Korean Adventure: Week 1

I meant to get this posted a little earlier than this, but moving in, trying to figure out how all my Korean appliances work, exploring, and braving the subways and taxi's has eaten up my time. So, I guess I better start from the beginning of this adventure: the flight over.
I took American Airlines to San Francisco, a pretty average flight. When I got off I walked all the way to the international terminal and panicked slightly when my flight wasn't on the departure board yet. I called the information desk of Singapore airlines and they told me where to go and when to be there. Crisis averted. After a couple of hours I got on Singapore airlines. BEST. AIRLINE. EVER!!!! I was in economy class, so I wasn't expecting much, but every seat had its own computer screen/television. You could select what ever movie you wanted from new releases like Avatar to classics like West Side Story or even Japanese, Korean, Chinese, or Indian films. They also had television you could watch as well. The entire first season of Glee and Criminal minds, and random episodes of several dozen other shows. If you turned over the little TV remote they gave you, it turned into a game controller and you could play computer games. The food was awesome too. They served lunch, a light meal (which was basically another lunch), snacks, and they also came around every half an hour or so with juice, water, and white wine! They had three different menus you could choose from, continental (typical western food), Korean, or Indian. The food was good and the stewardesses brought hot towel to clean your hands with before each meal. They also brought little bags with toothbrushes, toothpaste, and random socks for the flight. I also had an entire row of seats to myself because the flight wasn't full. All in all, it was the nicest plane ride I've ever been on.
When I got to Incheon International Airport, I was a little nervous because I didn't know if the guy Footprints had told to pick me up, Jonny Gon, would be there, but he was waiting for me outside the baggage claim. He was really nice and helped me carry my 70 lb suitcases to the van and the guest house where I stayed the night. The guest house was super nice, but I pretty much collapsed and slept until I was picked up the next morning. Gon took me to the bus station, got me a bus ticket, and waited with me until the right bus came so he could help me get all of my stuff on. After that, it was a 4 hour bus ride to Gwangju.
When I got to Gwangju at about 1 pm, my co-teacher, Jeon, picked me up and took me to lunch. We went to TGI Fridays, I'm assuming so that I would feel at home, and then she took me to my apartment. We dropped off my bags, she showed me how to work the gas and the washing machine, and then we left for the hospital. I had to get a blood and urine test done to make sure I wasn't on drugs or bringing any infectious diseases into Korea. It took about a half hour, and after we were done Jeon took me by the school so I could find it and taught me how to use the subway. After that Jeon took me back home and went to finish up her classes. I was too tired to do much of anything, but Jeon had shown me where the little mart down the street was, so I picked up some soap, shampoo, orange juice, and snacks. I came back to my apartment and collapsed.
The next day, Wednesday, I had to be at the school at 11 to meet the principle and vice-principle. I got up early so I could eat, shower, etc., only to find that I had no clue how to turn on the hot water! In Korea, buildings are usually heated by running hot water through pipes underneath the floor. The same hot water used for heating the room is used for taking hot showers. I had no clue how to turn my heat on or turn my hot water on. I didn't really worry about it the night before, just got in my pj's and got under all of the blankets, but in the morning, not under the covers it was very cold. Unfortunately, I had to take a cold shower in a cold apartment before I left or I was going to be late. My school is about a half-hour walk form my apartment, 15 minutes if I take the subway part of the way. I took the subway because I didn't want to be late for my first time meeting the principle after my no hot water debacle. I made it to school in one piece, met the principle and vice principle, as well as some of the other teachers, and was taken to my classroom. My co-teacher showed me around and taught me how to use the computer, projector, big screen tv, etc. and told me more about the chool and the students. I teach at Seoseok Middle school, which is all boys. I teach 2nd and third grade English, which means I teach 15 and 16 year old boys. She said because I was young and female all of the boys would like me. She also said if they were too noisy or didn't do what I said, in Korea you are allowed to hit students. I think I'll settle for sending them out of the class room, but I told her that was good to know. My classroom is in the new building of my school on the third floor. It is a very nice classroom in a very nice building which I am the only person in. I think some science classes are held on the floor below me for part of the day, but for the most part, I am the only person in the building. It's kinda depressing. My co-teacher said I didn't have to start teaching until Monday, so all I had to do was make lesson plans, one for the 2nd grade and one for the 3rd grade, who I don't actually have until Thursday because they will be on a field trip in the beginning of the week. I also have after school classes 4 times a week. Two advanced classes and two beginning/intermediate classes which I have to make lesson plans for. But it's really not that much work, only 4 lesson plans per week, and I have several planning periods each day. at 12:30 I went to the main teachers office to meet Jeon for lunch. The schools here all seem to provide the teachers with lunch, so I get to eat an authentic Korean school lunch. It is pretty good. A fried rice dish with a fried egg on top, radish kimchi, egg and tofu soup, and a really tasty drinkable yogurt cup. After lunch I went back to my classroom to laze around until 5, when I get off work.
I didn't have any dishes, utensils, or appliance, so I asked Jeon where I should go to pick some up. She told me to go to e-mart, which is now quite possibly my favorite store. She told me to take a taxi, it would be more convenient, and tell the taxi driver e-,art nad he would know where to go. I followed her directions and got there without a hitch. I spent about 200,000 won (about 200 American) an staples like dishes, pots and pans, an electric kettle, food, etc. and had to have one of the e-mart greeters help me carry my purchases out to the curb so I could signal a taxi. I got all my stuff home and, once again, collapsed.
