First Impressions

The plane ride over here was quite enjoyable. I highly recommend Singapore Airlines. The service was amazing. The inflight entertainment was endless. They have a program called KrisWorld which has movies and TV shows from all over the world, learning tools such as teach yourself a foreign language, a program similar to Microsoft Office and numerous other things all in the seat back in front of you. I had my the whole row to myself so when I wasn't playing with KrisWorld, I slept. Our flight path went north over Alaska and Russia. Perhaps this qualifies me to be a mayor of a small town in Alaska? (I had to take that one)! We arrived almost an hour ahead of schedule.

Clearing customs was easy. They simply took my passport, stamped it and sent me on my way. No questions asked. After gathering my luggage, I was met by a taxi service. There was another teacher that will be teaching at the same school on my flight but I did not meet him until we arrived at the airport. At baggage claim, I met another American who is here to teach mock trial in a public high school until she starts law school in the fall. She said the program is based upon United States law and courtroom procedure. That sounds like fun!

The taxi ride into the city was approximately an hour. There were no seatbelts in the back and the seats were covered in a fake golden silk fabric. In place of the seatbelts, were two plastic ropes, tied around the front seat's headrests to hang on to in the event the ride became too crazy. Our director later told us that “In Korea, only the people in the front have to wear seatbelts.” The view of the city at night is beautiful. Apparently, passing gas in public here isn't a big deal as the taxi driver gave us a couple of nice surprises and didn't even try to hide it.

We arrived at the school and the director was outside waiting for us. He seems like a very nice man. We were shown around the school and met a few of our students. I met two of my classes. One is a class of three older girls who are the most advanced English second language speakers in the school. They all seem very eager to learn and were excited to meet the new teachers. There are four new teachers at the school. There were two Canadian teachers but now all of the
teachers are Americans.

The director took us to a Korean restaurant where he ordered for us. We had kimbap (the Korean version of sushi) and a noodle bowl which was similar to Pho. It was very yummy. He left us to eat and went to the store and bought us some food to hold us over while we get our bearings in our new country.

We are currently staying in a “Korean Love Motel.” for three or four days until our apartments are ready. The love motel is a basic room with its own bathroom. The bed has a heater underneath the mattress. I misunderstood and thought it was the heater for the room and woke up sweating like crazy. I have included some pictures. I love the tiles in the shower!

The love motel is located next to our future apartments and there is a great deal within walking distance. Some of these include: 7-11, Dunkin' Donuts, and numerous bars and restaurants.
So far, my first impressions are good. The school seems well organized and glad to have us there. The director is hospitable and the other staff seems helpful. When the director left us he told us we could call him anytime even after midnight if we had any problems.

This is a bit delayed as I didn't have internet.

Hope you all are doing well.