Korea is so...

Convenient.

It could just be the fact that I live in a city, but regardless, its a convenient city. There are way more mom and pop establishments here. And I like that. Stateside it was all to easy to hop in the car and go to Wal-Mart, the mall, or wherever else I needed to go to get all the things I needed in one quick stop. Here, its different. Sure I can grab a cab to E-Mart or Lotte Mart, but why would I if there is a little shop just a 5 minute walk from my apartment? Take today for example. I had to get a new pair of flip flops because mine broke the other night when I was out and about. When I got out of school I went down to the shoe shop about 1000 yards from my apartment and found myself a new pair. The other night I went exploring and found a little market that sells coffee milk, a bakery for those sweet kicks, and a bunch of little restaurants that are sure to have cheap delicious food. All of these places were less than a 10 minute walk from where I live.

I love not having my car here. Yes it is difficult to get certain places and yeah cab fares add up, but i just don't like driving. Even if I did have a car, I know I'd only use it as a last resort. A motor bike or scooter is a different story. They're far more economical (fuelwise) and they cost less upfront than a car. I'll still be able to get everywhere I want to go as well as bring people/things with me. Once my next paycheck comes in I'm gonna start browsing around.

Life in the classroom is going great too. This week, my students are listening to Shattered by O.A.R. and filling in the blanks on a lyrics sheet. They love listening to the music and almost every class has asked me to play the song an extra time (in addition to the 3 times they already heard it) just so they could sing along. I'm also starting to learn their English names. Just like how in Spanish class in middle school we all picked Spanish names (I was Raul), my students pick English names. I have a lot of Daniels, Peters, and Henrys. A few picked less generic names like Morgan and Logan. One of my third years picked Jason. But not just regular Jason, he writes Jason Statham on all of his papers.

Since one of the Korean English teachers is going to a conference for the next six months and won't be able to teach, we got a new teacher! She's Korean, but her English is awesome and she's a lot younger than the other teachers. Its great to have someone to eat lunch with and talk to thats closer to my age.

Life as a D list celebrity continues on, I still get stared at and talked to on the side of the road, but i'm getting used to it. Today however, was a little different. As I was walking back from the shoe store about 15 of my students got dropped off at the bus stop near my apartment. As I crossed the streat all I could hear was "TEACHER!!!!! TEACHER!!!!!!!" and saw them all jumping and waving at me.

I think tonight I'm going to venture down to Shinae (town center) to see the waterfront and see the Dolsan Bridge lit up.

Pictures to follow.