Busy Busy First Days

So today marks the 5th day that I have been in Korea. Really? Only 5 days? It seems like an entire week because I've been so busy, but in a good way!

After 2 planes and a total of 17 hours spent on them, my flight arrived in Seoul late Wednesday night (Wednesday morning US time) and I was greeted by an office worker from my teach abroad agency who then sent me on a 45 mintue bus trip to the suburb of Yoning City, my new home. at the bus stop in Yongin I was met by my supervisor and president/owner of the school where I will be teaching. To much surprise he wanted to take me out for a late night snack at a chic coffee shop not too far from my school. We spoke about all sorts of stuff, mainly just getting to know each other which was nice that it wasn't automatically about work. I was also told that he hadn't been able to find a decent apartment for me yet soooooooo as of right now I'm actually staying with him and his family (wife and 2 young kids). His 3 oldest boys actually go to my school so it's pretty cool hanging out with them. Also, his 3 kids are the same ages as my nephews and niece, so that helped alleviate the initial "lonely " feeling.

On Thursday, I woke up early enough to go to work (8 a.m.) but my boss told me to take a restful morning and to come to work at noon...which was much needed! When I got to work, about a 15 minute walk, he gave me a tour. It is much smaller than I expected, but very modern. It's in the 2nd and 3rd floor of a newer building and we actually have a bakery, clothing store, and traditional restaurant below us. I met my coworkers, who are all super awesome; three young women, one of which is from the U.K and the other 2 are native Koreans. I also met the school cook, bus drivers, and just hung out all afternoon and floated from here to there.
After work, my boss and his family took me out for a MASSIVE Korean feast. We went to another suburb, Bundang, which is like an 'old money' type of area. Very modernized and beautiful lights lit the streets. The restaurant was called "Gokie" which literally means Meat. Now I for one am not a big fan of eating a lot of meat, but I am making an exception while in Korea because I would like to try EVERYTHING. We ordered 3 serving of Ssam, which is the under part of pork, grilled at our table, and comes with lettuce, hot and sweet sauces, seasoned korean veggies, rice cake sheets, and also 2 huge side dishes of Naemyun (spicy cold noodles). It was beyond delicious...but I next time I think I'll get much smaller portions.

Friday was also very similar, except this day while at work I actually taught. In the morning I worked with one native korean teacher and just watched and helped her out. Later, after lunch, I taught a phonics class to my future classrooms. I will be teaching two separate 5 year classes and one 9 year old class. I will be covering phonics, linguistics, spelling, and reading/comprehension. It seems pretty straightforward and there is a set curriculum. All I need to do is read the teacher's guide, but that will come later :)
Friday night was also very similar, but this night I went out with my 3 other co-teachers to a restaurant called ShabuShabu, again in Bundang. This was much different than the previous night's dinner. Each table has their own bowl of water which they boil at their table. Once boiled, there are a variety of dishes you can order like raw beef, a raw seafood platter, veggie platters, and a variety platter. I ordered the seafood and veggie platter which came with raw squid, octopus, shrimp crayfish, and oysters all in which I boiled and ate at the table- after covering them in all sorts of sauces of course. Again, I overate too much, especially when it came for dessert when I got Korean fried Sweet potatoes and mushrooms which are both covered in sweet sesame sauces and sugar. Definitely will be eating more of those!

Saturday Morning, I woke up and was not really sure what to do with myself due to me being a guest at my boss's house. Luckily, he had a plan. Him, his 2 sons, and I went on a hike through the mountains that surround Yongin City. We hiked for about 2 hours. It's amazing that we are in such an urbanized area yet there is so much forrest and wildlife. The trails were actually pretty advanced, I was impressed! Later this week him and I may go on a longer hike, 2 hours each way, to the top of the mountain where you can see all of the Seoul and suburban area, which is suppose to be an amazing view. In the afternoon, him and I went apartment shopping in a few different neighborhoods. As of now I have it narrowed down to 2. By the weekend I will definitely have my own place tho!
Saturday night tho, I experienced something I had read about...and wanted to try...but didn't think it would be this early in my trip. My boss and I went to a Korean bathhouse, or a Jimjilbang,  which is a nude bathing facility- but more like a spa. There are both steaming hot and freezing cold pools, water massage tubs, hot stone rooms reaching temperatures of 160 F, and relaxing cool down rooms for napping and snacking on the fresh natural foods. I was a bit hesitant to strip down (especially with my new boss), but after the initial 5 minutes of awkwardness....it was total relaxation and something I would like to try again...but he says I need to go to the mountains and experience the more authentic spas.

As of right now tho, it's a lazy sunday morning. I intend to go exploring my city on my own today and figure out the public transit system...which supposedly is extremely cheap and super awesome. Like I said it's only been 5 days and I do miss talking to my family and good friends back home, but I also can't wait to see what my next experience will be. Till then!

ps- Pictures will eventually come, but I'm far too lazy at the moment :)

SSam- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ssam

Jimjilbang- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jjimjilbang