We did it…somehow, we survived 14 days of Quarantine in a studio apartment! After 2 weeks of intense isolation, it was a game changer to take a walk on the beach and explore this foreign place that we are calling home for the foreseeable future. We strolled along Haeundae Beach, got COFFEE (which was sorely missed), and met up with another new teacher who arrived at the same time we did. We had some great kimchi udon (still a favorite spot of mine) and wandered aimlessly around the city.
That first night, we all had plans to meet our head teacher for dinner and then get some sleep before our first day of work the next day. When we did, he said “change of plans – you need to move tonight and be out of your current place before midnight.” Oh, and the apartment was different than the one we agreed to back in the US – it’s now a studio apartment in a new neighborhood. We scrambled to pack everything up and then move! Luckily…this “new neighborhood” was down the street and right across the road from the school and the hotel we were staying at for our quarantine. We threw our belongings in the room, and strolled off to dinner!
My first day in Korea, I was all about trying new things – give me all of the spicy soup, bibimbap, and gimbap! But our head teacher took us to an American-owned bar and restaurant and it wasn’t until I got there that I realized how comforting it is to find a familiar place in a sea of the unknown! We had a great dinner and some much needed cocktails on the beach. After dinner, we quickly hurried home to make it to the store before they closed to purchase pillows and sheets for our bed! It was a wild night…if there’s anything I can say about living abroad it’s be ready for anything and expect the unexpected!
The next day, we were “up and at em” for our first day at school! We had a full day of orientation, training, and classroom prep. Other than working at a summer camp, I have no experience with this sort of thing – classroom decoration and preparation. But the other foreign teachers were extremely helpful, and my Korean co-teacher is an absolute gem!
I have 5 year olds in their first year of English, and Jeremy has 5 year olds that are in their second year of English! But…let’s talk about age in Korea. In Korea, you are 1 years old when you are born, and rather than changing age on your day of birth, everyone’s age changes on January 1st. Which means, you could technically be two years old in Korean age and 2 weeks old in International Age, depending on when you were born 😉 This is something I foolishly did not know when I arrived. So, while my kids are “5 years old” they are really 3 years old in International Age! Quite the change of plans 😉
We had a meeting on zoom with the kids and their parents a week before school started, and I told them we will be doing a lot of singing, dancing, and acting to learn new words! The parents told my Korean co-teacher that I seem like a “Disney Princess” and they are excited for their kids to learn from me 🙂 Obviously, I was OVER THE MOON with this praise! We had a week of observations before beginning to teach our own classes, and after that week I felt ready to take on my 12 kids and start my new career of teacher English! Little did I know, Elsa’s words would come in the most handy that first week. Oh sweet naive girl, good luck and remember, “Let it Go! Let it Go! LET IT GO!” 🙂
All my Love,
Lex
