Korea: The First Days...

Days 1-3: I don't really remember, I was too shocked by the reality of what I was doing... there was a few long plane rides, a lot of movies, some really bad bimbimbap on the Korean Air flight, a really dirty aparment that I dumped my bags in, my first experience at Home Mart (like a Korean Wal-Mart), losing all the cash I had on me (that was fun...) and NOT finding it (even more exciting...), irregular sleep patterns, and long walks around Yatap (my neighborhood) to get to know my surroundings.

"Yeaaahh! I'm going to go sit on that plane for 12 hours!!!"

I moved to Korea.

The apartment building.

The neighborhood.

3 blocks away: the river.

1 block away: the creek.

Both are excellent for longboarding.

Day 4: I woke up early to go meet up with some other AT gals for breakfast. AT = Adventure Teaching, my AWESOME recruiter. They were so intentional about introducing me to other teachers via email so that I wouldn't be completely lonely my first few days here.

Getting ready to navigate the subway system, approx 10 hrs after landing.

Day 4 also included 5 hours of cleaning my apartment, Korean BBQ for dinner, my first encounter with kimchi, trekking into Seoul with the AT gals to hang at their favorite hookah bar, taking a bus for the first time (which is MUCH more intimidating than the subway), missing the last subway for the night, and taking a taxi home at 1am.

Day 5: church in the morning, followed by a quick lunch of kim-bop, kind of like sushi (but not really sushi). After lunch, Anna and Whitney (not pictured) came back to my apartment and we pulled out the instruments for a little jam session. Whit and I on the guitars, Anna with her ukulele... let's just say we need to practice!

Lunch with Anna and Sunny.

Day 6: Breakfast in the morning with my FAVORITE Korean friends, Minhyung and Soojung, at Butterfingers -- an American breakfast joint. Kind of like IHOP. Adventure Teaching works with Y&G Recruit, another recruiting agency in Korea that places teachers. Minhyung and Soojung just happen to be my recruiters from Y&G, though most recruiters are not anywhere near as thoughtful, caring, helpful, friendly, and kind as these two people. They have made all the difference in the world as I've transitioned to my new home.

The rest of my days have been full of cleaning/moving into my apartment, continuing to meet people, trying to find Costco in Seoul and getting lost instead, longboarding, sleeping, taking subways, buses and cabs, and trying new food. Here are a few more pictures:

Kim and her husband Todd (not pictured) had two wonderful children, Zach and Lia-Joy (above). Todd is working as a science teacher at a local Christian school.

The guy in the green shirt with his hands in the air is Joe, the teacher I am replacing. I got together with him twice before he left to talk about the school I'll be working at starting next Monday. He was eager to share everything he knew and give me advice. What a gift!

Ben, Katie, Tayla, me.

Dinner at Whitney's on Wednesday nights - Whitney is in light blue, Chrissa is underneath her, and Mindy is in the purple. Not sure what was so funny at the time... too much wine maybe?

A quiet dinner along the river, just me and my PB&J.

Stay posted, much more to come!