Annyong haseyo! (Hello!)

Well I have officially survived my first day in Korea. Fortunately I did not have to exactly start teaching the first day I arrived, thank god. The teacher I will be replacing showed me the ropes to his classroom and I got to meet my little nuggets. I have 12 cute little Asian 7 year olds all eager to learn my native language! Raymond, the English teacher I will be replacing, introduced me to the kids and let me do an introduction of myself. It took me a few minutes to explain to them I was from INDIAN-A and not Indians. All the girls in the classroom are so sweet…as for the boys, there were a few I already wanted to drop kick. But all in all, I am excited to start my first official day! Luckily, my boss felt bad I had just landed in and since my apartment wasn’t cleaned up yet, they put me in a hotel for the middle of the day to get some rest and wait till my apartment would be ready to move in the evening.

The hotel they set me up in was very nice and I am pretty sure a “love motel”. Most hotels in Korea are more geared towards couples who want to get a room together. Everything was very couple oriented and was made to be very swank and romantic. I didn’t care because I just wanted a place I could lay down in some air condition (it is very HUMID here). This is a clip of the place I stayed at which was Hotel Boutique K. Copy the URL: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vZlaQ_2FK7M

Around 6, they picked me up from the hotel and took me to my apartment. The director and a few of the people that work in the office for the school were in there setting up my bed and had already bought me food, pans, a comforter, and even some bathroom slippers! The apartment isn’t too bad. You can tell it’s very old. The building feels like a dorm to me. The hallways are very long and there are always a few doors that are always open. I live in a GREAT location though. I am smack dab in the busy part of the city where everything is literally at my fingertips. I am able to walk right down and step outside and there is a 24 hour convenient store. The city is still new so it is a very clean area. I will be doing a youtube clip to show you the apartment once I get more settled in.

After we were done setting up my apartment, Kim, an English teacher at my school who is from Georgia, showed me the ropes of the city! She also lives in my building so that will be nice to know someone else lives here. She took me out to dinner where we had this large dish with chicken, potatoes, vegetables, and noodles sautéed in a spicy sauce. She told me a lot about the school, the city, and just how to get around. I unpacked tonight and got a little more situated. Fortunately, the school is still allowing me to have a week off because of the threat of the swine flu here which means I have some more time to get settled in. My mom is here in Korea waiting to see me and help me with everything which I am EXTREMELY thankful for because I know she will help me out so much. Tomorrow they are taking me to get a health check which I am VERY nervous about because there is a blood test involved and not only have I never given blood before, but I haven’t had a needle stuck in me for awhile and was almost starting to forget how uncomfortable it is. After that, they are taking me to the bank and then hopefully I will be meeting up with my mom. Should be a busy day.