Beomgye - shopping, food, clubs
My coworkers
They are really awesome...so far. Haha. Karen, the head teacher, is from Ottawa. She has been here for a year and a half. Her teaching and travel experience is amazing. Tony is from Ottawa as well, and studied at McGill! And Jennifer is from Wisconsin. Both Tony and Jennifer have been here since February. We went out for a couple drinks on Thursday after school, in Beomgye, a strip that is full of restaurants and bars. It was fun! My boss, Cindy, the Korean co-teachers, and the Director, are all really nice and welcoming, too. On Friday the Director brought me flowers, and for a Cheosok gift, all of the foreign teachers got a nice bottle of whiskey and shot glasses. Did I come at the right timing or what? I'm really looking forward to getting to know everyone better. I have a good feeling about this.
My apartment
I never thought I'd say this but my place in Radom was nicer. More spacious, windows with a view of green. My place here is liveable, but tiny. I do have a proper bed though, which I am grateful for, and a wardrobe that EASILY fits all of my clothing. I have an unnecessarily giant fridge, also in my bedroom. The kitchen and bathroom are squishy, but functional for one person. I do have a washing machine, but it looks like one that belongs in a play house. Haha It's not big enough to fit bedding, so I'll have to use my coworkers' machines. Apparently they all petitioned for me to get a new place - and that WAS the plan - but the current tenants weren't going to be moving out soon enough, so I got the place that the previous teacher lived in. It could be worse. I'm not too fussy. No oven, small windows, and nothing pretty to see. I do have controllable AC though, and a decent amount of storage. I just want to pick up a small bookshelf, and then I should be set! On Friday morning, when I arrived at school, Cindy brought me to my place so I could settle in a bit. The head bus driver for the school put up new curtains then and there. Friday evening the Director came by with all new bedding, and she also brought me some groceries - about 30000 pounds of bananas, a canteloupe, muffins, and orange juice. The generousity and hospitality are definitely not lacking here.
Oh! I should mention: the school provides lunch! I likely won't have it every day, but it's an option. Friday's meal was YUMMY - curry and rice, kimchi, some radish dish, and some clear soup. Mmmmm.
The city: Anyang
I haven't done a ton of exploring yet. What I've seen though, it's also very clean, like Seoul. My apartment is less than ten minutes from the school, en route which I pass a giant store, E-Mart, which is your everything/all-purpose store. I did a big shop there yesterday with Karen and her boyfriend, for groceries and some basic household essentials. There is also a gym (though there are others) really close to the school that all my coworkers belong to; they like to go after school. I'm definitely going to join, especially since it can be social too. Karen took me there yesterday too, so I could check it out. It's the "cheap" gym ($100 for three months) - my GOODNESS it's about 1000 steps-up from the gym I belonged to in Radom. That's definitely exciting. It's a nice facility. Can rides are SOOOOOO inexpensive. The meter starts at $2.30, and sometimes doesn't even change during the whole ride. Stuck in traffic, going a ways, I haven't seen the meter go higher than $3.70. It's insane. I think it's like that in all of Korea. A cab from Anyang to Seoul is $20...prices like that are unheard of in Canada!
Yesterday I went to the opening hockey game for the local team, Halla. Karen and her boyfriend, Romo, took me. We met up with some of their other friends, Trevor and Patti. They have a friend that plays on the team. Apparently Halla is a really good team, and was the winner of the Asian league last year. It was a really fast-paced and exciting game. There are some Westerners on the teams too. It was so fun to be at the sporting event. There were lots of other foreigners there too, and everyone chats with everyone else. The guys on these teams have often been NHL-drafted, so it's good hockey. Because it was the opening game of the season, there was this Korean glee-club type group, of kids aged seven to twelve, I'd say. It was so great. Last night after the game, Karen, Romu, and I went to Tom Tailor's, in Beomgye, for tex mex. All in all, everything has been awesome so far!
