Survival of the… Fittest?

Welcome to my journal, friends! ^^

I’ve been here for 2 weeks and 2 days, so we have a little catching up to do! This post will be long (but interesting, I hope!), so please bear with me.

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Friday, July 30 – Arrival in South Korea

I arrived at Incheon International Airport at about 7:30pm, and after much confusion, got my bus pass and an international phone card (haven’t found one since!).  The bus from the airport to Cheonan would take 2 hours and 10 minutes, so I enjoyed napping on the bus (which I should have taken pictures of, but I was too travel-weary to care at that point). It had reclining seats and was very comfortable.

I arrived in Cheonan at the bus station at YaWooRi, which at the time, I had no idea about. Basically it looked like I had been thrown out of a bus into the middle of a closed mall. I felt a little like I was in Day of the Dead. I wandered to the front of the mall and saw a sea of people catching buses and just waiting around.

There I was, three suitcases and a carry-on, frantically looking around for SOMEONE who would pick me up, and I had no idea who to look for. After about 2 minutes of dealing with the stares of people I didn’t know, after a nearly 30-hour travel day, I almost hit panic button. I had no cell phone. I had no way of contacting my director (the phone number I had was for the school, not her personal number), and had NO idea where I was supposed to meet her. I pulled up my courage and walked back inside the mall area to look for a pay phone, even though I was sure I didn’t see any while walking out, when I heard someone say my name.

“Are you Rachel?”

I thought I’d died and gone to heaven. English never sounded so sweet! It was Keetek, Kate’s brother, coming to get me. He told me she was coming around with the car and helped me with my (overly packed and seriously overweight) bags. The ride was a blur. Kate was extremely nice and helpful. She showed me the apartment and showed me how to turn on the air-con and water heater. They made sure my fridge was working and then asked me to follow them so they could show me where the school was. Lucky for me it’s literally down the street and on the corner, so only about 2 minutes from my apartment.

After that they left and I walked into my apartment alone. I passed out almost immediately onto my bed, but not after unpacking a few things and testing out my power adapter. I couldn’t figure it out, so I left it for the morning. It was nearing 1am and I had some sleep to catch up on.

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Saturday, July 31st – “Get Aquainted”

On Saturday, I got a quick tour of the school while no one was there. It’s a very pretty place, with book reports and illustrations lining the walls. I fell in love with the way things were organized and set up. I was ready to meet some kids right then, but knew my time would come on Monday morning. Kate gave me a cell phone pre-programmed with teachers’ numbers. She told me that if I needed anything, to try calling someone and getting their help. I gladly accepted the phone and carried forward to find some much-needed food and supplies.

Outside, I realized that I had no idea where I was going. I called Peter, one of my coworkers. He told me a few quick tips and was very helpful, letting me know which of my coworkers were available. I took a trip to Lotte-mart, bought quite a few things including an iron and ironing board, and after a few trips, was feeling quite at home (or as much as I could, being there for only a few hours).

I gave Andrew a ring and he offered to show me around and get some dinner at a local restaurant. His friend Joel was with him, and we all went to get some Mandu. They bestowed some friendly wisdom about Korea on me, and we had a great time eating our 김치 만두.

Delish.

After the 김치 만두, Joel, Andrew and I had a remarkable night of drinking soju and walking around Cheonan proper. It ended with them running (and Andrew falling) up a hill to visit a small part of a traditional village. No one was still living there, of course, but you could see the huts and whatnot where people lived about 50 years ago. It’s crazy how quickly this country modernized! But anyway… I came home and fell asleep, since I had no internet and was tired from being awake since 7am.

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Sunday, August 1st – Stephanie, Shay, and Language Exchange!

On Sunday, I attempted to call Stephanie, my first contact to Korea. She had been showing her parents around Seoul and other parts of Korea for a week, and had just gotten back from Seoul when we ate lunch together at Pizza Alvolo! We were able to chat up a lot of things and talk about what we were doing in Korea and whatnot. It was great being able to talk to her in person and in such detail.

She asked me if I wanted to come along and see her place in Buldang-dong, which is a suburb of Cheonan just west of Ssangyong-dong where I live. We walked for about 20 minutes (I don’t know how she does it every day!) and I got to meet her cat and Shay, her Irish friend. He’s also a teacher who is leaving in just one week. We talked about work and living in Korea and things like that… really interesting stuff for someone who has just landed. I soaked up the conversation (and the good refreshments) until about 5:30. I’d been invited to the Cheonan Korean-English Language Exchange group at 6! Steph gave me a present, a T-money card. T-money is used for buses and cabs around Korea. You can load as much as you want on it and use it to travel back and forth to wherever you need to go. Thank you, Steph! What an awesome present.

I walked back towards Ssangyong-dong, took the 12 bus by myself (intimidating!), and arrived at about 6:45 at the place where I was picked up Friday night, YaWooRi. Downtown Cheonan is huge! I met the group, saw Andrew and Joel again, and caught the tail end of the exchange. Turns out most of the group was going to someone else’s house to have dinner and I was invited along there, too! (Thanks, Ruth!)

I met some really nice Korean folks and ate an interesting dinner of watermelon 물 냉면 Mul Naeng Myeon. Everyone else wanted fried chicken or pizza haha.

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Monday, August 2nd – “Go Teach!”

