Seoul, Birthdays, Cell Phones, and Water Filters

It has been a busy week. I am feeling much more settled here, especially now that my classroom at school is pretty much set up. We had orientation this past week, so I've spent my days at school, sitting in meetings and working in my classroom. For the most part it has been meetings in the morning and then a few hours of work time in the afternoon. All the work this week was in preparation for Open House on Monday night. That will be a time for parents and students to come meet the teachers and see the classrooms and the school. Except for making copies of information to pass out, as of Friday afternoon, I am ready for open house. That means that I can finally start thinking about lesson plans. School starts with a half day next Wednesday, August 15th. Yikes, is that coming up quickly! I have a lot to figure out in the next few days.

Next week also starts normal arrival times at school. This week we didn't have to arrive until 7:45 for breakfast, so we didn't have to leave until 7:20. Because it takes about 20 minutes to get to school, the teachers cannot walk. Instead, we travel back and forth in teacher vans everyday. Next week we have to be at school for devotions at 7:25. We will aim to be at school by 7 to have some prep time before devotions, because once those are over, on normal school days, students will be at school and prep time is over. All of this means we have to leave at 6:35 every morning. I know some of you are thinking, "That's not early. I do that everyday!" Well, it is earlier than what I'm used to. That's about the time I would get up when I lived on the east side and worked at Grandview. I'm sure I will get used to it, but it will take a little bit of adjustment.

School hasn't been the only thing keeping me busy this past week. Last Friday I went into Seoul with a few other teachers from school. There were three new teachers who went (including myself), as well as one returning couple and their toddler. The couple had to go to the embassy, so the other new teachers and I were able to explore part of Seoul while they were in the embassy. The embassy is near one of the palaces in Seoul, one I had visited two years ago. However, we explored some of the surrounding neighborhood that I did not get a chance to check out when I was here during student teaching. We did, though, come across a stream running through downtown that I had found last time I was in Korea. That was cool. I also remembered where the tourist office nearby was. Yay! That was my personal victory for the day. I had a lot of fun riding the subway again and exploring Seoul. It really made me feel like I was back in Korea.

Statue of King Sejong who ruled at the end of the 14th century during the Chosun dynasty. He invented the Korean alphabet.

Admiral Yi Sun Shin, a great Korean warrior.

The stream running through downtown.

It continued with my birthday last Saturday. I celebrated with my family before I left, but I was able to do some things here with the other teachers. I went out to lunch with a couple of them, and then on Sunday we had an ice cream/birthday party for me, complete with blowing out the candles on a cake made in a rice cooker. My "buddy," the person who has been helping me adjust to life in Korea, answering my questions and taking me to the grocery store the day after I arrived, got me a plant for my birthday.

My buddy also took me to get a Korean cell phone last Saturday. I was without a cell phone for less than a week, but I didn't like it. Though people here could still get contact me through the home phone, I still felt out of contact with everybody else. Also, because I didn't have a cell phone, I couldn't get a debit card when I opened up my Korean bank account last week. I still need to go back to the bank and do that, but at least now I can call and text others here in Korea. I know, many of you are thinking that for years you never had cell phones and were okay, and I was okay, but it's still not fun being without one.

This week also included a trip after school to Home Plus, which is basically a Super Wal-Mart. In addition to getting some necessary food items, my roommates and I also decided to buy a water filter for our apartment. Like in many countries, the water in Korea is not safe to drink. As a result, you either have to buy bottled water or have a big water jug and dispenser. Our apartment doesn't have a dispenser, so we have to buy bottled water and carry it up to our apartment. Not fun. So the idea we had was to buy a water filter that hooks up to the water supply in the kitchen. No more buying water bottles, no more hauling water up the hill, and no worrying about water delivery or buying a dispenser. It costs a little more up front to get the water filter, but in the long run it will save us money and hassle. So, when we were at Home Plus on Wednesday, we bought the water filter. And that's where the saga begins. One of my roommates put the charge on her credit card, but the store had processing the card and had to take it on and off before it would finally work. Once that was finally accomplished, they could talk about delivery. Because it was such a big purchase, the store would deliver it to the apartment and set it up for us. Originally, delivery was going to be Thursday afternoon sometime. They were going to call that morning and tell us the time. Morning passed, no call. We got home from school, and there was still no call. So we called the store, and they now said it wouldn't be delivered until Friday after 5, which worked out well because we would be home from school by then. Friday morning rolled around, and they called to ask if they could deliver it right then. We were at school and couldn't leave, so the answer was "no." Then they said it wouldn't be delivered until Saturday sometime. Okay fine, we would definitely be home then. Friday afternoon we got another call. The delivery men were waiting outside our apartment building. Thankfully, our director let my roommates head home immediately so they could accept delivery of the water filter. If they hadn't, who knows when it would have actually been delivered! Now the saga is over, and we can enjoy cold or hot safe, filtered water whenever we want, no bottles or jugs required.

Saturday's adventure consisted in a trip to Costco. This is always very exciting because it allows us to buy American products that we might not be able to find elsewhere in Korea. I went as a guest this time, but next time I will probably get my own Costco membership that will also be good in the States. My biggest purchase at Costco today was a table to use as my desk. It's just a plastic folding table, rectangular, about 4 feet wide. It's nothing fancy, but definitely necessary for grading papers and working on things at home. In fact, I'm sitting at it right now to write this blog. What makes it so necessary is my carpal tunnel. Yes, that pesky little condition is acting up again. And it will probably, most definitely act up once school gets going into full swing with teaching, lesson planning, and grading. Right now, that's my biggest concern as school starts, and my biggest prayer request. It definitely made things harder this past year, and I don't want the complication or pain this year. I would really appreciate your prayers on this matter!