Anyong Haseo!

Greetings! It's been quite the first few days here in Haeundae, and I've barely had a chance to take some time to myself. But now I'm free, and I can get caught up on my new life.

Haeundae New Town is my new home. Part of Busan -- a tiny town of 14 million people -- Haeundae is the newest, wealthiest, and most modernized area in Korea. It's incredibly clean, and the locals take great pride in their city. I live in an area of Haeundae called Jangsan, and it's where many foreign teachers stay. There's a solid community of us, which is nice because everyone helps each other out. Todd (my buddy I graduated UW-L with) has been especially helpful, teaching me useful Korean phrases, showing me good restaurants, and filling me in on all I need to know to get by here. However, I'm finding that being an English speaker here will not be nearly as difficult as I'd imagined. I feel very welcomed by everyone -- Koreans have a great interest in America and the English language, as most of them feel it's their key to success. But while the culture in this area is definitely more Westernized than other parts of Korea, there are still ample opportunities to experience a completely different lifestyle.

I began teaching at the Yeongjaesagwon Elite Language Academy on Friday -- less than 24 hours after my arrival and with no training. I was to teach 5th - 9th graders. I have to admit, I was really nervous to take on classes with so little preparation, but that nervousness quickly disappeared once I realized how fortunate of a teaching gig I landed. I was imagining having classes of 25 students, all bouncing off the walls and not eager to learn. However, I guess I thought that way because it's what I'd experienced in the States. But the reality is much different: my average class size (I have only 6 classes) is a mere 7 students, the smallest class being 1 student and the biggest 13 students, and because it's an elite school, they're very well behaved and incredibly bright. I guess there were many other applicants for the position, but because of my English degree, the school director, Mr. Han (he doesn't speak much English at all), chose me above them. I'm the only non-Korean at the school, but it's fine with me because a few of the other teachers speak English well enough to explain things to me and help me converse with Mr. Han. Nobody here can pronounce my name -- the "r" and "l" cause them difficulty, so it comes out more like "ty-oo-ro", and after they struggled too much they decided they just want to call me "Anduhson" because it's easier for them. Fine with me. The students just call me "teacher". They're all impressed with my height -- they made me convert 6'4" into centimeters (193 or so, I believe) so they can tell their parents about the new giant teacher. And I've already made about 18 little girlfriends who seem to be completely infatuated with me. I can't walk past them in the hallway without them giggling or blushing. So all in all, teaching is going to be quite fun, and I'm hoping to be a big benefit to the school.

I'm having problems with my living situation -- apparently there was miscommunication between my recruiter and school, so I ended up in a room about the size of my dorm -- not acceptable around here for English teachers, and not what I was promised. So Su, my recruiter, is working on the situation and they're going to hopefully move me to a bigger apartment, more like what the other teachers have. If it doesn't happen, it's not the end of the world -- there's too much to see and do around here for me to want to spend much time in my room anyways other than for sleeping. Still, it would be nice to be able to stretch out a little bit more. We'll see what happens.

I have everything I could possibly need within 5 blocks of my apartment. I've never seen so many restaurants -- there are probably at least a few hundred within a 5 minute walk. I'm glad I'm not a picky eater, because some stuff I just have to eat and not ask questions. For the most part, the food is delicious and there are tons of new dishes to try. Todd introduced me to a meal called Galbi, which is fantastic. Basically it's grilling thin-sliced beef over coals built into the table, and you take the marinated meat and wrap it in some kind of large leaf with onions, garlic, peppers, radish, sprouts, shoots, and a delicious red paste. YUM. Last night we ate ourselves silly, and finished it off with some kind of pancake thing filled with gooey cinnamon sauce and cooked in hot oil. MORE YUM. And it's all very, VERY cheap. In the states a meal like that would cost probably 30 dollars -- for the two of us it's about 12. And that's on the expensive side for around here. I can get used to this.

Running up the mountain yesterday was amazing. There are outdoor exercise areas--with weight machines, free weights, hula hoops, gymnastics bars, etc.--along the trail, and they're heavily used. No wonder everyone here is so fit. (Hardly anybody is at all overweight). On our way up, we passed many couples young and old enjoying picnics together; family and togetherness is extremely important to the Koreans. It's fun to see so many older couples still so in love. The kids are hilarious -- they (and their parents) love it when we talk to them in English. They're always so delighted to receive attention from us. Anyways, the trail was pretty steep at parts, and running up it (at least 4-5 kilometers) left us exhausted. But the view from atop Mt. Jangsang is absolutely breathtaking. Here are some pictures I found online of the view we had (I don't have a camera so I have to rely on pictures others have taken):

These first two are of Hauendae new town, where I live. My apartment is smack in the middle.
http://www.naukorea.com/csfiles/d13objimg/1120_3_크기변환_p1010015.jpg - haeundae http://www.naukorea.com/csfiles/d13objimg/1120_25_정상에서본%20신도시.jpg

These two are looking farther west, toward the main part of Busan:
http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1370/717921857_ca2e25a611.jpg?v=0 - busan
http://farm1.static.flickr.com/155/414459217_39416b1ac5.jpg?v=0 - busan

The pictures still can't capture the sheer size of the city. It's really amazing.

While there are many other things I could write about now, I'll save them for other days. Until next time!