E-Mart - groceries and household...my staple
Listening to Stars and Vinyl Cafe episodes as I continue to settle in to my new place in Anyang. My laundry is hanging to dry; it's a grey and rainy Sunday and therefore our picnic plans are cancelled. The fruit salad I prepared won't go uneaten, however. Let me tell you about the past couple of days... 
My School - Choo Choo Train English
Thursday morning I took the metro from Seoul with half of my luggage, to Anyang. The metro ride itself is less than an hour, and Hunter lives quite north in Seoul, so other places will be a shorter metro trip. Anyways, Karen, one of my coworkers and the head teacher, met me and we cabbed to the school. We are on the second floor of a commercial building. My GOODNESS am I ever impressed with the facilities. There is a huge reception area when you walk in, where Jenny happily greets you. There are cubbies for shoes, as no outdoor shoes are to be worn inside. There is a play area with a slide, a ball pit, and colourful pads/cushions. There is an auditorium/gym for some classes, and a party room for events. All the classrooms/groups are named after planets. My homeroom/main class will be Mercury, the five-year olds. (They are actually four, but because of how birthdays are in Korea, they are five here). There are thirteen students, and they are ADORABLE. (I say that now, eh?) I know all their names, from my first couple days. They'll be taught in the mornings. I'll also be teaching some other groups in the afternoons, a mish-mash of some other students, aged five to seven. Because it's a proper private school - rather than an after-school program - I'll actually be doing lots of classes with my students. For instance, arts and crafts, song and chant, storybook and dance, YOGA AND GYM (YES!), multimedia (this is a class I teach in the auditorium with some interactive technology and a projector screen - Discovery Channel stuff)...lots of fun stuff. It wan an overwhelming amount of information to take in, but once I get started I'll find my groove. Friday I returned for another day of observation, although it was really more of a day-long party, and all the students wore traditional Korean costume. It was to celebrate Chuseok, the Korean thanksgiving. The actual holiday is next Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday, but our school will be closed for the entire week. It felt amazing that many of the students greeted me so excitedly on Friday: Hello Leah Teacher!
My School - Choo Choo Train English
Thursday morning I took the metro from Seoul with half of my luggage, to Anyang. The metro ride itself is less than an hour, and Hunter lives quite north in Seoul, so other places will be a shorter metro trip. Anyways, Karen, one of my coworkers and the head teacher, met me and we cabbed to the school. We are on the second floor of a commercial building. My GOODNESS am I ever impressed with the facilities. There is a huge reception area when you walk in, where Jenny happily greets you. There are cubbies for shoes, as no outdoor shoes are to be worn inside. There is a play area with a slide, a ball pit, and colourful pads/cushions. There is an auditorium/gym for some classes, and a party room for events. All the classrooms/groups are named after planets. My homeroom/main class will be Mercury, the five-year olds. (They are actually four, but because of how birthdays are in Korea, they are five here). There are thirteen students, and they are ADORABLE. (I say that now, eh?) I know all their names, from my first couple days. They'll be taught in the mornings. I'll also be teaching some other groups in the afternoons, a mish-mash of some other students, aged five to seven. Because it's a proper private school - rather than an after-school program - I'll actually be doing lots of classes with my students. For instance, arts and crafts, song and chant, storybook and dance, YOGA AND GYM (YES!), multimedia (this is a class I teach in the auditorium with some interactive technology and a projector screen - Discovery Channel stuff)...lots of fun stuff. It wan an overwhelming amount of information to take in, but once I get started I'll find my groove. Friday I returned for another day of observation, although it was really more of a day-long party, and all the students wore traditional Korean costume. It was to celebrate Chuseok, the Korean thanksgiving. The actual holiday is next Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday, but our school will be closed for the entire week. It felt amazing that many of the students greeted me so excitedly on Friday: Hello Leah Teacher!
The orange door is my classroom!
