Well, HELLO everyone!! I have no idea how to summarize these past few months, but I will certainly try my best to do so without too many boring details. After that, i'll try to post something every couple of days to stay up to speed!
After a couple weeks of shoddy communication, false alarms about the security of my job here and changing departure dates, I was seriously wondering if this was a good idea to be coming over here. My childhood friend, Ryan (muc), was already here in this city and was able to clear some things up enough to reassure me that i should just get on whatever plane they tell me - and that's exactly what I did. 30 travel hours later, I was here in Daejeon, South Korea with a suit case and two backbacks! I arrived Sunday morning and had my first full day of teaching less than 24 hours later.
i was lost, confused, frustrated... you name it. After making a dozen or so children cry on my second day and feeling totally hopeless as a teacher, I was trying to think of what kind of jobs i could get back home if i bailed. I was miserable for one full day!! day 3 saved me though and everything fell into place. i'll never get tired of hearing "Thank you teacha!" at the end of a class or the hugs in the morning that they run up to give you. It's insane to think that some of these kids i see more than their fathers do!! it's amazing how quickly i've grown attached to these little tykes! those are the things that make all of the 'hoarse voice from screaming at kids all day in a language they hardly understand' worthwhile.
looking back now, i can't understand how two months have passed! two months have made me 100 times the teacher i was, and also 10 times the person i was!!
outside of school, life here is incredible as well. mountains and National Parks EVERYWHERE. Beaches, islands, museums, nightlife, great food, ZERO concerns about crime... it's a great place to be! My apartment is in an ideal location walking distance to subway, main bus junction, all of the bars in downtown Daejeon, bowling, my school, a park with running trails, soccer field, basketball court, workout area..... it's hard to ask for anything more!
I'm sure you all have heard about my new girlfriend too, right?? Sarah is AMAZING and we have been extremely happy together since the first week i arrived here! was definitely NOT looking for anything like that, but she was too perfect to let get away! we compliment eachother beautifully and have a ton of fun. HOPEFULLY, she may be able to join me next month when I come home for Tonz's and Schmelle's wedding - it's a longshot, but we'll see! she is a proud Alabaman for your information... come to the other side of the world and meet an American!? :)
I spend my weekends either traveling around the country, hiking or bar hopping the city with dozens of other foreigners - mostly other teachers here for the same reason as me from all over the world. i met an incredible group of people by chance in my first week here and the crew of party people has been gowing steadily ever since. there are far too many pictures already to put up on this site but they are all on facebook (http://www.facebook.com/#!/profile.php?id=185106315&ref=profile) for your viewing pleasure.
Too much else to say so i'm affraid i'll have to spare you a lot of stories at the moment. many of them may surface as i go on writing this blog this year....
for now, i'll leave you with my attempt to countdown the strangest sights/quirkiest cultural differences i've encountered so far.
10. Many restaurants here, you sit on the floor and cook the food yourself on a BBQ in the middle of your table.
9. There is no shower in my apartment - instead a showerhead that attaches to my bathroom sink and mounts on the wall.
8. my monthly salary is 2,200,000 won. yep, i'm a millionaire!
7. every park has gym-style workout equipment in it outdoors for free us.
6. This is an extremely active culture. you will find thousands of people on top of a mountain on any weekend day - women, children and elderly alike. THOUSANDS.
5. I lost muc's phone in a taxi my second day here and the cabbie brought it to his house two days later! "everything is like the 1950's here" -muc
4. I once saw a bus-stop transaction where one person got off the bus and another got on without the bus ever even coming to a complete stop.
3. the service here is UNBELIEVABLY GREAT! most restaurants have a button on the table that you push when you need something and employees litterally RUN to you. (another example; Sarah dropped her chopsticks on the floor at dinner the other night. they had barely hit the floor before an employee heard the sound and brought her some new ones.) :)
2. School-aged girls' school uniforms include their hair-do. everyone has the same 'lego-style' getup.
1. Bars commonly leave full 70 dollar bottles of wine sitting on tables or shelves as a display and apparently no one ever steals them. They also don't allow tipping and stay open until 6 am.
