The first day in Korea was exhausting. After an almost twelve hour flight from San Fransisco to Seoul, we then had to wait three and a half hours for a bus to Ulsan, which was another five and a half hour trip. CRAZY DAY! Once we arrived at the bus station in Ulsan, we were met by a Korean co-teacher, Benny. We were not expecting Benny, nor had we ever heard of a teacher named Benny. Needless to say, we were a little confused. However, he seemed to be expecting us and drove us to our apartment. The first thing that we did when we got to our apartment was turn our air-conditioner on and move our mattress onto the floor in the living room, directly under the air-conditioner! Exploring the apartment could wait - we were exhausted!
We were to report to work the very next day! We work about a ten minute bus ride from our apartment, which in not bad at all. What's even better is that the bus stop is directly in front of our apartment. I was extremely nervous about my first day of work. I always get nervous before starting a new job, not to mention a new job in another country where you don't speak the language! However, everyone in the office made Alan and I feel very welcome. There are seven Korean teachers that share our office and one other foreign teacher (other than Alan and I). Each teacher has their own desk and computer in the office as well as their own classroom. We work Monday-Friday, 2 pm - 9:40 pm. Classes do not begin until 3:20, so we have from 2 until 3:20 to prepare for our classes. Some of you might be wondering why we teach in the afternoon and evening...well, in Korea children go to public school during the day (as we do back home) and then private schools which they call 'academies' in the afternoon or evening. These academies specialize in various subjects. There are English academies, math academies, science academies, etc. (One reason why Korean students score so much higher on tests than American students - they go to school for longer!) Obviously, we work in an English academy. Students come in shifts by age, so they are not at the academy for the whole time that the academy is open. I'll explain more about work in the next post.
Our apartment is FANTASTIC! We are darn lucky to have the accommodations that we do. We couldn't be happier with where we live. In our complex there is a free gym to use as well as a virtual driving range (golf). There are also doctor's offices, dentists, restaurants, hairdressers, etc. on the bottom levels of the building.
This is our apartment 'complex', if you will:
Instead of trying to explain just how sweet our apartment is, we decided to make a geeky video instead.
If anyone ever wants to send us wheat thins oreos doritos love notes, our address is:
103-501 KCC Welltz Tower Mugeo Dong, Nam-gu, Ulsan, South Korea 680-749
So, that's our apartment. For the sake of avoiding boring you to death, I'll save a bunch of other stuff for next time. I'll leave you with a glimpse of our first Saturday night in Ulsan.
Shinae (Old Downtown). Loads and loads
of people, flashing lights, smells and sounds!
A video on Shinae for your enjoyment!
We ended up going with a safe choice - our favorite Korean meal, samgyupsal (BBQ pork belly).
YUM YUM!
We miss you all and think about you everyday! We hope that all is well with you and yours. xoxo
