Departure/Arrival

Greetings...

The time has come to relocate to my new apartment in my new city. The orientation week has FINALLY ended and we'll be hopping on buses and all 400 of us will spread throughout the country as we spread our knowledge of the English language.

Some people are worried that we won't have so many peers in one location to make this alien experience digestible but I have no such worries. I've had my fill of the routine we've been following the last few days: wake up, breakfast, classes, lunch, classes, dinner, classes, bed. I'm just so darn anxious to get some ANSWERS! Where will I be living? What view will my window have? Do I get the shower/toilet/sink in one bathroom or is there is a curtain keeping the splash to a minimum? Is there a movie theatre near me? All these and more will finally be presented in less than 24 hours.

We do finally know where in Busan we've been placed. I will soon call Dongnae-gu home--I'm pretty sure this is a suburb/district of Busan located north of the coast. I also have the school's name (Dongmyung Elementary School) but I haven't been able to find anything about it on the internet besides a satellite photo of it (?) (google it if you're interested).

Rob actually got placed in another district (Buk-gu) but it is just next door as far as districts are concerned. We've yet to find out EXACTLY where we'll be living in relation to each other or how many forms of transportation we'll need to take to visit. I'm pretty sure I have a subway stop in my city but I don't want to count my chickens quite yet.

We've made friends with a couple from England and I heard that he (of he and she) is in my district/city so that'll be nice. I'm guessing they requested to be close to each other so I bet she'll be there too. Their names are Louise and Andrew, by the way. It's possible they may show up again in this here blog.

So, I know I'm going to have a LOT to report in the next couple days--the apartment, the school, my co-teacher, etc. My co-teacher (I actually may have more than one) is a Korean English teacher who'll be assisting me in class with any translation and/or other concerns I may have in the class. This person (most likely a female I'm told) will be my go-to person for the duration of my stay here. Co-teacher, where do I get toilet paper? Co-teacher, is there a Target nearby? Apparently, some appliances like the water heater and washing machine have a bunch of buttons with Korean writing so I'll definitely need some help there. Getting internet set-up, learning how to pay bills, go to the bank and just about everything else will hopefully be answered by this person. Naturally, my fingers are crossed that this person is at least pleasent if not awesome.

I'm preparing to not have internet set up in my apartment for at least the first couple days so those trying to contact me might not have success. Like Starbucks back home, there are internet cafes all over the place so I'll at least have that option. I did dive further in the Skype-iverse and can now call any phone number and get calls from the States. Here's my number: (909) 532-8114 and I'll have to be home and on the computer to get the call but it's still way better than nothing. The best times to call are as follows:

Mon-Fri: 1pm-3pm Pacific Standard Time
Midnight-6am PST

Fri-Sun: 2pm Friday through 3pm Sunday

I also just got my new Korean cell phone today as well. For those willing to make themselves an international call, here's the number:

Country Code: 82
Number: 010-2863-4512

That's it for now. I've got to get packing for the big move tomorrow.

I miss everyone back home and I hope you're all doing magnificant.

Stay tuned...

Love,
Brent