Something wicked this way comes.

My mom just arrived in the Philippines today. That's not really a big deal since she goes to the Philippines every year. However, this year, she's planning on visiting me in Korea. It's not definite yet, but I'm really hoping that she doesn't. I really just don't want her to see what my life is like in Korea. She will have a lot to say about how late I stay up and how often I drink. Im already trying to think of which hotel I should put her in so she doesn't have to stay with me, but I probably wouldn't be able to do that since I know she wouldn't be able to fend for herself. Don't get me wrong, I really do love my mom, and it probably wouldn't be that bad, but something in the back of my mind keeps telling me that there will be hell to pay when she steps foot in this country.

It's the small things that make me feel like I accomplished something.

So in the past two days, I managed to finally get some stuff done.  To be honest, I didn't do anything huge, but they all sort of add up.  Here's what I managed to get done:

• I got my Alien Registration Card.  I did give in the paper work last week, but I finally got it last night.  I didn't even have to go to the immigration office this time around.
• I bought some groceries.  It looked really sad with my fridge empty, but now I do have some snacks in there.
• Opened up an account with Shinhan Bank.  I do have an account with Nonghyup, but due to some accounting things, my job wanted me to open up a new account.  I still haven't figured out the online banking part, but I'm sure I'll figure that out soon enough.
• I bought a notebook for studying Korean.  Now that I'm sort of getting into the swing of things, I'll be able to find time to really sit down and start working on my shit.

I'm sorry Alvin.

One of my students, Alvin, wasn't doing his work today in class. I pulled him aside and asked him what was wrong and he told me that one of the other kids threatened to beat him up after class. So, during break time I pulled Danny, another student, aside and asked him what's going on and told him that fighting is bad and whatever. Anyway, at the end of class I started telling Alvin that I talked to Danny, but Alvin just goes, "Teacher, it was John that said he was going to kill me." My bad, Alvin.

I am so glad that it's the weekend.

With all the hubbub of training and trying to survive my first week of classes, I haven't had much time for myself.  Luckily, I don't have any classes on Saturday or Sunday this term, so I'll have the next two days just to relax and enjoy Korea.  My plans for tonight are still up in the air, but I'll definitely be in Seoul tomorrow.  I don't know where in Seoul I'll be or what exactly it is I'll be doing, but I'm set on doing something reckless.

An e-mail from a fifth grader:

Subject: WENDY

hello i'm wendy.(group3) am.....it's ypur email? is it right?

 

I had to make an e-mail account for work so kids could contact me if they have any questions.  This is the first one I've received.

I've acquired my first piece of furniture.

I found a huge chair sitting out in front of my building waiting to be hauled away last night so I decided to take it up to my room. While it isn't the nicest chair, and I still need to get some antibacterial wipes to clean it up before I use it, I consider it one small step to making this year in Korea a little more comfortable.

The view from my apartment

Things that I live near that make me happy:

I'm generally happy with where I live in Bucheon.  I'm in a central location, unlike last year where I had to take a bus to get anywhere cool.  This year, I can walk to a ton of different places, but there are a few that make me especially glad to be where I live:

• The Bus Terminal: I don't live in walking distance to a subway station, but it doesn't really matter that much since I can walk to the bus terminal.  I haven't made a trip out to Seoul from where I live yet, but it shouldn't be too bad with the buses so close.  Also, there's some places to eat right at the terminal, which is always nice.
• A 24-hour Home Plus: I seriously like Home Plus.  It might even have to be one of my favorite places in all of Korea.  It's great that I have access to this one at all times of the day, especially since my work hours are so goofy.
• A 24-hour McDonald's: This is technically a part of Home Plus, but deserves its own mention.  I managed to stay away from McDonald's since I've been back, but I caved yesterday while running some errands after work.  Having a double bulgogi cheeseburger within 10 minutes from my apartment might be a problem in the long run, but for now, I'll consider it a blessing.
• Work:  Not having to commute to work is is awesome.  It might not sound like much, but having grown up in California and having to drive everywhere, this is a pretty big thing for me.
• Brothels: It turns out that I live in the red light district of Bucheon.  Everytime I see a little card with a hooker's number on it, I can't help but giggle.
• A Ping-Pong gym (탁구장): I haven't started lessons yet, but there are two places that I live right next to that I can get lessons from.  One of them is a pretty nice gym and it's right across the street from my place, so I'm hoping to grab some lessons over there once I have time.
   

The troubles of doing laundry

So I just finished my first batch of laundry since coming back to Korea. It was a pretty big pain. Since my apartment didn't come furnished, I had to go out and buy a laundry rack last night after work from the 24hour Home Plus that I live by. It was a bitch to carry a four foot rack and 2 kilos of laundry detergent back to my apartment. Once I got back to my apartment, I realized that I could have just bought the detergent downstairs at the convenience store instead of carrying it. Once I got back to my apartment, it took me twenty minutes to translate all the settings that were on the damn washing machine. Even after I did that, I wasn't able to open the plastic bag of laundry detergent with my bare hands, so I had to run back down to the convenience store just to get a pair of scissors. With the rack, scissors, and laundry detergent, my first load of laundry ended up costing me about 40,000₩. Too bad I fell asleep while the machine was still going so I woke up to a batch of funky smelling clothes that I had to wash all over agin.

