Well, we're here. We arrived last night. After a 12-hour flight (on a side note, I whole-heartedly recommend Singapore Airlines to anyone traveling across the Pacific). After collecting our baggage and clearing customs faster than in any other country, we emerged from the terminal to see tons of Koreans waiting, many with signs containing various names. Our driver, Mr. Li, had no problem spotting us (the only confused foreigners in the lot), and quickly herded us outside, where he and the majority of the Korean men exiting the airport immediately lit a cigarette. Welcome to Asia.
It took us about half an hour to reach our school, where we met our vice-president/director/head teacher/boss, Joe, and some of the foreign and Korean teachers. Joe showed us around the school, which has one floor in a giant building for the older (elementary - high school) students and a separate, new building exclusively for kindergardeners and some 1st graders. After the tour, Joe took us to our temporary hotel room - right across the street from our school - and then took us out to dinner and helped us find breads to buy for breakfast. We returned back to the hotel around 10 PM (which is 6 AM in California). We set our alarms fro 9:30 the next day, since we needed to be at the school by noon, and crashed.
We were both wide awake by 8 this morning, not quite able to internalize the fact that we're here. In Korea. To teach. For a year. Huh.
Having purchased breakfast-y breads the night before, we ate breakfast in our hotel room and learned to operate the shower (there is no curtain or door, but rather the entire restroom is made of plastic, the toilet paper is covered, and the floor itself has a drain to get rid of all the water). After getting dressed and acclimating for a while to Korean music videos, we headed over to the school for our first day of class-observing.
From around noon until about 6:00, we observed 4 classes with 3 different teachers (Joe and the two foreign teachers we are to replace - Elaine and Sean). We also met the rest of the Korean and foreign teachers, got mobbed by very enthusiastic (and not at all shy) kindergardeners, and checked out some of the available course materials.
During a break, we went to the same tiny Korean restaurant that we'd eaten at the night before, and managed to procure a delicious, spicy seafood and noodle soup with my poor Korean reading abilities and some creative signing. The waiter, who was amazingly indulgent of our inability to communicate properly, also brought us some kim chi and water. Korean word of the day: 짭뽕라면. Meaning: Delicious cheap noodle-fish-chili-soup that I can't pronounce properly.
After observing classes, we went and got our photos taken for the alien registration card that the school's owner will apply for on our behalf. Tomorrow, another day of observation - in the kindergarden as well as with some Korean teachers. For now, off to take photos and find food.
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