Charades and Pictionary are now a part of my everyday life...

I’ve been in Busan a little over 2 weeks and I have so much to share! I’m officially a legal alien! I went to immigration and picked up my ARC. I’m a real alien. Hooray. And I got a multiple entry visa so I can leave Korea for traveling if I decide to do so. I was going to Japan in a few weeks, but all of the public school teachers are quarantined in SoKo until this swine flu thing passes. Every morning, I have to stand in line with the students to get my temperature taken. My vice principal congratulates me every morning for not having a fever… he says, “Good Job Caroline Teacher!” and it always makes me laugh.

Things are coming together… slowly. It will be really nice to be settled in my new apartment. I’m still without internet at my “temporary” apartment and will most likely wait on internet until I move into my new place. My temporary apartment is festive. I’m not posting pictures of it until I move, for fear of it causing mild panic among those that love me! The important thing is that it’s safe and conveniently located above a bar.

I accomplished my goal of making friends with the bar owners. The woman calls me little sister in Korean and asks me to call her big sister in Korean. I’ve been told I’ll move to my new (and better) apartment in one month… but I’m prepared for it to be longer. Korea is dynamic. Ha. My current landlord is very sweet and doesn’t speak any English. He calls me “CHRISTY!!!!” every time he sees me and usually speaks about 2 solid minutes in Korean, then smiles, waves, and walks away. I have no idea what he’s saying, but he always seems excited to tell me things.

I figured out how to ride the bus to school. But, I haven’t quite figured out how to get home. I can’t find a bus route written in English and I can’t communicate to my co-teacher why I’m having issues getting home. Until I figure it out… or learn Korean… I’m riding a bus that drops me off about 1.5 miles from my apartment.

I’m teaching at Yeonsin (Yawn-shin) Elementary School and I’m the only foreigner. A part of me thinks they hired me for comic relief, because they often find the things I do amusing. They giggle at my minimal Korean-speaking abilities and my lack of love for seafood. Apparently, my facial expressions make me easily understood… even though I’m trying really hard not to have violent reactions when they serve me things that have tentacles or eyeballs. The first day they served me an ENTIRE baby octopus on a bed of tentacle-covered rice and this week they gave me an ENTIRE eel head! I’ve started to dread lunchtime. I’m trying really hard to be a part of the staff and they really appreciate that I’m eating with them, but the food they serve me is sometimes frightening. Some of the food is really yummy, but tri-weekly I’m afraid.

I’m mainly teaching 3^rd-6^th graders and Tuesdays I’m teaching 1^st-6^th graders in an after school program. I’m lucky to be at a small school, because I don’t have any classes over 30 students and I get to see my 5^th and 6^th graders twice a week! Some of my friends are at very large schools with 40-45 students per class and only see the students once a week. I like that I’ll get to know the students more personally! My students are wonderful!!! They are incredibly bright and attentive, eager to learn and speak and very friendly. Yesterday, I was waiting for the bus after work and some of my students rode by on their bikes. When they saw me, they got off their bikes and stayed to talk to me until the bus came. They are so fun! It’s easy to let all of the attention go to your head. Ha. These students treat foreign teachers like rock stars! They call me “Caroline Teacher” and every variation you can imagine. (Some of the faculty is calling me Cat, because they say my name is difficult to pronounce… The rest of the faculty just meows at me… not kidding.) The students often stop by my office to chat and run for hugs or high fives when they see me in the halls. My students make me smile.

After school, I’m staying very busy. There is so much to do here!!! I’m really enjoying Busan. I’ve checked out a few of the beaches, including Haeundae. Haeundae is the largest and most visited beach in Busan. AND… on a clear day, you can see Japan from the shore. Pretty neat. The Busan Aquarium is interesting… they even have a hedgehog. Not really sure what that’s about. I didn’t know hedgehogs were aquatic. Oh well. Sunday, I thought I was going to climb a mountain. I was wrong. I made it about 1/4^th of the way up, felt like I was going to die and then decided to go back down the mountain while I still had a heartbeat. My new goal is to climb it before I leave SoKo! We shall see.

My other goal is to learn Korean! I’m taking Korean lessons. Pusan National University (PNU) is offering free lessons to foreign teachers. I took a placement test. The entire test was in Korean, so I signed my name and turned it in. The teachers laughed and immediately assigned me to the beginner class. Surprise, surprise! There will be about 30 other EPIK teachers in the class with me… most of whom I know. Classes will be every Monday and Thursday evenings for a while. I’m excited about learning Hangul (the alphabet/writing system) and about potentially being able to understand part of what is said in my mandatory Monday faculty meetings! (spoken only in Korean… as if faculty meetings weren’t torture enough!)

Things I’ve learned about Korea....

1) How to navigate the subway system

2) A few Korean words/phrases… a very few

3) I’m not a mountain climber

4) Every Korean I meet will most likely insist I eat something with tentacles

Survival Tools....

1) Flexibility and a sense of humor!!!

2) Other EPIK teachers

3) Korean Phrase Book… with phrases written in Hangul, too!

4) Ability to perform Charades and Pictionary at any given time

Miss and love you all…

My street...

Haeundae Beach Pics...

Gwangoli Beach Pics...

Posing with the blow up beer mug that illuminates the door to my building...

Dinner for Ikee's first birthday in Korea... (from left to right) Kira, Me, Ikee, Karen, James)

My favorite neighborhood bbq place. Love this place...

Busan Aquarium...

Aquatic hedgehog??????

A slightly larger version than what was served on my plate... only slightly larger.