Korea = Random Adventure!

So this weekend ended up being adventurous and random at different moments.

All in all, it was a great weekend. On Saturday Alex and I went to Duryu Park. I have uploaded some pictures of this park. I enjoyed two parts of this adventure. I loved the pond/lake that we went to. People go there and feed HUGE koi fish, pigeons, and ducks. While we were there, a dad and his daughter were feeding the fish and pigeons. After awhile, the dad offered us some rice cake to feed to the fish. Let me tell you, his daughter was not too pleased with him. I didn't actually know what she said to him, but her tone and body language was enough of an indicator to figure out what was going on. It was funny to say the least.

Then we headed over the the Daegu Culture and Arts Center. This was funny because we couldn't figure out if there was a fee. All was saw was a sign that said "20,000 won." So we decided to take our chances and head up stairs to the Fabric Arche exhibit. This was fun we got to see a lot of interesting pieces. Here is where we discovered that the exhibit was "pree" aka as "free." Here in Korea they do not pronounce the letter "F" like we do they use the letter "P" instead. We decided to take our chances and go back to the room that had the sign that said "20,000 won." When we were standing there a man motioned over to us and told us to come in and he said it in excellent English. We would later find out this man is the president of the International Photography Exchange or something along those lines. We also found out he studied in Washington State so he actually knows where Montana is! Anyways, we got to see some photography from different parts of Asia. Some good, others not so good.

Also, today Alex and I got paid! So we decided to head downtown at the last minute (we literally ran to the bus stop so we'd make it and not miss our bus). I bought this very trendy hoodie dress thingy that all the Korean girls wear here...I'm still not too sure about it. It's really comfortable, but I might not be able to wear it in public. Then we headed to our favorite little "dollar store." This was fun and I got some great things for my apartment.

So far I am loving it! There's nothing holding me back and I am ready to experience Korea and what it has to offer. I'm not going anywhere! Who knows I might stay here longer...Life is good.

Settling in...

So I've been in Daegu, South Korea for about 3 weeks and so far so good.

Let me break down what has happened.

Week One: Our experience getting to Korea was smooth, except for our flight from Billings to Helena...it was very bumpy and scary! Our time spent in the Sea/Tac went by quickly (we had a 6 hour layover). We sipped Starbucks, bought books, talked to family and friends. We had a few "high-five" moments. This meant that we would high-five when we were having a moment...one of them consisted of a teary eyed moment (right after I talked to my dad on the phone). Another one was when we were wondering if we had to go through customs in Seattle before we went to Korea. This process led us through many dark hallways in the Sea/Tac airport. Finally, someone knew what we were talking about and informed us we needed to go through customs in Korea, not the U.S. The flight on Korean Air was AMAZING!!! I loved every moment of it. The flight attendants were so nice and on the spot. They were always making sure we had something to drink or eat, it was great. Plus, each person had their own tv and there was tons to do. I watched two movies and listened to music. So for those of you who are going to come visit, I suggest to fly on Korean Air if you can!

We landed in Inchoen at about 6:00 pm. This gave me time to make a quick call home and a moment to update my Facebook status. Then Alex and I headed over the the bus ticket stand we bought our tickets and the woman informed us we had 10 mins to get to our bus!!!! I still had to call Barry (our co-worker) to let him know we had landed. In a super stressful situation, I decided to make an international phone call on my cell phone...I still have yet to find out what the cost will be for that, yikes. I mostly slept on the 4 hour bus ride to Daegu. When we got to Daegu it was nice to see to familiar faces, Drew and Barry. Even though we don't know Drew and Barry personally, we befriended them on Facebook (What would we do without technology?). We got to our apartments and had no time to settle in, we had to work at 9:30 am the next morning. Let's keep in mind Alex and I just traveled for 20 hours, suffering from jet leg, and it was after 11 pm!

Our walk to the school the next day was surreal. At first, we were in small neighborhood and then all the sudden we turned a corner and we were in the city. The first day of school went by fast and was a blur. We had to learn so much in so little time, but I'm glad our co-workers have been very helpful, thanks again ladies. Alex and I helped out on the haunted house the next day at school which was fun. That first weekend I spent cleaning and getting organized. I had to do laundry because my shampoo bottle leaked all over my clothes :( We also had to get a medical health exam so we could become registered aliens, yes I am an alien. Let me tell you, I have never experience anything like this in my life...and I hope I don't have to do it anytime soon. Wow, that's all I have to say. I wasn't "bad" but the hospital is what I would call a "Silent Hill" hospital. Plus, they don't use gloves and there wasn't soap in the bathroom! Come one now, with all this Swine Flu hysteria you'd think there would be soap in the bathroom at the hospital!

Week Two and Three:
The past couple of weeks Alex and I have been going on little adventures. Well pretty much everything is an adventure here because it's all so new and out of the ordinary for us. We went to E-Mart which is basically the Korean version of Walmart. We ate in the food court and had McDonalds and a BigMac tastes the same. This was fun, mostly because the labels are all in Korean and if there is English on the label it's super tiny. Our co-worker Maureen took us downtown via bus and we explored. The next day, Alex and I went downtown on the bus by ourselves. I do have to say we are pretty good at navigating, so far we haven't run into any problems.

As far as school goes, everything is falling into place. I know all my student's names, what classes I am teaching, and how to do lesson plans. The kids are great, well for the most part. There has been some moments but what school doesn't have "moments." I can't help but think how cute they are!

I love that everyday is an adventure, it's an amazing feeling.
It's great to be in the moment, for once.