Friday, September 28, 2012
Going to Seoul
So today i was supposed to take a 1:30 bus to Seoul. Instead, I woke up at 2:00. I'm just going to have to buy another ticket, I'm not going to bother asking for an exchange or anything. This is just a lesson to not stay out drinking until 5:00 AM the day before you take a bus. But anyway, I'm going to Seoul today. I will be staying in a hostel right by Hongdae. It is near a university, and has a lot of bars and clubs. If you know me at all, you know I'm going to dance my ass off this weekend. I will try to take a bunch of pictures of the city, and I will make a big post when I get back.
Thursday, September 27, 2012
A little bit of exploring...
So in my free time before work I have done some exploring. The past few days I have been sleeping because it is so enjoyable, but I have walked around some. Here are some pictures I took. The rest can be found Here in a photobucket album I made.
Culture center near my apartment
View of the city and some mountains behind it
A terraced farm near my apartment
Sunday, September 23, 2012
The first week
I graduated college in 2011. Before, during, and after college, I worked a series of crappy jobs, mostly serving food to assholes. I have always loved traveling, and I had been thinking about teaching English in Korea for a while. When my recruiter told me about a last minute opening, I jumped at the chance. I was a little worried, but then I went to my job making sandwiches and that helped me confirm my choice.
I left the States on Friday morning. I transferred flights once, and began the journey to Korea on Asiana airlines. Typical TSA bullshit aside, the trip was quite pleasant. The stewardesses on Asiana wear the old school outfits, and are constantly bringing around refreshments. We had two meals as well as a couple of snacks. I watched several Korean movies (which I already loved), and "Helpless" was an excellent film. I watched Safe House as well, but I don't really buy Ryan Reynolds as an action star.
Anyway, when I landed in Incheon airport, I met my recruiter. Her name is Anna Jeong from Korea Global Connections, and she was wonderful to work with. I would highly recommend her. I worked with several other agencies, and she was the only one that actually took the time to talk to me over the phone on multiple occasions. Anna took me to the bus station, where I got on the bus for Sacheon. At the bus station, my new boss and her husband met me and drove me to my apartment. The teacher I was replacing left a note saying he was out with friends, and I was welcome to join him. I called him, and met him downtown. He was with several other English teachers in Sacheon, and we sang some karaoke.
I can't even begin to describe how awesome this guy has been in helping me. He left on Wednesday morning, but from the time I arrived until the time he left he was incredibly helpful. From inviting me out the night I arrived to showing me around the city and introducing me to people, he was always there. He obviously had a lot of friends, as I joined him and his friends for several going away dinners in his honor. I'm sure we would have hung out more if it hadn't been for the typhoon on Sunday/Monday. The weather was absolutely terrible, and I just sat around watching TV.
Monday morning was my first day of work. I observed the aforementioned teacher and the other English teacher as they taught classes. I taught my first classes on Wednesday and Thursday. Friday after work, I went out with my coworker and met up with some of the other English teachers.We were celebrating one teachers birthday and welcoming another to Sacheon. This time, the birthday boy had brought along some of his Korean coworkers, who were quite fun to hang out with. I had a great time. Saturday, I met up with some of the previous teachers friends in Jinju, a nearby university town. we went for beer and soju. I mentioned that I liked dancing, and one of the guys was insistent that we go dancing. We went to this place that was kind of like a club except there wasn't really a dance floor. Instead, they would go dance by the stage for about 20 minutes, and then break for about 20 minutes. I was dancing my ass off, but Korean people don't really sweat, and I'm a sweaty guy, so I must have been a sight. But I had fun and I danced with a bunch of people.
Today, Sunday, I did a little bit of exploring. I walked around the city, just seeing things. There are so many restaurants, hair salons, and phone stores here. Most signs at least have some English to let you know what they are. I walked all the way to the port. Not the nicest part of town, but it was quite peaceful looking at the water and the surrounding mountains. More updates to come this week hopefully!
