Chungju, SK
I teach in a small city of ~200,000 people called Chungju. Chungju is famous for apples, peaches and an International martial Arts competition (which incidentally starts tomorrow) and is surrounded by beautiful mountains. There is a man-made lake within the city that is beautiful and reminiscent of home (I even saw a bass the other day).
Transportation
From what I hear, the busses are rarely on time, and quite infrequent. Therefore I have not invested any time into figuring them out at all. The city is quite small, but the best way to get around town is by taxi. The taxis are numerous, even up until late at night, and the fare is about varies anywhere from $2.50-5.00 to get pretty much anywhere within the city.
I have purchased both a bike and a scooter since being here. They have both been very convenient for me. I drive the the scooter to school every morning (excepting rainy days), and the bike on rainy days.
Communication
I have a phone, and internet.
My Korean, truth be told, is not that bad, and in comparison to those teachers who speak no Korean, I'm probably not having as hard of a time with respect to communication, but I still have scenarios every day where I have no idea what the hell is going on. My Korean is improving though.
Recreation
Biking, mountain hiking, running, exercising, starcraft2/1, alcohol and karaoke (still have yet to do karaoke thus far on this trip as surprising as that seems).
Teaching
I teach at two schools. The main school I teach at, I am there for 4 days of the week. I teach a total of 19 classes there. I teach 1st and 2nd grade middle schoolers (something like 7th and 8th graders in the US), 1 club class (which includes 3rd graders) and 1 English conversation class in which I teach the English teachers conversational English.
The main school I teach at is called Jung-Ang Middle School (literally Middle middle school) and the kids are from what I have experienced little terrors. The second graders especially. I had one second grader beat up another second grader because the latter told the former to stop talking during my class. The second graders are unfocused, apathetic, unruly, and dare-I-say dumb, (with the exception of a few who attend English club). The first graders are generally nicer, and generally smarter than the second graders and are easier to teach, although I see flashes of rebellion in their eyes. My co-teachers are great, and let me teach what I want, which makes the experience a little easier.
My second school is in the country about 20 minutes outside of Chungju. There is nothing but farms surrounding it. Chickens and rabbit coops in the school limits, the recess area overgrown with grass, and the promise of a cherry tomato dessert for lunch seemed to bode a terrible experience. However, I quickly found that I love this school, and that it is the highlight of my week. There are 55 kids total in 3 grades. They are smart, funny, creative, compassionate, attentive and most of all, listen well to directions. The school is well equipped with an English room which has a smart board and a bunch of cool gadgets and gizmos that keep me as entertained as the kids.
Basically, to sum it all up so far, it has been a very full experience. I've been kept busy pretty much at all times of the day. When I'm not teaching, meeting people, running up mountains and around lakes, I'm cooking, eating and sleeping. I am excited for what is more to come.
