Unpack and Realize How Much Crap You Have

Yesterday I picked up two pieces of furniture from a dude on Facebook (thank you dude). A bookshelf and one of those TV stand tables. We didn't get that done till 8pm last night so this morning I spent my time emptying my boxes. I learned I have a lot of Lonely Planet books and a bunch of little stuff that doesn't have a place to go.

Before:

That was what the place looked like somewhere in the middle of my unpacking and arranging.

Here is what it looks like after I put it a bit more together.

After:

Until I get a desk and another bookshelf there is still quite some stuff left in boxes. I also seem to have too much toiletries and medicine, which won't fit in my current bathroom cabinet. 

So it is, we are here at the end of the weekend. Next week is likely going to be a whirlwind of craziness, but as long as everyone is along for the ride then I am okay with that. Maybe this is silly of me, but I keep wondering what it is like for the little first graders being in an Elementary school for the first time. I saw them last Friday as their homeroom teachers gave them a little orientation. They definitely look wide-eyed and dazed.

Goodness, I have been writing a lot about work lately. I hope this isn't bothering any of you. As things get into their groove I can go back to writing about other stuff...till then...

Bonus:

I also spent time today cleaning the "balcony" area, since it was caked in black dust. The following is the result of mopping and scrubbing.

Wham!

First days are usually a doozy no matter what, but this one sure hit the target. I didn't start teaching today and so didn't really see any of my students. Actually I saw them for a brief moment when they were in their homerooms.

It was a day of many excitements and follies as I started on my path working at this private school. Mostly what I did today was figure out how to decorate my classroom. Turns out the previous 1st grade classes were dropped in favor of newly renovated ones. This means that we had to start from scratch to decorate them. Luckily, in the teacher's room were boxes of stuff leftover from the previous teachers.

There is one strange snafu with my classroom, which is that it is attached to one of the Korean homeroom classrooms via a glass window and door. There is a space between the other class's desks and my class, so I guess that is good. However, I wanted to cover up the window since I felt it was distracting. The Korean homeroom teachers were in their room working on their own preparations. First I asked them if it is was okay to cover up the window, and was told yes. Then as I was covering it up they came over and told me not to. Plus I can't tape anything to the walls. I complied and stopped what I was doing and since then haven't put anything on the walls. The solution, I was told, is to put whatever I want to go on the wall on a foam board and then tack that on the wall using "putty". Good grief! It's because the walls are fresh and they don't want to dirty things up with tape. I hope this hasn't cramped my style with the Korean homeroom teachers. Tomorrow we eat lunch together so I'll try and apologize for my ignorance.

Other than that I got up two posters on the back wall (since there is a tack board) and put letters and numbers around it. The chalkboard in the front will be, of course, for lessons and general stuff. I have to make labels of a lot of stuff. Plus I want to create a rules board to put on the wall. (Gasp!) Also I am struggling on what is the best table arrangements. I want them in groups but not sure if the desks should be horizontal lines or clumped up. When clumped it works well to have them work together, but it made it harder for me to walk around the desks. As of right now the desks are in 6 rows with 3 desks each, all facing the chalkboard. I'll see about experimenting later, just trying to get things to a point where I can lesson plan and be ready.

Thankfully we have till the end of Friday to complete our decorating. Since I just have the labels and that poster to make I think I can get it done. Next Monday and Tuesday will be level testing and then the first day of a real class will be next Wednesday. Just enough time to soak all this in and get things going.

Really, though my head is spinning from the thought of everything I need to get ready plus the complex structure of relationships at the school. Through it all I am really excited inside, and it felt great to be in the teacher's room with 20 other foreign teachers. It felt like we were a team and part of something greater than ourselves. :)

Inside House #4

As you enter my new home you are greeted by the usual shoe-drop area. To the left of you is the bathroom and to the right is the washing machine closet (sorry no picture).

The bathroom comes equipped with old plumbing, but at least there is a bathtub (my first in Korea).

The house is split up between two rooms. In the first room is the kitchen and dining nook area. The kitchen is pretty basic with two burners, little room for food prep and a sink. Cabinetry is standard as well and as a short person a little hard to get to.

The other half, or room-number-two, is equipped with outlets for TV and internet. It comes with a single-sized bed and a wardrobe. (Extra mattress came with the place, but as it was old and dirty has since found itself outside in the cold.)

Beyond this space is the balcony area, which could use a bit of explanation for those new to Korean housing arrangements.

This is pretty much the only window to the outside that the apartment provides. There are sliding doors that partition it from the bedroom. It's hard to tell but there are two sets of sliding doors there, one is paneled with etched glass and the other with clear glass. When completely closed the natural light from the outside world is obscured, but having all panels closed helps retain heat. Once inside the balcony you are greeted with more windows, which provide a view of the apartment complex outside.

When laying on my bed and looking out from my balcony window I get to see the other buildings. I have noticed myself enjoying seeing people walk by and randomly exit their houses to shake things out. Looks like I am in for an amusing year at this place.

View from standing near the balcony and looking inward. The two rooms are partitioned off by one set of sliding glass doors with etched glass.

I know as I unpack and get some more furniture this place will continue to feel like home. :) The sliding doors of this place are what makes me feel like it is vintage. Although I do wish the slid more easily, haha.

Harmony

Without further ado, I bring you the interior of Office-tell 628:

What you see when you enter my room:

Turn to the Right and you have a Toilet/Shower (Everything works as it should)

To the left of the entrance is the frig (for now just breakfast items are in it, don't cook dinner....you will see why)

Kitchen Unit (Two gas ranges, one "oven" thing ... the dial next to it has images of fish... I guess it is a fish cooker...since the kitchen is so close to everything else I don't feel like doing heavy cooking...pasta is okay, but stir frying...eh..no) (Otherwise, it functions well.)

