HELLO WORLD!

                 We have survived our first week in Korea! And so far so good! There have been a lot of adjustments, some embarrassing moments (like walking into a supermarket that was closed and quickly being ushered out by an elderly Korean man who didn’t speak any English...) and a lot of new experiences! Here are a few pictures from our first day or so in Korea and Cheongju, we haven’t had much extra time to explore or take any pictures yet, but that’s what the weekends will be for!

All of our baggage in calgary

Last Timmy's (although we've hear a rumour there's one Seoul)

Last view of the Rockies...

Our Airplane!

We got slippers on the plane!

Apparently, in Korea you put your beverages upside down int the cupholders...

WHAT HAVE WE GOTTEN OURSELVES INTO!!!

What we saw of Seoul during the bus trip

The main stree in cheongju

Thank Heaven for 7-11!

A popular coffee shop our 1st morning

Our first grocery purchase

              For the first week we were staying in a small temporary apartment until the couple we’re replacing moved out to go home back to the U.S. Like I said earlier, that apartment was very small. I was worried when got there, that our permanent apartment was going to be that small, but luckily our new apartment’s bedroom is about the size of the entire other apartment together, so we’ve really lucked out! Here are some pictures of our first apartment-

Our Temporary Building- we were above a Korean restaurant

                                                                       Our Bathroom that was also our shower...

And this pictures is for my family- we have an Olive Garden too!

Our new apartment is just across the street from the school. We have a front little ‘sitting area’, or what I would think of as the small living room, but apparently very few people have couches here in Korea... so it has become our eating area. One of the other foreign teachers had a fancy patio table with 2 chairs that she never used so we took those off her hands. Now we have somewhere to eat, and don’t have to eat on the floor by our short little tables (my back is really getting sore from sitting on the ground and bending over! No one in Korea believes in a dining room table!). We also have a little storage area, that’s separated from the living area with glass sliding doors, which is nice because now we have somewhere to put our empty suitcases! Hopefully with a little bit more work the apartment will feel a little more homey and our own!

                                                                   Our Laundy room

                             Our 'sitting' area-  floor cushions and floor tables included

                                                Our kitchen and the bathroom

                                                           a better look at the kitchen...

                                                    Our bathroom, which is also the shower

                                                        Our front entrance

            Brian passed out on our bed (the laundry room is the doorway behind/beside the bed)

We have lovely wallpaper...

Tomorrow we’re going to church with the other foreign teachers. It’s an English service with about 70 people in the congregation, a mix of foreigners and Koreans who want to practice their English. Apparently this church often has different events and get togethers, so hopefully we can find a good community there. Also, right beside the church is an E-mart (Korea’s walmart) so we’re hoping to pick up some necessities like silverware, some mugs, maybe a coffee maker, some slippers (we wear slippers all day at school), and some pillows (the apartment only has 1 right now and for the past week we’ve been using our airplane neck pillows at night! Thanks again Mandee!).

We also had orientation/training at the school this week. It was a bit overwhelming, and somewhat stressful, but the teachers who are leaving really helped prepare us for what is to come and gave us a head start on some class planning as well. The kids we’re teaching are probably the cutest things ever! They are 5-7 years old (side note, they’re actually 4-6 in Canadian age, but when you’re born in Korea you turn 1 on your first New Years, so technically Brian and I are 23 here... weird I know!) and SO smart! I’m teaching two 6 year old classes and Brian has two 7 year old classes. My kids are able to read fairly well in English and also are able to put together sentences in English (never mind, they can do this in Korean as well!). They’re so bright for their age, and the thing that really amazes me is that these kids sit still in desks reading and writing ALL day! They probably have an hour a day to play! They’re very smart, but they are pushed so hard, it’s almost sad; we have barely any time in our schedule to just play a game with the kids!

Here’s a typical Korean day in the life of the Mols:

7:45am- Wake up, shower, etc.

8:45am- Head to school, usually stop at Dunkin Donuts for a Coffee

9:00-9:30am- prep time before class

9:30-9:50- Welcome the kids, get the classroom ready

9:50-10:30- Franklin class (meaning we teach from the curriculum from the head office- or we’re supposed to)

10:30-10:45- Snack time! The school provides some type of snack for us and the kids, usually something Korean...

10:45-12:05- we have 2 classes during this time (I usually have either core reading or writing)

12:05-12:30- LUNCH TIME! The school provides our lunches as well but it’s usually Korean too.

12:30-1:10- The kids have Brain Up time, which is their playtime, and a break for us.

1:10-2:30- We have 2 more classes. This is where I usually teach my music classes and brian has a math and science class.

And then we usually have a break until 3:00ish when the elementary kids come in. I only have 1 elementary class 3 days a week, but Brian isn’t as lucky and he has 2 classes every day. However, I also have to help in daycare (some of the kindi kids stay after school) and do story time every Friday. We’ll usually be at the school from 9am-about 6pm every day with some breaks in between.

We just had some Mac and Cheese (compliments of Canada, and our suitcases) for dinner, and hopefully, if it stops raining out, we can do a bit more exploring tonight (plus some pie!)

We promise to keep you updated and in the know! Talk to you all soon!