I left the States on Friday morning. I transferred flights once, and began the journey to Korea on Asiana airlines. Typical TSA bullshit aside, the trip was quite pleasant. The stewardesses on Asiana wear the old school outfits, and are constantly bringing around refreshments. We had two meals as well as a couple of snacks. I watched several Korean movies (which I already loved), and "Helpless" was an excellent film. I watched Safe House as well, but I don't really buy Ryan Reynolds as an action star.
Anyway, when I landed in Incheon airport, I met my recruiter. Her name is Anna Jeong from Korea Global Connections, and she was wonderful to work with. I would highly recommend her. I worked with several other agencies, and she was the only one that actually took the time to talk to me over the phone on multiple occasions. Anna took me to the bus station, where I got on the bus for Sacheon. At the bus station, my new boss and her husband met me and drove me to my apartment. The teacher I was replacing left a note saying he was out with friends, and I was welcome to join him. I called him, and met him downtown. He was with several other English teachers in Sacheon, and we sang some karaoke.
I can't even begin to describe how awesome this guy has been in helping me. He left on Wednesday morning, but from the time I arrived until the time he left he was incredibly helpful. From inviting me out the night I arrived to showing me around the city and introducing me to people, he was always there. He obviously had a lot of friends, as I joined him and his friends for several going away dinners in his honor. I'm sure we would have hung out more if it hadn't been for the typhoon on Sunday/Monday. The weather was absolutely terrible, and I just sat around watching TV.
Monday morning was my first day of work. I observed the aforementioned teacher and the other English teacher as they taught classes. I taught my first classes on Wednesday and Thursday. Friday after work, I went out with my coworker and met up with some of the other English teachers.We were celebrating one teachers birthday and welcoming another to Sacheon. This time, the birthday boy had brought along some of his Korean coworkers, who were quite fun to hang out with. I had a great time. Saturday, I met up with some of the previous teachers friends in Jinju, a nearby university town. we went for beer and soju. I mentioned that I liked dancing, and one of the guys was insistent that we go dancing. We went to this place that was kind of like a club except there wasn't really a dance floor. Instead, they would go dance by the stage for about 20 minutes, and then break for about 20 minutes. I was dancing my ass off, but Korean people don't really sweat, and I'm a sweaty guy, so I must have been a sight. But I had fun and I danced with a bunch of people.
Today, Sunday, I did a little bit of exploring. I walked around the city, just seeing things. There are so many restaurants, hair salons, and phone stores here. Most signs at least have some English to let you know what they are. I walked all the way to the port. Not the nicest part of town, but it was quite peaceful looking at the water and the surrounding mountains. More updates to come this week hopefully!
A little about Samcheonpo
Hello. I created this blog to share my experiences teaching in Samcheonpo with my friends, as well as to help out people considering taking a job with one of the many hagowns here. The reason the url is "Life in Sacheon" is because Samcheonpo-si is one half of Sacheon, the other is called Sacheon-eub. So a job posting for Sacheon will be in either of these cities. They are close, kind of like Buda and Pest (Budapest), albeit on a much much smaller scale. The city itself is small, only having about 50,000 people, but it is very compact. everything is within walking distance and it is a pedestrian oriented city.
As one of my Korean friends said, Samcheonpo is a fishermans town. Most of the people here are either children or older people. The younger people go to university or get jobs in bigger cities. However, since this is the case, there are many hagwons here if you are thinking of teaching here. While I wouldn't call the city itself pretty, the surrounding environs are. The port and a small beach are on the edge of town, while the rest of the town is surrounded by beautiful forested mountains.
As one of my Korean friends said, Samcheonpo is a fishermans town. Most of the people here are either children or older people. The younger people go to university or get jobs in bigger cities. However, since this is the case, there are many hagwons here if you are thinking of teaching here. While I wouldn't call the city itself pretty, the surrounding environs are. The port and a small beach are on the edge of town, while the rest of the town is surrounded by beautiful forested mountains.
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