My first few days...

After about 17 hours of travel, I am settled into my apartment outside of Jeju City.

The trip itself was wonderfully uneventful. Everything made it unscathed to Jeju, no delays, and not too much sleep. But there was an adorable 8 month old baby en route to Dehli, India with her parents who kept me entertained in the next seat. The crew at Asiana Airlines were incredibly kind and accomodating and I got non-dairy vegetarian meals as I requested. Somehow, I managed to be given a bulkhead seat on an aisle and was "comfortable" the whole 12 hours in the air. My plane Karma has officially turned around! (Previous bad luck...all the time). We (fellow teachers flying from Seattle) made it through Immigration, Customs and Quarantine (Marcie and her cat, Sammy) quickly and found our way to Gimpo Airport with time to spare. Jimmy, a recruiter from Jejuesl, picked us up on the Island and took us to our apartments, about 15 minutes outside the city. So that takes us from Wednesday at 1:40pm to Thursday at 11pm.

I was greeted with warm, humid air in Jeju and a nice, quiet, clean city. Most things in stores and about transportation are printed in both English and Hangul, Korean writing. It's been surprisingly easy to get around thus far. From my building, it's just a short walk to the bus stop and a quick ride into the center of the city. People are friendly and helpful and have basic English (Iced Espresso, Toilet, Taxi), but learning Korean will make life much easier.

My apartment itself is the dorm building for the Foreign Language High School. It is surrounded by lush greenery as well as native and farm animals, located not too far from the beach (haven't been there yet), and affords a view of Mt Halla when it's clear. It's a very serious, studious school that apparently is coveted and hard to get into. My room is about the size of a typical studio apartment. I have a small refrigerator and freezer, a 2 burner gas range, an electric skillet, a microwave, and a larger sink. Cynthia, the girl who moved out of my room, was kind enough to leave me with many basic necessities. I have toilet paper, cleaning products, rags, sponges, assorted dishes, 2 frying pans, a traditional Korean mask that has lived in my room for a few years, dish soap, olive oil (wow!), and a collander. So that cuts down on what I need get from E-Mart today. Also, we have a desktop computer and a large TV. I haven't yet figured out the internet but I think I may just use the laptop I brought. There is also a very large terrace with huge glass doors and a washing machine. And an air conditioner. And built in floor warmer, although no heater that I've seen so far. It will probably be a cold winter, but there was a huge stack of blankets here to keep me comfortable. Something I'm very glad I brought is slippers since shoes are not allowed past the entry. I've decided to observe this custom in my own apartment. Hopefully this will cut down on dirt and dust on my "wood" floor. I did take pictures but forgot to bring my camera with me into the city this morning for uploading. Sorry! The building is full of English teachers, mostly Canadian and American that I've met so far. Everyone is friendly and happy to help us newcomers get settled.

There are 2 big stores in Jeju-City, E-Mart which is like K-Mart, and Lotte Mart, a Fred Meyer-esque grocery, housewares, clothing, and cinema complex. So today on the agenda is the first grocery trip and basic housewares. A good friend in New York gave me a very thoughtful gift of a Korean Vegetarian Cookbook. Browsing the recipes at 6:30am this morning when I woke up, I got the basic idea of what I need to stock in my pantry for these easy to prepare dishes. It's definately safer to cook instead of going out since they put fish in almost everything. Yesterday I had lunch at a cafe in E-Mart and enjoyed a delicious vegetarian Bibimbap, rice with cooked and raw vegetables, seaweed, kimchi (a staple to Korean cuisine of fermented cabbage with red chili paste, ginger, and garlic), and beans. Apparently most Kimchi is also seasoned with shrimp paste. So we'll see how much it takes to set off my new shellfish allergy. Nothing so far.

Yesterday (Friday) was the meeting with the Korean Teachers at our schools. There were about 75 English teachers, most of whom arrived from the 7 day EPIK Orientation that we were not invited to attend. I met one of my 2 co-teachers, Kim Kee Jeung, a very sweet Korean woman around my age who will be teaching with me 2 or 3 days a week at Jejudong Elementary School. I was originally assigned to work in 2 middle schools, but the girl who was assigned to this school isn't so good with younger children and asked to be re-assigned. I will be at Jejudong full-time and get a classroom that I share with my co-teachers. I teach 19 classes to kids 3-6 grade a week, 34-36 in a class and 3 classes to teachers, 10-15 teachers. Kee Jeung is excited to continue learning English and offered to teach me Korean. Yay! A tutor already! My classes have textbooks, but Kee Jeung says she'd love me to teach songs (I told her I was a music teacher) and when I mentioned some projects I'd like to do the first few weeks, she was very excited. I think it will be a great fit.

Overall, I am very comfortable and settled in my new home. It is the relaxed pace and natural beauty I'd hoped for. I've made some great friends already and really like my apartment. The city has everything I need and it's easy and inexpensive to get around by bus and taxi or on foot. Right now I'm writing this at a PC Gaming Room in ShinJeju (the newer part of Jeju City). I also have a computer at my school and of course one at home so communication will be very easy. I'll post some pictures in the next few days. I'm excited to start teaching on Monday and look forward to exploring the island in the next few weeks. Yesterday we set up bank accounts and learned how to apply for our alien registration card so we can get our airfare reimbursement and settlement money. We get paid directly into that account and can pick up debit cards anytime. I feel like I brought what I needed and only overpacked a little bit! But I'm happy I have some comforts like my pictures, my down comforter, oatmeal, and my coffee press.

And now off to do some shopping!

And they're Off!

This will be my last post from the good old USA. I leave in a few hours for my new home of Jeju Island off the south coast of the Republic of Korea. Everyone I've spoken with in the last few days has been either excited, nervous, or scared half to death of my impending adventure. I don't know what it is, but I'm not the least bit scared. Actually, the scariest thing is getting all of my luggage on the plane, hopefully under the weight limits! (Thanks, Kirstin).

I thought I'd set some goals so I can check in with myself from time to time. So here they are in no particular order.

-Learn to speak and read Korean (Yikes!)
-Improve my classroom teaching skills
-Teach community Yoga
-Take any adventure that comes my way

Of course, being flexible and open minded and not getting too frustrated with myself when I can't communicate with anyone are also ambitions. And keeping in touch with people at home and abroad. I tend to not make enough effort on that front when I travel, so it's officially on the list this time. Fortunately I have a computer (Thanks, Debbie!) and a camera (Thanks, Mom!) which should make things easier.

So this is my blog. I'll try to update it often. I also still have my email address and there will be a telephone number forthcoming in the next few weeks.

Thanks for the well wishers, tearful 'see you laters', and wonderful moments this summer. ...And I'm off!