Yep, that's the truth, folks! Today marks the one month countdown from our departure date to South Korea on April 15th! Sooner than we think we will be on our way (on our 12-hour way, to be more specific) to Seoul, South Korea for a teacher introduction and orientation and then from there onto Jangheung, South Korea-our new hometown!! We are eager to get packing now as most of our paperwork has been submitted over the past four months or so, and is pretty much all in place with the Korean consulate as well as the specific schools where we will be teaching!
For the time being, we are eating tons of American food (sushi! as much as we can possibly afford!), seeing American movies (as they are very late to come out over there), and keeping up with our favorite series' (Internet and region restrictions on tv-viewing is pretty strict). We are also set to visit some friends and family these next few weeks as our time in the States winds down.
But before we continue on with things, we just wanted to give everyone a head's up as to what's going on! This blog will be a constant thing (we hope) while we are abroad and we will try to keep everyone in the know via this medium. :) It will allow us to share with people who are at all interested in travelling out of the US or teaching English outside US borders as well. We are only beginning this journey but would love to keep track of our time there, and this is one way we will be able to do that! Some details about our lives in South Korea (up to this point) follow:
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Location
Located in the southern-most province of Jeollanamdo, South Korea, Jangheung (the region in red in the above photo) will be our hometown while teaching abroad. It is designated a "slow-city" and is one of the few places in the country to bear this title. We are eager to see all that the intriguing label entails!
Housing
Recently, we have been keeping in contact with the two teaching whom we will be replacing. As both of their domiciles will be open to us, we have been deciding which one we want to live in. Our recruiter (from Canada) explained that, though we are a married couple, our positions at the school(s) are only contracted to us an individuals. Thus, we have two houses. (Crazy, right?!)
The first home is a one-room apartment-which we won't be using, sadly-with a couch, television, desk, chair, and bed. In the attached kitchen, there is a stove, sink, fridge, microwave, and washing machine. The man who lives there now, another Canadian, was nice enough to send us pictures of the place so that we could get a better idea. Safe to safe, the apartment is SMALL!
So we decided on the second option, which is a small house that has both a study and an extra room (that one's for you, Rachel!), as well as all of the amenities of the first. We have been warned, however, that the house gets quite cold in the winter so we will need to buy some space heaters or electric blankets over there. But winter is very, very far away from now as when we arrive in SK, it is most likely going to be just HOT AND HUMID! Yayyy...
Schools
As of now, Ed will be teaching at the local high school and possibly the junior high and Kristen will be teaching at the local elementary school. Our Canadian friend who teaches at the high school has been giving Ed a lot of pointers as to what they are looking for from him as a teacher. It seems to be very casual and he is super forthcoming with information and advice about the job. He also says that though the position has its ups and downs, that ultimately the students are wonderful. The elementary school gig that Kristen is set up to take seems super chill, though the school is quite large and has an enormous student body as it serves most of the county. Her classes will be mostly 25-26 students and at this point, the lesson plan requirements are still quite vague, but the opportunity for creativity is there.
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In any case, we are super excited to be seeing peeps before we leave. As we will miss you all very much, we really want to work on keeping you guys updated on how thing are progressing as we leave and after we get there! Please let us know if there are any questions about anything; we'd love to answer them! But until next time, an-nyeong-hi-ka-se-yo! Or in Korean, good-bye for now!
<3
EK