Ma new place!!

"You take the things you like, and try to love the things you took." - Regina Spektor 'On the Radio'

I've listened to that song a million times already, but it's the first time I've ever picked up that particular lyric. I quite like it.

After a crazy month of orientation and trips, yesterday was finally the last day of our province orientation. So much for February being a welcome change from the whirlwind of January travels. We had two orientations, one for all 300 of us, and the second just within our province. Ours has 24 making it an enormous province with such a small group. The province below us is half our size but has three or four times as much people. I quite like it this way though.

Two days ago, we finally got the names of our mentor teachers and the logistics of our school. Mine is quite small with only 65 students from grades K-6. I was quite excited because this is the day we would meet our Korean co-teachers who would teach side by side with us in each class, and are often college students from nearby universities. I waited... waited... waited... and no one showed up for me. I went up to the Gangwon education supervisor, and it seems they could not get in contact with my co-teacher and I may not even have one.

I got in contact with my mentor teacher (who is usually the Korean English teacher at whatever school you are going to), and she confirmed that they have not been able to find one for me. Apparently we live in such a rural area that they have not been able to procure someone who speaks enough English to function teaching in the classroom with me. She also told me that they have not been able to find me an apartment yet, and when she picked me up the next day we would go around searching for one. On top of that, she didn't know when my settlement fee (that everyone is supposed to get when they 'settle' would come in). So in essence, I was FREAKING OUT!!

Yesterday came and I was still worrying about it. When I met my co-teacher finally, I saw that she is the nicest person EVER! She's so sweet. Our meeting right away went off on the right foot. I really hope that I didn't cause her much stress because we did a lot of driving around Gosung and Sokcho, first my school (so cute, I LOVE IT!), then E-mart, then the bank because my pin number somehow didn't work, then my apartment, then back to E-mart to buy everything I need, then dinner, then my apartment again.

Ok, this is something I'll forever be in debt to my mentor teacher for. She managed to get me an apartment where another TaLK scholar is living, where I was hoping to live. I have TWO bedrooms, a spaceous living room, big kitchen/dining room, and a balcony looking out onto the East Asia Sea (or Sea of Japan, depending on your politics). I absolutely LOVE IT HERE!!! Today they will have a bit of a meet and greet opening ceremony for me at 3:30pm. I start teaching next Tuesday. Now to get started on lesson plans.........

Back in Korea

After a month of travels around the US (10 different states in January!!), a nasty stomach virus, and my COLLEGE GRADUATION, I'm back in Korea now.

I arrived late, but was thrust right into things without any word of what I've missed or what I need to catch up on. Four of us arrived around the same time on Saturday the 6th, and TaLK just tossed us into the wild. After a tour of Daejeon, and a morning of instructions on how to run an English Camp, we were shipped off to Cheonan (천안) to do a camp.

Each of us were assigned a kid, and mine was really shy. She didn't want to speak English at all, and didn't really want to. Even though I tried to encourage here to speak English all the time, we spoke mostly in Korean so that she could understand me, but I would then translate to English and make her repeat after me.

We've played lots of games, and we've been running all over the place. I have bruises all over my knees. I'm tired as all hell. But at the same time, I had so much fun. Everyone had to prepare a dance, and we all presented them tonight. I wish I could adopt my kid. She's a sweetheart even though she's stubborn, and I'm sure I could help her and she could help me with Korean too.

Tomorrow back to Jochiwon where our orientation is, then Busan for the Chinese Lunar New Year for the weekend.