Another Week Done

I have now finished my fourth week in South Korea. Life is becoming a bit more routine now; I'm getting a better handle on my classes and am starting to learn my way around downtown Daegu and my neighborhood.

One thing is for sure: this is definitely a job not a vacation. I'm working really hard and happy to be doing so. I teach a total of 28 classes a week, which is not a bad course load by any means, and do additional training and orientation stuff on top of that. I do really enjoy teaching for the most part and most of my students are really awesome and seem to be enjoying my classes. The hard and frustrating part is when students are not interested in being there or learning. I have to get through the curriculum in a certain amount of time and its really hard when the students just stare blankly at you. I have not idea if they are not comprehending what I'm saying or just bored out of their minds. Oh well, I guess it's just part of the job.

This weekend was also really good, especially because we didn't have to work on Saturday. Friday night I went out to some of the usual places that foreigners in Daegu frequent. I stayed out way too late, causing a bit of a sleep deprived Saturday, but that did not stop me from going out and exploring a bit.

After doing a lot of research about places to go, I decided upon checking out Duryu Park mainly because of its close proximity to a subway stop. I figured it was a good choice because I would most likely not get lost on my way. It was a nice place to walk around and take pictures. I came across another pretty lake. After exploring the park for a while I headed downtown to do a bit of shopping. A combination of Korea not having clothes dryers and my eating healthy food has made every pair of jeans I own gigantic. I stopped in this store, Uni Qlo, which is very popular here. I discovered that I am the largest size that they sell jeans for and they are on the top shelf that is kind of hard to reach. I guess size 6 women are not their target demographic. But these South Korean jeans certainly fit me like a glove. I think it has something to do with the fact that my lack of curves is more akin to the Korean figure than the ideal western figure. All in all, a good day...a little exploring, new jeans, and a new flannel shirt that I'm in love with.

I was a little late getting up on Sunday. Despite staying in the previous night and going to bed relatively early for the weekend, I slept later than I did on Saturday. My body was probably compensating from lack of sleep the previous night. After doing a bit of wash and cleaning, I headed downtown in search of a new winter hat and gloves since it's starting to get pretty cold here. After succeeding in purchasing new gloves and a scarf, I headed to a coffee shop to enjoy a nice warm beverage and read my book for a while. And now I am back at home updating my blog and sad that the weekend is practically over.

A few images from my trip to Duryu Park:

En Route to South Korea...

So I left America on Saturday, November 7th. I had a 12:40 flight direct from JFK Airport to Incheon Airport, the main hub in South Korea, and then a one hour flight to Daegu.

We got to the airport with plenty of time and I was waiting... waiting for something, the realization that I was leaving everything and everyone I know behind for a year. I think I expected to feel sad or nervous or anxious, I didn't feel any of these things.

When 12:30 rolled around I got on the plane just like I would get on a plane when leaving for a vacation that I would return from in a week. But I would not be going on a vacation and I would not be returning home any time soon. A mere 14 1/2 hours later i would land in South Korea.

The flight over was actually my introduction to Korean food. I had something that I can't remember the name of and it was delicious and spicy. I was very happy that they provided forks and spoons instead of chopsticks to eat with since at this point I was not confident in my ability to eat with chopsticks without making a mess and making a fool out of myself (I still am not confident in this ability but I'm getting better).

I was hoping to be able to sleep during the flight but that was not the case. I was awake for the majority of the long flight and watched many inflight movies - some good but most not so good. I think what really kept me awake was the fact that my mind was racing thinking about the unknown that would come with this experience. I was finally getting nervous about five hours into the flight and it manifested itself in me over-thinking and over-analyzing everything.

We landed in Incheon at about 5pm on Sunday, November 8th, only 29 hours after I had started the journey the previous day. But my traveling wasn't done yet. I had a connecting flight to catch to Daegu. I arrived in Daegu at around 8pm and was met by the school administrator who took me to to dinner and my temporary apartment.

I settled into my apartment and passed out. I would be reporting to my first day of work in only 12 hours.