Thursday morning I still couldn't turn on the hot water, and my landlady never seemed to be home to help me, so I heated up water in my new kettle and pot and brought those into the bathroom to bathe. After I was done getting ready, I had about 45 minutes before I needed to leave, so I decided to poke the switches on the wall trying to get my hot water to work. I managed to turn off the electricity for my whole apartment several times, but I eventually found out how to turn on the heat and the hot water. Triumphant, I decided to walk to school so I could see more of the area. School was basically a repeat of Wednesday, sit in my fancy classroom all day, come downstairs to eat lunch, sit in the classroom some more. A break in the monotony is when the students come in in the afternoon to clean. There are 3 boys assigned to sweep, 4 to mob, one to do windows, and one to clean all the desks, including mine. I thought they were very disciplined, they knew exactly what to do, but Jeon says I should supervise them because they are lazy. I thought it was hysterical when one of the boys waved and said hi to me, I waved and said hi back. He then clutch his heart, stumbled around the room, and fell on the floor. The other boys thought he was pretty funny too. Jeon rolled her eyes and told him to get back to work. After they left, it was a couple more hours til I went home, and once again, jet lag tackled me and I went strait to bed.
Friday, I got to take a hot shower in the morning and head to the Gwangju Education office for orientation. We had to get our bank accounts, apply for our ARC cards (like a green card), and sit through some lectures and Q&A sections. It was really, really nice to talk to people who a) spoke English as their first language and b) were going through the same stuff I was. I met alot of great people, got my bank account set up, and applied for my ARC. We also all went out to lunch at a really great restaurant that served agiant korean meal. I had some of the best pork I've ever eaten and alot of great Korean side dishes. After the orientation, me and a few of the other Epik teachers decided to go exploring. We took the subway to the Gwangju Cultural centure, and then we wandered around for awhile. We found the fish market, a long covered street with lots of fish vendors selling their wares, and the fashion street. It was really cool because it was all lit up for the night and very crowded. One of the other English teachers I was with wanted to go into German bar, a bar run by a Korean guy who had lived in Germany and worked in a brewery for 12 years. The owner was really nice and bought everyone the first round because it was our first time in Korea. He also offered to make us all bread if we came back later. We left the German bar to find some food, but it was really crowded because there was a light show and concert going on, so some of the streets were blocked off. Luckily we ran into some other English teachers who had been here for 8 months or so and they showed us to a restaurant they really liked called Lemon Table. It's a burger place that has menus in English, but the burgers have a kind of Korean flare. I had the Lemon table house burger which had a fried egg and soy sauce on it. After dinner we were all tired, so we all caught taxis or the subway home.
On Saturday I decided I wanted to see more of the fashion street and the underground market. I took the subway down to the underground market, which stretches a huge distance between two subway stops. I walked the entire length of the market and took pictures, which I will eventually get posted on facebook. I then went above ground to find the fashion street. It's really more of a fashion block than a fashion street, and I wandered around it for a while looking at the shops and taking pictures of the street vendors. I ate lunch at a restaurnt that smelled good. I think they thought I was crazy because I came in alone and didn't speak any Korean. I ordered by pointing to a picture on the menu, which worked out well because they brought me delicious meat patties with different dipping sauces to try, spicy soup, and salad. It was so good! After lunch I wandered some more. I was kinda sad I ate so much at lunch, because I really wanted to try some of the waffles form the waffle carts. They smelled amazing! I decided to head home at about 4 or 4:30, and I pretty much crashed after that.
Today was an adventure too. I wanted to go either to the Lotte mart by the World Cup stadium, or to the U terminal and e-mart to pick up a few things and see what was what. I also wanted to take the bus because it was the only kind of transportation I hadn't tried yet. I caught the 16 bus down the street from my apartment and took it too the u-terminal. I was stoked because now I knew how to get to the terminal for when I wanted to visit Seoul or any other part of the country. The first place I saw when I got off the bus was Lotteria. Lotteria is kind of like an Asian McDonald's, but they serve things like Bulgogi burgers and squid rings. I got a Bulgogi burger, fries and a coke for lunch and headed out to explore the terminal. Its huge! There is an Imax theater, dozens of restaurants, a food court, balcony plaza things, and much more. It also connects to Shinsegye department store, a huge department store over 8 stories tall. I took an escalator to the top 8th floor and walked up to the 9th where there was some kind of school or academy for young children. On the the first floor of the basement was a really cool grocery store/ food hall. There was a bunch of people selling fresh kimchi, fresh fish and seaweed, hot meat buns and dumplings, plus a regular grocery store like section. There were also a bunch of little food and snack shops selling food for fairly cheap. Most of the places had free samples, so I kind of ate my way around the store. There was a really nice kimchee lady who wanted me to try all of her different kinds of kimchee and tried to explain them to me in Korean. After I was done in the food section of the basement, I headed out the doors to the underground walkway that would said it would take me to e-mart. I felt very cool when I actually ended up at e-mart at the end of the trek. I picked up some clothes hangers and some pastries for Monday morning's teacher's meeting and then headed back to the bus terminal so I could catch a bus home. That was where the real adventure began.
You see, I was under the impression that Korean buses were like American buses, or at least Gainesville buses. They go in a loop. If you get on the bus at any point on the loop, you will eventually get back to where you are going. This was not the case. Korean buses go in strait lines, and at the end of their route, they take a break. It's probably how they stay so on time, one little bit of lateness is not compounded to make further lateness. I didn't know this, however, and got back on the same #16 bus going the same direction. An hour later, a very confused bus driver was asking an even more confused me what the hell I was still doing on his bus. He took me to the main bus office, and with the help of my map and the piece of paper with my address on it, eventually got me on the right bus with instructions to stay put until I was told to get off. At least I think that's what was said, it was all in Korean. I eventually got home, two and a half hours after I had left the u-terminal. Oh well, now I know a little more about the bus system here. :P
That's about all so far... Stay tuned for more adventures!