Oops! I’ve Been in Korea for a Month and a Half!

When I created this blog, I had every intention of updating it often and allowing you all to follow along in my adventure. Now a month and a half into it, I’m sorry to say that that has not been the case. Somewhat because I’m always busy and time has been flying by but also because in these first few weeks I’ve just been trying to keep my head above water.

As you can probably imagine, this move has been an incredible adjustment. Unlike my other adventures (Australia, New Zealand, and Italy), Korea has and will surely continue to be the biggest challenge yet. In addition to the (sometimes drastic) culture differences, I’ve also had to commit to leaving home for an extended period of time, get used to new food (much easier than you might imagine), all start a new job in a different field that I never imagined myself in all while navigating a language barrier and finding my way around a new place.

I would be completely untruthful if I told you that every day has been great, that there has never been a moment when I though I couldn’t do it, that I haven’t found myself lost and terrified, or that I haven’t had things happen in my class that I could never have possibly prepared for. It hasn’t all been great, I’ve had my doubts, I’ve been lost, and I have most definitely been surprised in the classroom. But I can also say that I never expected to love Korea so deeply, to enjoy teaching so much, or to genuinely care about my students but I do.

I promise to go more in-depth in my later posts but for now I’ll just quickly get you up to speed:

I live in Samnam, South Korea. Samnam is a small town outside of Ulsan and very close to Eonyang.

I teach at Samnam Middle School and Gilcheon Elementary School (U.S. grades 1-9).

My students are the cutest things in the world.

During the week I practice taekwondo after school.

On Sundays I participate in a language exchange group that is always my favorite part of the week.