Ok, so...A lot has happened so I'll try to fit in as much as I can into this post.
I arrived 8:15p in Daegu Sunday evening. They immediately took me to a motel because the guy I was replacing did not move out until Wednesday morning. The motel was good; big screen TV, computer, fridge, water, food, menu, couch, coffee table, robes, sandals, queen bed, phone, nightstand, fan, and just about every place around here has heated floors! We need that in the States. I haven't seen any carpeted places here either. haha. Anywho, the only downside of the motel was that it was a "love motel". I won't go into details..
You must remove your shoes before going to certain areas; homes, classrooms, more upscale restaurants...
I immediately had to go to the school Monday afternoon, although I was hoping they would give me time to rest a little more. Oh well. I'm fine. Monday all I did was sit in on classrooms with different teachers to see how the classes are done. They begin almost every class with exercise and meditation. It's pretty unique and I'm trying to get used to it. After meditation, the students must recall what they learned last class with their eyes closed, and speak aloud what is "painted on their brain screen". Then we dive into the lesson and we emphasize using imagery and speaking to learn and then writing. We end the class with a storybook usually and then with "Thank you English Power Brain. 1 2 3 YEAH!" ...interesting. And that's about it.
I've met a bunch of people already, mainly co-workers/teachers. They're all really laid back and fun and we've gone out to eat a few times already. Good people. Nice and interesting. My apartment is nice looking but very dirty from the last guy I replaced. He's South African, but white with a british/austrailian-type accent. Very cool guy. Kinda stinks that he left, and everyone here misses him. But I have LOTS of cleaning in my apartment to do; floors, bathroom, kitchen, everything! So black and dirty even if you can't see it at first...it's there. Yuck. It must be a South African thing to not clean...EVER. haha. I still have to finish unpacking as well. I went grocery shopping a couple nights ago and got some bare essentials and I'll probably do a little more this weekend.
Betty, a senior teacher here is going to take me Saturday downtown to get some art supplies so that I can start painting and drawing again. Maybe decorate my apartment a little with what I create and hopefully some time this year I'd like to have a number of pieces to enter into a gallery and get some foreign exposure. It will be really great to start networking with my artwork here. I am also looking to begin learning Korean probably through Rosetta®; an online language learning program. Should be efficient at this point. Who knows, after I leave next year maybe I'll live in a Korea-Town somewhere in the states, LA probably..? I dont know. We'll see.
So uh yeah, I guess I'm doing pretty well. Not really any problems or concerns thus far, so things are going great. Thanks everybody!
Love, BJ
