Okay, so it’s Friday night at 7:19 which means in one hour I will have officially been in South Korea for one whole week. It feels like this easily could have been 5 weeks mashed into one. I am already surprised by how settled in I am and how comfortable I feel here.
I’m currently sat in a Korean cafe down the street from my house counting the bug bites I acquired on the 20 minute walk home (11 so far… edit: over 20 easily), drinking a green tea latte I ordered only because I said “tea” and the barista didn’t understand I was trying to ask her what kind of tea they had. This is the first night since I’ve been here that I haven’t done something big and I thought about going home and crashing immediately but I felt bad about spending my first Friday night in my new home being a couch potato (Although I surely deserve it).
I want to recap as much as possible that I’ve experienced and learned this week but I know a lot will fall through the cracks. I want this first blog to be conversational and stream of consciousness style so here we go…
I have a new name. You can call me “Anna Teacher” from now on. I already love being Anna Teacher. I have my homeroom class of seven students that I have already figured out surprisingly well. There’s the bossy one, the quiet one, and one who can’t seem to keep from falling on the floor every five steps. I love them so much already and it only took 5 minutes for them to go from standing in the corner awkwardly to hanging all over me. One thing worth mentioning is Korean’s obsession with beauty. I have one student in particular who has already told me I’m prettier than the last teacher, requested I wear dresses, complimented my hair, and got up during the middle of class to inspect my choice of earrings. This obsession goes for the parents as well. My co-teacher constantly has to brush my student’s hair so their parents don’t get upset when they get home. My co-teacher is so sweet and so helpful. I feel really lucky to have gotten her.
One thing that blows me away is how incredibly smart my student’s are. They are 6 years old Korean age (so 5 American age) and they are already reading at the age of American 7 year olds. Although I am amazed, I am also sad because I know how hard they have to work for that and the amount of pressure that is put on them at such a young age.
I survived my first field trip to a Korean broadcasting network. The entire presentation was in Korean so I don’t really know what was said but it was still fun to get out of the school and see something new.
Speaking of new things here is a bulleted list of strange things I have learned about Korea this week:
- There is no regard for pedestrians here. Cars will not stop for you.
- Since I’m sitting in a cafe, it’s worth noting. Cafe’s are not open early in the morning. Even Starbucks doesn’t open until 7 and most local cafes don’t open until 8:30 or later.
- Korean’s have their own messaging system called Kakao Talk which is basically like WhatsApp. The app has it’s own emojis and the character’s are EVERYWHERE on EVERY kind of merchandise. (This is my bus card with one of the characters on it and a cheese cake bread with a different one called Ryan)
- Clothing sizes are so small here. Even the American brands only go up to a size 8!!! WTF!
- There is no shower. There is a shower head on your bathroom wall. My bathroom doesn’t even have a sink in it.
- Everything has sugar on it. Even garlic bread.
- Korean’s LOVE corn. Corn in and on EVERYTHING.
Other things worth mentioning:
- We have a school pet. It’s a kitten named Meonji which means “dust” in Korean. I’m obsessed.
- I love my city. It is the perfect combination of city and nature. There is so much green. We’ll see how long it lasts.
- I really love my coworkers. There are 3 from South Africa and 3 from America!
Anyways, it’s been a crazy week. I went from staying in a nice hotel to moving into an apartment. I now know my way from home to school and how to get a few different places all within walking distance. I went from shadowing to teaching. I went from knowing 0 Korean to now knowing how to say hello, goodbye, please, thank you, yes, no, 1, here, and I don’t understand. Everything is changing so quickly and I’m feeling pretty settled in already! I can’t wait to talk to you guys about what happens next!
Peace & Love,
Anna
- Anna Goes Adventuring - 