Vacation!!

The last few days have been a complete blur! Last Thursday and Friday, I officially began teaching at my new school. I was anticipating a lot of running around and stress, but it was surprisingly calm and organized. I asked a lot of questions to make sure I knew what I was doing, but all the teachers welcomed my questions and were happy to help! This school experience is already off to a great start!

On Saturday, I met up with Fahmida pretty early in the day, and we went shopping for work clothes. My last school allowed me to dress very casually in shorts and tank tops. However, this new school has a more formal dress code. I wasn't prepared for that when I came here. Oh well, at least it was an excuse to go shopping, right? It took a lot of restraint to pass up the casual, fun clothes...Fahmida and I kept each other accountable though, so we stayed focused on only buying work clothes.

On Sunday, I took the subway to church with one of my new co-teachers, Angie. On Friday night, we were talking and found out that we both go to the same church! How cool is that?!? We go to different services though, so we had never crossed paths. At church, I met up with Mi-yeon, who I hadn't seen in over a month! When church was over, we met up with Johnny and grabbed lunch at Dos Tacos, our usual Sunday lunch spot.

After lunch, Mi-yeon and I went to the movies to see the new Batman movie. (Johnny had already seen it, so he just bummed around Gangnam for a bit.) The movie was great! (I'm a Spiderman girl, so I knew nothing about the Batman plot. The actions scenes were great though.) After the movie, the three of us went to dinner at an Italian restaurant. The people there gave us free yogurt for dessert, so that was awesome! After dinner, we called it an early night and headed our separate ways.

Monday was my first and LAST day of the week! We have vacation beginning on Tuesday, for the whole week. Woot! I don't have any definite plans yet, but we will finalize things soon. Monday ran really smoothly. I feel like I already have the hang of things. I got into work a little early to prepare for class. Once I was ready, I just relaxed with my coffee and waited for the bell to ring.

After work, I met up with Amanda, the girl I used to work with at my other school. My last class finished at 7:45pm, and Amanda met me at the subway station near my school. It was SO GOOD to see her! We grabbed dinner at a Vietnamese place, and went for coffee after. So many things changed since I left Korea, but it was so nice to meet up with an old friend and talk about life :)

Training Day #3

On the last day of training, all the teachers prepared sample lesson plans using the YBM curriculum. We went up to the front of the class and the rest of the teachers had to mock how the students would behave. I taught a kindergarten lesson, so all the other teachers had to mock the behavior of 5 and 6 year olds. This gave us a good idea of what to expect in the classroom. Students may be distracted by things around them, not know what was going on, some may finish faster than others, etc. Overall, the lessons went really well.

After training was finished, John and I hurried back to my hotel and met one of the foreign teachers at my school, Ian. The three of us moved my suitcases down the street to my new apartment!! It’s SO MUCH BIGGER than my last apartment, and it’s on the top floor. I’m super excited! It definitely has some character…but it’s really wonderful! I can’t wait to unpack and start decorating! :)

When we finished moving my stuff, John and I met Fahmida in Myeongdong. We wanted to get together and celebrate finishing our training. We walked around a bit and chatted. We grabbed some dinner at TGI Fridays, and then took the subway home. Tomorrow begins my first day!!

Training Day #2

On the second day of training, we learned about the school’s curriculum for different English levels. Each one of the trainees was given a book and a lesson, and we had to present the material to the rest of the class. This was a very helpful exercise because we were able to see what kind of resources we have access to, and what works and what doesn’t. Obviously, we weren’t in a typical classroom setting. However, Robert was able to give us valuable feedback when we finished and give us tips for when we’re in the classroom.

When training was over, one of the trainees, John, and I went to Myeongdong. It is a very popular area among foreigners because it has major stores from back home like Forever 21, H&M, and Zara. This is a huge shopping district, and it also has a lot of western food. John wanted to see it, so he and I took the subway a few stops and checked it out.

We wandered around a little bit, and then ran into Smoothie King. He had never had Smoothie King before, (he’s from the UK, and they don’t have that there), so he was really eager to try it! He loved it! Around 8pm, we both went our separate ways and headed home. I went back to the motel and packed my things…you know why?! Because the director of my school told me that I would be moving into my new apartment on Wednesday night, instead of Thursday night. Woot!!

Training Day #1

On Monday, I went to my first training. I have three days of training before I start my new job on Thursday. Typically for trainings like these, the company chooses a central location in Seoul that is easy to access from different areas and subway lines. Fortunately for me, I live in Seoul now, so my subway ride is only a half hour, and I don't have to change subway lines. Woot!

