The first week has come and gone like a gust of wind. Within my first week, there have been so many new experiences. This includes eating new foods, being surrounded by a new language, living in a new country and learning the local customs. Where I am living is pretty rural. I have not seen another foreigner here yet, and I'm not sure I will (at least not in Hacheong). There might be one teacher at the elementary school near by, but that is the only other place where there might be someone. I 'm teaching at a middle school within the public system and know there is no foreign teacher at the high school right next door. For those who are thinking of coming to Geoje, beware that you may end up in a really rural area. This generally applies to those who are working for the public school system. There are many teachers in Gohyun though. I will meet people there once I get facebook and join the Geoje facebook group. I'm around 20 minutes by bus from Gohyun in a small town or may I say village. Buses come every 30 minutes to and from Hacheong to Gohyun, so I have to be a bit aware of the time when I decide to leave for the bus stop.
In school, Korean's do not wear shoes (at least not at mine), they bring a pair of slippers to wear. I do not know if it is to perserve the floors or because they have some other understanding about feet, floors and/or dirt. Another thing that I discovered early was that proper bed sheets are hard to find. I have a single bed, and made the obvious assumption that I need single sized bed sheets. Unfortunately, after buying sheets at Home Plus for a single bed, they did not even come close to fitting my bed. The only reason for this occurance that I could think of is that Korean beds are smaller than American ones. This would make a single sized Korean bed quite small, but I am not sure this is the case. I will have to find out and repost about that. I also learned that Korean teachers, staff and students work hard and long hours. Some teachers and staff stay until 9:00PM. Many students are at school until 9:00PM as well. It is very competitive here so they need to work hard if they are to be at the top of the food chain in the job market later on. It can be very difficult for some of these students because they spend many hours studying in school, after school and then sometimes on the weekends. I started my classes today asking the students what they did on the weekend and one student told me they spent their Saturday in a hogwan. A hogwon is a school where students go either after school or on the weekends. They can be expensive, but education seems to be highly valued in Korea. There are no hogwons in my town, but I believe there are many in Gohyun.
Unfortunately, I don't have batteries for my camera, and actually don't know if my camera even works (actually my girlfriends camera). When I figure that out, I will post some pictures.
In school, Korean's do not wear shoes (at least not at mine), they bring a pair of slippers to wear. I do not know if it is to perserve the floors or because they have some other understanding about feet, floors and/or dirt. Another thing that I discovered early was that proper bed sheets are hard to find. I have a single bed, and made the obvious assumption that I need single sized bed sheets. Unfortunately, after buying sheets at Home Plus for a single bed, they did not even come close to fitting my bed. The only reason for this occurance that I could think of is that Korean beds are smaller than American ones. This would make a single sized Korean bed quite small, but I am not sure this is the case. I will have to find out and repost about that. I also learned that Korean teachers, staff and students work hard and long hours. Some teachers and staff stay until 9:00PM. Many students are at school until 9:00PM as well. It is very competitive here so they need to work hard if they are to be at the top of the food chain in the job market later on. It can be very difficult for some of these students because they spend many hours studying in school, after school and then sometimes on the weekends. I started my classes today asking the students what they did on the weekend and one student told me they spent their Saturday in a hogwan. A hogwon is a school where students go either after school or on the weekends. They can be expensive, but education seems to be highly valued in Korea. There are no hogwons in my town, but I believe there are many in Gohyun.
Unfortunately, I don't have batteries for my camera, and actually don't know if my camera even works (actually my girlfriends camera). When I figure that out, I will post some pictures.
wooojooo! que experienciaaa!!! best wishes!!
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