My coworkers
They are really awesome...so far. Haha. Karen, the head teacher, is from Ottawa. She has been here for a year and a half. Her teaching and travel experience is amazing. Tony is from Ottawa as well, and studied at McGill! And Jennifer is from Wisconsin. Both Tony and Jennifer have been here since February. We went out for a couple drinks on Thursday after school, in Beomgye, a strip that is full of restaurants and bars. It was fun! My boss, Cindy, the Korean co-teachers, and the Director, are all really nice and welcoming, too. On Friday the Director brought me flowers, and for a Cheosok gift, all of the foreign teachers got a nice bottle of whiskey and shot glasses. Did I come at the right timing or what? I'm really looking forward to getting to know everyone better. I have a good feeling about this.
My apartment
I never thought I'd say this but my place in Radom was nicer. More spacious, windows with a view of green. My place here is liveable, but tiny. I do have a proper bed though, which I am grateful for, and a wardrobe that EASILY fits all of my clothing. I have an unnecessarily giant fridge, also in my bedroom. The kitchen and bathroom are squishy, but functional for one person. I do have a washing machine, but it looks like one that belongs in a play house. Haha It's not big enough to fit bedding, so I'll have to use my coworkers' machines. Apparently they all petitioned for me to get a new place - and that WAS the plan - but the current tenants weren't going to be moving out soon enough, so I got the place that the previous teacher lived in. It could be worse. I'm not too fussy. No oven, small windows, and nothing pretty to see. I do have controllable AC though, and a decent amount of storage. I just want to pick up a small bookshelf, and then I should be set! On Friday morning, when I arrived at school, Cindy brought me to my place so I could settle in a bit. The head bus driver for the school put up new curtains then and there. Friday evening the Director came by with all new bedding, and she also brought me some groceries - about 30000 pounds of bananas, a canteloupe, muffins, and orange juice. The generousity and hospitality are definitely not lacking here.
Oh! I should mention: the school provides lunch! I likely won't have it every day, but it's an option. Friday's meal was YUMMY - curry and rice, kimchi, some radish dish, and some clear soup. Mmmmm.
The city: Anyang
I haven't done a ton of exploring yet. What I've seen though, it's also very clean, like Seoul. My apartment is less than ten minutes from the school, en route which I pass a giant store, E-Mart, which is your everything/all-purpose store. I did a big shop there yesterday with Karen and her boyfriend, for groceries and some basic household essentials. There is also a gym (though there are others) really close to the school that all my coworkers belong to; they like to go after school. I'm definitely going to join, especially since it can be social too. Karen took me there yesterday too, so I could check it out. It's the "cheap" gym ($100 for three months) - my GOODNESS it's about 1000 steps-up from the gym I belonged to in Radom. That's definitely exciting. It's a nice facility. Can rides are SOOOOOO inexpensive. The meter starts at $2.30, and sometimes doesn't even change during the whole ride. Stuck in traffic, going a ways, I haven't seen the meter go higher than $3.70. It's insane. I think it's like that in all of Korea. A cab from Anyang to Seoul is $20...prices like that are unheard of in Canada!
Yesterday I went to the opening hockey game for the local team, Halla. Karen and her boyfriend, Romo, took me. We met up with some of their other friends, Trevor and Patti. They have a friend that plays on the team. Apparently Halla is a really good team, and was the winner of the Asian league last year. It was a really fast-paced and exciting game. There are some Westerners on the teams too. It was so fun to be at the sporting event. There were lots of other foreigners there too, and everyone chats with everyone else. The guys on these teams have often been NHL-drafted, so it's good hockey. Because it was the opening game of the season, there was this Korean glee-club type group, of kids aged seven to twelve, I'd say. It was so great. Last night after the game, Karen, Romu, and I went to Tom Tailor's, in Beomgye, for tex mex. All in all, everything has been awesome so far!
Ive been to the same E mart and the ice rink lol.
ReplyDeleteI usually park on the top floor