Many Happy Fun Time

The flight was quicker then I expected. Twelve hours actually passed with two movies, a measly 50 pages read in a book, a little sleep and a few meals. At immigration I was selected for a “random screening”. It consisted of me waiting in various chairs for intervals of 10-20 minutes. In these chairs I was facing bureaucracy and he had no interest in “chit-chat”. Finally he motioned toward the door and said something to me in Korean. I grabbed my passport and never asked twice or looked back.

My luggage had already done down the bag slide ridden the bag merry-go-round and been trapped in bag limbo. The place was deserted. I collected my bags and found my driver, 50 min later I was sitting down to dinner with my principal and to two other ESL teachers.

I woke at 4 am to the boom of thunder. I wrapped myself in blankets and watched the light show from the balcony. Massive flashes lit mountains in the distance and I made mental notes on side trips to be investigated later. After 20 minutes I went back to bed but clicked on the light, I was no longer tired. I pulled out the untouched book from the flight and read until the sun came up. 6am I attempted a shower in the combo shower toilet but there was no hot water so I settled for a “refreshing” see. Cold, sponge bath. Very awake I dressed quickly then decided to go for a walk, maybe find some food if I felt adventurous. I began walking down streets following no particular path, turning when I saw something of interest; a cool bike, an outdoor aquarium full of squid, a man in a park playing some game between bocce and croquet. Eventually my stomach won the battle between nervousness and hunger. I spotted an atm and after one failed attempt to navigate the system I was able to withdraw funds 50,000 won with a 3000 won service charge. I picked the amount at random, I didn’t know how much I would need for breakfast but figured I would need money the rest of the week at least as well. I chose the amount in the middle of the high and low amount I was able to withdraw and was ecstatic when the machine produced a stack of 5 10,000 won notes. I walked into the nearest shop and grabbed items at random. Piled on the counter an old woman watching soaps on a small TV rang me up, total 2,700 won (almost three bucks). With the transaction complete, feeling bold, I accepted my bag of treats and said, “thank you” in Korean which she responded likewise and added a good bye. These might seem like trivial feats but I was quite proud of myself. On the walk back I pulled cookies and butter crackers from their wrappers and ate them while admiring the clouds and slurping a horrible coffee drink in a can. Back at my temporary apartment I hurriedly typed this before it was time for my first day at school.

The first day started with me being introduced to the entire school. They had questions. What is your favorite color? What is your favorite shape? Where are you from? What is your favorite color? Mwa cham san da chawa? What is your favorite color? What is your favorite animal? What is your favorite color? * see answer key 5.71

My first class was amazing, excited, curious and bright, the rest did not necessarily compare. Some were smarter and quieter but some were lazier and more obnoxious. Overall it was a great time and I look forward to working with them.

I discovered I will be working with them sooner then I thought. My training started and finished today. On Monday I am on my own! It’s sink or swim and I don’t plan on drowning.

After work the staff went out for Korean BBQ, it was half good bye to Emily Teacher and half hello to William Teacher. The soju *see bad idea, flowed. I talked to many of my co-workers about everything. The evening ended at the Garten Bier where we were served beer by the foot. Over all it feels like this has been one of the longest and most eventful days of my life (and I skipped over a lot…you’re welcome).

Cold – An understatement of epic, private area shrinking, proportions.

Answer 5.71 

1) red, like my shirt. 2) ummm well I like circles…I guess? 3) the USA, Washington state, Seattle. 3) red, like my shirt. 4)ummm Say again? 5) red, like my shirt. 6) I like dogs. I have a dog back home that I miss. (first, of many, lies) 7) red, like my shirt….still

Bad Idea – Something between rice wine and vodka placed before you so your Korean counterpart can have some laughs at your expense.