Korea is very green and has much open space. The trees and mountains are very beautiful. There is also very pretty redrock. As we crossed the Incheon bridge it began to rain.
This bus ride was supposed to be 4.5 hours long (I boarded at 6:40am, which means I should arrive in Deagu at about 11:15am). We stopped around 9:00am for a quick break. I used the restroom and bought an iced tea. Thanks to my friend Jyson for giving me 1000 Wan becasue without it I would not have been able to buy a drink. I was waiting to exchange my money because the airport doesn't give you a good rate.
For the rest of the ride I tried to stay awake, but I couldn't. I'm glad I over packed my carry-on now, becasue the pillow and blanket came in very handy.
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| Deagu, South Korea |
When I arrived at the bus depot I was greeted by Rebekah, the head teacher, Chris, the assistant director, and Max, the bus driver. They were all so happy to meet me, which made me feel very comfortable. They took me to the motel where I would be staying for a few days until Pushkin, the other teacher, had moved out. The motel is called the Chello Motel and it is actually very nice. They helped me to my room where I was able to take a quick shower and change my clothes. This was a daunting task becasue I didn't know where anything was. I did find some shorts and a t-shirt to change into.
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| Bathroom/Shower Chello Motel |
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| My room at the Chello Motel |
They took me to a traditonal Korean restaurant for lunch (you must take your shoes off at the door and we sat on the floor to eat). We had wonderful seasoned pork (called Daegigalbi), which you cook yourself on the grill built into the table. There were many side dishes, which I tried most of: raddish soup, tofu soup (really delicious minus the tofu), rice, salad, lettuce and mint leaves for the pork, chili sauce, tempura potato, crab, and sweet potato noodles. Everything was very good and for dessert I had a cup of cold cinnamon cider.
Throughout the meal I practiced my Korean and Chris and Rebekah all thought I had been studying at school becasue my accent was so good. Thanks YouTube!
After lunch I went to tour the school. The school is very nice and has about 10 differnt classrooms all decorated according to the children's age group. The desks were also sized accordingly. I met a few of the students who were very friendly. They all greeted me with excitment and smiles. I met everyone except the head director at this point and everyone was very friendly.
I tried to use the internet, but I had trouble accessing a few sites becasue they were in Korean. Gloria helped me fighure a few things out, but I still cannot access my gmail form any computer. Good thing I have a Yahoo account as well. Max gave me a ride home and Rebekah drew me a map of how to get back to the school and get to Home Plus, which is a 5 story shopping store (includes a grocery store, clothing, electronics, dry cleaners, and food court).
As I returned to my motel I reorganized all of my belongings (it felt good to know wher my things were again). I decided to walk back to the school to call Mya (a contact I was introduced to through facebook who lives here in Deagu). I tried to reach her but was unsuccessful. I used the computer at the school to email her. I walked over to Home Plus to buy some groceries. On the sidewalk they had a sale section and I bought a skirt for 3000 Wan (I decided to put on jeans to walk back the school which was huge mistake because it was still really hot and humid, so I was very sticky and sweaty). I walked through every floor and couldn't find the grocery section for the life of me. I kept seeing people leaving with groceries, but I couldn't fid that area (this was very frustrating; I should have asked but I didn't). At this point I was very hungry, so I ate at a buffet in the store. I tried a little of everyhting. It was nice because the food signs were in English and Korean. After I finished eating I walked back home (20 minutes away).
As I was about to take a well needed shower there was a knock on the door. Puskin, the teacher leaving my position, was here to greet me! He was right in time becasue I was getting very tired and ready to fall asleep and it was only 7:30pm. He waited while I got dressed. He took me to another Korean restaurant where he ate and we had a beer called "Hite." This beer was similar to Coors Lite, but a little stonger and had a better taste. We chatted about the school and how it worked. He also warned me to be very careful of the Korean food becasue after 6 months he was diagnosed with extreme high blood pressure and instructed not to eat Korean food because it was high in salt content. I will be very careful as well because I don't want this to happen to me.
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| Puskin and me at Umber |
He took mee to a bar called "Umber" where we met the bartender, Elvis. I had antoher traditional beer called Cass, which was darker than Hite and very good. Next to us at the bar was antoher American, Jim, who would be leaving back to the states in a few days. He was with his former Korean student from the University, which was located right across the street form the bar. After they left Sunam, a Korean girl, moved next to us and we bagan talking with her and Elvis more. I learned many new Korean words (fire-bul, cheers-gombae, kareoke-narabang, I think I will die (hangover)-chugeta, dance-shum, sunglasses-sunglasses, and nice to meet you-mannasaw bangabsamnida). Elvis said my pronunciation was right on! We shared a few drinks and then Pushkin and I shared a cab ride back to my motel. I fell asleep quickly.
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| Near my motel |
I think my first day in Korea went pretty well. It was a very long day and I would come to realize this....Tuesday.
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