Dining Table (colors make you want to crawl and hide)

TV / Dresser (Still organizing, oOo big TV)

The Bed (There is a shelving nook built in above it. Also this is a kind of hideaway bed, where one could lift it up and tuck it in where those shelves are.)

Newly Installed Heater: The owner installed this today and although small it packs a punch! Actually the Ondol system started to kick in...(Mom, that is the floor heating system here.) I figured out that the floor heaters are along the perimeter of the room. With all of these devices I am really cozy and warm.

View from Outside Looking left: It isn't much, but noise is low and I miraculously heard some birds this morning.View looking Right:

There you have it folks, my new diggs and I am enjoying getting cozy. So far I have one plant, and already it makes the room feel like a home. I really need to control myself from going over to Emart and buying all sorts of home decorating things.

Anyways, yesterday after my coteacher and 2 other teachers helped me move my stuff I took them out to dinner and paid for it all. They seemed very impressed that I did that, so I hope that is one thank-you gift out of the way.

Tomorrow I am going to dinner with all the 5th grade teachers to an Outback Steakhouse. I like all this shmoozing because my coteachers are mature and adult like. At the hagwon it felt like I was with too young of a crowd.

Allright well thanks for reading!

That Other Suitcase

One of the advantages of being an expat is that you get to leave everything behind in your home country.

I say advantage because let us just pretend that in your home country you had enemies, debt stalkers and other such negative aspects of life.

Of course leaving everything behind from your home country is also a disadvantage because you leave all your family back there and also everything that is generally familiar.

Yet there is actually a catch to all this. It may be seen that escapism is a part of being an expat. One may mentally start to believe that all their psychological issues with the world and themselves somehow stay put at the airport.

This is not so. When you travel anywhere, whether it be a two week vacation to Tiki Island or to live and work in another country, you bring with you not just your possessions but an extra suitcase.

Within this luggage is all your emotional and psychological issues. The stuff that I would say makes us human.

For some the contents of this luggage can fit in a small carry on bag. Yet for others, like myself, the contents fits into an oversized check-in bag.

When you first arrive at your destination you set this bag down and don't really unpack it for some time. But then, after the dust has settled, the contents start to emerge.

Soon you see yourself opening this bag and the contents taking over the everyday thoughts of your life. Issues such as the path of your career, family matters, past relationships and that one incident that happened back in middle school.

And again life seems to become no longer this utopia of change and escapism. Instead you feel you are back where you started.

The truth is that no matter how far away you get from the sources of your troubles, you always carry with you this luggage.

It is not something to dwell upon, but rather to realize that these are the things in your life that can change who you are, make you grow and help you become wise.

I am saying all this because of course I have this luggage. And I thought it was important to share this abstract thought of mine to other travelers. I know that many other people handle the issues in their life with positivity and grace. For others it is the kind of stuff that makes you get the blues.

In general although I leave deep personal expressions out of my blog, I am still human.

Also, I have noticed that being an outsider in another country and being an expat I can often come face to face with the stuff that has made me me.

So if you are an expat out there and from time to time you contemplate the stuff in your life, just think that it is the other piece of luggage you brought with you.

And if that luggage was carry-on size, well then be really thankful!

Date in Insadong: Part 2 (explore)

When we stepped outside the movie theater it was pouring down rain, thankfully I had brought my umbrella. We then traversed our way over the Insadong corridor, slowing our pace to window shop and enjoy the street. Along this street there are many shops that sell tourist tokens, like jeweled boxes and mirrors along with fans and pottery. The set up is like any tourist part of a city, because practically every shop sells the same knick-knacks.

But nestled between these shops are some stores that offer up other treats, for example I found one that sells art supplies. We walked inside and their quantity and quality of supplies were pretty good. I found that they had watercolor paints and brushes so I already made a mental note to come back some day.

Moving on from the art store we went down the street, but with the rain pouring down it made shopping at the street stalls somewhat cumbersome. So it seems BK just led me down the street to where we would be eating our lovely date-dinner.

The restaurant he took me to was down a corridor off the street. Already from seeing the way it was decorated I was put in a romantic mood. This feeling was further captured by the restaurants decorations, which were tasteful and set the mood for an Italian dinner.The name was An Da Mi...something like that.BK did a good job taking his girl to a lovely restaurant in Seoul. The food on the menu all sounded truly delicious, but you could only pick out one dish, so I tried a spaghetti dish that had vegetables in it. The taste was great and there were some surprising veggies inside like a roasted potato wedge and some beans. All in all I am pleased with the meal BK took me to and the overall date. After the meal we left the restaurant and headed back onto the street in search of a Teahouse.

But those details will have to be revealed in Part 3!

See for yourself

A video of my diggs! I moved in today and the company cleaned my place before I got here so that was very nice of them.


So yea I found a wireless connection!!!! I don't know how long I can stay connected but there hasn't been a problem so far :)!

Ah it has been a whirlwind lately. I went for my health check yesterday and kind of got lost and had difficulty getting person to help me but it finally worked out. The experience of feeling lost in a foreign country is certainly not the best feeling but also exhilarating.

I like new place and there are few areas that need improvement (bed) but all in all I bet I have more than most people. One thing though that is missing from all of this...is my Bo Kwan. I now can't wait for his return.

But school will keep me busy. Well I am off for sleep my first night in my new home.

:)