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Week 1 (Feburary 27th to March 5th) |
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On Sunday Feburary 27th,
I boarded a plane to Chicago, where I would then catch a fourteen hour flight to
Seoul, Korea. The flight was long and horrible. Fourteen hours stuck on a small and cramped airplane
is not my idea of a good time! I was stuck in the middle of the row, so I was basically trapped in my seat, watching bad movies in Korean. However, I did meet some people on the plane who are teaching in Busan, which is about 1 hour south of Daegu.
Finally, I arrived in Daegu on Monday night at 7:45pm. You cannot imagine how exhausted I was-- sleeping on
airplanes is kind of like trying to sleep in the hospital-- not going to happen! On the other side of
the gate to greet me was Sue, my director, her 7 year old son Tommy, and one of the other English teachers,
Jason. We went straight to dinner, even though food was the last thing on my mind (Sue is really big on
food; as soon as you're done, she'll put even more food on your plate!). I had my very first meal in
Korea in the restaurant that is underneath my apartment-- a very delicious bibimbap.
The gas wasn't turned on in my apartment yet, so I stayed at Sue's apartment on Monday night. I slept
like a baby!
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On Tuesday March 1st,
Jason showed me around Chilgok. Chilgok is our neighbourhood in Daegu. It's north of the
city, so in Toronto terms, it's kind of like living in North York. I was a little disappointed that we're
not right downtown, but as soon as I figure out what bus to take, apparently it's really easy to get
downtown-- that's where all the shopping is! Daegu is known as the fashion city of Korea-- it's here that a
lot of the textiles are made, and there are many textile engineering courses at the university here.
Anyway, in Chilgok, everything looks exactly the same, so Jason had to show me how to get to apartment,
because I had no idea! In Korea, the streets have names in theory only. You'll never see street names
on the street. Also, the buildings are numbered according to when they were built, not where they were
built! Understandably, this can make getting around a little difficult, especially since Chilgok is a
relatively new suburb, and everything looks exactly the same! Even cab drivers don't know the
neighbourhoods; you have to give them a landmark (mine is the Chilgok Home Plus), and give them directions
from there. Mailmen and delivery people are the only ones who know where anything is!
I did notice, even in the airport, that lots of people stare at me, wherever I go. In Korea, I stand out
like a sore thumb, especially in Chilgok, where there aren't that many foreigners. Interestingly enough,
everyone is bending over backwards to help me. Even in the Seoul airport, the second I showed any
confusion, somebody would take me by the hand and help me find where I was supposed to be! My co-teachers
have also told me stories about complete strangers going completely out of their way to help out the
foreigners. I think for some people, talking to foreigners is a good way of practising their English.
That aside, it feels a little strange to be so conspicuous. Koreans are very curious. They ask lots and lots of
questions, sometimes even personal questions, and they are often blunt. I find this kind of refreshing; it's
nice to hear people say what they actually mean for once, instead of beating around the bush like we do in
Canada. The first question that most people ask me is if I have a boyfriend. When I say no, the common
response is "But why? You're so pretty". (Everybody says this, without fail). While at home, I look just
like everyone else, in Korea, they tend to love Westerners, so when they see pale skin, and curly
brown hair, it's a big deal).
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On Wednesday March 2,
I went into work at Wonderland for the first time. It was kind of a strange day,
because it's the beginning of the school semester for the morning classes. We had an orientation meeting
for the parents, and then I observed the afternoon classes. This counts as my training. There hasn't
been any formal training. Thursday was more of the same, and on Friday I taught classes all day!
The morning students come every day, and the afternoon students come two or three times a week. For the
mornings, I am teaching the five-year olds, who have had no English experience whatsoever! As you can
imagine, this is very difficult, as these kids don't understand Sit down; in fact most of them don't even
know their own names yet! (When kids start at a haegwon, which means English academy, we give them
English names. This can be fun, because you get to name the kids whatever you want. One of my
co-teachers tried to name his class after Seinfeld characters!).
So not only do my students not know any English at all, but they're also little maniacs! So far they
have been very poorly behaved and difficult to control. Hopefully they will get better as they learn
more English . . . When I left the room, I felt like I had just finished combat!
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On Saturday night (March 5th),
Jason and Evan (two of my Canadian co-teachers) introduced me to some other English
teachers in Chilgok. We had a great night-- my first night out in Korea. The other teachers were great and
really interesting. I also got the chance to get to know Jason and Evan a little better. One thing--
Koreans know how to drink! I thought that I was a pretty good drinker going to music school, but I
learned that I was wrong. It's a society of workaholics and alcoholics. The best part: when the
bill came, we each paid 10,000 won only! (That's like paying 10 dollars, when a night like that in Canada
would have cost at least 50 dollars!) I guess I'd be an alcoholic too, if it were that cheap to drink in
Canada! Needless to say, my Sunday was spent recovering from my Saturday.
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