My first week in Korea:
I started work on Monday, and thought that I would have a few days of training. I was wrong. My boss needed my help Monday morning in the kindergarten room. I didn't think that 5 year old's could be that intimidating. Again, I was wrong. I sat down with them at the table, and they just stared at me. I had no idea what to do. However, after I pushed through the awkward stares and uncomfortable silence, I learned their names, joked a bit, and everything turned around. We had a great time, and now they love me :) There's one girl, Kate, and now when I walk into the room, she gets this big smile, yells "teacher!" and runs over and gives me a big hug! That is probably my favorite part of the day. They are all super cute.
The next few days were about the same. Between other teachers needing to go home, or calling in sick, I actually taught a few more classes on my own. Overall, it was a fabulous experience and I learned a lot! There's quite a few kids in the school, and I am trying to learn all their names. But for the most part, I can just joke around with them and we all have tons of fun. I'm looking forward to this next week though. I start with my own class and kids!
As far as pictures go, I have a few from around the city I live in, Suncheon. And I am really excited to get out more and take more pics of the city and people. The hard part is that it's monsoon season right now, so going out when it's pouring down rain is not going to happen. Now, when I say "pouring down rain," unless you've experience heavy rain, I don't know how else to explain it. It's more like buckets of water falling from the sky, literally. I walked to the store the other day when it was "pouring" and was soaked after only 4 or 5 minutes.
So after a crazy week, the weekend came and it was time to hit the town. So last night, a few of us went to this rib place, and the food was amazing! All the food I've eaten so far has been great! With maybe the exception of the octopus kimchi soup I had on Friday. Not a big fan, but at least the octopus was dead and not squirming in the soup. What we had to drink at dinner was great too... Soju. Soju is like vodka, but better. A bottle, maybe 12 oz or so, is about $2. I shared the bottle with Amy and we were doing pretty good by the end of it. But at midnight, the night was still young, so we went to a karaoke place. Much different from the karaoke bars I'm used to in the states. We had our own private room, a bottle of whisky, and lots of food. Two girls, the waitresses, were also singing and having a good time with us. After a bit, maybe 2 or 3 am, we ordered some noodle soup, and one of the waitresses, Jolie, fed me my soup! I didn't know what to do! The soup showed up, she grabbed the chopsticks, and started feeding me! I felt like a king!
I'm looking forward to this next week. I hope to have more crazy stories and experiences. I'll talk to ya all later! Marcus // these are the pics from this week:
