Holiday Season

I guess a really good New Year's resolution for me would to be more consistent with these blog posts... but I feel like that'd just be too hard for me!!!

Tree in Seoul

Since Christmas Eve, I've been enjoying a nice little vacation away from school. I started my break with a trip to Seoul. I went to a Christmas Service/Concert at church with Yuri. At first, I wasn't very excited for this event. Mostly because I was supposed to be on a bus to Iksan (about 3 hrs south of Incheon) to be at a Xmas gathering with some fellow English teachers, but also because the trip to Seoul that usually took 40 minutes, took over an hour and a half due to holiday traffic.  We even had to get off the bus early to jump on the subway in order to escape the snail-paced traffic, as well as the wails of a sick baby two rows behind me.  But eventually we got to the church and the service was more than worth the wait.  I really wish I had been smart enough to remember my camera that night. Seeing little 4 and 5 year old Korean children sing and dance to Christmas music was one of the most adorable things I've ever seen in my life. There was even an 8 year old girl who did a short magic show that would rival many adult-performed shows I've seen.

Korean Snow

The next day, I jumped on a bus to Iksan to meet up with my friends. I woke up at 6:00 AM to pack and catch the 8:30 bus in downtown Incheon. I got there a bit early, so I tried to sit down and rest a little, but I kept getting harassed by a pair of older men who turned out to be Jehovah Witnesses.  Finally my departure time rolled around, but something didn't seem right... After waiting until 8:40, an announcement was made (in Korean, of course) and I caught the word "Iksan" a couple of times.  Turns out, they decided to cancel the bus... and I had no clue why.  So I exchanged my ticket for the next available bus, which was cheaper than the first because the bus quality was lower.  Unfortunately, the next bus wasn't until 9:50.  Tired and cranky, I decided to walk up to the second floor to get breakfast at a Lotteria (similar to a McDonalds).  My mood didn't improve when I ordered in English and the lady behind the counter decided to serve 8 other people before me, even though I was second in line.

My awesome gift!

Eventually I made it on the bus and enjoyed a nice 3 hr nap.  I met up with my friends Grace, Mel, Toby, Carvelle, and Derek at a coffee shop. The details of the trip could get kind of boring, so here's a quick summary of what we did: We had a gift exchange (see picture for my awesome gift), went to a couple of bars, met up with another group of westerners, laughed at Grace and Toby (both from California) when it started to snow, played some games at Grace's house, and tried to sleep on Grace's hard, uncomfortable, freezing floor while the two girls slept soundly on the bed (and they woke up complaining that the bed was 'too soft').

At Clara's house

I traveled back to Incheon with Derek on Sunday morning. Since we were getting back kind of early, I decided to take Clara up on an offer to join her family for a Christmas dinner. I brought Derek with and we had an awesome time! Clara and her daughters cooked up a feast for us, with things like Korean steak, fried shrimp, fresh dinner rolls, dumplings, and salad. For dessert, we had a nice little blueberry cake to celebrate Jesus' birthday (something I know Dad would really appreciate).  After dinner, Derek and I went to a bar with Clara's daughters and taught them the wonderful game of Waterfall (better known in Houghton as Gogebic).

Birthday Boy

New Years wasn't anything special. Koreans get more excited over the Lunar New Year (sometime in February) so the celebrations last night weren't very extravagant. I'm sure things were different in Seoul, but after my Xmas Eve bus experience I really didn't want to endure another long bus ride. Last night was also Derek's birthday, so we got him a cake and sang happy birthday at one of the bars. Other than hitting up a few different places, nothing special really happened. I ended up crashing at Derek's place and playing some Black Ops. Not the most exciting night, but fun nonetheless.


I return to work on Wednesday to start prepping for my school's Winter English Camp. Believe it or not, I'm pretty excited to start working again. My co-teacher Mrs. Lee also promised to start giving me Korean lessons so I can pass off as a legitimate Korean!!!

They Come and Go

So this week has officially sucked... for some reason, people can't just stay put.

Obviously, my first thoughts go to the Orlando Magic.  For some reason, they decided that it was best to trade away four key players in order to revamp the roster, including my favorite, Rashard Lewis.  Granted, we picked up some pretty good players like Gilbert Arenas and (don't judge me for being happy about this) we got Hedo Turkoglu back.  But come on... things were going alright and our team was pretty solid.  They just needed a little bit of work.  Now the Magic need to spend the next couple of months working on team chemistry in order to have a fighting chance in the playoffs.

My next area of frustration actually makes sense.  I recently found out that two of my co-teachers, Sally and Clara, will be leaving our school in February.  Apparently, Korean public school teachers are on three year rotations and never stay at the same school for longer than that.  Sally and Clara have just completed their third years.  If I decide to stay in Korea for another year, then Yuri and Jin-sung's contracts will also expire.  Meaning, if I continue with my plan to stay here at least two years, none of my current friends from school will still be here.  Nice, eh?

I'm pretty bitter about all of this... but in the end, I guess it isn't that big of a deal.  It's not like I was going to spend the rest of my life here or anything like that.  I just wish these people would be able to stick around a little longer.  I've grown quite fond of them all and have even become slightly dependent on some of them.  I should be excited to meet my new co-teachers and make some new friends.  But in all honesty, I'd rather not.  I was just starting to feel comfortable here.  They just had to go and shake things up on me!!!

bah......

Are You Delicious?!?!

Hongdae (in Seoul)

Yesterday, I was invited out to lunch by one of my co-teachers, Clara. We met in Hongdae, which is a pretty popular place for young people in Seoul. Hongdae is a college area (more formally known as Hongik University).  The area is surrounded by restaurants, some shops, and an assortment of different bars and clubs. Since we got there early in the day, there weren't any drunks or any random shenanigans happening.

Far building is part of Hongik University

Clara came with her two daughters (pardon the crude way of writing their names... I'd show you in Korean, but I can't do the characters on my laptop): Seh-leen (close to Celine) who is 21 in Western age, and Seh-yun who is 19. For those of you who don't know, Koreans consider you 1 when born (so I'm 23 here, not 22). The have Christian names (Agnus and Rose, respectively) but I never used them since they didn't seem to fit.  Like most other Koreans who meet me, they were really shy to practice their English around me.  Having an English teacher for a mother, I knew they'd be better at it than most people their age, so I didn't quite believe their responses of "no, we don't know well" when I asked if they could speak the language.  As a teacher, I felt it was necessary to test their abilities throughout the day.

L to R: Seh-leen, Clara, Seh-yun

We started off by going to a cozy little restaurant on the outside of Hongdae. Not sure what the place was called, but it was kind of a dark, almost seafood restaurant-looking place with dark wooden floors, benches, and tables.  It would have been a slightly depressing place if it weren't for the wonderful space heater in the middle of the room and the cheerful Christmas music playing over the surround sound.  I had requested a place with kalbi (sort of like a roast beef) but the place didn't have it, so we settled for an excellent meal of bulgogi (sort of like BBQ beef). During my conversations with Clara's daughters, I busted out my driver's license, MTU ID, and ARC, all of which had pictures taken at different times over the past 4 years. The girls told me that I seemed to get younger over the years and even told me later in the day that I seemed younger than when we first met.  Not sure exactly how to take that...

The youngest, Seh-yun, was the first to become obsessed with talking to me. I think I got a full bite of food every five minutes due to either responding to her questions or laughing at her misuse of English. The best statement by far during the entire day was when she looked at me and said with a sincerely curious expression on her face, "Are you delicious???"  Before I could respond, Clara and her older daughter were bent over in laughter. For those of you who know me well, you know I responded with a Big D-like statement... "Why yes... yes I am" followed by a <wink, wink>.  She had meant to say, "IS IT delicious", referring to the bulgogi.  The conversation took another turn after we explained her error. She said, "Ok... really, ARE you delicious? I think so..."  I paused a moment to check Clara's response. I was relieved to see that she was laughing, yet again, rather than watching me for a potential inappropriate answer.

After our eventful lunch, we went for a coffee in a nearby coffee lounge. We all had coffee (the Korean word is just like 'copy') and slices of different cheesecakes. We spent a little over an hour there talking about random topics like guns and hunting in America, my family, and the American perspective of people who constantly play computer games (apparently the Asian stereotype is true... almost all of them love computer and video games).

After that, we headed towards Insadong, a very popular place in Seoul for foreigners. Along the way, Clara asked if I had ever been to a fortune teller. I said no, and she insisted that I try it out. It was quite an experience, so here's a rundown of the most interesting revelations of my life:

My fortune teller and me.

- I am a proud, shy, and delicate perfectionist, who is an entertainer and natural leader.
- I will get married after the age of 32 (God, I hope not...)
- I need to take care of my liver and bones (there goes my drinking plans for the evening).
- I will live to be 91 years old (I didn't ask if that meant Korean or Western age...)
- The best match for a partner will be an older girl (Seh-leen was my translator, and quickly tried to convince me that that was a mistake and a younger girl would be fine...)
- The best months for me to date are January (YES!) and October.
- I will be rich at the age of 32 and will never lose my fortune. 

Obviously, I don't believe anything that was said to me, but I do have my hopes for some of those things...

Korean art in Insadong

We went from there to Insadong and checked out a bunch of shops with traditional Korean art and souvenirs. We even went into a shop that bought and sold old collectibles from all around the world. My family can appreciate my excitement when I saw an old model of the Ecto-1. Some of the other things in that shop were really bizarre. For example, Clara handed me a really ratty and worn magazine that looked like an old Korean Cosmo. "Korean..... Playboy... or Penthouse", she explained. I was hesitant to flip through it, but curiosity got the best of me. At first, I was amazed to see that it was less revealing than a Victoria's Secret catalog, but it quickly made sense to me, seeing how conservative Korea is compared to the US.

Ecto-1!!!

We ended the day by going to a fried chicken restaurant and jumping on the subway together. At this point, I had almost completely stopped talking since both of Clara's daughters had reached the point of comfort where they could say pretty much anything they wanted to in English. They said they hoped to hang out with me again sometime soon. Clara jumped in, " maybe we can take him out to dinner in Bucheon... somewhere delicious." 

Tale of the Lost Notebook

Here's a pretty interesting story that happened today. If you check my Facebook, then you already have the general rundown of what happened. But I figured it was worth explaining in full detail, so here goes. Just to warn you, this might be a "you had to be there" kind of story...

To start out, you need to know that I carry around a blue notebook everyday at school. It's where I keep all my lesson plans and outlines. I usually don't plan too far ahead into the week, but the notebook still comes in handy so I don't forget things when I first teach a lesson.  So it's basically my crutch/lifeline that keeps me from winging every lesson.  Today I had my 4th grade classes. I usually pick up on the routine really early in these classes, since most of the work we do involves step-by-step instruction from the text book.  In other words, I don't need my notebook for very long, if at all.  My first two classes are in one of the English classrooms, but my third and fourth classes are in the actual homerooms (so I go there to teach).

I'll try to cut this down a bit to keep from boring you... When I finished my third class, I returned to my office for a 5 minute break. I then walked down to my fourth class to teach my last class before lunch. It was there that I realized I had forgotten my notebook. No big deal, I wasn't really using it much anyway. I realized that I either forgot it in my office, or in the last classroom.  Before lunch, I checked both rooms and it was nowhere to be found. I wasn't panicking over this, since it was a basically a notebook with pages of past lesson plans. But then I told my co-teachers that I couldn't find it... and this is where it gets interesting.

My head co-teacher, Sally, instantly starts to worry. "Did you check all the rooms?! Where did you have it last?? Have you asked the other teachers where it could be??? You had better send a message to all the teachers to help you find it!"

"Ok......" I responded. So I typed out a message in our school's messenger system. Sally made it so it would go out to all the teachers in the school. But before sending it, she retyped my whole message in Korean. At this point, I'm really starting to wonder why this whole thing is such a big deal. Before I could say anything, Sally sent the message. And instantly... she said something under her breath in Korean. "Ohh... I meant to send it to the teachers in the school..." she started. "But... I think I sent it to the Principal and Vice Principal too."  So I'm thinking... "oh wonderful"... now my two bosses are going to see how dumb and careless I am. Fortunately, it was just a notebook. No biggie.  Sally went into one of the other classrooms and I killed some time during my break.

About ten minutes later, Sally comes in with a strange smile on her face. "Your 'notebook'... did you mean, a paper notebook?"  I answered, "yeeaaahhhh....".  Sally covered her face and said, "I told the whole school that you lost your LAPTOP!"  Apparently... 'notebook' is the Konglish (Korean-English) term for a laptop computer. Suddenly, the reason for Sally and my other co-teachers' concern over my lost notebook became very clear. And I'm thinking, "Ok... now the whole school thinks I lost my computer... including the Principal".

