Two Weeks Noticed

The biggest piece of advice I've gotten regarding adjusting to such a different place was, give it two weeks before you make any judgements. As of today, I've been teaching for fifteen days, out of the US for seventeen days. I still think it's too soon to say anything, but I'll try to sum up how I'm feeling about things anyway.

I like it in Jinju. It's a completely different life than the one I just left, and I'm not going to quit. But, my life here is not special to me yet, and I don't feel connected to my surroundings. 

I still get lost or take the wrong bus everyday, I have problems of communication on every level almost constantly. I attract less attention now than when I got here, but there are still a lot of older people and little kids who stare unflinchingly. In restaurants, I usually rely on pointing to a picture.... and never get what I expect, haha. I'm already used to not being able to understand anything that's going on around me, but in a peaceful way, it all becomes white noise. 

I've made a bunch of friends, all great, welcoming people and all fun to be around. I miss my friends from home, though like crazy, and my family, and in my mind you guys can never be replaced. I guess I'm waiting to meet people who are like you; it may never happen here. It's all a learning experience.

Teaching is great one day, and terrible the next day. I have so many ideas that I think are great and exciting and they totally fall flat with the kids. Other times, I think something is impossibly boring, and they love it. My students make me laugh a lot, and I'm thankful for them. I think things are just about to come to the point they feel comfortable around me. I'm learning, too. Korean English students certainly aren't as disciplined or interested in learning as I had thought, particularly those who will more than likely grow up to be farmers in about 3-4 years (my male students). I know as time goes by, my teaching experience will even out (good/bad) and I will love it.

Today my co-teacher came to school with a rather large hickey on her neck, with no effort to cover it up. I definitely wasn't judging her, just kind of alarmed that it was NBD. And also, kind of jealous, haha. 

M.