it took 14 hours to fly from atlanta, GA to incheon, south korea...the flight left atlanta late, but still landed earlier than scheduled in incheon..i wonder how often that happens? getting through immigration/customs took almost no time at all, and i quickly found the person who was waiting for me..i had thought it was someone from the school, but it wasn't...it was a taxi they had hired, so there was no conversation to be had..at all..over an hour (an hour and a half?) of total silence...i don't know why, but he turned down the radio, and even turned WAY down the sound on the gps..awkward much? i'm glad i know the city a bit, i was able to watch the signs on the highways and know where we were..the driver took me to a motel where they seemed to know what to do..again, it was fortunate that i've spent time here previously..the taxi driver was somehow able to contact the teacher i was replacing, so she arranged a time to come over later that evening..we ended up chatting for an hour, then she had to go help a friend pack..(i arrived at the time of year when there is a lot of turnover, as the school year starts 1 March)..we also arranged when and where to meet the next morning..
soooo, the next morning i got ready and was waiting at our arranged meeting point, not particularly enjoying the rain..ugh..typical winter weather here, gray skies and chilly..ugh..
getting to school took less than 10 minutes..it's really nice to live so much closer to my school than i did when i last lived in seoul..at my first school, 4 years ago, i could walk to school in 12 minutes..at my second school it took me 35 minutes to walk and take the subway to work..not fun..anywho, my new school is close, YAY!! my first day of work was actually the second to last day of the school year..(it was originally intended that i get to seoul earlier than i did, but all sorts of things were crazy, and the whole process took far longer than expected)..the way the schedule of this school works, thursday is the last regular day of the week..fridays are always "special days"..that means anything from birthday parties to field trips to theme days to just about anything else..so i only had one normal day to observe and figure out how the school works on a regular day..i followed sara to her classes, met some of the kids, and figure out which students i'd have in my own classes..the way the schedule works out, it's basically two hours of teaching, lunch, two hours of teaching, snack, then another hour..i don't eat lunch with the kids, though i do eat the same food..it's korean food, which i like, and is healthy..woo hoo:)..the day went well, there wasn't much to it..
the next day was my frist field trip..we went to the soma art museum, which is in Olympic Park..which just happens to be about a 5 minute drive down the street from the school..(which, i found out a week later, is only a 12 minute run from where i live)..i'm assuming this museum is one that changes it's exhibit every so often, because that day the entire museum was all about robots..from some of the first robots, to popular robots, to contemporary robots, etc..it was fun, and i think the kids liked it..on fridays lunch is longer, as is the afternoon snack..the whole day is much more relaxed..another easy day..after the day ended, sara helped me bring my boxes (i had shipped my things to korea the day before i left bloomington)..
the next day i got up early and went to touch rugby..i had gotten the email not too long after arriving saying that touch was starting up for the new season..touch is much more informal than contact, i'm not sure there is an official coach..it's also often mixed with the guys who play touch..basically, a touch game is started, and people sub in and go out for a couple hours..it's a game with a LOT of running, and i quickly realized i am WAY out of shape..sure, i can run a long way, but i can't do it fast..i was sucking air, badly..(not to mention the AWFUL quality of seoul air)..motivation to get in shape!!
i went home and attempted to sleep..after running around for a couple hours, i was knackered..of course, it didn't happen..so far i hadn't slept through the night, i kept waking up really really really early in the morning, after going to bed at a reasonable hour..waking up at 0300, and staying awake until 2300, then doing it all over again..i kept thinking my body would crash, but it never did..i just slowly slept later and later each morning, and after a week and a half finally slept all the way through the night..that evening (a saturday) i met up with sara and a couple other teachers at a brazilian all you can eat steak restaurant..sara wanted to eat there, and since it was her last weekend, she had every right to do whateva she wanted..i've been to this place before, and i love it..i'm not usually big on all you can eat places, but all you can eat steak is AWESOME..brazilian steak to boot..(sorry if you're vegetarian)..i definitely ate my money's worth..soooooo good..needless to say, by the end of the meal (pretty much non stop eating on my part) i was done eating meat..there were side dishes on the table, but none of us ate large portions of those, why fill up on those when we could eat steak?
sunday was a day of rest..i took the subway to a few areas i used to love, just to see how they've changed..
monday was a holiday..one of korea's two celebrated independence days..since sara was leaving that day, i got to move from the motel into the flat..while still a studio flat, it's soooooooooooo much nicer than anything i've lived in previously..it's on the 12th floor, and i have a view over a good portion of the city..beautiful..or at least as beautiful as any view can be in seoul..it's way bigger than my previous flat, i love it..there is enough storage, room for my bed, a laundry rack, a bookshelf, a small table and two chairs, as well as a small couch..and the bathroom is super nice!! there is a wall between the shower and the rest of the bathroom..to most of you this doesn't sound like anything out of the norm, but here most showers just come out of the wall, and everything in the bathroom gets wet when you take a shower..the building is connected by elevator to the subway station, i don't even have to go outside..across the street is a large grocery store, and the gym is just down the street..a huge department store is also across the street, as is a coldstone creamery..what more could a girl want? life in this flat is going to be good:)
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