We've Arrived in Yeonghae-Myeon!

Orientation

It honestly feels like we have been here for a lifetime already. Following the last day of our quarantine, we headed to a hotel where our mini orientation was being held. Everything was cut a little short due to a surge of cases in Seoul/Gyeonggi metro areas on the last day of our quarantine. Of course. However, we were excited and ready to get to a change of scenario no matter what it looked like! We were pleasantly surprised by a nice stay at the Hotel Prumir. Brandon and I still were not allowed to share a room together but at least got to see each other as all of our classes and meals were held at the same time. While at the hotel we had almost nightly visits to the convenience store for an "Into the Mango", 'ice-cream on a stick' if you will. Such a delicious treat to have SUGAR!! The bars only cost 0.84 so how could we say no, really??

Going outside for short walks after lunch we were reminded just how hot and humid it is here but we were not allowed to leave the parking lot out of caution so the time outside was very sweaty but short. The scenery outside was beautiful though and we even found a stray goyang-i (cat) to admire from afar. The food at the orientation was infinitely better than in our quarantine. There was yogurt at every lunch and toast, scrambled eggs, and coffee at every breakfast. Face masks were mandatory at all times so everybody got very comfortable with constantly using a mask.

We made some great friends at orientation. At night we had a few hours to do whatever we wanted and made a good group of friends playing card games. Come the last day of orientation we were a bit sad to hear nobody is super close to our city. Some people appear to be pretty close but most people are 1.5-2 hours away by bus. My former English teacher did mention she made good friends with a few people that are about 20 minutes away and they reached out to extend a dinner invitation so once we get a bit more settled we will visit and hopefully make friends with them as well. 

Arrival in Yeonghae-Myeon

Thursday morning we were all loaded onto the bus at 8 am as we headed to our individual Metropolitan or Provincial Office of Education. Brandon and I belong to the Gyeongsandbuk-do P.O.E. We arrived to the office of education after about 2-3 hours and here met our individual co-teachers. Because we are in the same city and Brandon's co-teacher doesn't have a car, we all piled into my teacher's car together and started our drive to Pohang. Pohang is about 2 hours bus drive from our city, but also a 2.5-hour drive from the P.O.E building where we met our teachers. In Pohang, we applied for our Alien Registration Cards. We can not receive a cell phone or bank account until the physical card comes so it was really nice of them to help us get the process started asap. From Pohang, we drove another hour back to our new home, Yeonghae-Myeon.

Our co-teachers showed us how to get into the building and helped carry our bags up the stairs. We had seen a short video tour of the apartment before arriving so it was exciting to see it in person. Neither of us has ever lived in an apartment so that is something exciting to experience together for the first time. Our teachers then walked us around the small town quickly pointing out how to get to our Yeonghae Elementary and Middle schools, pointing out which were the biggest and cheapest marts for groceries are, and showing us the (tiny yet still overwhelming) bus terminal so we can try to figure out how to get to our other schools. We headed back home and were left to fend for ourselves at this point.

Our First Solo Adventure

I have been fortunate enough in my lifetime and marriage that I have never experienced "dirt poor". Walking into our apartment we were very lucky that the previous teacher had left 2 winter quilts and pillows, an armoire (falling apart at every seam but at least still standing), a small desk and chair (quite literally on its last legs), and one or two bowls/containers/cups in the cupboards. The humidity and heat is overwhelming and all-consuming. There wasn't a place for either of us to sit down or even a bed to rest. The new bed will be bigger and wider than the old one... but we still don't know when it will actually make it's way to us. We cranked the A.C. unit as soon as we could figure out the Korean remote and slowly started to feel a bit of relief. We worked together to sweep and scrub at least the bedroom floor so we could lay down the blankets left behind for us while we wait for our new bed. 

Even though we had been going non-stop it was only about 6 pm and we felt it was a good idea to try and visit at least one mart to make sure we could at least gather a few basic items and somewhat familiarize ourselves with the town. We made it to one of the biggest marts they pointed out and anxiously walked through aisles, just taking a look to see what was available and about how much things cost. It honestly reminded me a lot of the dollar store, though everything was not a dollar. There was a butcher, refrigerated foods area, shelves with snacks and basic food staples, an aisle full of dishes and containers, hand towels and basic kitchen necessities, but also hair soap and laundry detergent. We both bought ourselves an umbrella as we couldn't really find one in Utah in July and a few other basics for our Kitchen. We walked back to our apartment with everything in a backpack and tried to unpack the majority of our suitcases. 

There is no Walmart. There is nowhere to buy furniture or big-box items like a shelving unit to store the clothes that we couldn't squeeze into the existing armoire. Most shopping will need to be done online with an Amazon/Ikea esque website but we can not use it until we have a Korean phone number to set up the delivery (which of course requires that Alien Registration card that is about 2-3 weeks out).

