Official Beginning

Today was the day I officially settled in to life in SK. I moved from my temporary apartment to my permanent residence in San-gyeok dong (dong means something similar to neighborhood). My apartment is a bit smaller, but it's warmer and more cozy. My bed is also a smidge softer, but still not enough to be comfortable. I'm working on getting some kind of foam to put over the mattress. I'll post pics of the new apartment soon. This also means I have a new neighborhood to explore. I'll tackle that task within the next few days or so, hopefully. Somehow I have to find a place to do some grocery shopping, too. I've just been getting odds and ends to tide me over, but now that I'm in my new place I need to eat real food.

I did order take out today from a restaurant near my school. It was challenging because the menu was in Korean, and there were no pictures. I just ordered bulgogi because I tasted it once before and knew that I liked it. The woman tried to talk to me while I was sitting there waiting for my food, and fortunately Kyung Tae taught me how to say "I don't understand" last night. She was persistent though, and all I was able to do was smile, shake my head, and repeat. I can't wait to take Korean lessons so I can stop feeling like such a lazy foreigner.

School wasn't too bad, all things considered. Most classes seemed to respond well to me. I showed them pictures of my family and friends, and every single class, no exceptions, oooh-ed and aaah-ed over how "handsome" my brother is. And not just the girls, either. It was quite amusing. One girl said my dad looks friendly. Every single class picked out the one Asian student on my "American" softball team and called me out on it. "Teacher, Korean?" "No, she is Chinese." "Oh, but not American..." Anyway, I had one class with only four students, and they're middle school age so they're a bit less interested in participating. That class was a bit painful, but we managed. My last class today was all girls except for one poor boy who somehow got stuck in that class. They were a lot of fun because they were very interested in engaging me and each other. It was a nice way to end the evening. Tomorrow is a shorter day, thank goodness. Only one day and I'm already pooped.