Korea
The introduction e-mail for the people back home:
So, I've been in Korea for over a month and have pretty much said nothing about it. I'm alive and I'm well but I guess there's a bit more to the story.
I wrote one of these e-mails a little after arriving in my new city. It sucked, so I scrapped it. Now you're probably thinking, this e-mail sucks. Trust me, the first draft sucked even more.
So, I arrived at orientation shortly after my plane landed. Orientation was boring. I met a few cool people but overall, it's not a very noteworthy experience. The first thing I learned is that all sorts of people are drawn to abandon all they know and head to the other side of the globe.
I've been spending the month, however, in my placement city of Yeongcheon. I call it a city, but it's hardly that. It's ridiculously small. No one takes pictures of Yeongcheon. I don't really have any to share. However, once I get a camera (I know, I know -- bought a computer and TV instead of a camera), I will do some local photography and maybe even video.
There's a reason no one takes pictures or video of Yeongcheon. That's because it's probably the most awesome place to get put.
Little bit of background: The three major cities in Korea (in order) -- Seoul, Busan, and Daegu.
Yeongcheon is approximately 40 minutes east of Daegu by both train and bus. So anytime I want to go to the city to live it up or buy something, I'm not too far out. In addition, Yeongcheon is a rural province with a small actual city. The magic lies in having everything you need relatively close (easily) and everything you want two train stops away. Take the "best" comment with a grain of salt. I haven't seen much of Korea and I'm clearly biased.
My schools are great. The staff is relatively friendly and leave me to my business. I think a lot of it is due to the language barrier. I think I'm going to start hiding any progress I make with Korean. It's more fun that way. My kids are basically angels compared to middle schoolers back in Baltimore. Most of my kids that don't want to learn are sleeping and not a problem. I have a few kids that like to act out with the whole "Teacher can't speak Korean" but that's only at my main school, My other two schools have great kids that at worst energetic.
I told myself I would blog regularly when I got here. The truth is, I rarely have the energy to blog at work and I'm too busy during the off-hours to sit down and write a proper account of what has been happening.
This e-mail is already too long but I will get around to a write-up for my Chuseok trip and a few of us have thought up other things to do proper write-ups on. I hope everyone is doing well state-side and please update me with the daily operations. You may think they're boring but I find comfort in the tales.