Almost immediately after making this realization, my other co-teacher, Clara, walked into her classroom (the first room I taught in today) and yelled, "MAAARRRKKK!!! COME HERE!!"  As soon as I heard her voice, I remembered that I had left it underneath the TV in the classroom...

To make things even better, I had to go down to the Vice Principal's office to get him to sign a paper for training I have next week. When I went there, he seemed very concerned (but can't speak much English) and kept saying something that sounded like "notebook".  I just nodded and said "yes sir" and I think he got the picture that the situation had been resolved.  For the rest of the day, I had about 5 or 6 other teachers walk up to me and ask me about my notebook.  My friend, Jin-sung, told me it was best just to tell them that I had found it. If everyone found out that I had them in a panic over my lost "paper notebook" then I probably wouldn't have too many fans among the school faculty.

So yeah... today was a fun day. I think I'll bring my laptop into school tomorrow, just so people see that I "found it".

A Little More of Gyeyang Mountain....

Again, let me start by apologizing for not posting in a REALLY long time! But this time, I have a special treat for you guys. Instead of making you read a boring explanation of my really cool adventures, I figured I'd share a short video with you! This is from when I went to Gyeyang Mountain with Yuri. I'm sorry it's so short, but after about an hour of frustration and saying really bad words to the video uploader, I found out any video I post has to be smaller than 100MB (about a minute). I could have just put it up in pieces, but it wouldn't have looked as nice. So it's really short, and you might need to watch it a couple of times to catch the details.
In the first section, I'm on an old helipad from when the mountain was used in the Korean war. I eventually zoom in on a small town (you might not be able to hear me explain) which is Wondang, the place where I live. I pan over to another place on the right, which is Seoul (you barely get to see it before it transitions to the second part).

The second section is just a view from the very top of the mountain, showing you all the people and little "shops" they have up there.

The third and final section is a better view from the top (again, cut short), along with a little message from Yuri, to my parents.

Another apology for the poor quality... it looks much better on my computer. 

ENJOY!!!

Still Safe

Just wanted to let everyone know that I'm still safe over here. I know the incident hasn't been televised to the States as much as it has here, so I guess I'll give a quick rundown of what's going on.  Earlier today, North Korea sent over 200 artillery rounds to a small South Korean island called Yeonpyeong. The island is about 25 miles away from my home... so it was pretty close. I'm supposed to be going on a teacher's field trip on Friday in a city closer to the coast, but that may change.

I've taken precautions with the U.S. embassy in case I need to make a quick exit. Information on what will happen from here is pretty scarce. South Korea has already retaliated with their own artillery fire, but further actions are still being discussed.  Tensions are rising due to the arguments of "who fired first", but everyone still wants to avoid an all out war.

I'll keep you all posted on further developments. Just wanted everyone to know that I'm still safe. 

Keep your prayers with the South Korean people.

Anyone still reading?!?!?!

Greetings everyone! First of all, let me give a deeply sincere apology for taking so long to write in this. It would be an amazing understatement to say that I've been busy for the past few weeks. Not to mention, I've only had internet in my apartment for less than a week. So I guess it's time to do some major catching up. Please understand that I'm almost guaranteed to repeat myself at some point, and I'm even more likely to forget some events and specific details. So please, bear with me...

Wondang (view from Gyeyang Mtn.)

Let's start with my location. I'm living in a place called Wondang, which is a really small area out in the country, in Incheon. But if you look up Wondang, you probably won't find much if anything. Explaining location here is really weird. I'm in Wondang, which is like a village in Seo-gu, which is like a district in Incheon city, which is in the Incheon province, which is just west/southwest of Seoul. There are pros and cons of living where I am. For instance, I'm living in a very safe community, near the airport, and everything (including my apartment) is within a short walking distance to everything else (like my school).  The only bad thing is, it's about a 10 minute bus ride to a subway station, and another 20 minutes or so to any place that I would consider a "real city". Getting to Seoul is about an hour by bus, which isn't really that bad... but all this means that I have to travel about an hour almost every time I want to meet up with friends or do something fun.  I don't have any pics of my town yet, but there really isn't much to show. One main drag runs through the place with tall buildings on each side. That's about it.


