Further from the towns you know

The past few days have been a little crazy so it's hard to know where to start. I wrote this out last night but deleted it because I ran out of adjectives for "Awesome."

Friday was insane. I took the training evaluation at noon and passed (yay!) but had to load all my stuff into a shuttle to travel from Seoul to Pyeongtaek at 3:00p.m., which didn't give me any time to hang out with the people in my group (boo!). It also didn't give me any time to eat and you'd be surprised how inadequate two cups of coffee and an anxiety-related heart attack are as a breakfast. I got to my school around 5:00p.m. and met me HR manager who, after a full week of studying 12 hours a day while also preparing with my group and reviewing my notes, told me the following: 

"Yeah, just forget everything you learned in training." I think she said more but I couldn't hear it over the sound of my own screaming.

It's actually good though because the methodology at my school is much less rigid and strict than what I was taught, meaning I can take a more relaxed approach to teaching than I originally expected. As a result I'm much less stressed about starting classes on Monday, which is good because as my doctor optomistically informed me, "There's no way you should still be alive right now."

I sat in on a class but as it was the end of term and the outgoing teacher's last day it was pretty casual. The kids seem a little wary of me right now, which is unsurprising given my height and terrifying face (probably). It was fun watching the class though. The teacher showed a picture of Jacques Cousteau and all the kids started howling with laughter, and one of them yelled out, "Teacher! His face looks like a triangle!" I don't know why exactly but it was one of the funniest things I've ever heard.

The staff at my school is fantastic. The first night I was here they took me out for dinner and drinks at some local bars. They wouldn't let me pay for a thing so my Canadian politeness reflex was geared into overdrive all night. I don't know if I've ever felt so welcome at a new place before, it was unbelievable. Needless to say we got...a little drunk. Ever hear of soju? Probably not but if I told you it was 20% alcohol and mixed flavourlessly into beer you'd probably get a rough idea of how my night went. It was incredibly fun. We met some other teachers from the public schools and hung out with them as well as some Korean locals who were very friendly and hilarious. When we asked them what they liked about America one guy pumped his fists in the air and yelled, "Obama!" There was much high-fiving.

I spent my Saturday prepping for my first class with my HR manager who explained how my first day was likely to go and helped me prepare some material. I also went to a department store with another co-teacher to get some supplies. She showed me around and helped me carry some essentials back to my apartment. I don't think I can say this often enough: EVERYONE HERE IS BEING WAY TOO NICE TO ME AND I DON'T KNOW HOW TO HANDLE IT.

I spent the majority of Sunday preparing for my lesson tomorrow and I'm actually really excited to start teaching. The first week is probably going to be rough, but the good news is that the kids have no idea that I have no idea what I'm doing. So that's...yeah. This is gonna be fun.