What's shakin', bacon?

So I'm officially done shadowing other teachers at work.  As of Monday, I'll be teaching my own classes and I'll have my own classroom and EVERYTHING!  I'm taking a lot of comfort in the fact that a lot of the kids have been through other parts of the program before, so they know what is expected of them already.  From what I've seen of them, they're typical small humans - hyper, occasionally attentive, invested in who is in their groups, and generally exactly what you could expect of elementary school children.  This should be interesting to say the least!

As for the rest, I'm doing alright.  I feel the need to show Kevin that I am indeed flying my metal flag high here in the land of Kpop...

I also brought Metallica, Slipknot, Hatebreed, and Trivium T-shirts.  Hehehe - certain things just need to be ;)

I have realized that I should have brought some pictures of people back home to decorate my apt with.  I was more concerned with things to wear than I was with decorating... silly me.  There's a TON of hooks still on the walls of my apt from the last teacher who was there.  It kind of cracks me up.  I also learned that I'm going to have to pay for my electric and heat as well as my phone and wifi (when I get them).  I can officially tell you all that things are not really cheaper here... the cost really seems to be comparable.  The thing that throws me off is the exchange rate.  But I'd figure $300 could last me at least 3 weeks in a new city (that's the cash I brought with me), I've been here 2 weeks now and still have some cash, so woot!  I'll be paid once a month and I just need to set up a bank account.  I found out that I can do that with just my passport, but I won't be able to get (the equivalent of) a debit card until my Resident Alien Card comes in. 

OH, regarding the RAC, I had a revelation on Wednesday!  This whole experience - applying, getting the job, coming over here, working on getting all my paperwork in order - it's all been a practice in trust!  I trusted that my recruiter would find me a good school, that he was giving me the right info, that I'd get the Visa, etc.  The thing that solidified this thought was on Wednesday I was told to meet a Mr. Kim outside my apt at 10:40 and he'd take me to get the RAC.  So 10:40 I walk out of my apt, turn right, and a guy I've never seen before says "Amanda?"  I said yes, and he led me to a car which I got in.  A few mins later, he asked for my passport and 30,000 Won.  A small voice in my head said "this is how people get trafficked, you know."  The utter craziness of the situation just blew my mind for a second.  It all turned out fine (as I'm sure you've figured out) and he did indeed take care of everything for me - I just needed to be there to sign some paperwork and have my fingerprints scanned.  The RAC will be sent to my school, so I guess once that happens we'll take care of the bank account and maybe the phone. 

I had a wifi router in my apt, and I tried plugging it in but it asked for a network key.  Not being able to read Korean, I brought it to work with me yesterday and asked my boss about it.  She said she'd get back to me, so I'm waiting on that.  I have also confirmed it's a 20 min walk to work with 3 street crossings (because I pass under another street and go thru a park).  I cracked myself up yesterday because I was looking at one of the world maps the school has in the rooms and caught myself planning my trip in the summer (we get a week off in the summer and another off in the winter), and also planning my next 10 years of teaching English.  I haven't actually had a class yet, but this seems like the best way to work and see the world!  Stay tuned, Korea and I are still in the honeymoon phase, after all.  

As this is a free day, I'm thinking I'll take a walk through Central Park and take some pictures.  My fellow teachers have all scattered around Korea!  I'm pretty sure I'm the only one who stayed in Dongtan.  But that's fine with me - I'm trying to make sure I don't get in over my head before my first paycheck, you know?  One of the teachers asked me if I felt settled in.  I said I think I'll be 100% comfortable once I have a bank account, my first paycheck, a phone, and wifi.  She laughed and admitted that I had a point.  Hehe. 

Oh, so more pix (cuz I know that's what you really come here for).  Here's what I decided to wear on my first day at the school.  Black jeans, boots, purple tank top, black shrug, and amethyst necklace. 

It took until yesterday for another teacher to tell me that she loved how I always coordinate my necklace and earrings with whatever I happen to be wearing that day (yesterday was red).  I thought about it and yeah, I feel like accessorizing is the ONE area of being a woman that I'm actually good at!  I'm terrible at doing my hair and make-up, I'm not traditionally 'ladylike,' etc, but damn it, I can coordinate my accessories!!  Hehehe. 

As for food, I've been bad at remembering my camera again.  However, here's what I bought from the 7-Eleven down the way from my apt.  This was one meal for me.

As you can see, we have ramen soup (I still haven't eaten that... can't seem to bring myself to.  Maybe today...), beef jerky, cheddar cheese pretzels, brownies, and a gimbap (just in pyramid form instead of a roll).  I also had Pringles from before.  The brownies are so cute and little... so naturally I had 2 that day.  ;)

And here's what I had from Paris Baguette - a rather popular bakery/sammich and salad place. 

I thought the sammich would be ham or turkey but it was actually bologna.  The pastery is, yes, from Starbucks.  I'm trying not to go to the same place for wifi every day.  So yeah, Starbucks is on the rotation along with TiRol coffee.  The apple was from my first grocery shopping trip... I'm down to my last one, so I'm going to have to go to Emart (from what I can tell, maybe the equivalent of Wal-Mart?) tomorrow.  Thank God for credit cards with no foreign transaction fees!

Yesterday, my head teacher gave me this lovely booklet to peruse.  The last line under Week 4 just cracked me up.  Treat yo self, indeed!

So that's pretty much it.  I need to figure out how to decorate my apt and I'll be able to set up my classroom on Monday.  Yes, I'm planning on going in early in order to get my room situated, confirm my schedule, get it all straight in my head, and get hyped up for the (official) first day.  There is no real dress code, but I figure keeping the tats covered is a good thing.  That may not be such a big deal outside of the classroom, though, which makes me happy.  Also, I'm still looking for a friggin' ALL DAY lipstick... false advertising is making me CRAZY!  (Random, I know... it's like I'm trying to stay on the phone or something cuz I miss my peoples!!!!)