I’m a month into year 2 now and I’ve these next 11 months to do an even better job than before. The first year was all about finding my footing and getting acclimated to the new environment here. Landing here brought plenty of challenges – living here’s a job in itself. Sure, teaching’s important and challenging, but so is getting through the days and weeks as an ex-pat in a foreign land. Getting through the day can takes its toll on you.
It’s a new year now, so residency’s been established and I know my way around this town (and Seoul). Feel things seem unfamiliar now, especially here in Wasu-ri. I’ve learned enough Korean to get through most any situation now. My Korean’s nothing special, but between my knowledge of the vocabulary and a few phrase forms, I can string enough broken Korean together to be understood. Combine that with a knack for making inferences and I can usually understand what people are saying on the street or in movies. Every day brings a new word or phrase or three to study too.
Some good stuff’s on the horizon as well:
Busan - As I noted earlier in the post about KORAIL tickets, The Chuseok holiday is this weekend, so we’ve a 5-day weekend. Rochelle and I will spend it in Busan and Seoul. We’re riding on the midnight train tomorrow, so we’ll have a relaxing day in Seoul before the big ride begins. The train tickets are printed, the hotel’s booked, and the bags will get packed tonight. We’re both excited for this one. This trip means visit #1 to Busan for me and visit #3 for Rochelle.
The upcoming EPIK/Korean English teacher’s conference in Yang Yang. It’s going down on 11 and 12 October, so it means another short week of teaching.
Thoughts on exams and assessments / Comparing the American and Korean systems. This will be the next post.
Additionally, here’s a preview of what’s to come in future posts:
Top 10 memories of year 1
Teaching schedule/The middle and high school teaching scheme
A tasty meal we ate in the Central Asia Food Village
More K-rock videos
More of “A Year on the frontier”
A response to something my dear dad said: “It sounds like teaching ESL is easier than doing regular English in the USA.”
4 weeks of writing activities in HS grade 1.
Our mission as EPIK educators / Reflections from the Cheorwon Crew
Dating logistics
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