New Year Korea update

So I realize that I have not had too many posts on Korea recently. Well here is a recap of the last 2 months.


I now work at the research institute and its great! I work 1-9pm which is great because I hate waking up early. I teach classes online of 1-4 students at a time. I teach all ages which is interesting but I love it. It is overall a very easy job. I have tons of breaks and my Korean co-workers and bosses are great and all like me. They tell me I am doing a great job and have not had any negative feedback so that is always good as well.

I've made tons of friends and traveled to a few other cities in Korea. Life in Korea is good, food is cheap which is good because I love to eat! The only negative is that I haven't learned as much of Korean language as I would have liked. After three months in Thailand I was really good at speaking Thai but My Korean kinda sucks. I just never spend much time on it.

I will be going to Japan for five days in February. I am actually going to the city that my mom used to live in years ago so that adds yet another element of excitement to the whole thing.

All in all my life is going great! I miss all of you folks from back home and in CNX as well.

My first Thanksgiving away from Georgia

On Thanksgiving day I knew the home sickness would finally hit, I mean it had been 4 months.  I was really worried going to bed the night before.  Last Thanksgiving was a unique one…my sister had just undergone surgery to have a tumor removed and my mother stayed in Atlanta with her while she recovered.  This left Thanksgiving to just my dad and I since no relatives would be visiting.  At least we all had SOME family to be with though.  Back to now, I’m on the other side of the world and wondering how the day will turn out.  So I head to school to teach Korean kids about Thanksgiving…and had an amazing day.  I had to teach the kids about Thanksgiving and then made turkeys out of their hands.  They were so amazing that it made me forget all about missing home and it turned into the best day I had in Korea so far. 

For dinner Rafael, Anthony, and I headed to find a real feast!  We ended up trying a new place and ordered a whole chicken, seafood pasta, and a pitcher of beer.  Luckily the menu had pictures.  We went around the table and said the things that we were thankful for and said a prayer.  It was a unique and pleasant experience that just went to show once again that good people can make up for where you are or aren’t. 

 

I am so blessed no matter where in the world I am.  I still always have an amazing family and great friends.  A little faith and a positive attitude will take you a long way…its worked for me so far.  J

Andong: My new home

A little about Andong, Gyeongbuk, South Korea…The city has a population of 184,000 located on the Nakdong river.  Andong is known as the cultural capital of Korea and is a central market for all of the surrounding rural towns and villages.  The name Andong means “pleasant town” and it seems to be fitting.

I will work at Gyeongsangbuk-do Education Research Institute starting Dec. 20^th.  Until then I work at Andong Gangnam Elementary teaching grades 3-6.  Everyone one the institute seems to be really cool so far.  We have had a few work outings and meeting to date.  I am absolutely adored by all of the teachers and students at my elementary school!  They are not too used to foreigners in Andong.  I am called “handsome” and “tall” as well as greeted by “hello” by pretty much every kid that passes in the hall.  It’s a great feeling… 

I love Andong so far and it is a very beautiful and different place.  It is basically a blend of old and new thrown between a river and some mountains.  The area that I live Ok-Dong (Dong means district) which has tons of new construction.  Ok-Dong has a large nightlife district and plenty of good restaurants all within a few blocks of my apartment.  My apartment is in a smaller building (only 3 floors) 5 other American teachers live in the building as well.  I have a view of a field on one side with mountains in the background and a hilltop park on the other.  Behind my building is another park with a basketball court which we like to play basketball and soccer with the local kids. 

 Above: Like a boss? Below: My view.

So far I feel like I made the right decision and am enjoying my new home. 

Seoul and EPIK orientation

Korea! Finally!

I arrived in Seoul a day before my orientation began. Seoul is massive, the largest city I have ever been in! (around 24 million people, 2^nd largest on earth next to Tokyo's 32 mil) Day 2 I hiked down the street with all of my luggage to the National Institute for International Education building where I would stay for most of the next week. Check into my room eat lunch, meet a few guys...the rest is the kind of thing that legends are made from. I quickly bonded with about 8 other guys and we decided to go to a place named “Beer Castle” that night. We talked over a few pitchers of beer and bottles of soju and had a great time, then we did it for the next 5 nights.

We also took over a bar "Cool Cats" for a few nights...see below.

 Some of the guys.

Orientation was pretty cool, we got to watch quite a few interesting lectures and met some great folks that would also be working in Korea. So we studied, partied, saw some historical sights, and watched LANTA, look that up!

 Odd bar signage.

 Our favorite, taste like Kix and Fruit Loops. Plus beer and Soju. SFP!

 Culture!

 Beautiful/Awesome