The day had finally come, the last day of orientation !! We nailed the group presentation, had a short break, and then were off for a meeting with the POE to find out what cities we were living in and what school (s) we had been assigned to.
We signed three (count 'em, three!) Copies of our contract and then stood in line to review that we had signed our contracts correctly. The line grew long ridiculously fast, so I sat and waited for it to die down ... and it didn't, haha. BUT! I managed to find the paper that told me what city I was assigned to (Mungyeong) and what schools I'd been assigned to (Mungyeong Middle School and Jeomchon Middle School) All Google was able to tell me was that Mungyeong was an all- girls middle school and Jeomchon was ... possibly ... an all-girls high school? Confused, I kept searching Google, but I could not find anything. I was getting kind of frustrated since other teachers were able to instantly find the blogs of the teachers that were leaving their school and able to talk to them and ask all of the millions of questions they had ... and I was currently experiencing a Google fail. (Note:.... Google knows nothing about Asia Do not even try to find specifics Sometimes you get lucky But almost always, it will let you down) All I could find was that Mungyeong was a tiny city of about 77,000 people that neighbored the city Jeomchon.
That night we had a closing ceremony (which I was late to because the line was THAT long) and then a special dinner - the biggest buffet I'd seen all week filled with all kinds of Korean-ified foods. Most people went out to party and celebrate that night but I was boring (and still sick) so I stayed in with a few friends and we hogged the internet while everyone else was gone. I kept trying to find info on my city / schools ... with no luck.
I called home to tell my mom where I was going. We both ended up in tears. Let's ne honest here: my original application was for Seoul. While I knew Seoul would be too much to handle for me, I also knew deep down I would not get placed there. But I was also really not expecting to be placed where I was now set to go. A tiny little country town that no one really knows the name of. to make it even harder, no one could tell me anything about my city (even Google couldn't...) and I only knew of two other people that would be in the small city with me. All of us noobs, figuring this out on our own. I was scared. More scared than I had been throughout my entire process so far. This was not my ideal, and far from it. So yes. The tears came, haha. I knew my mom was now even MORE worried than she was before which also made me feel bad. But that's how the night ended. In tears.
Surprisingly, I slept really well.
Friday, February 27, 2015
The next morning we loaded up the bus and were off by 9am. We took a short (and pointless) stop midway between Daejeon and Gumi, where we would all be meeting our co-teachers and then be taken to our individual cities. I was a bit of a nervous wreck the entire ride, trying to sleep and get over this dang cold that I just could not shake. I had memorized a few lines in Korean to introduce myself properly and I kept pep-talking myself that I could say it all and not butcher it when it was time to actually say it, haha. But, before meeting our co-teachers, we had one last meal together - bibimbap!
I unloaded my things from the truck and almost immediately saw my co-teacher holding a sign with my name on it. I waved to her and she immediately introduced ... MY PRINCIPAL. Welp, not expecting that. Needless to say, I did not say ANYTHING that I was supposed to. Like, did not even say anything in English, either. Total brain fart. We loaded my things into the principals car and took off.
First stop was at the immigration office to register for my ARC card (Alien Registration Card) where they said I needed two passport photos and I only had one so I went to take more and then they actually only needed one. Go figure. After making a fool out of myself by miscounting money and leaving my medical exam sheet behind (do not ask) I felt like a complete idiot but .. they took me to lunch anyways, haha.
I impressed my principal with my chopsticks skills as we ate Korean-ified Chinese food. (Looked gross, surprisingly delicious!) And then we were off to Mungyeong. Along the way, my principal tuned on an oldies CD - like, Beegees oldies and proceeded to ask me "You like pop music?" I said yes (thinking he would change the station or whatever we were listening to) and ... he just nodded in agreement and turned up the music. Apparently the Beegees (to him) is pop music. Too cute :) I just laughed to myself and went along for the ride. Literally.
We arrived in Mungyeong and they took me first to the first school I'd be working at, Mungyeong Middle School. Apparently its an all boys school !! (GOOGLE FAIL.) And so is my second school. (COMPLETE GOOGLE FAIL.) Two all-boys middle schools. Yeah, didn't see that one coming ... But I met some of the staff and the three English teachers in the school (Minji - the one that picked me up, Narae - my other co-teacher, and Kim (aka Jieun ) who I will not be teaching with ... for some reason.)
