Korea...First Impressions

I'm officially in Korea now. It's very different. To say the least. I now realize how spoiled i was by doing my study abroad in spain where i never struggled with ordering food, or finding my way around or just basically being there. The actually city is very nice and its pronounced Taegu, not Daegu, because as i discovered at the airport they will look at you like you're crazy if you pronounce the d. I can see mountains if i walk just a few blocks from my hotel. So that's amazing. The people have been very nice to me, especially the other teachers (both korean and western) at the school. I haven't really gotten into the grove of everything and i'm not yet feeling entirely comfortable. More than anything the difficult parts have been missing people and feeling so out of place. I'm really hoping that that will end soon because i feel totally uninspired. I haven't even started taking pictures, which is so not like me.
Additionally, I still haven't gotten to move into my apartment, I actually won't be until next wednesday. I'll be spending this weekend holed up in the little motel they put me up in, then on monday I take a train to seoul (for orientation) and then when i get back from seoul on wednesday i move into my apartment and officially begin teaching on thursday November 29th. I'm a little nervous because I feel like I have no idea what I'm doing. I think once i get into the grove of things and i start being able to explore more i'll feel more comfortable. In hindsight i wish i hadn't arrived here at the beginning of winter because considering how much of a weinie i am for the cold it has (so far) detered me from going crazy and just wandering around. This weekend I think that I'm going to just bundle up and try to venture downtown. Jenny, the other American girl, who has been sooo incredibly helpful and sweet, drew me a little map and gave me some directions (since she'll be out of town this weekend) so we'll see what happens.
I'm having to use the internet at the school so I haven't been able to write very consistently but once i set up my internet it should be better. I haven't even gotten to discuss all the things about my trip. Here goes: My flight over here was nice. I sat next to a fun and interesting guy named Tom so it wasn't too boring being stuck on a plane for 15 hours. Navigating the Seoul airport was not so fun being harrassed by all the taxi driver who saw my face and figured "here's a chump" and then me being an airhead put the baggage on the cart incorrectly so it kept falling off. When i got to daegu mr. kim, the school's director picked me up and took me by the school (to call my mom) and then to the hotel (which is funny in itself because i don't really think its an entirely reputable hotel. case in point: when i turned on the tv what should i find but korean porn). Anyways, I've spent the past two days observing a lot of classes and meeting everyone. After my first day of observation some of the other Western teachers invited me to go with them to a sauna so I had an interesting experience at a korean bathhouse/sauna (so much nakedness). It was a funny way to introduce myself to my fellow teachers. Like "Hello. Here I am. I'm naked." The actual sauna was this amazing room that felt more like a tomb. Its this infinitely tall, black room that when you look up it looks like you're soooo far underground. It was strange sensation. And it was also like 80 degrees celcius which made it hella freaking hot. Then when you weren;t trying to boil yourself you could fall asleep while using a piece of two by four for a pillow. LIke i said... interesting.
Yesterday on thanksgiving i didn't really do much. My stomach was being a little weird and also i was feeling pretty lonely. I think i underestimated how lonely i would feel on a day when i normally sit around with my family and eat my dad's awesome food. Once i have my own kitchen and start to cook things may be better. Plus since i actually cook, some of the other teachers may want to come visit and i won't be so lonely all the time. My hotel room (aka the korean porn palace) is a a little depressing. Although the bed itself is awesome because it is the room's heater. Like rather than have a heater, the bed itself has a control that you turn up to the desired temperature and then when you lay in it, its so warm and cozy. Tonight I think I'm going to hang out with Jenny (the other American girl) for a little while and maybe practice learning some korean, so that may be fun. Well, I'll write a lot more later.

Two random side notes: My new official name is Susy teacher. Although if it sounds more like sushi teechr. Cute.. i thought so. And also yesterday i got super excited because David, the teacher that I'll be replacing told me that one of the kids that he teaches is reading the harry potter books and he had me quiz him yesterday on the first book. It made me so happy. I am such a nerd. :-)