In Korea

Well, hello there! It's been a while! Especially since I've been in Korea for the past 5 days without a single update.

I think I've been waiting until I feel settled. I really need hangers. I have a lot of sweaters (which become not so many sweaters after all of the necessary layering I pull off) and light jackets sitting on my desk. I went to Homeplus, which basically has everything, and bought a few groceries, some indoor shoes to wear at school, and the softest dish towel ever... But I totally forgot the hangers! I'm blaming it on the store being packed and my decision to not push my way through groups of Koreans who actually knew what they were looking for, as well as my cowardice and inability to speak at appropriate times. Haha, it's not as bad as it may seem, really. I just totally blanked on the one sentence I wanted to remember. I wrote all of my items in Korean so I could find them more easily, but that didn't help very much because I completely underestimated the massive size of this multi-floor shopping center.

Aside from my brief shopping stint that had me traveling to the third floor in order to look at cute clothing so I could feel better about my experience, everything has been lovely. My taxi driver from the airport was incredibly nice, and my absolutely wonderful co-teacher was waiting for me at my apartment. She explained the electronics and heating system to me, and then took me out for my first meal, followed by coffee. <3 Wonderful. She is also very helpful in class, and we share the time we teach. I didn't know if it would just be me and the students or not, so having her there is a godsend. We teach third and sixth graders, 4 classes each, and there is another Korean woman who teaches English to fourth and fifth graders. This Friday, all of the teachers will be staying behind to share a meal and welcome the new teachers. I'm excited! I have been enjoying the meals at school... I'm pretty sure it was octopus the other day. It's good!

One thing I'm not so excited about is the medical exam I need to do tomorrow. I'm not allowed to eat anything after 9pm tonight, or to drink anything after 6am tomorrow morning. No coffee for Kaitlin! Oh boy... And we're teaching sixth graders tomorrow, haha! I'll be okay, though. My co-teacher will be there with me, and it's probably about time I got over my obvious dislike for hospitals.

As for my apartment, it has a little loft where my bed is and some storage up with it. The kitchen is narrow, but I really like it's layout. The main room is a perfect size, too! I'll be taking a video tour of it once I get those hangers... Then everyone will be able to see for themselves! :) It's well-equipped and I am quite pleased with it.

I met a few other girls who are teaching English here, as well, and they are wonderful! I'm glad I was able to get in-touch with them, as I can only imagine how difficult it would be to not have any English-speaking contacts at first.

Speaking of friendship, I have also fallen in love. The heated blanket I found in one of the cabinets is nothing short of a modern miracle and is one of my favorite things right now. I recommend them. Strongly.


Well, I am going to sign-off. I'll try to have less time in-between posts. I think it's easier to read when I'm not typing off short novels.


a bientot~