Week One

Hello everyone!!!

So here it is, my blog, finally. This first entry may turn out to be a bit of a novel so you may want to have a seat.

All of my flights went well. The time did seem long though just because I’ve never gone this far completely alone. When I went to Aus, I met my group in LA and we were on the same long flight so it wasn’t that bad. Anyways, my favourite flight was from Seoul to Yeoso because it was daylight and I had a window seat. It was pretty cool to see all the hills from the top to the bottom of South Korea. The hills were nice, the water was nice, and then there was this haze that sort of added a dreamlike quality to the whole picture. I thought maybe it was because it was still morning or maybe because the seasons are changing and the cold water was mixing with the warmer air yadda yadda yadda. Nuh, no! It turns out it’s all of Chinas pollution. Yep, they build their smokestacks at such a height that the winds are strong enough to carry it over. I think for the rest of the year though I’m just going to keep telling myself it’s fog…that way I won’t feel like my lungs are dying as much.

My first week consisted of a few days of observation and 2 days of covering the classes of the teacher who was leaving. All I had to do was entertain them because it was the end of the term. On the Thursday morning it was kindergarten graduation which is a BIG deal. All of the different classes have their own little performance they do before they get to walk across the stage in their caps and gowns for their certificates. All the parents were there with insane bouquets of flowers and their Louis Vuitton bags. Next on the agenda was orientation for the new kindergartens on Saturday. It’s mainly just to show the kids the inside of the school and see how they do when they’re not with their parents. I was in a room with a couple classes, one of which was mine called “Smurfs”. I was able to spot some kids from my other class by following the crying sounds and then double checking the name tags. Yes, they were part of my “Angels” group. The “Angels” are the first group of 4 year olds to come through the doors of Wonderland. They are 4 years old in Korea so in Canada they would actually be 3. You are 1 year old when you are first born here. Depending on when they’re birthday is some of my kids are even closer to 2 years Canadian age. Everyone ages a year right at the beginning of the calendar year. For example there is one boy who was born in November so he basically turned 2 years old a few months ago, but because it’s Korea, he’s 3 and because it’s past January 1st in Korea he is 4. Everyone has nicknamed him the little old man because he is soooo tiny and looks quite frail.

The nights of my first week were great. The head foreign teacher, Jess (who is also from Canada), took me somewhere different to eat each night and sometimes the other teachers came along too. This was incredibly good of them considering they had marking, report cards, and schedules to make for the new semester. The first few meals made my eyes water, but I’m getting better. It’s not really a shocker since at home I didn’t usually venture any higher than “medium” salsa. My favourite food so far are these bean sprouts that are steamed (I think) and they just have a little bit of sesame oil on them…probably some other ingredients too. They’re actually just one of the many simple side dishes that come with every meal, but I get pretty excited for them. My favourite meal has been dok galbi (I’m just using phonetics). It’s a chicken dish that you cook with rice or noodles and the usual veggies. Most meals out in Korea are cooked in front of you then you pile what you want on a lettuce leaf and mow down. There’s really no graceful way to go about it. When you try doing two bites it kind of falls apart and the sauce runs down your hand. When you try just one bite you look and feel like a greedy chipmunk, but everyone’s in the same boat.

Okay kids I’m gonna wrap this up and try and get some more done through the week. Stay tuned.