The three of them took me to my apartment, about a 5min drive from the school. They helped me carry my things up and check out the apartment. They showed me how to work the washing machine (its all in Korean and has 500 unnecessary buttons, just like every washing machine) and how to work the ondol (the floor heating system that also heats my water.) The landlord saw me and you could tell he was excited to have a migook (American) living in his building, haha. He immediately said to me "You very pretty." I thanked him and he ran out of the room to open the apartment next door. He showed me a giant desk and asked me, "You want?" Since I had almost no furniture in my place, I said yes, especially knowing I'd need a place to work on lesson plans and stuff. The landlord and three teachers dropped everything and moved the desk into my apartment. I tried to help but they clearly did not want me to. Just like they would not let me carry my own luggage either. (I think they were just trying to make me feel welcome by making it easier for me.) With the desk moved, we headed to a store to get me a cell phone.
Once at the phone store, they looked at my phone and said that everything was fine with the one I had and that all I had to do was select a phone plan and they would get it set up right away. They were able to call a person to explain me the phone plans in English and we had everything all worked out - I was even able to get a 12 month plan which is basically unheard of! I explained to the guy on the phone that I was under the impression that my phone did not have a place for SIM card and that I would have to buy a new one.
Should not have said that.
Throw the last 20 minutes out the window, suddenly I had to get a two year contract that would include the price of the phone every month. YIKES. I explained this to my co-teachers and Minji happened to have an old phone that she was willing to let me have so that I did not have to sign a two-year contract OR buy a phone. HUZZAH! We ran to her place to get the phone, took it back, they said they'd get it all set up while we went to our next stop: Home Plus.
Home Plus is basically a Target + Walmart + anything else you could ever need in one place. Kind of amazing for a small town like this. They used the money from my "settlement allowance" to get me some things I needed for my apartment and for school. Hangers, food, dishes, silverware, dish soap, detergent, internet router, even slippers / sandals / indoor shoes for my schools and ... a "bed". I'm pretty sure I'm supposed to get a real bed? Not just a mat on the floor with a blanket but ... Yeah. More updates on that later when I figure more things out, haha.
After all of this ... WHEW. I was very overwhelmed, and super exhausted. I spent the night unpacking while I watched the one Korean channel I could find in English, the JUST SO HAPPENED to be showing Kpop performances at that time. Needless to say, I was quite content to have a space to myself and time to relax and settle in.
Saturday, February 28, 2015
Saurday morning I woke up and realized ... I knew no one and had no idea how to get anywhere in the city. All I had was the address for my school on Monday and the phone numbers of my co-teachers in my phone that was not working yet ... unless I had wi-fi. My directionally challenged abilities and my desire to sleep and be 100% healthy by Monday beat out any desire to go explore my city on my own. I did not even know my own address to tell a taxi driver if I got lost ... So, yeah. SLEEPING WINS.
Around noon I got a message from a girl named Kaitlyn who was a teacher in my area. Apparently no one knew I was coming because my positions had been vacant the semester before and they were not anticipating anyone filling those spots. SO. By sending just ONE picture via FB chat, Kaitlyn knew where I lived (AMAZING) and she sent Annie to come and pick me up so we could explore together.
Annie and I walked and met up with Kaitlyn, who had found Chanelle and Ben, the other two teachers from my orientation a few days earlier assigned to Mungyeong. The five of us went to get ddak galbi (so freakin 'good) and then we explored a little more. I bought my first Korean street food and loved it (even though he'd put sunflower seeds in it. (I'm quickly becoming the most un-picky eater EVER. Weird.)
We all went home for a few hours and then met up again for dinner, this time also meeting Sarah and Grant (pronounced grAUNT not grANT -. Get it right) We went for samgyupsal and then went to a few more places where everyone got something to drink. "But not I," said the Molly Mormon, and I stuck to my water, sparkling cider, and cranberry juice, haha. We played darts and ate the local cuisine (see video) and just got to know each other better as well as ask questions / advice about the city and schools. It was a fun night. I did get home a little later than I wanted, but I'm also glad I did not sit inside all day. :)
Sunday. March 1, 2015
Cuz that's all I did today. Sit inside. Nothing on TV. Did not know how to get to church or even where it was, really. I was able to Skype with family and update them on how I was and give them the ultimate tour of my "wonum" (aka studio apartment). I had already been told that I would not be teaching that week so ... I did not really prepare anything for school. With no textbooks I could not even pretend to gauge what their English level was. So ... I started a new Korean drama My Korean Frosted Flakes and ATE. Mashisayo ~~
I went to bed early so that I could be well-rested for my first day of school the next day!
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