I haven't blogged in a long time, I know. I've been busy, ok! But I'm finally getting into a routine. I wake up around 9:00 or 10:00 check my e-mail, skype for a bit, and watch a youtube video or two. Then I pull out my stack of Diaries that the students write every night and start correcting. One mistake I get daily from at least 10 of the diaries is "today was funny." You try to explain the difference between fun and funny... it ain't easy.
Then I start on my trek to to work around 1:00 and grab some lunch on the way. There is a place called Paris Baguette that is on almost every corner here in Korea. Erin and I have a friend named Brad who calls it "P Bag"... so that's what we call it now... good ole P Bag. Anyway after that I head to You & I and prepare for a day of school. Each class is 50 min and I teach 6 classes starting at 2:30. The younger students come first and by 7:30 there are mostly 6th graders. It's really divided by level not age. Sooooooo after work I usually meet up with Erin and grab a bite to eat. Sometimes we will go out to a place we've never been, but for the most part we stick to the places we know. Then I go home and go to bed and start all over. That's just a typical weekday. Now the weekend is a whole other story. I will have to go into detail later thought because it is go time.

Finally! A post with pictures. I've been holding out so this might be picture overload, but here goes.

This it the school were I work, You and I. There is a coffee shop below us called Angel in us. The owner's son is one of my students

This is my apartment from the outside. That says "Samsung Villa" in Korean. I'm on the first floor.
This is the entrance to my place. I have a small lowered area to keep my shoes. In Korea you always wear slippers inside homes.

My house slippers and my shower shoes!

This is my devil shower-sink! If you forget to turn the water flow back to the sink after you've showered you will get a surprise shower the next morning when you are trying to brush your teeth. My bathroom and shower Are one. You have to mop the bathroom after a shower.

My kitchen!

Kitchen and laundry room.

This is the main room with everything in it...



That's my place. It's small but efficient, and it has everything I could need.

This week has been nothing less than hectic. I just moved into my permanent apartment which has an internet connection, but finding the time to blog is hard. I promise this weekend I will blog like crazy. Ive been teaching the last few days which is harder than I thought it would be, but it is getting easier and easier everyday.

I will give tons of details later, but for now I will leave you with this:
You might be in South Korea if you are unsure if your in a pet shop or a fresh food market.

I don't have internet in my apartment yet so I haven't been able to keep up with posts. I'm in a coffee shop now and this is actually a post from 2 days ago that didn't work before:

So yesterday I sat in on a full day of classes. I got to meet all of my students who were still as cute as they were the day before. They stare a lot because they haven't seen many westerners. One boy told me I have a small head.

Before yesterday I had only been on one main road near my neighborhood because I didn't want to get lost, but my co-worker Jeanette who is from South Africa took me to some new places that were very easy to find. I'm feeling more and more comfortable here.

Each time I order coffee I have to ask for milk because they don't use milk with coffee... that would just be a latte. They don't get it. They think I'm ordering coffee with a glass of milk. So I just get a glass of milk with my coffee.

My boss Jason and his wife Jaho (pronounced like JWOW but JHOW) took me to get Korean food the day before yesterday. It was so freakin' hot. I think the potato will be my best friend here in South Korea. Out of all the dishes on the table the little potato balls were my favorite. It really isn't hard to find western food though. The grocery store has strange stuff that I've never seen but they have a lot of food that you can find in American grocery stores like Italian pasta and tomato sauce. To get sliced bread and cheese you have to go to the super grocery store.

There are many other things to write about but I will save it for another day when I have more time.

I'm here in Gwangju. My flight was long (15 hours) and boring but I made it. Once I flew into Seoul I took a four hour bus ride to Gwangju, and my boss Jason Kelly and his wife picked me up and took me to my new apartment. The city is huge and everyone is so cute. People are very friendly here. I've walked around a lot today and I'm at the school where I work now. I don't have the internet at my place yet so until I get it I will use the school computers. The kids are so freakin' adorable. I want one! I really like it so far and I've hardly seen anything. I'll post pictures when my internet is working.

BYE

Hey friends and family. Tomorrow is the big day. I fly out at 7:30 in the morning and I will arrive in South Korea in the evening. My flight is about 14 hours. I've almost finished packing and I have everything in order. That's me with my wons. Technically I will be a millionaire by my first paycheck. Add three zeros to any U.S. dollar amount and you get the equivalent in South Korean wons.

I will post again when I'm in my new home. kbye.

^So this is were I will be living for a year. A Korean friend of mine told me that Korea is easy to find because North Korea and South Korea together make the shape of a bunny.

^ Hey, it does kind of look like a bunny! It's funny that China is blood red in the above image, which brings me to another subject. Yes, I will be very close to North Korea, but the city where I will live, Gwangju, is in the southwest. Which means I will have a buffer zone between me and the commies and I will also be safe from typhoons. Anyway my sources say that South Korea is a very safe and pleasant place to live.

I will blog more about South Korea later!
kbye

Blog spot

Hey friendos,
I'm moving to Gwangju, South Korea in August to teach English. And yes I will be blogging about my one year adventure. Blogging is already harder than I thought it was...I'm having flashbacks of Xanga right now so I will leave it at that until I become inspired.
<3,
Bethany