I am an impatient person so after being here only 4 days I expect myself to know everything and it seems that everyday I know less! Well not really, but every time I think I've gotten something down something else comes up that I don't know and need to find out about. It is frustrating and painful sometimes but I know I'll eventually get the hang of things Anyway, this post will be short as I am exhausted and ready to catch some zzzzz's, but here are 10ish things you might have been wondering about...
- I'm here safely and so is my luggage.
- My apartment is:
- Hot. I only get AC in the bedroom and its not super effective. Can't wait to get a fan this weekend.
- Smelly. Someone used to smoke here bleh.
- On the 2nd floor.
- Has a cool lock thing on the door (Seen here. Mine does not have a fob)
- Has a new two burner gas stove, a larger fridge than expected, a microwave, and a washing machine.
- Is on a quiet street and my neighbors aren't too noisy.
- My school is about 15 minutes away and I take a cab each morning and night. The fare is about $3 one way. I will eventually get a bike with my first paycheck. A decent bike here costs about $200. In the winter, the school has a bus pick us up.
- Daejeon is surrounded by mountains and my classroom looks out on them. Its very very pretty.
- I have eleven 5 and 6 year old students and they are very cute. They speak decent english, enough that I can communicate with them. The other day I walked in and they were singing and dancing to Gangnam Style. It was awesome.
- Jet lag or something resembling it hits me at about 3 am here or 2 pm US time. I don't know why. Its weird. Otherwise, I'm sleeping well.
- All the other English teachers at my school are super super nice and helpful. The teacher who has been training me to take over her class is awesome. I don't want her to leave!
- So far I have seen 6 different 7 Elevens, a Dunkin' Doughnuts, two Starbucks, and a Baskin' Robbins.
- On Wednesday, I had a tough day and so I bought myself a Budweiser, went to the "Pizza School" pizza shop and bought a pepperoni pizza and watched Talledega Nights. It was awesome.
- Anyong IS an actual word and not just made up on Arrested Development. Unfortunately, no on uses it much. I have learned that "yogi" means "here" so I can tell my cab driver where to stop.
Alright, those are the 10 things you get for now. I need to get some sleep and you guys need to get to emailing me! Tell me about whats new or not so new with you. Email me, facebook message me or whatever just stay in touch!
You are doing great, Emily!
ReplyDeleteRemember that bringing some people coffee once in awhile helps things go smoothly.
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Hi Emily, it sounds like you are doing better than most people when they first arrive. You've done well in your contract to get a two ring gas burner, I got one electric ring and it did my head in. Have you figured out how to use the washing machine? It took me ages of writing the symbols down and asking co-workers. You can say anyong to children as they are younger than you, like saying hi, and only need to show respect to peers and people older than you by saying anyonghaseyo. If you want to say here with respect to the taxi driver, say yogiyo, but it's not completely necessary. The whole respect thing in Korea is fascinating.
ReplyDeleteGet in touch with Chris and get out for some beers!
ReplyDeleteI'm glad to see you got there safe! I know it's hard to adjust to living in a new country. You will get culture shock, you will get depressed at some of the weirdest times/moments. Just know that it's normal, and everyone who has lived an extensive time Ina foreign country feels it. I've been living here 5 years, and I still get homesick every now and then. Oh! And as for getting tired at weird times, it may be jet lag, but I had my own theory! If you are constantly being bombarded with another language, like it or not, your brain is trying to understand it. You know how babies have to sleep so much? It's because their brains are working overtime. I think it happens when you're in another country too, and that one of the reasons you get so tired! My mother in law used to call me "sleeping beauty" lol! It's normal too. Anyway, I'm glad to see you're safe, and I'll be following you! :)
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