culture shock...

NOT WHAT I EXPECTED:
To my surprise, it was an older male teacher. Either I'm sexist or orientation put it in my mind that I would have a female co-teacher, but it never crossed my mind that I might be working with a guy. So this guy shakes my hand quickly and says "luggage!" Actually I had to get him to repeat it because I didn't understand what he said. In my mind I'm thinking, "Great, I'm screwed! I can't even understand his English, how am I supposed to work with him every day?!" After going to the wrong truck of luggage, we find the right one and take my things to his Kia SUV. Not much conversation has taken place at this time.

APARTMENT OR NO APARTMENT?:
We start driving in the car, and I had so many questions for him, but I didn't want to rush him. My main concern was whether or not I had a place to live ready for me yet. Finally, after "pulling teeth" to get answers, he says "first we go to your apartment to drop off luggage." THANK GOODNESS! My next hope was that it was clean lol. We are only in the car for about 10 minutes before we arrive to the place I will call home for a year. I notice it's in a smaller building, which meant I didn't have to hassle with elevators. We walk to the 3rd floor, enter the room, and I breathe a big sigh of relief! It was clean & had everything I needed in it (kitchen, bed, wardrobe, washing machine, tv, dining room table, desk, and even a computer). I never even had a dining room table in my previous apartment in Texas.

TO SCHOOL WE GO:
After looking around for a bit, he says, "Okay, now we go to school. Principal is waiting for us. Then we go shopping." We get back into his car and he tells me the school is in the "country side" so the commute is pretty far. I tell him a few things about myself & he tells me about his family, how old he is (55), food preferences, etc. So, all this time I'm thinking this is my co-teacher, the guy in charge of me for the next year. About 5 minutes before we arrive at the school, which really is out in the middle of nowhere, he says, "For past 2 years...for past 2 years...2 years, yes? (I nod and say yes to make him stop repeating it) for past 2 years...I was co-teacher...BUT...(insert super long pause) but now this year....this year...I get promotion. Promotion, yes? I am head teacher. I have new sidejob."

NOTE:
This is how pretty much every conversation went and has been going with this guy, who's name is Mr. Jun (pronounced Chun). I wrote out that conversation as an example of the struggle I go through every time he speaks to me or I ask him a question.

So, I finally get him to finish his explanation and he says that my actual co-teacher is on vacation and will return Monday. He also explains that he will be helping me until he, meaning Mr. Bahn, returns. At this point I am thankful to have someone help me, but silently I was praying that my co-teacher's English was somewhat better than his. Not in a rude way at all, it would just be more beneficial to my lesson planning and life in general! Moving to a new country, you have alot of questions and you want answers as soon as you can get them!

MEETING THE PRINCIPAL & VICE PRINCIPAL:
We enter the school & Mr. Jun stops to comb his hair, using a "mirror" type sign on the wall. I thought he was doing this to look nice for the principal but it turns out he does this everywhere we go lol. He takes me into the principal's office and I shake his hand, and he offers me a seat, and some tea or coffee. Mr. Jun makes tea while I sit in this big black chair, which I had sunken into because of it's softness, and the principal is staring at me. We awkwardly smile at each other until Mr. Jun sits down.

We then have a simple conversation about where I'm from, where I went to school, my teaching certifications, etc. All of this is done by the principal asking me something in Korean, me looking at Mr. Jun to translate, then answering the principal in English & the principal looking to Mr. Jun for Korean translation. Big process for a small conversation! Mr. Jun tells me that the principal says "my looks are familiar to him" although I'm not quite sure what that means, lol. Mr. Jun had previously told me I was "very beautiful" in the car, which I learned in orientation is told to every foreigner in Korea because the Koreans are just not used to seeing our distinct facial features. If someone tells you this, it is not them hitting on you, they just want to compliment you.

Back to the story, the vice principal enters the room to briefly shake my hand and explains in Korean that he is busy. Both of them are rather short guys, which made me feel like a giant lol. We make a brief stop in the "administration office" where we are handed orange juice (I don't think I will ever be dehydrated here lol) and we hop into the car once again & head back to the city.

