Busy in Korea!

Hey guys! I'm sorry I didn't update this sooner, but I've just been so busy! I know, I know. I started my last post with pretty much the same sentence. But honestly, it's true! Here's a little bit about what I've been doing lately:

School

So I've taught by myself for over two weeks now, and I think I'm starting to get the hang of it. For the most part I like my students and classes. The only thing I really don't like so far is my schedule. On my very first day of teaching by myself, my director added four extra hours of classes to my schedule! Now it seems like I work pretty much all day, every day. For example, Monday I teach at a kindergarten from 11-1, I teach an adult student from 1-2, and I then I teach classes at my school from 3-9. That's my longest day, but the other days aren't much shorter. Tuesdays are easier because I only have 4 classes, but they are spread out throughout the day so that I still go from 12-8. I'm hoping my schedule won't stay like this for long, but I'm stuck with it for at least a little while I think.

Yeosu World Expo and Green Tea Fields

Two weekends ago I went to the world's fair! My coworkers and I left Friday night after work and headed to Seoul, where we met up with a tour group, which was basically a bus full of foreigners. It turns out that my friend Ashley from college who also teaches in Korea was a part of this tour group too, so that was really cool. We rode on the bus all night to get to Yeosu. It was a pretty miserable night. My friends and I thought it would be fun to sit on the back of the bus because it had a row of 5 seats. Bad idea! We were sitting right above the engine, which made the floor so hot that it burned my bare feet, melted the gum in my purse, and turned the chocolate I had in my bag to liquid. It made the already hot bus into a sauna, and it was miserable! I couldn't sleep at all.

So we arrived in Yeosu feeling tired and gross, and not at all prepared for the day ahead of us. But I actually still really enjoyed the expo. We started off at the aquarium, which was awesome. They had tons of interesting animals, including beluga whales! We spent the rest of the days visiting exhibits from different countries. I even got a passport that I got to get stamped at every country I visited! Most of the countries' exhibits were really cool, and it made me want to travel just about everywhere. We spent 14 hours at the Expo and still only got to see a little bit of it. There was so much more that we didn't have time to see.

That night we spent the night in an old Korean village with traditional straw-roofed homes. These were just small rooms where we slept on blankets on the floor. It was incredibly uncomfortable, but still really cool. I don't necessarily want to stay there again, but I'm glad I got to do it once!

On Sunday our tour group went to see green tea fields. It was absolutely beautiful! We spent several hours there, walking around the fields and enjoying several different green tea related treats including iced greet tea, green tea ice cream, and green tea milkshakes. So good!

Then it was time to get back on the sauna, I mean bus, to head back to Seoul. We got back late Sunday night and then it was time for another busy week at school.

I took tons of pictures that weekend, and posted all the good ones on facebook. You can click this link-
my pictures!  to see them!

Mudfest

Last weekend I got to go to Mud Fest. It is just what it sounds like- A festival with mud. They had mud pits, mud slides, mud painting, and just plain old tubs of mud you could use to cover yourself. This particular type of mud is apparently famous because it is very good for your skin. The festival was on the beach, so that was great because after we got muddy we could rinse off in the ocean, and then go do it all over again! It was so much fun, and I'm really glad I went. Unfortunately, I don't really have any pictures of Mudfest to share since I didn't want to bring my camera to a muddy beach.

So see, I am really busy! It's not just an excuse for me not to update my blog. I'm really thankful for it though- I've only been here 3 and a half weeks and I've gotten to see and do so much already! And the next few weeks should be a little calmer- no big trips until we head to Japan in the beginning of August!!! I will definitely tell you all about it!

Almost 2 weeks in Korea!

I can't believe it! I've been in Korea for almost 2 weeks now. Sorry I didn't update this sooner- but these two weeks have been really busy!

Last week I spent most of my time shadowing the English teacher that I replaced. It was a crazy week. I felt like I had so much new information coming at me all the time- about my job, about living in Korea. And on top of that, I was super jetlagged. So basically the week was really overwhelming! But I am really thankful because the teacher that I replaced was super helpful and informative. It was a crazy week but at the end of it I felt pretty ready to take on my new job. 

Over the weekend I took my first trip to Seoul with some of my coworkers. It only took about an hour by bus to get there, so that's pretty convenient. We stayed in a hostel Friday night in Seoul, and then spent Saturday shopping and eating (even ate at a Taco Bell!). 

This week was my first week of teaching by myself! It was a little stressful, but I don't think it will be that bad once I get the hang of it. The curriculum isn't that hard to teach, and the students seem pretty good. The hard part will be the fact that I have 12 different classes and I teach out of 13 different textbooks/curricula.  It's a lot to keep track of! 

This weekend I'm going on another trip! The World Fair is in Korea this year, and my coworkers and I are going. We will travel on a bus all night to get to the city of Yeosu, where the World Fair is being held. We get to spend Saturday at the fair, and then Sunday we are going to see some famous green tea fields! I'll definitely post pictures.

Also my coworkers and I have been making plans for what to do over our 2 upcoming school breaks. We are going to go to Jeju Island, which is a famous island off the coast of Korea AND we are going to Osaka, Japan! Crazy, right? I'm so excited!