My first “Welcome to Korea” moment was when I walked into school on Monday morning, prepared to have some orientation and observation time and get aquainted with the teachers and other staff, only to find out that I was actually to begin teaching that morning without any prior knowledge on how to actually do it “their way”. It was a shock, that much I can say. I winged most of the day, getting kids’ names, figuring out what worked and what didn’t, and generally keeping my head down. It was the first day of a three-week summer camp, and they just didn’t have any free time to show me the ropes or tell me what they expected of me.

Yes, I was upset, but the kids really just made it better. I loved walking into classrooms, letting them know who I was, where I was from, and getting to know them better, too. Their cute faces and enthusiasm were enough to keep me going that day. Also, I had martial arts to look forward to!

Shay had invited Steph and I to try out a style of martial arts called hap kido. Unfortunately, when we got there, the gym was closed. We said, “better luck next time!” and went our separate ways. I came home, took a much-needed shower, and watched some Korean TV. I was not looking forward to being thrown into the wolves for another day.

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Thursday, August 5th – Internet!

This day was important to me because I finally got internet in my apartment! It’s pretty fast, too. About 11.75MB download! Finally, I can skype without going to Paris Baguette!

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Friday-Saturday August 6th-7th – Itaewon, Seoul

Oh yes, my first week would not be complete without a trip to Itaewon. It was Erica’s friend’s Mason’s birthday (phew!) and we danced the night away.

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Sunday, August 8th – KoKoMo and S-Bar

These cute Siamese kittens are always looking for affection whenever you go to KoKoMo. ^^ Syl showed me this place, which is a friendly and very cozy bar in a suburb of Cheonan. I love going there because of the cats. :p She and I had a nice conversation about working and Korea in general… sorry for being such a snooze, Syl! Friday night was soo exhausting.

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Monday, August 9th – PAIN

So, this Monday I decided to go with Shay to hapkido, and again it was closed. We decided, “okay, we’ll try taekwondo instead!” so we walked back through Ssangyong-dong to the taekwondo gym. There I met the teacher and his assistant, and even though there was a language barrier, we hit it off really well.

We started with some warm-up exercises like running and stretching. Then came time for the instructional “how to”. While trying out some kicks and new stances, I landed on my foot wrong and twisted my knee out of the socket. Thankfully it rolled back in place, but the pain had definitely set in. The head teacher and assistant kept asking if I was okay, got cold water and a shirt to wrap around my knee, and offered to take me to the hospital. I asked Shay to translate that I hadn’t yet gotten my medical card, so I would just go home and put some ice on it. At least nothing was broken.

The assistant bought me a knee brace (unfortunately it was for a leg much smaller than my own, but what a nice thing to do!) and drove me to my apartment. Shay, bless his heart, walked down to the grocery store and bought two different ice packs and an actual bag of ice just in case. I was really, really thankful that I wasn’t alone that night. I almost cried about the insanity of it all, but really I was just tired and needed some sleep.

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Tuesday, August 10th – My First Hospital Visit

During school, I was allowed to go to the hospital to get some medical advice. A co-teacher of mine took me there and did some translations… I got an x-ray of my knee (to make sure nothing was broken) and was prescribed pills and “physical therapy”. I had no idea what Korean physical therapy would be like, but I went immediately after the doctor visit. Basically, I was offered a bed for 45 minutes while they worked some magic on me. First, they put a heat lamp next to my knee to relax the muscles. Next, the nurse came in and rubbed some ointment onto the sore spot and massaged the muscle first with her hands and then with some kind of electro-wand that sent pulses through my muscles (I guess to ease it up more?). Lastly was four suction-cup type things that were super cold. I felt so much better after all of that. I got my prescription and went back to work, just in time for my last two classes.

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Friday, August 12th – Andrew’s B-day/Joel’s Housewarming

The language exchange group decided to have an official housewarming party for Joel’s new apartment in Downtown Cheonan (lucky man). Most of the group was there, including YungJee, who had sent a present through Andrew earlier in the week to share samples of lotion and makeup with me. (Thank you! *^^*) We had a potluck dinner of traditional Korean meals and things like fried chicken. I felt bad for only bringing some coke, but I still have no cookery and very little language skills… ;(

Anyways, after the potluck (which was very tasty), we decided to go to Banana Bar to celebrate Andrew’s B-day. We all couldn’t fit in the elevator, so Joel and Andrew decided to try and race us by taking the stairs. -_-; Andrew tripped and fell a little on the stairs, causing some pain in his ankle. He said it hurt but said it was okay and he’d fix it up later. We spent quite a few hours out (bad decision on my part… as I had caught a cold the day before and smoke + cold = lots of coughing), but we had fun and spent most the time playing pool and just talking.

On the way home, we decided to grab some very early morning breakfast of Pork Spine Soup. Yes, you read correctly. Pork. Spine. Soup.

It’s quite the thing to see actual vertebrae on your plate.

After the long night and morning, I came home to rest and recouperate. Andrew had to go to the hospital and get a cast on his ankle. Turns out he tore a ligament! 😦 Poor Andrew. He has to wear a cast for 3 weeks. I feel lucky that I didn’t need such a thing for my knee.

Since Saturday, I’ve been staying indoors and taking it easy. I ordered 순두부 찌개 Soondubu Chigae for dinner Saturday to melt the cold from me.

Tonight I had ramen and pizza from Pizza School! It was only 5,000W (less than $5!)

I’m really tired from writing so much… and sorry about the lengthy entry, but next time it will be shorter and with more focus! Thank you all for your support and love. I couldn’t survive here without it. 🙂 xoxo