Daegu

THIS ENTRY HAS BEEN EDITED, so re-read it and just skip the paragraphs that are familiar.

I arrived in Daegu yesterday. The process of meeting our Korean co-teachers was very awkward, as all of us were put up on a stage while the teachers sat in the audience, carefully observing us. After a short introduction, the teachers' names were read along with their corresponding native teacher. I felt like I was being auctioned off.

I think I got lucky, because the person who is acting basically as my Korean Mom is very nice. Her English isn't quite as good as some of the Korean teachers we met at orientation, but it's not bad. My apartment is really great. It's a lot better than I was expecting. I even was lucky enough to get a queen sized bed. I live in a very nice part of town. It's very quiet, but just down the street is a bustling and very busy area, with lots of stores and bars and such.

I am a little bit nervous about Monday because as of right now I have no schedule, no student lists and no real idea of whether I will even be TEACHING, or just observing. However, I am somewhat reassured by the fact that I will be the lead teacher and I will have total freedom over what I teach. So if I really wanted to, I could teach them effective Starcraft strategies (the game is so popular it appears regularly in textbooks for use in examples, and I have seen multiple televised matches.) Also, apparently I will be teaching some conversation classes for teachers after school on some days. All-in-all, I believe I was told to expect around 16 hours of actual teaching time per week, which is great since my contract allows them to give me up to 22.

My internet has not yet been turned on, so I don't know when I will be able to Skype it up with anyone. I'm posting this from my school right now, which is about a 10-15 minute walk from my apartment. It's going to take me awhile to get used to this place, as I get stares and giggles from EVERY single student that sees me.

I found a great little coffee shop that's about a 10 minute walk from my house with good coffee. Bust best of all, apparently there is free wireless internet here! I was desperately hoping to find the equivalent of an Espresso Royale here in Daegu, and it looks like I have, so I am very excited about that. Also, on the way here I walked by a FujiFilm outlet which I am pretty sure develops photos, so I will try and get that done tomorrow and hopefully have them posted.