but you know what. . . . I can still get to Seoul or Daegu on the weekends pretty easily. Although I'd rather be near the high speed trains, I'm gonna have to deal with riding the buses for now. It's weird how spoiled I feel living in a city of 150,000 folks. In America I'd love living in a place this size or smaller. In Korea, it's just not the same, because the cities aren't so spread out. Now let's talk about the job.
So it turns out that I have to be at work every day at 1:00 pm. The funny thing is my teaching doesn't start until 3:20, and on Thursdays 4:10. It's kind of a new experience in some ways. When I arrive I have to help mop and vacuum the floors (on MWF). Tuesdays and Thursdays are days for just cleaning the desks and a little vacuuming. Everyone on staff pitches in though, which is kind of a good concept. It just sucks that we finish this work, and then have an hour or even two hours until the first class.
My students so far have been wonderful. The classes range in size from 4-12 students. The kids have given me plenty of odd stares, and many have noticed the scar or scars on the back of my head. Two or three of the younger ones walked in and stared at my eyes. "Teacher your eyes are blue and green?" With the exception of the older students I taught tonight, most of them are all really well mannered.
One other thing I've come to notice in this town compared with the other places I have taught is the level of education. The students at my recent camp and in my previous long term job, had a much better knowledge of the English language, than these students here. I like to think that the quality of education is much higher in these bigger cities than in a small town such as this Gongju.
I am also the only foreign teacher at this little academy as well. I kind of expected that I would be the only teacher, at least that is a foreigner. There are four Korean teachers working with me and they seem to be somewhat friendly at least. The one doesn't talk often, but the girls seem to be pretty helpful, which is great, since I have a lot of questions about the area.
Anyway, my apartment isn't all that great, but at least there's a good bit of space for a one bedroom apartment. My bed is actually really comfortable -- I've slept pretty well the first two nights. I don't have any closet space, and I am lacking a refrigerator as well. At least there is a little restaurant nearby, along with a convenience store as well. The GS 25 supermarket isn't too far away as well. Like I may have said earlier, I can't wait to get to Daegu and Seoul for some good food. At least I know some good cooks in the Daegu area, and well, there's plenty of good food all around the city of Seoul. Anyway, I'll be heading to Daegu to get my other clothes, and meet some friends on Saturday. Sunday will be my day to go to Seoul, and see Miss Nicole, who's probably anxiously awaiting for some of her goodies that her mom passed on to me a few weeks ago, before I left the states.
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