The First Day of School According to Brandon

The last day of orientation was exciting. We got loaded onto the bus and were on the road before we even had a chance to really think about what was in store for us. I was so excited to finally be out of the hotel and into our apartment! As we got closer and closer the excitement started turning into anxiety. Claire was very nervous, so I stayed strong and tried my best not to show how nervous I was. Once we arrived they let us off of the bus to get our luggage and wait for our co-teachers to come, this is when I started to get VERY nervous. Still, I stayed strong! I was really hoping my co-teacher would be a boy. I don't know why, but I just thought that would be better (school teachers in Korea are usually overwhelmingly female). We watched people come and go, as we waited for our name to be called at the P.O.E. Eventually, we saw 2 very nice young looking guys walking towards us with a sign! I thought that it had to be for us, and sure enough, a few seconds later, our coordinator called our name. We chatted for a minute, and we ate ham, cheese, and egg salad sandwiches. They did their very best to make us feel welcome, and it was very appreciated. 

After settling into our new apartment, and spending the night sleeping on the floor (My co-teacher says he is trying to get us a bed)! It was time for our first day. Claire left the apartment and I soon followed. As I walked the 2-3 minute walk across the street to school that feeling of nervousness was back. When I reached the front door 2 very nice old ladies greeted me in Korean and gestured for me to take my shoes off and switch them for the visitor's slippers. I put the slippers on and slowly walked into the school, not really knowing where to go. One of the sweet ladies saw that I had no clue what I was doing and showed me where the office was and told me to wait for my co-teacher to arrive. He arrived a few minutes later and gave me a tour of the school and introduced me to the principal. He showed me where my office is and he also showed me where the AC was! In Korean schools, the hallways are not air-conditioned, only the individual classrooms so that was a very welcome experience.

The first day was pretty uneventful after that. My teacher sat me down and said, "Okay I have class now, do what want." At lunchtime, he showed me the cafeteria and we chatted for an hour or so. It turns out that he has many similar interests to us, and I am very excited to get to know him more!

After school, I went back to the apartment and enjoyed some of the Ramen left for us by the previous teachers. I am so excited to be living here and I can't wait to experience everything this small little town has to offer!

   

The First Day of School According to Claire

Google says that you will do 50% of the acclimation to a new climate in 1 week and 80% by the end of week 2. Even though we have been here three weeks now, they don't really count as we have spent the vast majority of the time here in air-conditioned hotels and quarantine jail cells. My school is a ten-minute walk from the apartment so by the time I arrived, walking through 86 F with 82% humidity; I was -POURING- sweat over every inch of the body that can sweat. My hair was practically drenched, I could hardly keep the sweat out of my eyes, and I looked like a hot mess express. Great first impression, right? That poor American girl sweating like a literal animal just can't handle the humidity and doesn't speak or understand a lick of Korean. 

The Middle School and High School buildings are connected. When I was walking to school the choice, left or right, left or right became ever more apparent but I wasn't sure which one was which. Most of the kids walking in went to the right so I followed suit. There is no 'Front office' when you first walk in and nobody seemed willing to use English to help me. Somebody kinda gestured up so I started climbing the stairs up to...? Yep, no idea. I climbed and climbed and thank goodness the HS VP caught up with me and with excellent English explained that I was in the HS, but if I climbed to the third floor there is a corridor to cross back into the MS. I finally made it to the right school but then had to go back down the three flights of stairs and the people there seemed to be expecting me and tracked my co-teacher down. All of the stair-climbing in the un-air-conditioned halls did not help with the sweating situation.

Because it took me a while to get where I needed to be my teacher asked me to wait in the lobby outside of his first classroom before he could really show me around. I was sitting at a table with the sweat just pouring and somebody walked past me but then came back a second later and asked, "Iced Coffee?". God bless this woman, she did a service to me that day and I don't know if she will ever understand the comfort she was able to provide. She walked me into the air-conditioned teacher's lounge and showed me; cup, ice, coffee. I waited for the rest of the class hour, sipping my bitter ice-cold cup of gold while I finally had a chance to cool down. What a marvel I'm sure I was. Everybody is very friendly though and says "Hello!" when they see me. 

We will not start teaching until September 7th. I have my own English classroom that I have all to myself so that is where I am now. Next week I will visit my two other middle schools for the first time to meet the principals and learn where to get off the bus and how to walk the rest of the way. Waiting to teach is nerve-wracking but I am so grateful for the opportunity to ease into this at least a little bit. We have been so anxious to get to our town and settle into the apartment but it's definitely a lot to learn and understand all at once.