I arrived to my training about an hour early, so I stopped in at a Starbucks nearby and relaxed for a bit. The training is run by a guy from Australia named Robert. He's been in Korea now for four years, and has a lot of teaching experience. This year, he got the job with the Head Office of YBM ECC, the company that I work for now. When I arrived at the training, Robert greeted me at the door and gave me my information folder. I went into a room nearby and waited for other people to arrive. When 10am rolled around, there were seven new teachers total, plus Robert. It was SO NICE having a small group to go through new teaching training with! It makes such a difference when you can actually get to know other foreigners and hear about their previous experiences.

The training took place from 10am to 6:30pm, so it was quite a long day. It was very informative, and everyone took to Robert right away. He's a very dynamic speaker, and very down-to-earth and honest about the realities of the job. He told us right away that he wouldn't be sugar coating anything. This company, YBM ECC, has been a phenomenal experience for me from the beginning. Everyone has been so helpful and straightforward, and I know exactly the kind of company I will be working for. That's a major relief.

After the training was finished, I took three of the new teachers a few subway stops away to an electronics market. They needed to buy voltage converters so their computers won't explode here! It was really nice spending time with them outside of training. Even though we all work at different schools, I think we will keep in touch with one another. All three of them are from the U.K., but they didn't know each other before they arrived.

Today begins the second day of training. My body has finally adjusted to the time change, and I woke up at a decent hour this morning. Finally!! I'm excited about going back to training and learning more. After training, I'm meeting up with Mi-Yeon, who I haven't seen in over a month!! We're going to grab dinner and do some shopping. :)

Abby.

I woke up really early this morning, and after many attempts at forcing myself to go back to sleep, I got out of bed at 7:15am and got ready for church. Because I was so ahead of schedule, I ended up getting to Gangnam earlier than usual. I walked around the underground shopping area of the subway for a bit while I waited to meet Abby.

Abby arrived just before 11, and we hit it off right away. She’s a really great girl, and we talked all through lunch up until the church service started. She’s from Canada, and she just graduated from college this past May, just like I did when I first came to Korea. Abby really enjoyed the church service and wants to come back and get more involved! I was really happy to hear that!

After church, I showed Abby the bookstore across the street called Kyobo Tower. She fell in love with it right away, as I suspected she would. She said she wants to go back next week after she’s made a list of school supplies she needs. So exciting!

I showed Abby where her bus picked up to go back to Suwon, and I then headed into the subway. Now that I live in Seoul, it only took me 30 minutes to get home by subway, compared to the hour and a half it took when I lived in Suwon. I’m super excited about that! I went straight back to the hotel, and I’ve been relaxing ever since. I’m probably going to watch some movies and eventually wander out for some dinner. I also need to get my stuff in order for tomorrow. Training starts at 10am, and I want to make sure I know exactly how to get there and have everything I need. Training should be interesting…wish me luck!

Lost...yet again.

I was placed in a motel when I got here, and I’ll be moving into my new apartment on Thursday. The motel is in a really busy area of town, with people constantly coming and going and cars clogging the streets. On Saturday, I made plans to go visit Johnny at his place. I left the hotel a little early so I could find my way to the subway. However, I got lost. So very lost. My sense of direction isn’t good, as you probably know, but this was bad. I would walk down a street to look for the subway, and if I didn’t find it, I would walk back to the hotel and then try another road. This way, at least I would be able to figure out how to get back home.

After walking around for over an hour, Johnny finally called me and asked where I was. Thanks to him and Google Maps, I was able to successfully make my way to Metapolis where Johnny lived. Three bus rides later, I arrived in a familiar part of town. Woot!

Johnny and I spent the first few hours catching up on each other’s lives, filling each other in on what we had missed the past three weeks while I was in the States. It was really great to see him. We went out for dinner to a chicken and fries place, so that was delicious! I already miss drinking sweet tea…a drink that I purchased at every place possible while I was home. Water will have to do for a whole year, and then it’s HELLO SWEET TEA!!

Tomorrow I am meeting the girl who replaced me at my old school. Her name is Abby. It’s funny how this happened. I left my church calendar on my desk at work, and she saw it. Abby texted me and asked if I went to that church, or if it was just a random calendar. I was excited to inform her that it was for my church, and I would be more than happy for her to join! So, we made plans to meet up tomorrow before church and have some lunch. I’m really interested to meet her and see what she’s like.

Korea: Year Two.

Between my last job in Korea and this new job, I went back to the States for two and a half weeks on vacation. The time absolutely FLEW BY!! It was crazy how quickly July 19, 2012 came up! I spent time in Tampa, visiting my family, and drove to Orlando for the majority of my time to catch up with my friends and other family. I realized pretty quickly that time management is not one of my strong suits. It was difficult for me to balance my time among friends and family, and still see everyone I wanted to see. On a GOOD note, I had an absolutely incredible time!! I had pretty high expectations for this vacation, and even created a “To-Do” list with a group of my friends. This list included some local hotspots where my friends and I used to hang out, the beach, amusement parks, and some of my favorite restaurants with food that I can’t find in Korea. I had a BLAST!!

