Dear Korea- I love you.

Ok so first day of school- DONE!

I must admit- I was scaredddddd. Very scared. Another teacher insisted that he be in the classroom when I started teaching- WORSE. I tried to tell him to beat it- in the nicest way clearly...but he was having nothing to do with it....so instead he took over, cool. He taught for part of the morning which was fine!!! I needed that to be honest, just to feel a little more comfortable- I had no idea what I was doing. Yes, I've been trained to be a teacher, but to actually be thrown into a classroom knowing NONE of the kids, having NO IDEA of the routine, etc....it was intense. After that though...BREEZE!! I had the greatest day! These kids are little Albert Einsteins!! Their knowledge surpasses many adults I know...it's crazy! Not to mention they are adorble. Yes- today one child coughed into her hand and produced a dime sized slimy booger- but hey, it's part of the job right?? I'm dealing with 4 year olds from 940am-210pm. Each period is 40 mins long, followed by a 10 min break in which the children are allowed to roam free (because they don't get recess...). On my lunch today I was taken to this little Korean restaurant in the basement of my apartment (because my apartment is 30 secs from the school- not even). For $5, you eat amazing food. I didn't ever really like rice until coming here, because it's REAL RICE. The part that will take some getting used to- everything is communal. You share it all. Soup, pots of food, kimchi (which is DISGUSTING!!!!!!). It's all shared. That will take some getting used to. I will never love kimchi- it's soo gross!!! Thinking about it makes me want to barf, and I love food- but this is a gritty, spicy, limp cabbage slaw.....ugh. It's served with every meal....and I never want to eat it again.
My afternoon Tues and Thurs I teach science!!! Science to grade 1 & 2....AND THEY ARE SMART! Wow!!! It blows my mind!!! Nutrients....what is that?! Oh- they will tell you like it's NOTHING. I just can't believe it. And well behaved!!! Phew! If I could, I'd kidnap them all...even booger girl.
After all was said and done- I want to prepare more for my next week....it'll run MUCH smoother- but all in all....first day is over and was worth celebrating- which I did...with a couple other teachers- WHO are alsooooooo AMazing. They brought me to this place where you get a huge steaming pot of soup on a burner. They give you thinly sliced pieces of raw meat you put in the soup and cook. After a few rounds of this, and a few rounds of soju (Korean style vodka, which is like our vodka but watered down and done in shots, $1 a bottle at 7/11 here...) you then put noodles into the soup...cook those for a bit. You savour that, then the waitress comes over and dumps out your pot and she cooks egg, rice and other veggies in the hot pot which becomes a little crispy- it's delicious! It's like a 4 course meal, pretty much all you can eat- not to mention alcohol....$10. Are you kidding me?!?!?!? Where am I? Heaven?? hahaha...I feel like I'm on vacation!!! Yes, I'm teaching- but LOVING it!!! Maybe I'm just getting ahead of myself....but thus far- NO complaints...Everyone here is more than welcoming and helpful! Some of the other teachers even helped lug my garbage down to the dumpster, cause I was unsure as to what to do with it....No worries now!! I just can't wait to continue my exploration and to just continue to try as much as I can! They told me this kind of meal you can get from certain places that's a live octopus they bring to you, cut off the head and you eat the tenticles as they continue to squirm around...you need to chew them enough or else they will keep moving as you swallow them....I might try it to say I did- but I'm still a little skeptical about that one. The one teacher said when he tried it the suction stuck to his lip...ummm...hmmm...hahahaha...we'll see. Oh and dog- apparenty is really good- so another teacher claims. Yaaaa I might have to try that too. You only live once right??????