Don’t be afraid of change. Be afraid of not changing.

Ahh!! We’re here, in full swing. Today is our first Saturday in Geoje, pronounced Go-jay.

To rewind, our 24+ hours of traveling were not as bad as it could have been.  We made all of our connecting flights and as soon as we arrived in Busan, our director, principal, and one of the current teachers met us complete with a sign with our names on it! Also, on the shuttle from the international to the domestic flight we met Ethan. We quickly found out that he was going to be our coworker at our school! He’s from Georgia and we quickly became friends. We're pretty much already family. 

The big surprise was that we were due at school Wednesday morning at 9am after our 24+ hours of traveling! Needless to say by the afternoon we were pretty zombie-like! That afternoon we went home and took a 3 hour nap. The good thing is that we were able to shadow the current teachers for a few days.  We also got our class assignments and schedules and curriculum. It’s a bit overwhelming but I’m sure it will all come together soon enough. Beka has the youngest kids which are 5-6 in Korean years and 4-5 in American years. In Korea they count from conception to birth as 1 year. Also, their age doesn’t change on their birthday but on January 1^st. We’re automatically a year older here, but they told us not to worry, that we would lose a year when we went back home. =) Ethan has 6-7 year olds and I have the oldest, 7-8 year olds. Those are our kindergarteners.  We don’t know much about our afternoon kids yet.  I do know that the kids, especially the kindis, have definitely already stolen my heart! They are so stinkin’ adorable, I can hardly stand it! Also, I’m pretty fortunate because my kindergarten class only has 5 students, 3 boys and 2 girls. I’ll really be able to connect with them since it’s such a small class. The students call us Teacher Alisha, Teacher Beka, and Teacher Ethan, as a sign of respect.

We’re really excited because yesterday we found out that we have Monday-Thursday off next week because the kids have spring break! We’re currently deciding where to travel! We’re staying put today and tomorrow to finish getting settled in and to try out a church tomorrow.

The best part about being here so far is that our school has already taken us in as family. Mikyong is who we will work most closely with and she speaks great English. She lived in Oregon for several years. Our director and principal (a married couple) are great too. Our director is excited because he’s a marathon runner too and found out all three of us run. He wants to run a marathon with us. Also, he will most likely take us hiking with him and such. So exited!

Our apartment is small and simple. We like it and we particularly like the HEATED floors! We’ve joked about doing yoga in our apartment. It has a small entry way and closet, a tiny refrigerator, a sink and stovetop, no oven or microwave, a bathroom with a shower and western toilet (thankfully!), a small bedroom with a window and a larger bedroom that has the living space and laundry room in it with a window. We’re content and feel blessed to be here.

The city is really a pretty city. It’s supposedly has a population of a bit over 200,000; however it feels like a big city, in a good way.  We have had the chance to explore a little bit. The first morning we were here we found Paris Baguette, a French bakery! We were pleasantly surprised about our find. They also have what is called Home Plus, the Korean Walmart. We went there and bought cleaning supplies and a blow dryer. We’ve also seen many street corner markets with fresh produce and we’ve heard good things about the farmer’s market but have yet to go.

On Thursday we went out to lunch with the school and current teachers. We went to a Korean bbq place, which is a traditional restaurant. We took off our shoes and sat on the floor to dine. Thankfully they had about 10 sides so I did not go without!

Speaking of shoes, most places you take off your shoes, and if it’s a place you spend a lot of time, you put on indoor shoes. Outdoor shoes and bare feet are viewed as dirty so you have to wear shoes that have never been worn outside. Luckily Tamera warned me about this so I brought a comfy pair of indoor shoes to keep at school.

I’m so pumped about having visitors in the future to show them around and to have them (you??) learn about Korean culture.

Although, totally void of Korean culture, the three of us took a trek to the other side of town for some good ol' Quiznos. It was definitely worth the walk. Now we're hanging out at Barista-b drinking coffee and updating the world. 

I should warn you all that typically my posts will not be this long! This is just a vast catch up of our first several days here. =)

We were advised to have letters, packages, etc, sent to the school. We’re only a couple blocks from the school. The address:

2F, 1166-14, Obi-Ri, Yeoncho-Myeon,

Geoje-Si, Gyeongsangnam-Do,

Korea. 

We're hoping to have internet in our apartment soon! 

love&peace