On my last day in Korea, I hung out with two of my close friends, Aleah and Brandon. Around dinnertime, they asked me what I wanted for my “last supper,” and I decided on pasta. After a few minutes of choosing the perfect place, we all agreed that we would be pulling an all-nighter! We drove out to Cocoa Beach and went to an amazing Italian restaurant called “Italian Courtyard.” I had never been there before, but had heard amazing things about it. The three of us decorated the paper tablecloth on the table, and I packed it in my suitcase to take to Korea with me!

After dinner, we decided to go to Ron Jon, a personal favorite which just happens to be open 24 hours. Woot! We bummed around there a bit and then walked out to the beach. There’s something incredibly special about the beach at nighttime. You can hear the waves and see the stars. It’s like the sky is endless.

After our beach walk was finished, we decided to head back to Orlando and stop for coffee. (I had some light packing to do still, and wanted to get home in time to do that.) I feel asleep in the car – SHOCKER!! – and Brandon and Aleah managed to find a Dunkin’ Donuts open 24 hours. We ordered coffee and donuts and then headed back to Brandon’s house so Aleah and I could pick up our cars. We all drove to my sister’s house, where I had been staying for my last week. It was about 1:30am when we arrived. I headed upstairs to finish packing, trying so carefully not to wake up my sister and brother-in-law, Jena and Kyle. Aleah and Brandon took naps downstairs, and I joined in when I finished packing! It was nice to catch about an hour of sleep before heading to the airport.

At 3:30am, Jena and Kyle came downstairs, ready for the day! We loaded up the car with my suitcases. Kyle goes running every morning really early, so I said goodbye to him. Aleah and Brandon followed my sister and me to the airport. I had to drop my rental car off at the airport, and after circling a few times, we finally figured out where we were supposed to go. It was SO CONFUSING!!

We managed to find short term parking and made our way into the airport. I had two suitcases with me. One of them, I wasn’t worried about. I had packed it well, and I knew it wouldn’t be over the weight limit. My second bag, however, was a different story. I had packed that one well, too. But, at the end of the packing, I was throwing in all the last minute things that I had forgotten about: charging cords, leftover laundry, bathroom stuff, and a few random things that wouldn’t make it through Security at the airport. My bag ended up weighing 50.0 lbs exactly. WHEW!!

I checked my bags and headed to the Security gate. It was only 4:15am at this point, and my flight wasn’t until 6:40am, so I decided to hang out for a bit. The three of us talked until 5:45am, reminiscing about the vacation, talking about our childhoods and sharing funny stories. Finally, it was time to say goodbye. It wasn’t really sloppy and boogery liked my first departure was. It was bittersweet though, and it was definitely hard to leave. I’m excited for my new adventure here, but at the same time, my vacation was so fun that I wanted to stay longer. I said goodbye to Jena, Aleah, and Brandon, and went to the Security line.

I’m so blessed to have such amazing friends and a big sister who are willing to sacrifice sleep to go with me to the airport. (My family was vacationing in the Keys, so they weren’t able to be there to send me off.) I had the best last day and night, and was able to see some familiar faces of people I love before I left for another year. Bittersweet.

My flights were fine. I flew from Orlando to Chicago, and Chicago into Seoul. I had really great seats for both flights, and wasn’t too uncomfortable, so that’s always a good thing! After I arrived in Seoul, I went to Baggage Claim and then bought a bus ticket. I rode the bus for about an hour and a half. When I got off the bus, two of my new Korean co-teachers, Ellie and Stella, were waiting for me. They helped me carry my bags a few blocks to the hotel where I will be staying. I will be here for five days, until I can move into my new apartment on Thursday. I think the teacher who I am replacing hasn’t left yet, but once they do, I will move right in! Ellie and Stella gave me the paperwork I needed for my training, which begins on Monday. They also gave me $250 from my school, which covers me for the first few weeks I’m here until I get paid. That’s a pretty sweet bonus if you ask me!

I went right to sleep when Ellie and Stella left because I was completely exhausted. I'm now awake at 1:45am, updating my blog. I'm doing the best I can to force myself to get back on the right schedule. My body clock is way off, and it's always a struggle for me to get back on track. Hopefully when I finish writing this, I can catch a few more hours of sleep, so at least I'll be waking up at a decent hour! We shall see. Tomorrow, Saturday, I'm going to head to Metapolis where Johnny lives. We don't want to do anything crazy since we're both exhausted. It will be nice to just relax and catch up. It should be good! I'm not sure how good my Internet access will be here, so I will update as much as I can! Also, it is a personal goal for me this year to continue blogging about this journey I am on as much as possible. Here's to my first day/night back in Korea!!