It’s been a while since I’ve updated, I may be an utter failure at being a proper blogger. But here I am nonetheless making poor puns for my blog titles ;P

To summarize the first month or so:

The week of training for my job as an English teacher can boil down the words hectic and stressful. A cyclonic rush of waking up for our first day to a 6 am intensive physical/medical exam where we were ushered around to different stations to test bodily fluids, teeth, measure height/weight, sight, hearing, and have an electrocardiogram (decidedly awkward) – a barrage if you will. Then onto a week of mock teaching, studying, and practicing. We ended most days at around 5:30 pm (to go home and study some more) and were back at 8 am to start again. Needless to say, it was fatiguing. I was ultimately lucky to have my trainer be a teacher from the branch I work at who was incredibly helpful and approachable.

The last day was the most nerve wracking as we all had the slight fear that failure meant having to ship oneself back home. We basically mock taught an entire lesson, taking turns with the members of the group. And after a little nail biting were given the result: you passed! What a relief.

What followed was a much more relaxing week of touring and training at my branch. Also, some apartment hunting with a translator and a real estate agent. -Finding and renting an apartment in Seoul is much different than what you encounter in the states. Most commonly, an apartment is initially rented with “key money” (essentially a large down payment – provided by the company), and thus monthly rent is substantially lower. Apartments are also considerably smaller, although being one-half of a couple provided us with a larger studio than is usual among other teachers. The only hiccup was having to wait to receive our Alien Resident Card (ARC) to get wifi in our apartment, so we spent a few weeks prepping lessons at the local Starbucks.

I feel most surprised that the language barrier is really almost non-existent. In technology connected Seoul either someone can speak a little English or they will whip out their phone and use a translating app to help with communication.

One of my favorite parts of Korea is the food. Jajangmyeon (자장면), Kimchi Fried Rice (김치볶음밥), oh and of course Korean BBQ. And if I’m ever missing home, McDonald’s delivers. Although, I’m thinking the motorbike food delivery system here is seriously hindering my desire to learn how to cook. And yes, you read that correctly, my 27-year-old self has very little knowledge of how to properly cook food. (Last summer I melted a metal pan attempting to make a grilled cheese sandwich, but really it was the fault of this fancy magnetic induction stove – ….mostly).

Teaching, on the whole, has been rewarding. It was shocking how advanced my student’s English was on my first day of class. They are generally fun to teach (and so cute)- 3 hour long classes sounded like an ordeal – but in practice, it mostly goes by quickly and easily.

Overall, I’m finally settling into the life of a Seoulite~