It’s been a while since I’ve checked in. A long while. A year, it’s been a year (I’m sorry!). The year honestly flew by. For a while, it didn’t seem real at all, being in a new country and all. But it is and I’m still here and loving it. I’ve settled into a nice routine, made some friends, and done some exploring. It will probably take a few more posts than this one, but I’ll try to catch you all up!

When last I left you, I was finishing up my two-week quarantine and about to start my orientation session. Nothing too exciting happened over orientation. I learned a lot, but the main thing that was so nice was getting to see people face-to-face, especially finally getting to meet and hang out with all the people I had been messaging online for months and months as we all went through the application process together. A lot of friendships were forged over the week, although sadly, we have now all gone on to our separate placements in different cities with the promise to meet up periodically (which we have!). I’ve made a lot of friends here in Daejeon, though, thankfully. Some are from my orientation and others are new people I’ve met, including some new Korean friends. I even formed a writing group with some new friends.

(I know what you’re thinking. You joined a writing group, Shawn, yet I haven’t seen any new posts from you in a year. What exactly were you writing?! Welllll, didn’t ya know, that’s now how it works…)

Anyway, back to orientation. The night before our last day of orientation, we found out what our placements were (how many schools) and what grades we would be teaching. I was only placed in one school and would be teaching 3rd-6th grade. The first year, I had 23 classes a week, all in the mornings, with the afternoons free for lesson prep. I had six classes each of 3rd, 5th, and 6th grade, and five classes of 4th grade. This year, I’m down to 22 classes a week, with all but one in the morning before lunch. I was never very firm on any one grade level or had any real preferences between elementary, middle, and high school, so I felt rather good about just being at one school for my first year and teaching the little ones (I have since come to love my placement and am so happy I ended up where I am. I don’t think I would have liked middle or high school, especially for my first year ever teaching).

On the last day of orientation, we all piled on buses to go to our respective cities where our Korean co-teachers would meet us to take us to our schools and apartments. I have four co-teachers, one for each grade. My fifth and sixth-grade co-teachers picked me up and took me to our school and gave me a tour, which also included getting my picture taken for the school yearbook for which I was not prepared. They then took me out to lunch for my first post-quarantine/orientation meal, where I was promptly introduced to a fried octopus salad. I knew my journey through food over here would be an adventure since there is so much food I don’t eat, but it really kicked off with a bang! However, and this must be the American in me, it smelled so good (it was fried… can’t pass that up) that I couldn’t help but try it and I actually really enjoyed it! After that, it was over to the immigration office so I could apply for my Alien Registration Card (ARC). Lastly, it was finally time to head to my apartment, what will be my new home.

It’s small. Let’s just get that out of the way. Most Americans would take one look at it and refer to it as such. It’s one room, with a bathroom and laundry room attached. The bathroom is a decent size and is a wet room, which I became familiar with during quarantine/orientation. Wet rooms have little to no separation of the shower, sink, and toilet. Sounds a lot grosser than it is. I’m on the 11th floor and have big windows with an amazing view. The little laundry room is between my main room and the windows, separated by sliding doors. In my main room, there’s room enough for my bed (about a full-size bed), a table/desk combo, and a small couch (though I rearranged everything and decided to get a chair and footrest instead of a couch to preserve space). There is a lot of closet space and cabinet space. I possibly brought way too much stuff with me and yet still had no issues getting everything put away. The TV that came included stopped working after two days, so the internet company gave me a new one when my internet was installed. I went from a really old 19″ TV to a brand-new 50″ Smart HDTV. I was overjoyed at that (gaming has been awesome). Lastly, the kitchen… is kinda nonexistent. There is a full-size fridge, however, it’s not as wide as US fridges and I wish the freezer space was a little bigger. There’s only one electric stovetop burner and no oven. I do also have a countertop convection oven, but there isn’t a ton of counter space, so I don’t use it. The microwave gets plenty of use, though. And so yes, my first gut check reaction was that it’s small, but it is what is common here in Korea and I have really come to love it and its simplicity.

To end, I want to note that my co-teachers were great my first day in Daejeon (and have been since as well), and I can’t thank them enough for all their help. Yes, it’s part of their responsibilities, but still, they have been amazing (and not every other foreign teacher coming through this program ends up with such helpful and supportive co-teachers, so I really did get lucky). For instance, usually the school will have the new Guest English Teacher (GET, aka me) take over the previous GET’s apartment, but the previous GET left six months early because of the pandemic and the school was unable to hang onto the apartment with it being empty for so long. So, my sixth-grade co-teacher was charged with finding a new place suitable for the incoming GET, and not only did she find a place in a great location (I’m right next to one of the subway stations, #clutch), she went above and beyond in furnishing it for me. She has two sons and said before she even met me, she kinda considered me like a son and wanted to make sure I had what I needed. It was a beautiful welcome to receive and really made me feel at home.

And if you made it this far, yes, I realize I buried the lede. I am staying in Korea for one more year at least (and let’s be real, probably for longer). I’m in such a good location with a great school, it doesn’t seem worth it to leave so soon. The staff and teachers at my school like me a lot and have already asked if I’m staying for a 3rd year because they don’t want me to leave. It’s nice to be wanted and liked, but I equally feel the same about the school, the teachers, and the students. My year in Korea hasn’t been perfect. I’ve stumbled and made mistakes. But that would happen no matter where I am. And here, it’s forced me to focus on who I am and what I want to achieve in my life. But more on that later. For now, this is where I’ll leave you. And while I can’t promise you my next post won’t be a whole year later, I can promise I’ll try to write one much sooner.

The lyrics for this post came from Childish Gambino’s The Last