This weekend is a five-day weekend, so Thursday was our last day to observe classes. By the end of it, we'd seen about half of the courses we'll be taking over. Elaine and Sean said their goodbyes to their co-teachers and students that evening, both very sad to leave them. Despite the difficulty of living and working in a foreign country, and any disagreements or difficulties, it was clear that they both were very attached to their students (and the students to them). Given this, we know that we have big shoes to fill, but on the other hand, we're assured that the coming year will be a worthwhile experience.
After school on Thursday, Sean showed us around his (now our) apartment to introduce us to its tricks and quirks. Afterwards, we went to La Festa, a huge shopping/entertainment district, for a couple beers and some last bits of wisdom before we embark upon our own teaching career. It's hard to explain exactly the change that has occurred in this past week - from our first day landing in Incheon to our first day in our new apartment... we've seen classes, gotten to know some of the students and teachers a bit better, gotten a glimpse into what we will be doing for a year, and obtained an immeasurable increase in confidence and ideas from Elaine and Sean.
Last night Mark came to visit us and the next day we all explored Lake Park (with a huge man-made lake) and Ilsan in general. While walking around, Jay and Mark worked on learning to read Hangul, using any and all signs we saw on our way as practice. I only needed to help occasionally, as both of them have learned to memorize most of the alphabet really quickly. We also got to use the subway for the first time to visit Mark and see where he lives as well. He's in about the same situation as us, with similarly-aged students, though a few subway stations apart.
I'll explain more about our apartment (with photos!) once we've settled in a bit more.
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