First Days

It's April 25th, and I've been here for five days. Currently I am sitting in a "PC Bon" which has the ascetic of a crack den--coming into the door, I am greeted by a perpetually tired looking woman sitting on a mattress, who lazily hands me a card. I sit down at an cubicle with a dirty old tower and CT monitor. Luckily, there are no drug addicts here--unless you count the middle-school students playing Counter-Strike. Some few questions float through my mind lazily as the proprietor's greeting: how did I get here?; will my medical test come back okay?; where can I get something to eat that isn't kimbap; and can my liver survive another weekend in Tonyeong?

I set off for South Korea at two PM at Vancouver's YVR airport on the 19th. The Air Korea Airbus took only 10 hours to cross the pacific and the flight was uneventful. The flight attendants were strangely mechanical  in their mannerisms, and I wondered for a brief minute if they had been brought down from North Korea. I didn't sleep much--instead I crammed in as many Western movies as I could, because I made the conscious decision not to bring a laptop (I want to buy one here). So much for question one.

I slept through the hour long flight from Seoul to Busan. I had been told by my recruiter that I would be greeted by the director of my school at Busan Airport, so when I introduced myself, I bowed deeply and was a little disconcerted when he didn't appear to speak much English. I discovered about thirty seconds later that he was a cab driver. I asked him if we were going to a bus station, but he didn't seem to understand. After fifteen minutes or so, I understood that we were driving right to Tongyeong--the cab driver's favorite city in South Korea. Eventually we stopped in front of a corner market, where I met Leon, the fellow that was supposed to pick me up at the airport. He paid the cabby from a roll of crisp, green 10,000 won (~$10) notes from his pocket. I don't think it cost more than $80. Turns out Leon isn't the director, but a sort of chief executive officer.

Leon showed me my apartment, which was located on the 3rd floor above the market (and the doctor's office on the 2nd floor). It's cosy, but it has a gas stove, fridge, washing machine, etc. There is even storage space. Leon told me he would be down tomorrow at eleven to take me to the school (at least that's what I thought he said) and then left. That night, I sat up and had drinks with Ben, my co-teacher and neighbour.

All right, I can see by the sheer volume I have already written that a play-by play is not going to do it. I'll have to use broad strokes for now.

Tongyeong itself is a beautiful little city. There is a ship-building dock, and ship-building is the main industry. Tongyeong is surrounded by islands, ranging from large to very small. The terrain is mountainous, but there are few high peaks. Sometimes I go hiking in the morning. There are little exercise areas in the hills, badminton nets and work out apparatus.

The school is very nice, and so are my co-workers. Some of the children are well-behaved, and some of them not so much. I expect the work to be challenging. Before coming down here, I was told that I was sharing classes with Korean teachers. While this is true, it turns out that we do not teach the classes at the same time. Actually, this is good. I think it would be too boring otherwise.

My second day here, I was brought to the hospital to get some tests done. I am very worried they are going to find something wrong with me. I don't actually think there IS something wrong with me, but I haven't had a check-up in a long time. Actually, I only really go to the doctor when I know there is something wrong. I love this place so much. I love the school, and the people are really great. Maybe my worries are irrational, but I'm so happy that I am here that the thought of having to turn around and go home petrifies me.

More soon. I would really like to dive into the details now, but time is short.

Oh yeah. I've been partying since I got here. Beer is cheap, and there is a sort of watered-down vodka called "soju" that costs about fifty cents per bottle. My co-workers can really pack it away too.