TravelBio

Seoul, the capital of South Korea, is one of the world’s largest metro areas. The city itself has over 10 million inhabitants, but including the surrounding area the total population is well over 20 million! The population of South Korea is 50 million, so nearly half of the country lives in the Seoul area. The city is divided into 25 districts, or “gu” in Korean. My school is in a part of Seoul called Songpa-gu. More specifically, the area around the school is known as Jamsil. Seoul is in the northwest corner of South Korea districts of Seoul; Jamsil is in Songpa-gu Although Jamsil is a relatively small area geographically, it is widely known around the city. There are lots of office buildings, supermarkets, convenient stores, and restaurants here (plus residential areas), but the main reason why most people know Jamsil is probably because of Lotte World. Lotte World is a huge hotel, mall, and theme park complex. Both the mall and theme park draw lots of vis...

Now that I’ve completed two full weeks of classes, it seems like a good time for an update. Every day I begin teaching at 9:40 am; each day I teach the same kids, but the subjects vary. According to my contract, if I begin teaching after 10 am I should arrive an hour beforehand, but since it is earlier I need to be at least half an hour early. It is nice to have a little prep time in the morning, plus the buses bringing the kids tend to arrive at around 9:30. I have been showing up at about 9 or a few minutes after, but our arrival doesn’t seem to be monitored very closely. Just as long as we are there for our first class and are prepared it probably will be fine. Each class lasts 40 minutes, and in the morning there are no breaks in between class periods. If you have back to back classes (which is common), then you need to bring all of your materials so you can quickly head to the next classroom. After my 9:40 class I have another at 10:20, followed by a 10 minute snack t...

The weekend after training at the head office was pretty relaxed; Matt and I hung out and got to know some of the area around the school, plus we hopped on the subway and explored downtown on Saturday. We didn’t do too much in the evenings, but it was nice to get a break. In addition to going downtown, on Sunday evening we check out an area of the city called Hongdae, which is known for its nightlife and shopping. The streets were packed, and it was a lot like what I was expecting to see in Seoul. downtown Seoul with Mt. Namsan in the background Hongdae at night Our first day of teaching started on Thursday, so for three more days we had time to observe classes and prepare for our lessons. On Monday morning we filled out forms and talked with Anne, the outgoing academic director. In the afternoon Matt and I observed classes; we were assigned to observe the teacher that we would be replacing.  I shadowed a teacher who went by Nilu (I’m not sure if that was he...

On Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday I attended a training session at the ECC (English Centre for Children) headquarters. All the new teachers starting December 1 st were there, 11 in total. Most were teaching in Seoul, but a few were assigned to smaller cities such as Daegu and Daejon. ECC headquarters is only three subway stops away from my school, so it was convenient for me and Matt. For other teachers, however, it took an hour or more to get to the training (those from outside Seoul had special accommodations for the session). The other teachers all seemed friendly; two were from the UK (Matt included), one from Ireland, one from Canada, and the rest were Americans. A typical ECC school The training sessions were led by a YBM employee named Robert. Robert, who was from Australia, was a great fit for the training. Some of the material was dry, but he did his best to make it interesting for us. Other parts of the presentations were actually quite entertaining. A...

I got everything set to go for the flight and tried to get a decent night sleep so that I’d be alert and ready to go Sunday morning. It was definitely sad to say goodbye to my family at the airport, although it hadn’t really sunk in that I would be gone for at least a year. I first flew to Chicago via American Airlines, then transferred to Korean air for the flight to Seoul. Luckily Korean Air allows for two checked bags, so I didn’t have to pay extra fees (it also applied to the American flight!).  The flight from Chicago to Seoul was over 13 hours; I tried several times to sleep, but never got past a light 30-40 minute doze. Each seat had a TV in the headrest with a selection of movies, music, and audiobooks to choose from, so at least I wasn’t bored. Towards the end of the trip I stumbled upon beginner Korean lessons in the audio files. Too bad I hadn’t seen them earlier! Even if I had the phrases were tough to remember and I probably wouldn’t have gotten far...

Before my big move to Seoul, I had another trip to take – to southern California to visit my cousin and some friends. I had contemplated a trip to LA, where my cousin now lives, for several months leading up to my flight to Seoul. Unfortunately I didn’t get the flight details until early November, less than two weeks before I wanted to leave for Cali. I quickly booked a flight once my Seoul trip was finalized. I would leave on Saturday, stay at my cousin’s in LA for three nights, and then stay with a friend from Semester at Sea (Henry) for another three days before heading home on Friday. My cousin's place was next door to The Grove, a massive shopping complex. The trip was a blast, except for a little mishap with my cousin’s rental car. She had rented one so that I could drive her Malibou around town (while she drove the rental). It was super nice for her to do that; I wasn’t expecting to have access to a car, but I soon found out that it would have been extremel...

Before long the program was already nearing an end – it was only 4 weeks to begin with – and I was making plans for my return trip. Earlier in the summer my dad and I had planned out a trip to take together after my class was over. He was scheduled to arrive in Frankfurt where I would meet him at the airport. From there we would visit my great uncle near Aachen (actually on the Belgian side of the border), and then travel to Amsterdam, Hamburg, Copenhagen, Stockholm, and Oslo. After my program ended I had two days free before my dad arrived, so I stayed at a hostel in Frankfurt. The first night I went out with a group of people from the hostel to a festival along the Main River in central Frankfurt. Everything was going great; I was drinking a beer and sitting on a bank by the river, and the next thing I knew I was knocked into the water along with a girl from the hostel! I think what happened was one of the guys fell into us (either he was pushed or just was drunk)...