I graduated from college in August and a couple of months later I was in Korea! It was daunting and scary, but I am thankful that I did it. I have been here for two months now, and I absolutely love it. Sure there are times when I get frustrated and angry, but over all I love it. I teach English at an all girls middle school, which, means I have to deal with prepubescent girls all day long (meaning a variety of emotions!) Now I know how my parents must have felt dealing with me.
My first impression of Korea is that the people are generous and very curious. I'm learning a lot about the culture and practices because they are so very different than anything that I'm used to. I love the food! Its delicious and I'm learning to actually like spicy food (something I never liked before!). I haven't really experienced culture shock to a major degree yet, but I'm sure it will come at some point....its now a waiting game.
I live in a city of 90,000 which is a nice size because there is a good number of foreigners without it being too overrun by them. I feel very fortunate to be placed here right next to the beach and close to mountains. There is a lot to do and I love being outdoors! The location to elsewhere in Korea is also pretty good. Its a three hour bus ride to Seoul, so day trips are possible. We are also close enough to North Korea that the beach by my house is closed at 8pm every night for military patrol. This makes you think a lot about how good Americans have it, and how much we don't realize about the world.
So all in all I love being here. I can't wait to see what more Korea has to offer. I'm also super excited about going to Beijing next month! Be on the look out later next month for a blog about my excursion to China!
