Week One

Well it’s been a week. As strange as it feels, I think I’m starting to get used to this alternate universe known as Korea. So, on the tail end of my first unaccompanied day of teaching, I thought I would put forth some of what I’ve learned so far.

The area I live in is called Hwamyeong. It’s kind of a suburb of Busan (the second largest city in Korea (4 million people). It’s on the south coast, and is kind of a vacation spot for Koreans) though it’s still within the city. If you doubt the size of Hwamyeong, put your fears to rest. The entire area is covered in apartment buildings at least 20 stories high, and every building around my apartment is at least 15 stories high with different signs covering the entire building. Because it’s kind of a suburb, there are a lot of young families in the area, hence a lot of demand for English schools, hence a lot of foreigners in the area, and hence a lot of businesses that cater to foreigners. Looking out my window on the seventh floor, I can see a Baskin Robbins, a Dunkin’ Donuts, and Pizza Hut, all within three blocks. There is also a wealth of Korean restaurants crammed into every nook and cranny of the towering landscape. The one stop shop in the area is the Lotte Mart, which is a three story, Grocery store/Department store/Walmart all rolled into one. I have found very few things (other than some western foods) that I couldn’t find there.

I’m living in a single apartment that came furnished with just about anything you need. I live about a block and a half away from the school I’m working at. It’s almost twice the size of many of the other apartments, and it’s in the building right next to the building where my other four coworkers live. There are three restaurants on the ground floor of my building, and a movie theater (which I have yet to explore) right across the street.

There are four, soon to be five, other foreign teachers at the school that I work at, and about eight to ten Korean teachers. I am teaching one class of Kindergarten science, and the rest are 8-14 year olds. The school is what is known as a Hagwon, which is the Korean equivalent of an after-school program; the kids got to public school during the day, and then go to different Academies (Math, Piano, English) in the afternoon and evening. The school seems really nice. They take care of a lot things (like the medical exam) that some other schools force the teachers to do on their own. It seems like a very good working environment, and I’m excited to be working there this year.

I’ve done some exploring since I’ve been here, although not a ton. We went down to one of the beaches one night, and me and two of my other new coworkers went to Nampo-Dong, which is a big market district. We went to the live fish market; that was a sight to behold. Crabs, eels, giant worms, octopi, squid, and fish of all kinds, all being kept in tanks. Though we didn’t try it, I have been assured that you can pick out an fish you want and bring it a few flights of stairs and have it prepared in front of you. We also went up Busan Tower, which gives an amazing view of most of the city of Busan.

So, that’s about all I have right now. I will share more adventures as they happen, and I’ll upload pictures at some point in time. I hope to hear from all of you soon on how your lives are going.