Sangju

Hello again!

I'm posting pictures of my apartment. It's definitely different than at home... no oven, a camp stove that runs on a gas switch like a barbeque, an Asian style bathroom which means that the whole thing is like one big shower stall- everything gets wet! But I actually really like the apartment and I'm getting used to things a little better now... only 5 days of cold showers before I realized that the control panel by the front door that looks like it should control the air conditioner is actually how you turn on the hot water (and back off anytime you're not actively using it or you'll have astronomical heating bills!) I'm very grateful that my bathroom has a western style toilet- Asian toilets are on the floor- even though I can't flush any toilet paper down it (reminds me of old trips to Mexico!) And I'm even learning to flip the switch back from shower to sink as soon as I've finished with it... nothing like going to wash your hands hours later and drench yourself and all your clothes because the shower part was still on! :D

I had last week (my first in Sangju) "to prepare" a.k.a. I wasn't allowed to teach or sit in on classes while they made sure I didn't have swine flu or anything else to pass on- they check everyone's (students and teachers) temperatures each day as they enter campus. I've started teaching now- had my first classes yesterday- and so far they're going alright. The students are having fun with the games and things that I found and actually getting involved, which is good since I was worried I'd have a sea of blank faces staring back at me, but keeping them quiet and well behaved is difficult through the language barrier. Luckily I got some good advice from a lot of people both here and back home so that hopefully next week will be better. I'm teaching 18 different classes a week- 5 each of 4th, 5th, and 6th graders, 2 teacher's classes, and on Thursdays I go to a different school and teach at "English Town" a sort of mock-up of a variety of situations in which the students role play in English. English Town operates like an in-town field trip- classes from all the schools in the area come once a year and do a cooking lesson, pretend to order in a restaurant, learn how to buy tickets at the theatre or for an airplane, go on pretend shopping trips, etc. It sounds like it gets a bit tedious for the teachers after a while, but the kids love it and it gives me one day a week that I don't have to worry about making lesson plans which is nice.

It's about a 30 minute walk to and from school each morning (less on Thursdays since English Town is a little closer to where I live) so I'm getting to know the town pretty well. I've found three or four pizza places so far (I've only eaten at two of them) but no pepperoni... their idea of pizza toppings involves things like shellfish, boiled potatoes, curried chicken and beef, and fruit and sweetened yogurt. Luckily they also really like ham which is what I've been getting :D The open market is amazing. Stalls are set up every day, but every fifth day it gets really big since some of the farmers and merchants travel from town to town or back home in between. It has normal farmers market kinds of things plus live fish and eels in tanks, blankets, clothes, shoes, fresh doughnuts fried to order, all kinds of differents foods made fresh and a lot of really great people. I've also been able to go out a few nights with people around town. Went out to pizza one night with a group of teachers from English Town, another dinner and noryeabang (the Korean version of karaoke in private rented rooms) with one of my co-teachers, and went out one night with a couple of English teachers who live in my building and found a new "jazz" club which had no jazz music but a very friendly owner who took the stage to play electric guitar and sing and then came and joined us at our table with some of his friends (probably since we were the only people in the bar.) Turns out soju is Pretty good, especially when mixed with a little fresh kiwi juice.

I still feel a little out of place and I'm sure I have a lot more to figure out, but I'm really enjoying my time here. Maybe soon I'll get comfortable enough to travel around and see some of the festivals and other parts of Korea. I even found a travel agency run by the U.S. military that takes civilians on tours of the DMZ and North Korea! (don't worry Mom, I think I'll skip that one) :D