Y'all asked for it, y'all got it. I'll update very soon but in the mean time, here's the first mass email I sent out. If you haven't read it yet, enjoy!
Hello everyone,
Yesterday was my two week anniversary in Seoul and I thought I'd celebrate with a big old mass email to let you all know how it's going.
First off, I live in the lovely Hae Bang Chong district here in central Seoul. I'm situated at the bottom of a hill that has decided sidewalks are for wimps. It is a daily battle against cars, scooters, and buses and I was terrified of crossing the street alone for the first few days. We have three bars within a two block radius and right across the street there's a veggie stand and a corner store. It's always buzzing with activity and very different from my nice cozy block in Ravenna. Our apartment is pretty sweet, though. It's palatial by Seoul standards and has three bedrooms, a living room, kitchen, bathroom and we have the roof to ourselves. I'm living with Paige, a delightful Canadian, and Justin, who I met through my Seattle roommate Neil.
The school I teach at is in Dongjak, on the other side of the river that divides Seoul. I'm teaching three classes of elementary-aged kids and one of middle schoolers. The kids are, for the most part, pretty cool and very smart. I teach at a private hagwan so the kids had to pass certain tests to get in so they all speak fairly well. The only thing that sucks is that while I'm only teaching 24 hours a week, it's spread over 6 days so Sunday is my only day I'm not teaching. I'm taking the bus to work everyday, which apparently is not something foreigners do in their first few weeks, so I'm pretty proud of myself. Here, the bus does not have to be at a complete stop to open the doors so I like to see how fast the bus can be going when I jump off.
I am, however, managing to have a lot of fun during my time off. My first week here, I was in training so I had my days free after 3 pm. My housemate Justin has been playing tour guide and showing me the city. We went on a scooter ride my third day here and it was quite the experience. There aren't very many traffic rules regulating scooters so we were weaving in and out of traffic and making crazy u-turns and it was very thrilling. We've also gone to several markets (if anyone wants some fake Burberry ankle socks, let me know!), an art museum, a few bars, and a small art show where I got to meet some interesting people (including the guy who I thought might be Jewish and totally thought I was hitting on him when I asked). However, the most exciting part of Seoul has been happening right in my kitchen...I'm cooking! I can now make eggs in a bread frame, curry, and hash browns! I also made some potato latkes (described as "Jewish hash browns") for Hanukkah. Shabbat shalom!
It snowed this weekend so we made a snowman, Prosty the Korean Snowman, on the roof and got into a snow ball fight with our next-door neighbors. I also took a walk up the hill I live at the bottom of to the top of Namsam park and the Seoul Tower. It's kinda like the Seoul version of the Space Needle but it's a giant radio tower. It was cool so see all of Seoul covered in snow. It was less cool when Justin kicked the tree I was walking under so I was covered in snow.
I miss you all like the deserts miss the rains and I'm more bummed that I can say that I won't be seeing anyone before the holidays. If anyone wants a postcard, send me your address and I'll put pep in my step.
love,
nicole
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