SHOPPING:
At orientation some people told me about this place called "Lotte Mart" which was supposed to be kind of like a Costco or Sam's Club. Turns out it's more than that, it has 4 levels! He had me make a basic list of stuff I would need for my apartment, and at this time I assume that this is coming out of my pocket, so I write a few basic things: bedding, shower shoes, & slippers for work (you can't wear your outide shoes in the classrooms in order to prevent dirty floors). We spent most of the time looking for shoes because I have a big foot, size 10 in America, and I don't know what size in Korea because it doesn't exist, atleast not in women's shoes. To top it off he insists, "You are girl. You need cute shoes." I don't think he was aware that "cute" goes out the window once you get to about an American size 9 lol. So I ended up with "cute" shower shoes & regular black "slipper shoes" for school. For shower shoes, size wasn't a big deal, but for the others I had to get ones that looked a bit more for men. However in Korea, the guys sometimes dress better than the girls, lol.

After the shoe ordeal, we head to bedding. I figure since I'm in Korea I may as well get ridiculously "cute" things since my apartment already had non-removable random flowers on the wall. I find a comforter with purple and pink circles on it. I figured I had enough flowers on the wall. He kept asking if I needed a sheet, but I kept telling him I brought one from home. Then he kept asking about a pillow. Take in mind, I was holding my pillow when I met him! lol. So I re-assured him that I had one at the apartment & we finally left with comforter and shoes in hand.

However our shopping did not end here. He then insisted that he take me to DC Mart, which was like a grocery store across the street from my apt, to buy toilet paper, paper towels, food, etc. While I thought this was very nice of him, I would have liked to go grocery shopping on my own. So to not waste his time, yet still take his offer, I picked out a couple cereals, milk, bread, etc. He then says he is going to get some bread for us to share. We get in his car, and he stops outside of my apartment and gets out the bread. I politely take one and bite into it. Turns out there is no such thing as "normal bread" in Korea. They all have something inside of it, whether it's meats, fruits, or sweet filling. The first one I eat is sweet, which I really enjoyed. He then says, have another one. I pick a different one and bite into it....GROSS! It had onions and I don't know what else in it....maybe even seafood. I force down a couple more bites, then tell him I am going to "save" it for later. LOL. It stayed in my refrigerator for quite while because it took me a long time to figure out what to do with my trash.

SETTING UP MY APARTMENT:
Finally, after a crazy filled day, I return to my apartment to unpack. Mr. Jun tells me that he is going to a meeting & that I should unpack while he is gone & he will return later to "check" on me. It is at this point that I make the realization...this is it...this is my new life...and I'm all alone in this apartment, without a cell phone, and no internet.

I try to push that thought into the back of my mind while I set my bed up. I pull out my twin sheets to put on the bed and immediately see that they are not going to fit. Turns out my bed is a "twin plus" size. Almost what a full would be in America. While I'm happy the bed is a bit bigger, I still find myself upset because I wanted sheets but would have to wait until the next day. My mind then switches to the computer that's on the desk. I turn it on in hope of internet, but the computer doesn't even turn on...it just beeps at me over and over. Next I turn my laptop on & think maybe I can connect to a wireless network...another fail. I start looking around at my washer, heater, & microwave, which are all labeled in Korean. At this point I throw myself on my bed in tears and wonder what the hell I'm doing in this strange world. I believe that the culture shock & busy day caught up with me at that point and this needed to happen.

After my dramatic episode, I re-group my thoughts and notice an ethernet cord. Without much hope I plug it into my laptop and...SUCCESS!! I immediately stop what I'm doing and start talking to my friends from orientation who also discovered they had internet at their apartments. After feeling much better (isn't it crazy how we are comforted by technology), I resume the process of making my apartment presentable. I honestly don't think I could have moved over here without the recent development of Facebook and Skype. I still have awhile before I get my cell phone.

I will now switch to a new post to discuss my first week of living in Gumi.

XOXO,
Amanda