New Life in Seogwipo

Settling In

Well I am all settled in in Seogwipo City.  I have a cute little studio apartment and it's only a 20 min walk to school.  I am in a great location and I love that I am so close to the ocean.  I have really enjoyed walking around the city and getting to know what is around here.  One of my favorite things is the Everyday Market.  This is an outdoor market that is about a 10 min walk from my apt.  There are many vendors there selling all kinds of food and things. Veggies, fruit, candy, shoes, and lots of fish.  I must say that seeing/smelling dead fish everywhere is still creepy but I am starting to get a little more used to it.  I have seen some strange stuff though. I have bought a few things from the market because I was with one of the other teacher who can speak a bit of Korean, so I just let her do all the talking for me.  Then I wanted to go back on Friday and I couldn't get a hold of her so I thought I would be brave and try to buy things by myself.  I got there and was to scared to try to speak so I just walked around and left without purchasing anything.  I will have to get brave again soon before I run out of food:)

Tomorrow is my first day at school, so I am a bit nervous.  I have no idea what to expect.  I will be teaching 3rd, 4th and 6th graders.  I am teaching in the biggest school in the city with 52 classes.  There is one other foreign teacher there who has been teaching on the island for the past 7 years. Tomorrow will be an interesting day to say the least.

Today I went to church with a girl from my group.  We started talking yesterday and she found this church not to far from where we live.  There aren't any English churches on the island as far as we know.  So we went..and boy oh boy were we popular.  We were the main attraction. I don't think that they have ever had foreigners there before.  It was in a small town just outside of the city.  We get out of the taxi and everyone instantly is staring at us and smiling.  It was so funny. They were very friendly and they led us into the sanctuary and sat us down.  We didn't meet anyone that spoke English until the service had started and then this guy kept writing us notes to translate what was going on in the service in English.  It was pretty funny and then at the end of the service they introduced us to the congregation. It was a bit overwhelming because we all of a sudden heard out names and everyone turned to stare at us for a few minutes.  We didn't really know what to do but do a little bow and say hello.  Then, when service was dismissed everyone had to say hello and talk to us in Korean. We had no idea what they were saying but quickly there were two guys who knew English and translated for us.  They are truly the friendliest people.  They served lunch at the church as well so I had a chance to show off my "chop-stick skills."  I have gotten a lot better as it since I have been here but the noodles were so slippery so I received some instruction while eating. It was a comical site for the Koreans.
    One of the English speaking guys took us on a walk to show us the shoreline.  It was so breath taking.  I can't even describe how cool it was.  There are some pictures below of the view.  He also brought us to this place that looked like a green house but it was really a place with huge fish pools to store the fish after they have been caught from the sea. We also meet some guys who were just about to go snorkeling for fish to catch...with their hands!  To finish it off he brought us to his friends house we makes this rice/corn wine.  I don't really know what it was but it is supposed to be really good for your digestive system. It wasn't terrible but I won't volunteer to drink it again. It looked like milk and was real seedy/grainy.  All in all it was a great adventure and certainly a Sunday I don't think I will forget.

The Bathroom Surprise Game

This is what I like to call a Rocketship/spaceship toilet. It looks like a regular western style toilet but notice the button on the side.  I have do idea what most of them do but one button heats the seat (strange sensation), and one will hose you off.  Then you have the wonderful squaty-potty. What a treat it is to get to the bathroom and discover this.  Then there are always the normal toilets that we have back home as well but I figured everyone knows what those look like.  You never know what you are going to get so going to the bathroom can always be an adventure:)

Waterfall right by my apartment.

 Beautiful Sites

Great view at the park of the moon coming out. Lovely night.

Just a short walk from church and BOOM the ocean and an island! There were some snorkelers out there too fishing with their hands. They are really hard core.

 I would like this to be real motivating. We'll just have to see. I just think it's so funny to have a small outdoor gym on a walking trail.  I guess this is normal on Jeju.

Some more great stuff. i went out on a dock and there were lots of little crabs walking around. I have never seen a crab until now.

Sorry this is so long. I hope you all are doing well.  I am having a good time so far but I really need to learn Korean...quickly!

-Jenna