My school is the Changshin Elementary School. I teach the 3rd, 4th, 5th, and 6th grade classes. I have five classes on every day except Wednesday, when I only have two. I have about a 15 minute walk to the school and have to be there by about 8:30 every weekday. I stay until 4:30 and use my free time to make lesson plans, help the other teachers with whatever they need, or play around on the computer (can you tell my job is tough?) Every morning I have to say hello to the Vice Principal (I have very little contact with the Principal). Like most of the adults at the school, he speaks very little English, but it seems like he's trying to learn more.. every morning, he tries to ask me a new question like, "isn't the weather cold today?" I can't walk the hallways or eat lunch without saying hello to a student every 10 seconds. Everyone knows my name since I had to introduce myself over the school's news broadcast on my first day. Teachers in Korea hold a very high status, much higher than they do in the States, so all the children call me "Mark Teacher", and get scolded by the other teachers if they just call me "Mark". Lunch is free everyday for me, which is nice because middle and high school teachers have to pay for theirs. Once in awhile, I go outside and play basketball with the students during lunch break. They don't really know how to organize pick up games, but I still have fun running around with them and showing off some simple dribbling moves.

Co-teachers +1. (L to R):(forgot her name), Mrs. Lee, Clara, and Sally

I have three co-teachers who assist me in the classroom. Sally is my head co-teacher, and she teaches the 5th and 6th grade. Clara does the 3rd grade, and Mrs. Lee does the 4th. Obviously, Sally and Clara aren't Korean names. They both have been to the U.S. and were given names. Oddly enough, Clara had a nephew (or some other relative) that went to Michigan Tech! It was someone who went way before I got there, but it was still a strange coincidence. The other teachers I know are Yuri, the girl I mentioned before who I spend a lot of time with (4th grade), and Jin-sung, the only male teacher in the school who speaks enough English to hold conversations with me. I have many students who like to stand out and make themselves well known to me, but I'll only mention a few. Alex, a 5th grader, has quickly become my little buddy at the school. He loves the fact that my middle name is Alex, and he never misses an opportunity to ask me how I'm doing. Another kid with an American name, Jeff, I have a slight problem with... he looks exactly like the kid Russell from the movie Up, and I have a hard time calling him the correct name. One of Jin-sung's students who goes by the nickname "Squid", is probably the most brilliant kid in the school. I did a presentation on Thanksgiving last week, and he was able to explain the entire story of the pilgrims and Native Americans, in perfect English. There are multiple girls who stand out due to their ability to speak English very well, but they never really tell me their names, so I get by just by saying "hi" to them.

Me and Yuri on top of Gyeyang Mtn.

Since I've been here, I've seen and done quite a few things. I've made multiple trips into Seoul, as well as outlying areas like Bucheon and Bupyeong. I went hiking up Gyeyang Mountain, one of the smaller ones in the area. I've even been to a few different live shows involving both classic and modern Korean music. I even got to see Spamalot... but it was all in Korea. Yuri translated as much as she could, but I was fortunate enough to have known the story already so the show was still enjoyable. Strange story... I went to one musical that had an old car as one of the props... it had a black license plate on it, and halfway through the show I noticed it was an old-school Michigan plate with "The Great Lakes State" on the bottom!

I could go on and on about life here, but this entry is already getting pretty lengthy. I'll try to update this more often so I can be more detailed with specific events. Hope everyone knows that I'm having an awesome time here and I've yet to have any boring moments! Seems like something new and exciting happens every week, so stay tuned for more stories!

Quick Update

Just to fill you guys in (I'm sure there's only one or two of you by now), my ARC should be coming in on Friday. I can't get a cell phone or internet at my apartment until after that, so I would say lets hope for sometime late next week! After that, I'll be able to post regularly, and with pictures!

Korea is still going well. I love my classes and MOST of my students! I've successfully learned to read most Korean vowels and consanants... but I have no idea what most of the words mean! Babysteps people....

Anyways, keep checking on this... don't give up on me! You never know when I might actually post something interesting...

I'm still here!!!

Sorry guys... the past 5 days have been insane! To start out, for anyone who wrote down my address, I forgot to put the postal code. It's 404-818. I'll change it in my post too.  I'm currently at my school and done with classes for the day. This is the only time I get for internet because I still don't have it at my apartment. When I finally get internet, I'll post pictures and be more descriptive about everything.

I work at an elementary school and the kids are so fun! They love to say hello to me and give me high fives. I even have a small gathering of basketball players who always want me to play with them! My classes this week have consisted of me giving a presentation to teach the kids about where I'm from and about the things I like to do. Next week I start teaching real classes, so that's when we'll see my true worth as a teacher.

