Happy Canada Day, Now Get Off My Couch

June 28 - July 4, 2010

Well this week started out without much excitement, but then on Tuesday I had two big events, though one was bigger than the other. First, it was Japan's first game in the second stage of the World Cup against Paraguay, so I watched it so that I could support my new friends from Japan. Unfortunately they lost and were put out of the tournament.
Second, I heard from my recruiter and was told that my new school would have an apartment for my by Wednesday, which meant I could get off of Blake's couch and give him back his space by the end of the week. So, on Wednesday I met with my new director to go see the new place, and boy were we both disappointed, though I'm sure I was more than her. It turned out that the school had not been looking for a place for me since I signed my contract, but had waited until the last minute to do so and forgot about all the things we had talked about. I had told them that I didn't need to live super close to the school, and that I could have helped them find a place while I was waiting to start. This meant that the director had not seen the place before she signed a one year lease on a place that we both considered small when we saw it. That and it is up a huge hill that I will have to walk every night after work. Quickly the good news was turning sour, when she then told me that I wouldn't able to move in until Thursday or Friday because they were redoing the wallpaper Thursday morning, and that since there wasn't an actual stove in the apartment, they were going to have to see about getting one for me.
A little pissed, it was back to Blake's for a couple more days.
Thursday was my first day at the school, but all I was doing was watching classes and meeting teachers so that I could get a feel for the school. However, I was watching only elementary level classes, and I will be teaching mostly middle school children, but it was a start. After work Thursday we had planned on meeting in Itaewon, and by we I mean all my Canadian friends, at Rocky Mountain Tavern for some Canada Day celebrations. I had never been so when I got there I had a hard time locating the bar, but after about 30 minutes of searching I was in and cheersing with Blake, Danielle, Emily, and some other Canucks that had come out for the night.
Friday morning I got up and headed to my new apartment for the first time, since I had seen it with the director. When I got there I was surprised to find that they had given me a microwave, but no hot plate. So, I could reheat food, but had no way of actually cooking the food that I would have to reheat. It was a short lived situation. I left it as it was, grabbed a quick shower and headed of to work so that I could prep for the three classes I was slotted to teach. Then once I was at school and classes were under way, one of the Korea teachers came in and introduced herself and we had a quick chat. It went a little something like this:
"Hi, I'm Mark."
"Hi, I'm Rebecca. You must be the new teacher, right?"
"Yeah I just started yesterday."
"Oh, so you have an apartment near the school?"
"Yes I do. It's near the subway station."
"So, did you get a microwave with your apartment?"
"Yes I did, which is weird 'cuz I didn't get a stove and rarely use a microwave."
"Oh so you have the microwave! That's the microwaves from our lunch room. They gave it to you, and now we have no way to heat our food at school."
...............awkward pause..................
"Well, I don't need it, want it, or have space for it, so I'll bring it back on Monday."
"Oh really! That would be great!"
I found it very weird that the school gave me the microwave from the lunch room, but then again it is Korea and they do, do strange things most of the times. The rest of the day we laughed about it while I met other teachers and had a chance to teach my first few elementary classes. My classes went well, and my student were super excited to have a 'giant' teacher with all new information to tell them. I think I will like the chance to teach some elementary students this year. They are a fun and spunky change from the cold middle school children I have usually taught.
Friday night I slid over to Blake's house after work to pick up some of my things, mostly clothes in a knapsack that I had washed, because I had planned earlier in the week to go to the coastal city of Ulsan on the weekend to visit Mark and Amy Guston, my good friend Adam's sister and brother-in-law and kids, who will be heading home soon after a year of living here. I got to Blake's, quickly grabbed my stuff, and headed over to Gangnam to meet him and his friends JiYoung for a beer and some food. I didn't stay late, as I wanted to catch the last subway home at 1230 so that I could get some rest before heading to the train station at 630 Saturday morning.
I was in bed and awake again before I knew it, and heading for the train station to catch my 730 bus for Ulsan. I slept most of the way there, and woke up just in time to jump off in Ulsan, before the train pulled out for its nest stop. Amy and the kids, Clara and Will, met me on the tracks and we headed off to pick up Mark from work, so we could all get some lunch. After lunch, Mark had to go back to work, so the rest of us drove back along the coast, stopping at the Black Pebble Beach and Pine Tree Forest for a hike. After that we went back to their apartment, which in comparison to anything we single teachers get was gigantic, where we just hung out and chatted, waiting for Mark to get home from work so we could barbecue. When we were finished eating, we just sat around and chatted, sharing funny stories about Korea and life in general. It was a welcome change to talk to some friends from back home who aren't teachers, and who I hadn't seen in a while. At 11pm, with the kids in bed, we sat down to watch the Argentina vs. Germany soccer game, which ended with Argentina's elimination from the tournament by a dominating German team. I was a little upset, not that I liked either team, but because I had chosen Argentina to go all the way, based on their round-robin showings.
Disappointed I went to bed and waited for the kids to wake my up the next morning, which they did around 930. Mark had already gone to work, so we had breakfast, got ready and headed out to Gyeongju for the day. We parked at the Hilton hotel and pretty much walked around for an hour or so until we found the Silla Millennium Park, which had lots of craft booths and historic performances. We checked it out and Clara took some time at a pottery booth to make a bowl/flower pot, and then we watch a reenactment of an old ark battle. Just short of starving, we decided to leave and head back to Ulsan to get some food at a Turkish place before I had to get back on the train at 715. We ate, had a quick beer after some craft store shopping for the kids and I got on the train and was off to Seoul with but a few minutes to spare.
Once back in Seoul, I went to stay at Blake's once again so that I could take the rest of my things to my own place and start setting up shop.