Helen in Korea: A week on a bus and a job to go to!

So this week I have spent every single day on a bus..... Monday I was on the bus from 9:30am - 5pm.. Gunsan - Gimhae - Gyeongju. Because the school I was visiting had nowhere to put me up, I ended up getting on another bus to stay with a friend of a friends in Daegu. Lovely lovely girl called Hannah - she climbs with a friend of mine in Gunsan and is from near Bristol in the UK. It's always nice to chat to someone with a British accent rather than an American/Canadian accent - there aren't many around in Korea.

On the way to Gimhae:

In gimhae:

Bus stop in Gimhae:

Gimhae:

Leaving Gimhae:

Got back to Gunsan on Tuesday via Jeonju in time for Matthew's birthday dinner in lovely Italian restaurant. Had ricotta and spinach ravioli - yummy!!

Between Daegu and Jeonju:

Matty's birthday dinner:

Set off to Seoul for my interview on Wednesday. Was a good day. Unlike Monday where they thought I was going there to work straightaway, I had a proper interview and also had to teach 2 x 80min classes with no preparation so they could see how I teach. So, I got the job! Woohoo!! I am very happy about this :) The school is a public elementary school in Bomun - dong, Seoul. This means that I am technically employed by the government and so shouldn't have any of the problems I had at my last job. I also have my own apartment (finally!) which is in walking distance from the school. I move in to it in a week and it is nice a spacious for me on my own. There is one other foreign teacher called James. He is from High Wickham and he seems like a nice guy. He is quite well settled in Korea (been here neraly 2 yrs I think and has a Korean girlfriend) and I get the distinct impression he does not want to have to baby sit me. So, will try my best to not get in his way!!

Met the headteacher and he is very keen on his sport - have been asked if I would be willing to help out with sports stuff and I my reaction was "yes, yes, yes"!!!! Apparently there are volleyball tournaments between teachers at different schools so will getting involved in that :) There is a music room next to the English centre so maybe I can also get time to practice my violin and piano.. I hope.

My new coteacher is interesting.... I'm not allowed to go to Itaewon (lots of US air force guys there) because I will become a drug and alcohol addict. I am not allowed to meet with foreigners because again, I will become an alcoholic and I will also catch swine flu. Do I have a boyfriend? How much do you drink? And it went on and on.... CRAZY!!!!! She then proceeded to tell me that I have to be able to drink because the head teachers likes to go out with the teachers once in a while... Hmmm, I think I will have to avoid telling her about what I do in my spare time!! Or just say I stay at home reading books day in day out...

Got back to Gunsan yesterday and met up with Victoria, Jamie and Josh. It was like going on a double date! Very good fun as we played that line up the whole night - played doubles in pool and had little "domestics" between us as if we had been going out for years. All good fun and yes, childish!

It's my last day in Gunsan and haven't actually done very much... Need to get my documents together for Monday and get stuff packed for the week. Meeting up with a few friends later on. will be sad to be leaving here....

Tomorrow is MUDFEST!! Cannot wait! It's a festival on Boryeong beach (about an hour north of Gunsan). Click here to find out a bit more about it. It looks like good fun and anyone I know who has been says it is not one to be missed.

Oh, and guess what I found in Gunsan last night!! A little Kenyan coffee shop! I was so shocked!!