Korea happened!

Guys, I moved to Korea (South Korea, of course). 

We are on a tiny, tiny island called Jeju. It's considered the Hawaii of Korea, which I would say is accurate. 

For those of you needing a geography refresher, here is South Korea in the world:

For those of you wanting to know where, exactly, in Korea:

Seoul (pronounced "soul") is the capital. Jeju (jay-joo) is that island.

It has been a year and a half since I got back from Botswana, and I just couldn't shake the travel bug. Blake, who also did the Coady Internship with me (in South Africa) decided to be a pal and travel to Asia with me. 

This trip is very, very different than my time in Botswana. It's a job for one, which means actual money. It's 10 months which will be my longest stretch overseas. Korea is also very developed, so the daily grind feels very easy comparatively. I have, for example, both AC and wifi in my room. Another big switch is that the kids I'm working with are from a different demographic than I'm used to. Not the same as the NGO scene.

The gig: I'm a dorm advisor at an American boarding school. My job: live in/run the dorms, do daily programming, and everything else with the kids. I'm basically a surrogate parent to these little dumplings. The school has all grades but I'm working with the middle school girls, grades 6-8. Just to give you an idea, one year at Korea International School is roughly $30,000. 

Traveling here: Was a long, long haul. 

We had to put my childhood dog down, our beloved Fonzie, the day before my flight. He was 15 (my 10th birthday present) and was simply too old. Suffice it to say, it was not the departure I had in mind.

My little baby Fon, I love you so  much.

It was a sad, sad day. But life goes on and I had a flight to catch. Our journey:

Halifax -> Toronto = 2 hours
Toronto -> Vancouver = 4.5 hours
24 hour layover in Vancouver 
Vancouver -> Seoul, Korea = 10 hours
Seoul -> Jeju city = 1 hour 

Total time in air = 17.5 hours

Total travel time = Give or take three whole days?

HEY COADIES! We reunited with our Coady International folks in Vancouver before jetsetting <3

Last Canadian latte at the airport (Blake has a brownie in there)

Long.

Lovely airport in Incheon, Seoul 

Blake + zillions of Korean flags. We finally landed.

It was long. But Blake and I watched a million movies and I ate a million gravol and actively worked on ignoring the fact that I only had an inch between my knees and the seat in front of me. 

Climate: At this current moment, Korea is HELLA warm. +30 with around 90% humidity. Everything is damp all the time. Nothing dries. Wearing my hair down is pretty hilarious. There is a lot of sweat. Blake recently sweat through his khaki pants while sitting in an auditorium. Luckily most places have the AC blasting.

Campus is GORGEOUS.

First impressions: So far I'm very impressed by Korea. It's calm, efficient, and smooth. I feel 100% safe and comfy. It's SO STRANGE being able to read absolutely nothing. No signs, no labels, no anything. To date, I am garbage at even basic Korean. I have blundered through this week with tons of general awkwardness and ineptitude. Luckily campus is an expat bubble with the specific goal of teaching English. 

Like.... where am I?

Korea International  School

While driving

GORGEOUS

Jet lag: I was definitely being a naive 24 year old being all "nah, jet lag doesn't really get to me." It turns out that moving 12 time zones across the world takes a physical toll. I felt like I was drunk on a boat for days and days and struggled to get proper sleep. I'm just feeling settled now. 

Week one: It has been a week of many, many orientation sessions. I was so sleepy! Within 24 hours of arrival we were sent to the hospital to have a long list of things checked out, as per the Korean government's request. The check up included:

- A blood test

- An eye exam

- A hearing exam

- A urine test

- Getting weighed 

- A color blind test (Blake had major struggles on this one because he actually IS color blind, but the woman assumed he was just wildly incompetent)

- A blood pressure test

- A chest X ray

- And, hilariously, they measured around my boobs. Verdict: I have them. 

While in Jeju city to get all checked out 

My kind of place 

Orientation in the performance arts centre. THE VIEW.

Like, they even have multiple golf rooms (mini putt AND golf)

What a dreamy yoga space!!!!!!!!!!!

The convenience store across the road. Ramen is SO POPULAR omg.

Jeju city

From the rooftop 

The rest of the week was all just prep for the kids, who arrive LATER TODAY!!!! Very exciting times.

Food: We get three meals a day in the cafeteria. Blog updates to come on this one, but let's just say that it has been reeeeeeally interesting. Kimchi kimchi kimchi seafood seafood seafood. I'm game for trying all the things at least once.

This was my first meal at the cafeteria.

Groceries: It's a crazy thing trying to get groceries without being able to read anything. I was told to get "Thirsty Hippos", these little containers that dehumidify your room, since there is a constant threat of mildew. It took me a while to find anyone who remotely spoke English, and then I tried to describe "dehumidify" by saying "water... in... air?" In a miraculous turn of events, I found both Thirsty Hippos, AND (most importantly) CHOCOLATE.

A miracle to find this.

At the grocery store, a multi-level place of intensity

Other thoughts: 

- The informal greeting is annyeong. Cue every single Arrested Development joke I ever wanted to make. Hard to keep this one under control. 

- The bugs are big and loud

- By the end of the year I'll be a millionaire (in won)

- Tampons. LOL. I asked a coworker about tampons and she recommended bringing them because "They are around 7,000 a box". 7,000 tampons a box!!!!!! I would be using Korean tampons for the rest of time! So, just like the Africa gig, I had a suitcase filled with them. Only to get here and find out that she meant 7,000 WON a box. Not 7,000 tampons.

Winning. 

Mail: Write me and I'll write you! Who doesn't want mail from Korea?! I did receive some mail while in Botswana, which was amaze, so if you missed that boat, join the Korean boat instead. SNAIL MAIL! Take the time to write out that address full of random letters. I promise I'll write back. 

Shila LeBlanc

Middle school dorms (L214) 34 Global Edu-ro 260beon-gil, 

Daejeong-eup, Seogwipo-si, Jeju-do, 699-931

Blake and I had ramen and soju (basically diluted vodka). Both are classic Korean staples.

A lovely coworker brought me here! YAS LATTES EXIST AND THEY ARE GOOD

I brought this jade all the way from Canada. I loooooooooove plants.

UPGRADE, to a rainbow pot, for a rainbow child like me

My room, with marvellous aircon

Great

Love wall

Private bath, not bad at all

From my bed

We are cute and decorated the whole dorm. To the left, the lovely Ms. Marcelina, a fellow dorm advisor. To the right, Ms. Maggie, the AMAZING specialist for our floor who knows everything and is magic. EPIC TEAM.

We had a staff party here and I swam and swam and swam and I was sooooooooooo happy 

I miss my pups 

Those tents were for the KIS staff!

I mean, I would be a liar if I pretended that I didn't miss my people. I miss my partner. I miss my besties. But as you can see, things are pretty great here.

More stories to come in time. SENDING YOU LOVE FROM KOREA!