May 22: We're Still Here!

     Either, the man who predicted the rapture, forgot the part where Jesus said “No one knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father" (Matthew 24:36) or he was actually arrogant enough to try and one up Jesus.  At any rate, I’m still in Korea and you’re where you are reading this, so I hope you enjoy!

     Today was a great day for me.  I finally made my way to the only Starbucks in town (about a 20 minute bus ride) and purchased a french press and some decent coffee! This may sound unimportant or uninteresting to some of you, but this was the most important thing I have done since being here.  You see, Koreans have some of the worst coffee I have ever tasted in my life.  They mostly drink instant coffee that comes in little tubes and normally has more sugar than coffee!  If you know me, you know that good coffee is one of the reasons that I wake up in the morning.  I love it.  The smell, the process of making it, the taste, everything.  So the fact that I now have one of my very favorite things at my disposal every morning makes me infinitely happier!

     The job itself is going quite well. I feel as though I am finally settling down and fitting in around here. It has been interesting to become an early bird, waking up every morning and getting ready in time to be out the door by 9 am. The only job i’ve ever had (among my well documented many) with similar 9-5ish 40 hour + work weeks have been construction jobs I used to take on summer vacation from college. I hated waking up for those low-paying, physically demanding days! 

     This job, however, is much more enjoyable. My 15 minute walk everyday is mostly downhill and I am always greeted with warm smiles from my co-workers, a far cry from my groggy tool-belt clad co-workers of summers past.  Each day at noon the school’s english teachers (3 from the US, 5 from Korea) gather for lunch, an almost always, delicious lunch.  This, by far, is one of the biggest perks of the job, I love it!  Then I teach 3-4 more classes (depending on the day), and am always done by 6.

     Some days I walk strait home, some days I take a hike or a nap, but after hours of hyper Korean children I am always lucky enough to be granted moments of solitude. This was one of the strangest adjustments I’ve had to make, living alone, but I have come to truly appreciate this massive blessing!  Not that I don’t miss living with people, I do, but for this year at least I am enjoying this new experience.  One of the best parts about my apartment is that I am minutes away from some awesome hiking trails. I’ve never considered myself much of a hiker, but it is my only way to escape the noisy urban jungle that is Ulsan.  There is a perfect spot to view the sunset (see picture) and it’s not even a 15 minute walk from my place! 

     I’ve met some cool people out here so far.  On Wednesdays a bunch of us teachers get together and go bowling, I’ve definitely been enjoying that!  And *hopefully* soon I’ll be on a soccer team with a group of foreigners that play in a league against South Koreans!  With the nasty humidity that has already begun to set in, I am sure to up against one of the most physically demanding things i’ve ever done, haha, so wish me luck! (I really just want to stay in shape and hone my skills so I can be ready to join and contribute to BAU when I get back!)  

     As I listen to Joel P. West tonight in my apartment, I long for the warm Spring days of Central and Southern California.  For my friends and family who make this life so interesting and enjoyable, for the sunsets on the beach, for the wonderfully long afternoons of volleyball at the Montero’s, for the evenings at my parents’ house with family watching the Giant’s win (but always making it torturously entertaining), for basketball on Wednesday’s with Craig and JLK, for awesome nights in North Park, and for great nights at Wexford’s with endless laughter.   I am ridiculously lucky and blessed to be able to call you my friends.  I am enjoying my time here, and am thankful to have such a wonderful job but I am constantly thinking of you all and fully intend to resume the aforementioned activities upon my arrival 49 weeks from now! 

     I hope you all got to see the album I posted on Facebook, but for those of you who don’t have access i’ll see what I can do about posting it here in the near future. Also, if you have a smart phone please download the free app called “Voxer!”  Craig Allen discovered it and I have been talking to him and JLK almost everyday.  It lets you send free text, voice, and picture messages! I am only able to use it when I have a wireless connection on my iPhone, but that is fairly often.  Anyways, I hope that reading this made your Sunday morning just a little more interesting.  

     Have an awesome, "I just got delicious coffee for my apartment," type of day!

First Glimpse of My Life in Korea!

Well, I promised a blog, so here it is! 

To be honest, I have no idea where to start... I posted once before I left, just to get the feel, so hopefully this will go well and be informative and entertaining.

For the first time since a family trip to Minnesota in the mid-90’s, I did not use my own headphones even once during my travels. See I have flown quite a bit over the past 6 years or so, and plugging myself into my iPod became my sense of comfort in those exceptionally uncomfortable airplane seats.  

This time was different. From the moment I passed security at SFO, I felt at ease, comforted by the sites and sounds of another trip through the airport . Whether it’s SFO, Logan, Frankfurt, or now Seoul, I just kind of feel at home in airports.  I suppose airports are to me what mountains are to hikers, beaches are to surfers, etc.  

My first flight was 45 minutes late to Seoul because strong headwinds and my second flight was cancelled due to driving rains, but they squeezed me (barely) onto a flight 30 minutes early and I made it just fine. Then it was just a 1 hour drive to Ulsan City where I was happily greeted by the queen sized bed in my new apartment : )

The picture on this post is the view from my balcony. The view from my 13th floor apartment basically looks over the entire city, and I love it. The view from the hallway on the other side is of the beautiful hills and mountains in the background, so feel like I got pretty lucky with this set-up!

On Sunday, the school manager took me and another teacher (Brienna) out for lunch. We went to the Green Pig; A Pig Farm. Yes, I typed that correctly, haha. It was fantastic!  We took our shoes off when we entered (as you would at anyone’s home in Korea) and sat down on the wood floor at our table.  My director (Suzie) ordered and they quickly brought out raw meat and plenty of vegetable based entrées. Suzie cooked the meat on top of the hot coals that they put in the center of the table, then cut the meat into pieces with provided scissors and we each grabbed sesame leaves, wrapped up the meat and veggies (we did this about 15 times for the whole meal) and it was amazing! I seriously can’t wait to go back. I need to work on my flexibility so I can actually sit comfortably on the ground, but even considering that it was a great culinary experience : )

My first day went well today.  I am still adjusting to the time difference (I had to force myself back to sleep when I woke up at 4 this morning), but I think i’ll come around in just a couple of days.  I observed a couple of classes taught by my 2 american colleagues (Brienna & Amy; both very cool!), and then I taught my first class of Korean kindergartners on my own. 

THAT was interesting, haha. Turns out I teach mainly 6-7 year old, and then have one elementary (9-10 year olds) class to finish out the day. The older ones were quite refreshing, as they already have a good understanding of English (it also helps that they don’t throw things and constantly try to stand on their chairs! haha). 

I don’t have too much to say about the actual teaching process just yet, but once I get into the swing of things i’ll definitely give a better overview. Hopefully i’ll have some pictures of the kids too, they really are awesome & hilarious!

I’ve heard wind that a local group of foreigners gets together for soccer (and ultimate) on the weekends, so I am definitely going to get in on that action a.s.a.p. (pretty much my main priority! haha). 

I hope this gives everyone a decent idea of what i’m experiencing over here so far. I will have so much more to write in the coming weeks, as i’ve pretty much only been to my apartment and school. I will try to put together a photo album too!

I hope you enjoyed my first official post. I look forward to keeping everyone updated often!

-Matt      (or Mattchew Teacher as I am known here!)