ok..made it to southeast ASIA in one piece. the plane ride was long but very very smooth. asiana airlines is the best airline i have ever flown on. so here i am in ULSAN and life is pretty, well actually, really really different. picture the opposite of anything you have ever seen. thats where i live. i have only been here two days and i have met some amazing people. i have started my teaching and love my kids..well most of them! they call me teacher jason! i have come at a time where all the foreign teachers contracts are just about up..all within 3 months, so in no time i will be the oldest foreign teacher at my academy. i am lookin forward to there being new people coming in so i dont feel so new. its like all eyes are on me!! the teaching is really lax...all i really do it work on phonics, identifying, emotions, seasons, weather, hobbies..all that jazz. very very relaxed so far. ok..so about SOUTH KOREA, its a very different culture, with very different views. i eat EVERYTHING with chopsticks. drink SOJU (like japanese saki) with every dinner. guys tell me i am handsome all the time and rub my arm..weird i know! you do a little bow everytime you see someone..as it is respect. the food is very different, very spicy, and some of it just plain terrible. they do have ramen in the markets, but it is very spicy!! the streets are very crowded with shops and vendors and people and scooters and cars and everything you can think of!! i live right next to the university and it is a great location because it is close to everything and there are so many people my age. at night everything is bright and flashing and colorful which is pretty cool. the social scene is pretty crazy..they stay out all night, and usually after dinner(s) they go to little kareaoke rooms that serve beer and have everysong you can imagine. by dinners i mean you can go out for a full dinner with SOJU and eat a ton and then the next place you go, the same thing happens. this goes on for about 3 or 4 times a night. how are they so skinny!! the food is much better..all veggies and rice and all that jazz. my apartment is pretty cool i guess..cant complain really. it is different...its like a studio but not. i have a queen bed in the main room..sliding glass door off the back that goes to the kitchen and a door on the right that goes to my closet space. the bathroom is weird cause its just a shower on the wall with the toilet and sink and cabinet in the same room. check out the pics below. ok..enough for now, i will write more later as i make this crazy adventure..
Well, sounds like you've had quite a similar/not so similar experience to what I culturally went through when I arrived. Well, minus the fact that I haven't gone out too much on a social level - but you know me and yoga. :-)
ReplyDeleteRight when you think you're settled, it gets all rough again. Your place is pretty sweet though. The kids are probably rubbing your arm because they aren't used to arm hair. The list goes on and on...
Keep in touch. I still don't have a cell, but I have skype.