I am now out in the big bad world. The orientation dormitary was this little haven for all of us since the moment we stepped off the plane. When I was sick (I'm still recovering), the staff brought food right to my room, along with newspapers, magazines etc.
Today, my school's co-teacher (I'll be teaching with a co-teacher in every class) picked me up in a taxi and brought me to my apartment. After showing me around my apartment building, she took me to my school. It was my first time using public transportation in Seoul. It's the little things that mess you up. Like how you can't open the doors here on the bus if you're a passenger. Only the bus driver has the power to do that. My school is super bright. I mean colour-wise. Pink and blue with beige as the background colour. I saw my office space. It's in a room with a number of other teachers. I have an office cubicle! I've always wanted to work in a cubicle. I have my own computer, phone and printer so that'll make lesson planning a whole lot easier...as well as facebook stalking.
Well, I'm at an internet cafe now cause I don't have internet or phone set up at the apartment yet. I feel really lost right now. And I bet all the other teachers feel the same way. We were all together for the past week and a half, and now we've all been scattered all over town. We don't know our way around the city, and we don't have phones or internet. So meeting up will be quite intersting. I had to deal with this in Australia as well, but what is making this even more challenging is the fact that I don't speak the native language of the country. If I get lost in the streets and people don't understand me, I'll have to keep searching till I find someone who speaks English. I'm not complaining though. I signed up for this and this is exactly what I wanted. One of the reasons I like to travel is because I like a good challenge. I think being too comfortable in a particular world/neighbourhood/bubble is a tad dangerous. We're always too comfortable with our own way of doing things. We need to be shaken up more often. These past several days have kept me on my toes and have definitely lifted me out of my comfort zone. And I absolutely love it.
Bring it on Seoul.
2 comments:
In the Facebook group, we were talking about a possible regular meetup in Itaewon to catch up. Something like first and third Tuesday of every month.
I'm down with meeting up with everyone once or twice a month. I organized this last one, but I'm happy to pass on the organizational cap to someone else. :-)
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