Our recruiter, Thomas (who has been so awesome), has set us up to fly out of Minneapolis/St. Paul International Airport on August 10th, 2012 at 7:35am. We land in Chicago (O'Hare) an hour and half later and leave for Korea at 12pm Friday. We arrive in South Korea on Saturday, August 11th at 6pm. (Time difference: Korea 14 hours ahead)
All-in-all, the trip from Chicago to Seoul is 6,538 miles and 14 total hours!! I may not be looking forward to 14 hours in a plane but am excited to be riding in a Boeing airplane!
WHAT WILL YOU BE DOING?
I will be teaching 11-16 year old Korean students at BK English Academy in Geoje, South Korea. Scott and I are working in the same academy, have the same teaching hours (2:30pm-9:30pm M-F), and teaching the same age students. The reason we teach so late in the day is because students in South Korea go to their normal school from 7am-2pm and then their parents send them to a private academy to better their English skills. Many students spend over 12 hours at school.
BUT YOU DON'T SPEAK ANY KOREAN?
That is correct, my director actually doesn't want us to speak any Korean. I am sure anyone who had Spanish 4 or took any kind of foreign language in college knows that you don't speak English. That is the main reason my director wants me, I can't "break" and speak to my students in Korean. As for getting around, I downloaded iTranslator on my iPod and will try to use that as much as I possibly can! = )
WHERE ARE YOU LIVING?
Scott and I will live in separate apartments provided by the school. Yes, they pay our rent! (this is a huge relief from the 600 USD I was paying in Iowa City per month!) We do have to pay for our utilities. Right now, I do not know where our apartments are located or if they are close to the school or close to each other. All I know is from Thomas (recruiter) that it is a very nice apartment and is furnished with a bed, stove, pans/cooking utensils, refrigerator.
WHAT IS THE WEATHER LIKE?
The weather, from what I have read, is common to that of Iowa. Currently, it is humid and VERY hot. Winter is a little more reasonable over there, the temperature only gets down to 30F. But unlike Iowa, South Korea has a monsoon season. In May-June they get most of their precipitation for the year.
WHAT ARE YOU GOING TO EAT?
If you know me, I am an extremely picky eater (my parents would probably say that was an understatement), but as of right now, I am keeping an open mind and am willing to try new things. I want to experience Korea and I can't experience Korea if I am eating at Subway and McDonalds!
Hopefully I can answer these questions better when I get there in....... FIVE (5), Tatsot (5 in Korean) days, for right now, I can answer these questions to the best of my knowledge.
And hopefully, I haven't bored you yet and you keep reading because in five days it will get less boring, I PROMISE!!
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