I almost forgot why I wanted to work hagwon in the first place.

Seriously, it was the hours. I'm up right now since I wanted to go over my lesson plan for today, but I don't actually have to be at work until 3:00. For someone who stays up at odd hours, like me, this is so great. I literally could have went to bed at 4:00AM and woken up at noon. Also, there's a 24-hour Home Plus down the street with a McDonalds so now I even have cool stuff to do at that time through the week.

I'm still settling in.

It's now been a week since I've arrived and I'm still trying to get used to the fact that I'm back in Korea. I'm still getting used to my new apartment and I'm hoping that my first class tomorrow will go smoothly. I haven't hd much time to go out and meet with everyone, but after a week or two, I should be able to get into a solid routine and free up some time. By then, I should be able to get a cell phone too, so that'll help meeting up with everyone.

Also, I did some exploring and I found that I'm within walking distance to a Pizza Maru, so it looks I can continue my Sunday afternoon pizza ritual.

I just moved in.

Well, I managed to pass training and I just moved in to my apartment on Bucheon. I was really nervous about my place, but it turns out that I didn't have to be. I'm situated. In a pretty decent part of Bucheon. If you're familiar with the area, I'm near the Hyundai department store, within walking distance to Rhythm and Booze. I am a little familiar with the area, so that's nice. The room is unfurnished though. I only have a bed for the moment, but luckily, it's a pretty nice place. It's a lot bigger than my old apartment. It might take some effort, but I'll have it feeling like home in no time.

A funny story from orientation

Earlier at orientation today, I said, "If I fail orientation and get sent home, my mom is going to beat the shit out of me." The instructor thought that I said that if I failed that I was going to beat the shit out of her. It turned into a complicated situation where she pulled me aside from class and addressed me about it. I'm still not sure if she actually believes me. It's probably not that funny since she still has the power to fail me.

It's a hard knock life.

So training really began today. It was a little overwhelming, honestly. It isn't as bad as some of the reviews of Chungdahm make it out to be though. The whole program is a lot different than working at a public school. For one thing, the students are going to be a lot more advanced. I'm being trained to teach kids that are in the middle levels of the program and kids that are at the more advanced parts. The stuff that I'll be teaching the kids is way beyond anything that's in the national curriculum. Even the mid-level lessons that I'm looking at are a ton harder than a sixth grade public school lesson. For tomorrow's mock lessons, there's a shit ton of prep that I still have to take care of. I'll probably be up for a few more hours just working on it. It's going to be rough, but I do want to make sure that I look alright on my first day.

As a side note, I got a medical exam yesterday and I apparently have high blood pressure.

I'm here safe and sound.

I'm at my hotel here in Gangnam where I found a wi-fi signal. Orientation officially starts tomorrow, so today I have a free day to go around and do some random stuff. I still have to go over some of the training videos, but I'll drop by a pc bang and do that later. For now, I just want to get reacquainted with land of the morning calm.

THE TIME IS UPON US.

In about 12 hours, I'll be leaving for the airport to fly to San Francisco, and then from there to Incheon Airport.  I've been pushed for time the past week since I've been trying to finish reading my books before I left.  I managed to get through four novels, so that was a success.  Unfortunately, there's still a shit ton left for me to do.  There was also a little scare today about my flight getting canceled due to a mechanical issue on the plane.  That's been resolved though by getting on an earlier flight.  Now I'm leaving LAX at 7:00 in the morning.  It's not that very far from right now, but I'm going to have a long night ahead of me.

Quick update on the whole Korea thing

My is booked and my visa is all taken care of. I'll be leaving Friday morning from LAX and arriving in Incheon on Saturday in the evening. There's still some stuff that I need to pick up and there's all that packing that needs to get done, but I have the next few days to take care of that. Hopefully I can fit in all the stuff that I want to do before Friday.

This is all happening really fast.

I'm going to the Korean consulate tomorrow to pick up my passport. I'm probably also going to book my flight too. Things are going to go by so fast. I'm planning on leaving the 11th, since I have to be in Korea by the 14th for orientation. After booking my flights I'm going to see if I have enough time to organize something so I can see everyone that is still in Korea before training starts on the Monday. That's still on the bottom of the list of things I need to take care of though. Eating as many burritos as I can before I go is what's really important.

It's about time.

I haven't booked my ticket yet, but I will be back in Korea in under two weeks.  My recrutier said that I shouldn't book a ticket until Chungdahm gets back to me about my visa.  That shouldn't be too long and going to the Korean consulate won't be too big of a hassle.  I am pretty relaxed so far, probably because I've been meaning to go back since the day I got here.  There's still some stuff I need to take care of, but once all that's done, I'm ready to start another year in Korea.