사랑해요 <3

I am in love with Cheongju and my host family. I really couldn't have asked for a better situation. Today was a very exciting day. I started out by meeting my principal for the first time, which was very nerve wracking. He seems like a very kind man, but he is definitely very powerful within the school. My co-teacher, host mother and I went to meet him and had tea with him for about 30 minutes. He doesn't speak any English so he mostly spoke to my host mother. The only words I could understand from their conversation were "Cassidy", "teacher", "Korean food", and "friend". I'm pretty sure they talked about me for the entire half hour, but I'm still not sure because no one bothered to translate for me. At the end of the meeting I gave the principal two gifts (a tie I bought in Korea and a bag I brought from home with Philadelphia on it) and he was really embarrassed and humbled by it...super cute. After that they took me to set up my bank account and to get a cell phone. My cell phone is by far cooler than any one I ever had in the states. It has a Korean-English dictionary and a map of all of the major subway systems in Korea including a program where you can type in your location and destination and it tells you the best subway route to take. In the afternoon my mother was going to go fish shopping with her sister, aunt and mother so they all came over to the house. As soon as they walked in and saw me, they ran over happily shouting in Korean. Grandma was the most excited to see me and proceeded to touch every part of my body, including grabbing my butt. My mother told me she said I looked like Barbie. I really hope I get to see those people again haha. Since both of my parents were gone in the afternoon, so I took my little sister down the street to buy some ice cream. Then we played UNO for a while. For dinner I met my co-teacher and 2 other English teachers for some samgyeopsal. The other teachers are soooo sweet. They are in their twenties too and speak decent English. We had some really funny conversations and ended up going out for coffee after dinner. I had a lot of fun and really hope we can become good friends throughout the year. Hopefully they felt the same way about me. When I came home from dinner, Tammy was drawing in the living so I decided to join her. She told me she wanted me to draw a picture of a lotus flower she had so I started to draw it and she and her mother were (for some reason unbeknownst to me) completely infatuated with my drawing. They both sat and watched me finish the picture and every so often would say "Waah" (Korean version of "wow"). They ended up hanging my picture up on the wall. My sister drew this picture to put on my bedroom door:


After our art session my host mom, sister and I had some quality bonding time over tea. We talked about Korean holidays and traditions and spoke a little about Buddhism. I also gave my family their gifts which they were very excited about. My host dad came home late and I've never seen a man get so excited over a baseball hat. I'll be sure to get a picture of him the first time he wears it. Tomorrow my host mom is going to teach me how to make kimbop, and she is taking me out to Baskin Robbins after dinner. I am also apparently supposed to teach Tammy how to draw...not really sure how to do that but I will try. I am also trying to meet up with one of my best ETA friends for some coffee/tea after dinner.






Tammy wearing her traditional Hanbok dress (she wears this twice a year...once for the Korean version of Thanksgiving and again for New Years)


Mrs. Bang & Tammy


My close ETA friends and I have started a google group where we are going to share our stories and make plans to meet up and to travel together. The past few days we have been sharing our most awkward and funniest moments from our homestay so far, and I feel like some of them are worth sharing with you, anonymously of course. Please enjoy.

"Okay I'll start out the little group email with my best story so far. I've told a couple of you already but I think this may top any story we heard during Orientation. First night after having dinner with my host family, my principal, and the head of the English department at my high school we go back to my homestay. I get settled in then my host brothers and I go to my school to play basketball outside. When we come back my host mom just says "shower-ha-ku-ship-oy-yo?" to which I say yes to. I grab some clothes and go into the bathroom and as I go to put my clothes in the cabinet my two host brothers run in, completely naked, and turn on the water. Meanwhile, the door is open and my host mom is asking for the clothes I played basketball in to put in the laundry. I kind of look at her and she just tells me to give her my clothes. So I take off all my clothes except my boxers and give them to her...so much for not being shirtless around your homestay family. So then....I proceed to take a shower with my two host brothers. First homestay shower turns out to be a group shower. IETC has nothing on my homestay. Then tonight I ran errands with my host brothers and when we got back the same routine happened. my host mom insisted i shower-hey-yo "katchi" the bros"

"I knew I wouldn't learn any Korean this year when I walked into my homestay and said "안녕하세요" to my host brother. He responded, "What?"
Also, my host brother sleeps in his room all day long. Literally the only times I have seen him before our first 5 second introduction have been for meals. And I have yet to see him wearing pants.
This morning I came to visit my school for the first time. Some of you may have heard that it is on top of a mountain and my host father makes his ETAs hike up to school with him. This is all true. And it's no casual stroll. It is a forty minute trek on steep, muddy, rocky inclines through the forest. Think Apocalypse Now and you'll get a good idea. So after we arrive at school drenched in sweat (keep in mind today was the first day for me to meet my principle and vice principle) my host father leads us to a shower room. That's when we get naked and shower together."

"So no one in my family really speaks any English at all, which is good for me in the long run, since I'll be forced to learn a lot of Korean. But it has kind of cut down on the humor.
But just a second ago I asked my host brother if he had an English teacher last year. He shook his head and said, "Yes. She is dead."
I couldn't get any other details, so I'll assume she was gunned downed in the streets by roving gangs."

"So I had randomly met up with Derek yesterday and tonight my host mother invited him out to dinner with us. Me and him were sitting at a table together and at another table was my mom and a group of her friends. After a little while a Korean boy walks in, talks to the women, and sits down with me and Derek. I recognize him as Jang-mu, my host brother. I introduce him to Derek. The conversation went something like this:
"Derek, this is Jang-mu. Jang-mu, this is Derek. Jang-mu is my host brother. I have another brother named Jang-ho, but this is Jang-mu. Jang-mu and I are friends."
"Nice to meet you Jang-mu" says Derek.
A few minutes pass.
"Jang-mu, how was hagwon?" I ask.
He looks at me and says, "I am not Jang-mu."
"What?" I say.
"Jang-mu is my friend. I am Jong-somethingoranother."
Apparently he was the son of one of the ladies. And I can't tell any one of these mid-pubescent Korean lads apart."