Welcome to Cheongju!

The past 5 days have been kind of a blur. I’m not even sure where to start. I guess I’ll begin by giving you a brief overview of my weekend in Seoul. We arrived in Seoul Friday afternoon and unpacked our things in our hotel rooms and were allowed to take some things from our other suitcase that has been in storage since we arrived in Korea (looking into my other suitcase was comparable to Christmas morning...I forgot I even owned some of the stuff in there). We then all met at the Fulbright Building for a talk by the only American and Korean trained doctor in Korea. He was very interesting to listen to. He had grown up in Korea with missionary parents, and studied medicine in the states. He then took the Korean bar exam (part of which is in Chinese) and now runs a medical center. He is pretty much our lifeline if we encounter any sort of health problems, from diarrhea (which he spent at least 20 minutes explaining) to major car crashes. After our talk we went to the US Ambassador’s house for a pool party. The highlight of the event was definitely the food: hamburgers, hotdogs, fresh fruit, tater tots, Mexican dip and tortilla chips, all different kinds of soda, chicken nuggets, s’mores, etc. I think I ate my weight in food only because I didn’t know when I was going to see all of that food again. I also had the chance to talk to some of the people who work at the US Embassy. One man in particular who is in charge of immigrant visas was very interesting. He is from Pennsylvania, attended Penn State and knows all about Millersville. He told us an interesting story from his tour in Mauritania where he was almost stoned to death by some rallying college students.

After the pool party, my friends and I walked to city hall because we had been told the Seoul Phil Harmonic Orchestra was giving a free performance in the park. It turned out to be really spectacular. I had one of those moments while we were all sitting watching the performance together in the open air surrounded by tall city buildings at night where I thought to myself, “Wow. I can not believe that I am actually here.” I’ve had a few of those moments so far. Another one of those was on my way to my homestay, but I’ll get to that later.


Outside of the Embassy.



delicious American food



ETAs with the Ambassador and Mike Honda from CA



The stage in the park in front of city hall



Friday was also Liberation Day in South Korea so they were handing out free flags at the concert. Seth and I showing our Korean pride.

After we saw some of the orchestra’s performance, we freshened up and went out to find the bar/club district in Seoul. It ended up being kind of a disaster and we wandered around the area for a good hour before we found the district and bar to sit and drink at. Our goal that night was to go dancing at a club, and we did end up finding one called “Sexy Bikini Party”. There were no sexy bikinis but it was the craziest night club I have been to yet. Just imagine lots of people crammed onto a dance floor with green lasers and strobe lights and fog machines. We all had a really great time.


My girlfriends and I dressed up for a night on the town.



Ho Bar 4...not to be confused with....



Luxury Ho Bar (or Ho Bar I, II, III, and so on)

Saturday I went shopping with Kate in the big shopping area called Myeong-Dung. There were so many people it was hard to get around anywhere. We somehow managed to buy a few things and then ran into one of our friends from KEY Club in Chuncheon who had come to Seoul to go out with us Saturday night. He shopped with us for a while and showed us a sweet ice cream place where you can get gigantic cones for around 80 cents.



giant ice cream cones!





The crowded streets of Myeong-Dung

Saturday night we went out again with about 20 other ETAs for two of our friends birthdays. We went to a bar and then to another night club where a lot of Westerners frequent. I also met two of Seth’s Korean friends he made while he was in Korea last time who were very nice (as apparently all Koreans are).





ETA's on the streets of Seoul



The bar had pitchers of beer with dry ice in them to keep the beer cold

Sunday we went shopping in an area called Insadong to see if we could find gifts for our host families and teachers and principals. It wasn’t a very successful trip, but it was a neat street to see...many street vendors selling somewhat-touristy Korean gifts.



Some random guy we saw on the street with these squirrel/chipmunk looking things all over him.



Some of the strange dried seafood they sell on the streets...because when I'm walking around in 90 degree heat, I always get a craving for a whole dried octopus.



Kate, me and Kelly at Insadong (wearing my new Korean-style hat)

Monday was D-Day a.k.a. the day we met our co-teachers and/or principals and were whisked off to our own separate corners of South Korea. I don’t think I have ever been so nervous in my entire life. I think that day may end up being one of the most memorable days of my life. Nothing super remarkable happened, but I have never done anything like going off to some city in a country I know very little about with people I only met a few hours before to go and live with people I know absolutely nothing about besides their ages and occupations. Very intense. Anyway, it turns out that only my co-teacher came to retrieve me along with her very funny husband. My co-teacher’s name is Min Hi Son and I’m pretty sure we’re going to be good friends by the end of the year. She is very cute and speaks very good English. Min Hi, her husband (who is also an English teacher) and I had some pretty funny conversations in the car...we talked about everything from how he things Obama is sexy to blood transfusions to my marital status.





sad to be leaving everyone :(



prom picture much?



some of my handsome friends

After a 3 hour car ride that began with the husband rear-ending the car parked in front of us, we finally arrived in Cheongju. From what I can tell, Cheongju is a very quiet small city. My host family lives in a cute apartment on the seventh floor of one of the many apartment buildings in the area. The name of the apartment complex means Happy Village. I am blessed to have my own room with a pretty comfy bed and desk and air conditioning. The apartment itself is nice and I learned that my host family loves pets...they have about 100 fish and 2 turtles named Mimi and Juju (I think). My host mom does not like TV so there is no TV in the house. Normally I would be a little upset by this but I can’t exactly understand Korean television shows so I don’t think I’m missing out on anything. My host mom gave me a quick tour of the area surrounding the apartment building and so far I know that my favorite kimbop chain, Dunkin Donuts, Baskin Robbins, Emart, and a number of American clothing stores are all in walking distance from where I live. My elementary school, Namsung Elementary School, is also only a 5 minute walk from where I live.

I’m already in love with my host family. My host mom, Mrs. Bang is super sweet and is going out of her way to make me feel at home. She studied English Literature and is an English tutor in her home, so we speak mostly in English to each other. I have a younger Korean sister who I call Tammy (her Korean name is Tam-Hi) who is 10 years old. She is adorable and really energetic. My first night in the home we painted our toenails together and she was very excited that I let her use my nail polish. I’m going to teach her how to play UNO tonight. She also really likes to draw so I’m hoping we can do that together in the future. My host dad, Mr. So, is very quiet around me because he does not speak any English. He is also super cute and seems very kind. Mrs. Bang translates for the two of us. I’m hoping I can learn some more Korean so that we can actually communicate with each other, at least on a basic level. He does some sort of work with computers and seems to be working all of the time. Mrs. Bang and I have already talked a little about things to do on weekends together. The family likes to go hiking and to go see mountains and other natural things so I think we will be doing a lot of that, which I am excited for. I think the whole family is very excited to have me in their home. They hosted a former ETA last year, but only for one month after he had to switch out of his previous homestay.



Tammy and I



our painted toenails

I’m still not sure if it has hit me yet that I am going to be here in this home for the next 11 months. I already miss my friends from orientation, but I know I will be seeing them very soon. I think once I get a cell phone and get my internet working in my room it will be a lot easier because I won’t be completely cut off from everyone back home and around Korea.

I’m sure I could write a lot more about everything that has been going on. I wish I had a video camera to follow me around because I want to share all of the little things I’ve seen and experienced with all of you. I can only imagine the crazy and exciting things that are to come.