Acclimating to Korea

I've been in Korea 3 weeks now. I feel much more acclimated than I did at the beginning, of course, and the more time goes on I know I will get more settled and comfortable. It does feel like adjusting to Korea is much easier than adjusting to Japan was for me 2 years ago. I think that makes sense, because now I'm used to living in an Asian culture and I studied some Korean before I came. It's also really great to not be lonely- my roommates are very friendly, helpful, supportive, encouraging, and they're Christians as well. In Japan I was living alone, and even though I had a lot of friends I felt lonely at times. It's great to have people to eat meals with and talk to. 

Currently 11 of us share 5 studio apartment rooms on one floor of an apartment- a couple from Canada, 5 American girls, 1 Korean girl, and 3 Korean guys. At the end of October we'll be moving to a different apartment complex, and then we'll share apartments in groups of 4 or 5. 

I've been teaching for almost 2 weeks now. My students are all great- very easy to love, just like my students in Japan were :-), but here it's great to be able to get to know my students individually so well, since I see the same 12 kids every day (with one exception: the two middle school students I see come every other day). My most challenging class is teaching 5 year olds phonics, starting from "A," but it's a challenge I relish- a great learning opportunity for me. Most of my students are in the 1st grade-4th grade range. 

On weekends I've gone shopping and sightseeing. Every Saturday I go to a free 2 hour Korean class at a church. I've visited 3 churches since being here, and I liked them all- Grace and Peace Mennonite Church, where most of my roommates and co-workers go; Sarah's church; and the Japanese worship service at Oryun Church that is lead by a couple I knew from my church in Sapporo. The Japanese service is where I went today. We sang worship songs in Japanese, and the service was in Japanese with Korean translation. It was so nice to see the great ministry they are doing there, meet some wonderful new people, and speak Japanese! I'm excited to go back next week.

Next week is one of the biggest holidays for Koreans- Chuseok. It’s a time people visit families. I only work 2 days next week, and then my roommates and I are going to Yoonseo’s house to celebrate, then to Sokcho, where there’s a beach, and then to Seoraksan, one of Korean’s most famous mountains, where we’ll do some hiking.

After Chuseok, my next vacation will be the week after Christmas- December 28^th through January 5^th. I decided to visit my sister Marie in Austria during this time, so I bought a ticket last week. J

Click here to see pictures from my time in Korea.