First Day At School

Hey everyone,

I realized in my latest post I was a little brief on my living situation, etc.... I am living in a single room apartment with a bathroom in Suwon, conveniently located right across the street from Suwon Station, where I can catch a bus, the subway, or a train. Attached to Suwon Station is the AK plaza. AK is a large Korean department store and there are numerous places to eat inside. So far, I've enjoyed a Western-style breakfast at both Dunkin' Donuts and another coffee shop. There is also a McDonald's, Burger King and the Korean version, Lotteria, but seeing as how I don't eat that at home I have seen no reason thus far to partake in any of that here. There is also a Smoothie King and a Baskin Robbins in the food court. I forgot how much I enjoyed Jamocha Almond Fudge! I've also found some strange flavors of ice cream and yogurt such as Apple Mint. For the most part, I've tried to immerse myself in Korean cuisine, which has meant lots of kimchi (which is beginning to taste like the Kaplan pickles) and a variety of other foods. I've really enjoyed bibimbap, which is rice-based and comes with different kinds of vegetables, a fried egg, and the option of beef, squid, or vegetarian. I've also had seafood ramyon (ramen noodles), which was also very good, but made me sweat.

On Monday, my co-teacher took me to the hospital for my health exam. I don't get the results until next Monday, but everything should be fine. Afterwards we went out for lunch to a traditional Korean restaurant where I met another American who is teaching English, but not near me. He is from Chicago and is teaching in Yong'in.

Today (Wednesday) I got to go to my school, Maesong Elementary, and meet my fellow colleagues. I was pleasantly surprised at the warmth they showed me, although I was pretty lost during the morning announcements. The room I will be teaching in is a fairly decent size room with a TV larger than the one in our basement at home. I have my own desk and computer and was busy making lesson plans for the better part of today. The principal took all of us teachers out to lunch today to an amazing Korean restaurant about 20 minutes from school. I was amazed at the vast amount of dishes being brought to the table. When I got back to Suwon my co-teacher took me to the LotteMart (equivalent to Wal-Mart) to pick up some things for the apartment. I can now safely say that I own a frying pan, a pot, a saucepan, some silverware and chopsticks, bowls, plates, glasses, and even some food and drink in the fridge.

All in all, Suwon is beginning to feel a little like home. I will begin my actual teaching on Monday and I am planning a trip to Seoul over the weekend. That's all from here.