A week of firsts

So this week has largely been dominated by me settling in and figuring out exactly how my life is going to function for the next year or so. I have already had small victories in that I seem to have found a group of people my age that are as interested in Korea as I am. Still have not made any friends with the locals but it has been a very short period of time.

Saturday was fun in the sense that I got to explore a little bit of the city. I found a local store called Lotte Marte which is basically a Korean Target. Good thing about that is that it is close by my apartment so I can forage for necessary items. I am slowly learning how very few people know english and how it can be difficult to get help while over here. The people are very willing to help it is just that we are missing some vital connection. Oh well that should change with time. One hilarious encounter with my lack of Korean skill came while I thought I was buying bacon, and the butcher had no idea what I was asking after. Luckily a knowlegeable stranger came and assisted both of us. Not so lucky was the fact that it wasn't bacon but rather delicious pork.

So not one week on the job and I have had to come in on my first weekend to square things away. I now understand why everyone complains about going to the office on the weekend it is kind of a drag but hey work has to be done. So while I was preparing for my first lessons next week I was informed that I will be teaching two kindergarten classes (kindy kids), 4 elementary classes and one middle school class. Best thing about this is that my kindy kids have never been taught english and I have never taught anything. Should be a really effective and special first day. Apparently to make the transition to english easier the children are given english names like Colin, Maria, etc. But I missed out on naming my kids. Maybe I will just name them what I want to anyways. While I was in the office this weekend my boss was rather impressed with my abilities to know which words she was looking for when she couldn't think of the term, looks like my mouthing along with people is finally going to pay off.

I am almost over the jet lag as I feel less tired than normally, but it is taking longer than I had hoped. Tonight my co-worker is having a birthday celebration so normally I would bake cookies for the occaision but Korea doesn't believe in ovens. So I am out of luck.

Well I should continue exploring this lovely land of sunshine and bacon related products. I'll be back with more fun later. Maybe even my mailing address!