Korea: Week 1

All the way across the ocean, my window had to be shut to help create a dark, sleep worthy environment for the other passengers. Every few hours, when the flight attendants were busy elsewhere, I snuck quick, blinding glances at the blue white world outside. Once, I thought I saw an island, but it may have just been a glare. The rest of the time, when I wasn't eating some of the best airplane food I've ever tasted or watching the inflight movies, I tried to nap, albeit unsuccessfully. How could I sleep on such a flight?

After twelve and a half hours, we landed in Seoul, and my driver, Mr. Lee, picked me up outside customs. I was a little worried we wouldn't be able to find one another, but he was waiting for me with a huge handprinted sign that said simply "Rachel". I needn't have worried. When we reached his van, he began checking things off on a to-do list on his phone, and from the back seat I noticed a picture of me. He smiled and showed it to me when he checked it off. "Photo," he said, laughing. I smiled. This was more or less how our conversations went for the next hour while he drove me to the motel. Mr. Lee would say a word or two in English, and I would smile and nod. Perhaps not the most eloquent conversation, but at the end of our journey he gave me his card, so I guess I was a good passenger.

I stayed at the motel for two days while I waited to move into my apartment. My first night there, the excitement at finishing the longest day of my life was so overwhelming that I jumped on the queen size bed as soon as Mr. Lee left. This is when I learned that Korean beds are really hard. However, there was a two person Jacuzzi type bathtub in my bathroom, along with a bottle covered in korean lettering that created a lot of bubbles when I added its contents to hot running water. It was blissful.

The next five days melted into one another as I was introduced to my students, did two days of training, and then taught for three days. The hours are long (9:30-7:30 Monday/Wednesday/Friday and 9:30-6:40 Tuesday/Thursday) After the first day of standing for 9 hours, my feet told me I will be needing more comfortable shoes. It was very stressful, since I had next to no prep time for twelve classes. By the end of the week, while drained and emotionally worn out, I felt a little more confident that I can do this. The other English teachers have assured me that it feels very overwhelming for about two weeks, and then everything starts to fall into place. They are all very helpful and encouraging.

My first impression of Korean students: they are cute and overworked. Most of the kids I teach in the afternoon finish their classes with me after 7, and then go on to piano academy, or math academy, or something similar. As members of one of the most competitive countries in the world, these kids are taught early on to "get ahead" by learning as much as they can and making sure they "get the right answers." If nothing else, it means they study hard.

My apartment is small and serviceable. In Korea, the bathroom serves double duty as the shower. It's actually very convenient, so long as I don't leave anything that really needs to stay dry in there. Another interesting fact is that my stove sits right on top of my washing machine. Last night I used this machine for the first time and, not knowing what any of the buttons did because they were in Korean, just pushed a lot of random ones and then happened upon the "Start" button. The timer glowed red and showed my washing time as two hours and fifteen minutes. "What? Why?" I said out loud. After an hour, I checked on my laundry and tried in vain to stop the machine. It was getting very hot for some reason, and I was afraid that all of my clothes were going to be roasted by this clearly maniacal machine, so I started hitting it with my hands in frustration. "Stop! Please stop! You're going to kill my clothes!" I ranted. (Granted, it was 12:15 AM at this point, I had been teaching little children all day, and was pretty emotional.) Suffice it to say, the whole thing was rather dramatic, and ended with me standing over the machine an hour later silently pulling out my dry clothes. Apparently the washing machine doubles as a dryer in Korea.

A lot of people have asked me about any cultural experiences I have had. Honestly, other than taking the bus to work, buying kimbop at the 7 Eleven downstairs, and going out for Korean barbecue, I can't say I have had that many cultural experiences yet. I am sure I will, though, and will be writing about them. As far as first weeks go, this one hasn't been too terrible.