Hello all!

This is my first post from the bustling, busy-busy city of Seoul. I’ll just start off with a quick layout of the first few days here.

I left early in the morning on Friday, the 26th from Bradley Int’l. The school pays the cost of the flight, which is a standard feature of the contract and quite a nice perk. I arrived here in Korea on the 27th at about 3:30 pm Korean Standard Time. I’m thirteen hours ahead of Eastern Standard Time. So, if it is 1pm on the east coast, it’s 2am here in Korea. Likewise, if it is 5pm here in Korea, it would be 3am in Missouri.

The flight was uneventful, though I met an American couple who were traveling to the southern Korean city of Cheongju to teach English. The flight over from Chicago O’Hare to Seoul was pretty much composed of entirely Koreans or young Americans, of whom I presume were all going to teach English in Seoul.

My recruiter’s—the contractor who helped match me up with an English school here—driver drove me to the hagwon (Hagwon means private English school in Korea). There, I met the director of the school, who doesn’t speak English, which is a bit ironic. He showed me the school and then drove me to my apartment. All the directions are in Korean, including addresses. Moreover, street numbers are assigned based on the order in which buildings on the street were built, not one where they are on the road. Even further, this numbering system is often irrelevant since most building don’t actually have their building number on them. Imagine the confusion if I were to get lost!

I spent Sunday wandering around the Mok-Dong district of the city, the district where I live and work. I found a few grocery stores, so I know where I’ll be doing my shopping.

Monday I began work. The director picked me up at 11:30 and we arrived at work 10 minutes later. I was there until 9. A long day! At the end of the day, I walked home. A short walk, perhaps 15 minutes.

So, I’m just getting settled here and I don’t know anyone yet, but hopefully that will change.

Look forward to more blog posts! I’ll make them more interesting about adjusting to life here and culture in Seoul. I’ll certainly talk more the hagwon (school), too—of which I have a lot to say but want to hold off on because of some rather interesting occurrences that have taken place there.

That’s all for now folks!