This past weekend I hung out with one of the other teachers, Yuri. She's the second youngest teacher next to me (25) and we're the only two single teachers in the school. Seems like everyone wants us to get together but right now I'm just happy to have someone to spend time with. Her English is pretty good, and she has a new hobby of teaching me different Korean phrases. My favorite one so far has been <pay-gu-pie-oh>... which means, "I am hungry"! On Saturday, we went to Bupyeong (sp) and met up with one of her friends. We went to lunch and dinner and did a bunch of shopping (one of the few downfalls of hanging out with only girls). But I was surprised to see that Yuri also loves arcades! So we went there and I kicked some butt at airhockey. But I was even more surprised when she destroyed me at a game of Tetris. Losing to girls in video games is NOT something I'm used to!!!!!! The three of us also sang in a Karaoke booth and it turns out that Yuri has a beautiful singing voice. I later found out that she sings in her church's choir. Which leads me to what we did on Sunday...

On Sunday, I met Yuri in Seoul to go to church with her. It was quite an experience. It reminded me of the Charismatic church that Mom told me about. There was a lot of singing and it was very emotional. Some people even broke down in tears during the service. It was a rather powerful experience. Afterwards, I went to a youthgroup meeting with Yuri, where I was introduced to the group and sang a welcome/blessing song. I also met a guy named Mike, another Korean-American who spoke both languages fluently. It was nice to speak normal English again. After all of that, Yuri gave me a brief tour around town and showed me some museums and historical landmarks. I even had a meal of "spaghetti", which was really skinny noodles in alfredo sauce, with BACON!!! It was good stuff.

That's all I have to report so far. I hope to meet up with my fellow EPIK teachers once we all get our cell phones. Hope everyone back home is doing well. Until next time!!

Sorry everyone!!!

I'm sorry, but this will have to be brief. Orientation is over and I'm teaching at the Chang-shin Elementary school in Incheon city. I only have internet at work, so my access is limited. The computer I work on is very slow, so Skype and sometimes Facebook chat won't work unless I'm able to bring in my computer.

Here's my apartment address:

Incheon City, Seo-gu
Dang-ha dong, wondang 86 block 2-3-1 lot
Myung-jin Apartment 105
South Korea
404-818

I'll post more when I can. Until then, please be patient!

Sorry for forgetting the pics!!!

So, I must apologize to the people who I've promised pictures to... I have a few in this post that I meant to put in the last one, but I really haven't taken many interesting pictures yet.  Like I said before, the majority of my days is spent in classrooms and lecture halls. But I do get to do some exploring with my friends every once in awhile. Today I went walking around looking for a watch since it's driving me nuts having to rely on everyone else to make it to class on time. Get this... they have a Coldstone here!!!! I'm definitely busting out the Lactaid and making a trip there tomorrow.

It's getting pretty cold up here. But it's still not terrible yet.  I'd say it gets into the low 50s, and sometimes the 40s during the day. But it's really funny because a bunch of people are already walking around in their winter coats, as well as thick hats and gloves!! I guess they just don't have the toughness that us Yoopers have.

My time at orientation is pretty much drawing to a close. Tomorrow is our last full day here, and we head out to our respective cities (mine is still unknown) the day after that. I'm ready to get to my new home, but it's kinda tough to imagine being here without the other teachers. But I'm sure as soon as I get into the swing of things, I'll be able to find ways to keep myself busy.

Not Korean?!?!

It's really difficult to explain the way that time has been passing here over the past few days. The combination of jet lag, constant orientation classes, and the surprisingly quick closeness that has developed between many of us has really thrown my mind for a loop. Part of me still feels like I just got here and I'm super anxious to get into the thick of things... the other part is completely exhausted from the constant happenings with both orientation and hanging out with my friends. The whole thing is still so surreal.

But to make this entry a little more entertaining... I suppose I can share some fun stories that have happened recently. For starters... I've come to the surprising and rather unfortunate realization that I am quite possibly the youngest person at this orientation.  Just by the other people I've seen, I figure that the average age of the teachers here is in the late 20s, early 30s.  The one person who is relatively close to my age is a guy who turns 24 next week. My roommate is in his 30s, and the majority of the others in our little group are 25+.  Therefore, I've been deemed the baby of the group, as well as the lone Yooper. Also, I take a lot of crap from everyone who finds out  that I am in fact a Korean, but I don't yet speak the language... and I hear it from the other teachers as well as the locals. I guess I find it all rather amusing... and people don't have a hard time remembering me, so that's kinda nice.

