Korea- First Impressions!

Hellooo friends and family.

So I have now been in Korea for a little over a week, although it seems like a lot longer for some reason. Crazy to think that a few months ago, coming to Asia to teach English was not even on my radar. If you had told me in February that in a few short months I would be drinking soju and singing Bon Jovi at a noraebang with near strangers across the world, I wouldn’t have believed you.

The process happened extremely quickly which is probably a good thing because it doesn’t give you a lot of time to worry or think about backing out. I was job hunting one day on the U of T recent grads website, happened to stumble across a listing for a third party recruiter who matches recent grads with Hagwons (private English schools) in Korea. I applied just for fun, was never really seriously considering it, and then the next day I got a call and the process was started. The two months leading up to my departure were a blur of paperwork, phone calls, research and preparation.

I only had one interview, which was with the school that I am now working at. I just decided that if I got the job, I had to go. How could I turn down the chance to travel and experience another culture all while working and saving money? It was a no-brainer. Of course I thought about how hard it would be to leave home, to leave my friends and family behind, but when these opportunities come up you have to jump. I know that a year will fly by.

I survived my first week of teaching- They basically just throw you in with no formal training. I am usually at the school by 9:30-10 to do my lesson planning. I have 7 or 8 classes per day back to back so I have to plan for all of them in the morning. I start teaching at 11:40 and don’t finish until 8. My coworkers-both foreign and Korean, are all very nice and extremely helpful. I have already met interesting people from all over the world. I am really looking forward to getting to know my way around and becoming comfortable with taking the subway alone so that I can explore different cities.

Here are my first impressions or things that I’ve noticed since I’ve arrived…

The Good

·         Noraebang: Seriously….how did I survive without these before? It’s karaoke but you go with a group of people and you get your own singing room. SO much fun. People think that Korea is very conservative….and in certain ways it is. But they really know how to have a good time.

·         Friendly friendly people: Everybody is so welcoming and nice. Especially if you make the effort to learn a few words and communicate in Korean. People are very respectful and keep to themselves.  They might stare out of curiosity when you’re walking in the street or at the grocery store but very rarely will you get approached by strangers. (this is only based on my total of one week that I’ve been here, but I have heard other people remark about this as well.)

·         Safety:  I feel perfectly safe walking around here at any time, night or day. I don’t worry about anyone snatching my purse or cellphone or being assaulted in any way. My biggest worry is that I still don’t know my way around very well or what my street address is. So taking taxis or trying to ask for directions on my own can’t happen yet. But in terms of crime, I’m sure the crime rate here is very low, almost non-existent.

·         Transportation: Amazing subway and train system. You can pretty much get ANYWHERE, and it’s very inexpensive. I can’t wait to learn how to use the subway.

·         Communication: You would be completely surprised how easy it is to get by with just a few key words and plenty of hand gestures. With that being said, I would still like to take some Korean classes and I will devote a weekend trying to learn the alphabet.

·         Lots to do and see: Hiking is like a national sport here….there are whole sections of department stores devoted to matching neon his and hers hiking outfits. They remind me of the snowsuits from the early 90’s. I cannot wait to partake in hiking and rafting weekends.

·         Cafes: Before I got here, I was under the impression that coffee was going to be hard to find, and very expensive. This idea was due to other blogs and things that I had read.  I was terrified of this prospect as coffee is my raison d'être. I will admit that I get excited to wake up in the morning just to have coffee and read the paper. Old lady tendencies. In preparation, I took up precious space in my luggage with my French press and a bag of coffee that would hold me over until I could hunt down some form of caffeine. Anyways, whoever said coffee was a scarce commodity here probably lives in a remote village. There are cute cafes on every corner. This will make my year here much more pleasant and livable.

The Bad

·         Humidity:  I was seriously unprepared for how hot and humid it would be. Last Sunday I went to Seoul and found walking around was actually unpleasant. I think I will wait until it cools down a bit before I do any long walks/hikes. I am really looking forward to Fall for that reason.

·         Cleanliness: Garbage here is left on street corners. Anytime. It’s not a one day a week deal. It’s anytime. Sometimes people don’t even bother to put it in bags, they just dump trash on the corner. As a result of the heat and the garbage, it is quite smelly and unpleasant.

·         Smoking: It has been a very long time since smoking was banned inside public spaces in North America. For a culture that is pretty health conscious, I would say a lot of Koreans, men especially, are heavy smokers. I don’t like to breath in smoke, and I find it really unpleasant for my clothes to smell like it or to walk into my building and have it smell like smoke. I guess it’s just something I’ll have to adjust to.

I will try to post weekly updates!! Feel free to contact me on Facebook or by e-mail, It is nice to stay connected J