Goodbye Canada, Hello Korea

Ok, so flying across the world isn't so bad, unless you want to sleep! The airplane had rows of 10 seats with me being in F which is in one of the middle seats. Definite bummer since my friend Anna S. told me to drink lots of water and keep hydrated so I was peeing like a madwoman (not so fun for the man who had to get up everytime I had to go!). Pro was that there was a girl who was on my TOR - CHI flight with a bunch of magazines that I thought could possibly be heading to Korea as well. I saw her waiting at the Chicago airport as well but never got a chance to talk to her. Guess who had the seat right beside me!? Crazy hey?! She is from Collingwood and has come to teach straight out of university and she is teaching just outside Seoul. So I made another friend! :)  AND...she had way more luggage than me which made me feel better about the amount I had!


So sleeping on the plane was brutal...those neck things definitely don't work as I was bobble heading all over the place! You just gotta get into the right position and not move. Let's just say that my body was pretty messed up by the end of it. The food on the plane was pretty good, and there was always a Korean choice: Lunch was bibimbop or beef stew and dinner was chilli chicken or cheese pasta. I went Korean both times and I must say they were pretty tasty!


The flight was just over 13 hours so I traveled for one whole day! Luckily my bags made it safe and Mr. Kim was on time. He was provided to me by my Korean recruiting company (who were working with my Canadian recruiters) and he drove me the hour and a half to my town. He was very quiet but would ask me a question here and there. There were no seatbelts in the back seat so I was pretty terrified as I have heard that Koreans drive all crazy and that they have a high accident rate! But I was so happy to finally be at my final destination after all the planning and the  whole process. The scenery was beautiful, mountains everywhere and cute little cities and apartment buildings. There are a lot of buildings being built and lots of cranes everywhere. I was feeling pretty good, until we arrived in Yeoju.


Oh, Yeoju...it is kinda what I expected but I thought I would be able to walk (or at least bike) places. I actually live in Gangcheon, a small farming town (in the country) which is a 10 min drive to downtown Yeoju. I feel like I live in Cuba, no joke. There are little houses made of cement with clothes on clothes lines and little restaurants here and there. Lots of things growing and I am surrounded by mountains which is cool. A small road leads to a dead end, which is my school: Kangcheon Elementary School .

my street

my apt

my school

Gangcheon aka Cuba

principal's house across the street

When I arrived I was greeted by a woman and her little girl who doesn't really speak English. She is really friendly and says I am really pretty which felt good after a day of flying and feeling like shit.  The child is her daughter and I found out later that she is the nurse at the school and she lives below me with her husband and 2 kids (not the principal...he lives across the street!). Her daughter is super cute, she is 4 and her son is 8. She lead me to my apt, up a creepy flight of stairs, where a creature could come out at me at any moment, haha! At the top of the stairs I have a sweet patio that had some chili peppers drying out, where I could see myself chilling out with a book in the summertime.


The inside looks like I had pictured it but some things are a little off...well the shower is just a little off. It is a tap near the ground with a shower head but the shower is not enclosed. I had heard about this but it is weird. Basically when you shower water goes everywhere! kinda nuts, but good thing most of the bathroom is tiled. Other than the bathroom, I have a rice cooker, microwave, fridge, 2 desks, 2 wardrobes, a tv, a washing machine (we will discuss that later), a table with 2 chairs, a couchy looking thing, and a bed...which had some sheets on it when I arrived! However it is pink and looks like it is for a 6 year old but whateves, I came here thinking I wouldn't even get any linens! A woman from the administration office also bought me some bowls, cutlery, fry pans, RICE!, eggs, toast, milk and water! So nice!

bed (view from entrance)

kitchen (right of entrance)

beside kitchen 

2 wardrobes and a couchy looking thing (in green)

desk number 2

bathroom (right hand side of door)

shower (left hand side of door)

10 mins after I arrived and while I was busy inspecting my new home, my co-teacher arrived to take me to dinner. Her and her 4 yr old son (super cute!) and her hubby and the nurse and her family all went to dinner about a 2 minute drive away. Although they have been telling me their names, I have no idea what they are!! I am def gonna have to write them down or something ;-)


The restaurant was authentic Korean, you walk in take off your shoes and sit on chairs with no legs on the ground at a table very low to the ground (which I thought was Japanese, but apparently Korean too). My co-teacher ordered food for everyone and we drank water while we waited. I am happy my co-workers have families so I don't have to drink everynight, I hear Koreans like to drink A LOT and I thought I would be getting hammered at dinner everynight! Pro to country life I suppose. Everyone was just speaking in Korean and they would ask me a question here and there. Kinda awkward, but I just kept a smile on my face, and it makes me more determined to learn the language. Let me tell ya, sitting on the floor cross legged after a day of travel is not comfortable! So painful, I kinda just wanted to get the F outta there!


Food arrived in several little dishes...which I am used to but there were so many! Some of them looked delicious but most of them didn't. Lots of them had seaweed which I can only really eat in sushi. You get rice then everyone shared the dishes. I had spicy pork (yum), beef steak (yum), tofu in some sauce (meh) and potato in spicy sauce (yum). Lots of them were mystery items that I didn't recognized so I didn't eat much. The food was definitely different than Canadian Korean so I will have to start trying things or I am gonna starve!


After we ate, I started to feel kinda sad and was fighting back tears as they carried on speaking Korean. I was just looking around and wondering what the heck I was doing all the way over here. The kids were playing rock, paper, scissors in Korean which made me smile and forget about being sad...they make me giggle!


As soon as they dropped me off I got upset. Things are going to be a lot different than I anticipated and that is something I will have to get used to. I just feel so trapped here and I have no idea how I am going to visit any of the people I have met who live here without a car. I guess all I can do is ask at school and hope someone understands me and knows about the bus schedule, or maybe I can look into getting a car! haha doubt it!


Well I was up at 6am when I started writing this and now I have to get ready to go for my first day! 
I will let you know how it goes!


Talk soon.