I was on the plane for roughly nine hours by the time I allowed myself to look at the map of where we were and how much longer I would have to wait. The flight path showed that we were over Russia. Russia?! I think this is when it hit me... that I was actually flying to South Korea. I looked over the window and we were close to a city at night where lights were sparkling below...

A friend of mine visiting Italy told me before I left: "Prepare to fall in love with this world." And I think it was Thanksgiving day on the plane to South Korea is when I realized what a beautiful world we live in.

I landed at Icheon airport in Seoul around 4:30am November 27th (South Korean time of course) and spent a few hours in the airport waiting for my next flight to take off at 8:15am for Daegu, another hour flight after getting off the fourteen and a half hour flight. I spoke with a girl who had been visiting Vietnam for a few months... we found each other easily in the sea of shiny black-haired people and being the only blondes :-) She was waiting for her brother to meet her there since he has been at some University in Seoul for a while. Most of the time we just kept each other company for a bit until I had to check in.

I got to Daegu at 10am, and someone was at the airport waiting for me. I was taken to what they call a "love hotel".. and despite the name it was very clean. I was told I would be picked up at 4pm for training, and then I was left there. I cried... no, I wept... It was like over-dramatic soap opera crying. Then I fell asleep until 3, got ready for training and was brought to the school. After meeting some of the teachers in Daegu and watching them teach (and how adorable the students were) I felt a lot better. But I won't lie, the first 24 hours were rough just knowing that I had already made a commitment to stay here for a year. The only time I ate was when I was with someone for the first 4 days in Daegu... but I'm pretty sure my first Saturday night made up for the four days I was there. We went out for three dinners, which I learned is typical in Korea. First I went for Korean barbecue and failed miserably with chopsticks (and burned my finger... which blistered instantly... ow) Second was boiled beef, and last was chicken. To work it all off we went to a Noribong (a singing room... or rather karaoke room you rent with friends to use for singing and drinking... a wonderful combo)

Sunday I was taken out for Sushi (which was amazing, AND cheap compared to home) and dessert was a waffle with chocolate and whipped cream on top, quite filling. Monday through Wednesday I observed teaching more and went through a little training. Wednesday night I moved into my apartment here in Busan. My apartment is one big room with a kitchen, table, bed, a couple closets and a separate bathroom. The heat comes from the floor and it's been a little cool lately, but I rather be a little cool than too hot in the summer.

As for the teaching: I've been in the classroom for a little over a week now, and am really loving it. I'm still getting used to all the classes and what level they're at, but we're getting better at charades :-) A lot of the kids I teach already have quite a bit of vocabulary down and all the students have already learned how to read and write English from their Korean school. The school I teach at is a separate academy that is in session from 3:30pm-9:05pm... so some of these kids are in school from 8am-9 or 10pm. They go to a Korean school, then maybe a flute/piano academy, then some sports related academy, maybe another language academy, and last, English Academy. I don't know what these kids eat for breakfast... but I think I need some.

Busan continues to be beautiful, and I'm exploring it one block at a time. With roughly 3.6 million people I'm still taking baby steps... You can't expect much more from a girl from Temple, Maine... or can you? :-)

Do I sound like a broken record?

Change of plans... sound familiar?

So here's the scoop: At my magnificent waitressing job, I met this couple: The Alfonds. These two knew a dude teaching his second year at a school called MoonKkang in Daegu, South Korea. They gave me his e-mail, he gave me some info... Jaime and I applied to MoonKkang and had an interview with them the following week. (This was last week)

Side note: We finally got an interview with the other recruiting agency as well and were going to be placed in Suwon. I would have been teaching Korean students ages 5-7.... ME. If you don't know me... I'm afraid of small children. They're adorable to look at most of the time and ocasionally I can have a "cute" conversation with one about what their favorite color is... but not only would we be teaching them English, but music and dance classes are in the curriculum... yes the schools put on musicals. With 5-7 year olds. ME?! NO. WAY.

So I was really hoping to hear from MoonKkang.... and thank goodness we did!

Here's the catch: Jaime and I will be about 2 hours away from each other. And I'll also be leaving a month before her... and as nervous as both of us are... I think this will be an amazing experience and I'm very confident that we will be taken care of quite well with the schools we'll be at.

So, the plan is that I start at MoonKkang on November 30th in Busan, and Jaime will be starting December 18th in Daegu. We will both be in these beautiful cities, finally putting our four years of college to use! I'm so ready to start teaching! I'm doing my best to research the area I'll be in, and I'm trying to make a few contacts who will be going near the same time (or some who may already be there!) I was told that I'll be a 25 minute walk from HaeUndae Beach (see photo) which is suppose to be the big tourist attraction... and quite breathtaking. I'm SO looking forward to long runs on the beach!!!

I'll be posting more details as they come! <3

At Last!

So last night I got a call from my recruiter, I was suppose to have an interview with Wales School in Daegu (also spelled Taegu) South Korea. So I sat on my bed tonight waiting patiently for 9pm to roll around.... I ended up taking a nap and waking up around 9:45... no call. I check my e-mail and my recruiter sent yet another message saying that the interview has been postponed until Monday.

I'm trying to be patient... but my wonderful job at Wings Hill Inn is ending soon, and I need a job. I've been planning on that job being in South Korea... and I'm willing to pick my life up and move it to the other side of the world... but no one is making it easy to do so. So... at least I have an interview to look forward to... and at least I know where I'm going to be. I'm quite excited that I'll be close to Busan (I've heard you can take a ferry from Busan to Japan! --- and I do have some paid vacation time that would be wonderful to do some traveling with!) But until I leave, I'll be kickin' it in Temple, Maine for a bit more. Come visit... I'm bored.

New Plan

Hi again!

I'm still off to Korea... but the trip has been delayed! I won't be leaving until mid-October now due to swine flu. Aclipse didn't see this coming, so teachers were backed up until November or December. Jaime and I (being anxious) looked into another program: hoyaenglish. All of our visa paperwork is currently being processed... and we're both getting SO EXCITED! I've heard of so many people doing these kinds of programs since I've started this whole process, and I'm looking forward to meeting all of you!
While waiting to take off, I've used my days off to travel here and there. So far, a couple trips to Kennebunk, Portland, Boothbay, Bar Harbor, and New York! I'll be keeping you posted! :-)

A New Adventure

Hello Everyone!
I wanted to share this new experience with all of you since it's such a huge step in my life:-) First off... I graduated from UMaine May 9, 2009 with a BS in Secondary Education with a concentration in English. I can't believe four years flew by so quickly, but when the time came to begin job searching... I got a little nervous. As a recent graduate (in this economy) I had a slim to none chance of finding a teaching job here in Maine, so I began expanding the search which brought me to aclipse.net. After searching through the site, I decided to apply and heard back a few days later from a recruiter in Boston. About a week later I had a phone interview and soon after... I had a job!
If all visa applications go well, I plan to be taking off for South Korea around August 14th(ish)! I will be teaching English as a second language at Chung Dahm Learning Institute (my exact location is up in the air until my visa papers are processed.) I'll be teaching middle-high school students from 4-10pm four to five days a week. Other than that, I will be spending my time diving into the Korean culture by learning a new language, eating exotic foods, and meeting new friends! I plan to keep this blog updated as much as I can as soon as I begin my year abroad!
Side note: I won't be traveling alone! Through classes and student teaching I made a very close friend who I will be traveling with :-) Her name is Jaime and I'm sure there will be many pictures of our adventures to come. (see picture above)