Since I've been here I've had many experiences that have helped me gain insight into the life of an immigrant...haha. Although, I was aware of the immigrant experience in the US, I could never even begin to empathize with them until now. Despite the fact that I am a college educated adult, I am often humbled by the fact that I do not speak Korean. ( Read more... )

Last week I had many interesting things happen, but I can barely find the time to write about them. In other words, what I write here is out of sequence so be sure to read the headings of all my posts to make sure you are up to date ( Read more... )

Even thought I've been to many large cities throughout the world, such as Tokyo and New York City, none of their subways were as congested as the one in Seoul. The subway system in the city is very extensive, convenient, but crowded. I never had to wait more than 5 minutes for the next subway. At any time of the day, I managed to find myself on a ( Read more... )

I've managed to keep myself very, very busy since I've arrived in Korea. This past weekend I went to Seoul, the nation's capital city, which is one of the largest cities in the world. I've heard people tell me there was 12 million people and then others said as much as 22 million including nearby suburbs. Regardless, it was an enormous, crowded, ( Read more... )

I forgot to mention....I have a mountain bike (that I ride to town. Very good exercise. But my first ride to work was very cold, and I heard the winter only gets colder. The ride to town is less than 10 minutes not bad. But the ride home is ALL upmountain, which is very tiring. Also, the ride home around 8PM is pitch black because there are no ( Read more... )

Since I've been here I've only taught one day, on Tuesday Januuary 2nd, and my only classes from 4-8....not bad at all. Four hours a day of work and at the most 6. My first day I was a bit nervous because I felt like I had something to prove. Afterall, I came to Korea to teach English, not to sightsee (although the latter would be nice ( Read more... )

During my 2 hour ride to Busan from Jinju (a total of 3 1/2 hours from my hometown) I sat next to a young Korean guy. He slept most of the time but as we were entering the city he woke up and noticed I was reading a Korean phrasebook. He asked me if I spoke Korean and where I was from. He was very anxious to practice his English and asked me why I ( Read more... )

Since arriving in Hamyang my host family has been extremely kind and hospitable. Every morning my host mother prepares breakfast for the family. But usually it is just the son and I who eat while the girls sleep. A Korean meal at this house always consists of several 반 찬 (side dishes)which are always kimchi, seaweed, fried eggs and a few other ( Read more... )

My next day I met up with Tom, the other English teacher. He is in his late 50's and is originally from Oregon but has traveled to dozens of countries throughout Latin America, Asia, and Europe. He has also lived in Mexico, Japan, and several countries in Europe. He is a very interesting person and he offered to take me to Jinju a large city about ( Read more... )

I landed in Incheon International Airport at 530PM (around 130AM back home). I lost a suit case but recovered it very soon after because the Korean Air employees were very helpful. Then I payed $90 to get to a hotel near the airport I had to transfer flights and eventually I ended up at a "love motel" because they are much cheaper than the hotels. ( Read more... )