My first day in Korea started early. I was was exhausted. I woke up at 9:10 a.m. and took a shower. With much motioning, etc. Ms. Park was able to show me how to turn the hot water on and off. I realized that it took about 5 minutes to heat up so I brushed my teeth and rummaged through my suitcase for some clothes to wear while I waited for the water to heat up. It was then that I discovered that I hadn't thought to pack a towel. Big Mistake. I had to use a T' shirt to dry off on after my shower. It was not a good start to my day. I was mad at myself for my over-sight. [If you ever go to live in Korea and teach English make sure you take a towel and some sheets. I'd suggest queen sized sheets cause you can always fold them under if their too big but you can't made them stretch.]
I wished I could have slept in cause my jetlag was terrible! But Mr. Kim had told me that he would come to the apartment to pick me up at 10 a.m. to take me to the hogwan [school] and meet the owner.
This is Bon-Daeg-ee. It is some kind of bug larvae. It has a smokey oyster taste and it's very crunchy sort of like eating celery.
Ms. Park, my Chinese roommate, ate this for breakfast with a bowl or rice and some kim (dried seaweed). Since I didn't have any food (getting to the apartment around midnight didn't exactly leave me any time to go grocery shopping) Ms. Park insisted that I share her food.
I gotta tell you. I didn't appreciate it at the time. I felt put on the spot to be polite so I sort of just tried to choke it down (truthfully I ate the rice and kim and tried one bon-daeg-ee and then hid the rest under a small pile of rice I left in my bowl). Later, I would learn that Ms. Park had a family back in China to provide for on less than half the salary I was guaranteed in my contact and she couldn't really spare the extra food. [I must admit that I still won't eat bon-daeg-ee. Even the smell of them makes my stomach queasy.] So I doubt it would have helped me eat any more of them than I did at the time but at least it would have made me more fully appreciate the extent of her sacrifice and kindness.
After we had eaten breakfast and it was after 10 a.m. and still Mr. Kim hadn't showed up to pick me up and take me to the school. I wondered "What's up with that? I guess he isn't too worried about punctuality." I figured that if last night was any indication of his tardiness than I would have a least an hour or two to wait so I decided to go back to bed and go back to sleep. But, alas, I couldn'tt.
Ms. Park was upset. She was so worried and so scared that she began pacing the floor and trying to call people on her cellphone. I wasn't not sure what was going on. I wished I could speak Chinese or even Korean then I could just ask her what's up.
Finally, at 11:00 a.m. Ms. Park put her winter coat on and motioned for me to do the same. And, we walked to the school. It was about a 15 minute walk. I should have been paying attention so that I could find my way to school and home again but I was too tired to care. Also, I was worried. It couldn't be a good sign that Mr. Kim kept blowing me off. I worried "What if he forgets me when it comes time to pay me?" Was it some reflection on me? I had so many questions and so few answers....
When I got to the school neither Mr. Kim nor Tony were there. No one seemed to speak English at the school and everyone just sort of ignored me. It was like they don't know what to do with me. Ms. Park rans off to teach a Chinese class. [I found that out later because I got bored and gave myself a tour of the school. I went looking in classroom windows and I saw her teaching. At least that explained her anxiousness earlier. Maybe she gots paid by the class and wasn't on contract like me.]
I wanted to go home and go back to bed and to sleep but I wasn't sure I could find my way back to the apartment and I didn't have any keys, anyway.
What was going on? Why was I at the school? I wasn't doing anything. And, where were the other Westerners? There were supposed to be at least 6 or 7 other "Native Speaker" English Teachers there. But instead there were only some administration staff and Chinese and Japanese Teachers. I was bored and I hadn't even thought to bring a book to read.
So, I just sort of wandered aroundthe school and tried to get my bearings and figure out what was going on. Just when I was so bored I want to cry I meet "Amber" another Canadian. She was from Newfoundland and like a good Newfoundlander she took me under her wing. She bought me a cup of coffee out of a vending machine and told me that all the other English Teachers were at the "English Camp". This wass "vacation time" in Korea when the kids were on holiday from public school so they went to camps to learn things like English or computers or whatever. Well, at least that cleared up the mystery for me. I felt so much better just meeting someone who spoke English and was from the East Coast of Canada. I felt reassured to learn that usually the school was bustling with other English Teachers and everyone was Canadian. Maybe all the confusion and the not picking me up on time - or at all - was because of the "English Camp".
This is "Amber" she was my first friendly face from home. God bless the Newfoundlanders who are so kind and wonderful to everyone. I wouldn't a made it without them.
I felt much more hopeful after meeting "Amber" and learning what was going on with the school and the other English Teachers. It didn't seem to be a personal thing against me. But I was left thinking, "All this happened and it isn't even lunchtime. What will the rest of the day bring?"
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