul and I have apparently already been booked in for that on the 20th of October. Then next month there is a conference where we have either 1 or 2 nights away and there are about 200 native English teachers from the province that all get together. This will be such a fantastic experience, not to mention a great resource, a lot of the teachers have been teaching here for over a year so they will share things I haven’t yet figured out! Apparently they come from all over the English speaking world as well, from Australia, England, Ireland, South Africa, New Zealand etc. I am really looking forward to the trip to Seoul though! I should go to sleep now – tomorrow is going to be a big day – I can’t believe how big today was! And to think I was feeling blue this morning!