Even the frogs speak Korean!

May 13, 2009

Yesterday was my first day at work and I was, well, totally overwhelmed. There is so much to learn, memorize, prepare for and my brain was feeling like the jelly I smuggled from the airplane-tiny and mutilated by a chopstick. But I got through it and dragged my tired body back home. I was asleep before I could even finish my dinner.

Which turned out to be great because this morning I finally slept in until 9:00! I know it sounds weird but we don’t start work here until 3pm and end at 10…ish, so getting up at 7 am was just not going to cut it.

I went for a run alongside the river and it was a trip. I’m sorry I didn’t take my camera but I will next time. There were centipedes everywhere and bugs I had never seen before. I kept swatting and darting away from them as I walked until I the thought crossed my mind that someone might have me arrested as a crazy American. I love hiking and such and it felt good to be able to do something I’m familiar with but I still felt estranged. When down by the water I realized that even the frogs speak Korean… Eoooooor…aeppuk! Walking on the trail, I saw that EVERY single female was wearing an extra large visor! You know the one… the one that covers almost your entire head? PLUS… they were all wearing swine flu masks of some sort. ALL of them. And there were a lot of people out there. I guess they were uber-concerned about their skin and their… sinuses? I’m not sure. Maybe they heard an American was heading out there this morning and they didn’t want to risk being infected by my “pig” germs. Whatever, it was weird, yet they were all staring at me as if I was the strange one.

And the “gymmer” equipment was out there too. Just a few random Nautilus machines hanging out beside the river… whatever. So I used them again today. Why not? I felt like part of the crowd AND I need the exercise sleeping on this torturous mattress. I can’t even sleep on my side and cuddle with my piwow ‘cuz it hurts! No wonder Asians are so uptight! Ha, just kidding, self.

Anyway, work was better today. I’m feeling much more confident than I did yesterday. I think the extra bit of sleep helped. I even got a little desk in the middle of the supply table but I have to fight for my space every time I return from the classroom to find my desk overrun by staplers and hole-punchers. It’s ok. They will all fear me soon enough. Ah hah hah.