Some of the people I hang out with are rather interesting.  I currently have 4 friends from Michigan, and one of our lecturers today was a Korean-American from Kalamazoo.  One of the girls on our floor went to Ohio State, and the other Michiganders and I have sort of teamed up against her. I feel kind of bad though, because I don't even know her real name. I just call her "Ohio State" and rip on her for the loss of Lebron James.  Every once in awhile I throw in a "oh how we hate, Ohio State"! I also found out today that one of the guys from Canada spent a couple of months in Ghana! He was wearing a necklace that looked oddly familiar and I eventually realized that it was the same style as a bracelet I had bought there. I could go on and on about the people I've met, but I really don't have the time.

I guess there isn't a whole lot going on except for constant classes.  We have breakfast at 7:50 AM and have classes until 8:00PM with breaks only for meals. It's rather exhausting, but I'm still having a blast. I'm just sad that things are going to change when I leave this place and head to my new city.

And... I made it!

Let me just start by saying... flying from Detroit to Korea nonstop is not as cool as most people would think. I mean sure, there are free in-flight movies, games, and music, as well as three somewhat digestable meals.  But all in all... I would say it sucked. The only good part was I was fortunate enough to sit next to a very attractive Korean girl who spoke very good English. So that was nice.

The whole thing is still trying to sink in. I cant believe that I finally made it here. The moment I touched down I felt a huge rush of emotion that I really cant describe. This morning I was pretty much consumed with sadness from leaving home and everyone I know... but now Im just wondering what tomorrow is going to bring. (Sidenote: not sure if you noticed, but Im unable to hit the apostrophe key without the computer going crazy... so I apologize for not having any.)

I got off the plane and was welcomed by a large poster that was advertising the "Paradise Casino"... with a gigantic picture of Pierce Brosnan wearing his typical Bond attire. Needless to say, it was very strange to see. I made my way through the airport to pick up my luggage and eventually found my ride. Unfortunately, the driver didnt speak very much English, so I wasnt able to talk to him during the seemingly endless drive to the NIIE (where my orientation is). And it was a little creepy when he handed me a huge pill bottle and asked me if I wanted any (it turned out to be chewing gum). But I did learn some cool things along the way... like the fact that many of the McDonalds and Burger Kings are open 24-7 (cant do the slash either i guess), driving in the city is much scarier than I expected, and I will never be able to give directions here because all the streets look the same (I would say, "kind of like the people", but thats just not true).

I was very relieved when I finally made it to my dormitory. Now Im torn between being hungry, tired, wired, and bored... so I figured Id unwind a bit by blogging. A bunch of the other teachers decided to take a stroll around town until our midnight curfew (its only 8pm here) but it still feels like 7 in the morning to me, so Im just chillin with my roommate Toby. And speaking of the other teachers... heres a little fun fact. Our room is on the 6th floor... along with a few other guys and a bunch of girls. Apparently theres only one community bathroom on this floor and its designated for the girls. So on the down side, I have to walk down two floors to use the bathroom. On the plus side, the girls are showering down the hall from me... and theres no door to the bathroom. Not being perverted about this... I just found it amusing.

Anyway... I have to get up at 7:30 tomorrow for breakfast and a welcome ceremony, so I think Im gonna try to sleep. I promise my future entries will be more informative as well as interesting.

The Time Has Come!!!

First of all, welcome to my blog!!! If you're reading this, I'm sure you already know my story. I'll be in my country of origin, South Korea, for a little over a year to teach English.  I leave tomorrow morning and will be arriving at the Incheon International Airport on October 23rd, around 3:40PM KST.  I've been waiting for this day for what seems like a lifetime. Although I'm going to miss home and my friends and family over the next year, I'm VERY excited to begin this new chapter of my life!

The purpose of this blog is to keep everyone updated with my activities over there. Whether they be school related, adventure based, or just straight up randomness... I'm sure I'll find plenty to talk about over the next year.  So check this out every few days and feel free to leave comments. Or not... whatever.  Either way, definitely stay tuned for my next post. It'll be coming to you straight from Korea!!!