Well I'm finally here.
(didn't feel like proofreading by the way)
Well what can I say about this place except that I think I will most definitely survive.
I got here at 5:30 in the morning yesterday from a flight that went well. To my left was a guy who this was a connecting flight for as he was going to go study abroad in China as he's a student at University of Texas. To my left was a fellow 49er, yes folks, a CSULB student who was studying there for a semester and is now returning home.
Well I got picked up from a school representative who took my straight to my apartment. From Seoul to Pyeongtaek is a 40 minute drive, not too bad. I got shown my place but I only had enough time to leave my luggage there as the school teachers and principal wanted to meet with me. I met with the principal in his office where I met the main office staff, just a quick hello.
I then went on to visit the English learning floor of the school, which is on the 5th floor of the building (I know, stairs galore). There I met the other English teachers (Korean-born). All of them speak English very well and teach different aspects of it. I am there to teach the speaking portion, articulation mainly.
I asked questions about the last English teacher and they had a Texas-native male in his 40's who was a "big guy" in their words. He taught at the school for three years though and is now teaching in another school in Korea, so obviously he enjoyed the opportunity. There is a middle school next to the high school where the English teacher is from South Africa. I am supposed to meet her but have yet to do as such.
I then came home, where I was supposed to settle in, nap, and set-up my laptop to email my family and update the social networks. Well because I didn't have the network key, I had to go back and walk from my place to the school which is about 5 blocks (not too bad).
The English teacher assigned to show me around, Ms. Han, got me the network key, but told me it was best for me to stay at the school so her and a colleague could show me around the city.
So they did. The showed me what called "the main gate" which is not far at all from my place and it serves as the epicenter of the U.S. Air Base.....more on that later. Then they took me to the market to get some groceries and other essentials.
I came back to my place, took a shower, and power napped. Let me tell you about my place now. It's a one bedroom furnished apartment comparable in size to any one-bedroom apartment in LA. I have a kitchen with appliances and a dining table. The bathroom has a everything a normal bathroom would have and I have a washer/dryer. My bedroom has a desk, dresser, TV stand, TV on the stand, the Internet lines, and my king sized bed. I'm not a fan of the brand-new bedding they bought as the colors are not of my test. I must make it a point to replace them when I can. So all in all my place is a normal run of the mill apartment.
After I power napped I watched TV (I think Ugly Betty was on) and went back to bed. Saturday morning I went to the school as the main English teacher (and my co-teacher for the classes I am going to teach), Mr. Lee, took me to the local hospital to get a physical and make sure I am in good health. The hospital was normal and everything they asked me to do was routine. Nothing strange there. Mr. Lee then drove me to McDonald's (yes you read correct, the land of golden arches) so I could get some breakfast and head back to my place. Today, Saturday, I have made it a point to get to know my community and here's how that goes....
The city. I WILL SURVIVE HERE, TRUST ME!!! I live down the street from a U.S. Air Base station known to the locals as "the main gate." I got there by taxi which takes $2 to get me there. That's right, two freaking dollars! I can't even get an American taxi to open the door for me for two bucks. So I get to base station which is located by the "downtown" of the city I live in. Let me tell you that all the comforts of home are here. The people to start off with: I think I've seen more American people in this city than I see in LA. There's everything here: Popeye's Chicken, McDonald's, Baskin Robins, 7-Eleven, Nike Store, Adidas store, and the list goes on and on. I pretty much spent the day here getting to know my surroundings. Me not knowing Korean is not a problem here as all the business owners speak English. I got my cell phone set (I'll forward all you my info later) and did some shopping for essentials, including outlet converters and the electric outlets here are a bit different. But yeah, even the guy who sold me my cell phone today is from Texas. I then bought some things like bread and cookies to take back home to eat later. This place takes like 15 minutes to walk to and like 1.5 minutes by taxi. So yes, it's not even like I moved to a foreign country, I feel like I moved to another city in the US that happens to have a larger Asian population, that's it. I even had lunch next to a couple who live in the same city as I do who are from Florida and like it here. It even reminds me of Boston at times.
My complaints about this place are small. First, the humidity is something I need to get used to because LA is so dry. It reminds me of when I went to Missouri. The couple from Florida don't mind the humidity because they are used to it. Next, is the fact that I need to learn new forms of measurement including Celsius and kilometers. My last complaint is .... well.... that was it. Complaint time is over.
So just so all you know, family, friends, and loved ones....I will be fine. It's nice here and the students here are respectable of their teachers (I know, shocking). I will post when I can post. I haven't really had a chance to take pics, but as soon as I do I will post.
Also, a friend from CSULB is in Seoul right now and I may meet up with him next weekend so he can show me the capital. It's 1:30pm on Saturday here in Korea. I think I will nap and finish watching "Face Off" on TV (which by the way they don't censor the F word here, awesome!). Peace and love.
-Osc
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