Worst part of my day

                             

...is eating my last bite of food. Any food. Mostly gimbap though. I always want more. More more more. Idk what's wrong with me, but the food here is too good. I just ate a whole roll of gimbap and I already want to devour another one. 

Although, my live baby octopus meal didn't have the same effect of my monstrous appetite. It wasn't horrible. I chewed the slithery little pieces enough before they ever got the chance to latch on to my throat and suffocate me, no worries. But really it just tasted like the sauce I lathered in. Luckily our tentalicious meal came with a counterpart. Some random fish the market guy picked out, cooked with onions and mushrooms and a yummy sauce. I'll say my first visit to the live fish market went about as good as it could have :)

Bread, yukgwa, and beer - is there anything better?

                            

Bread houses. Man, those are hard to pass up. There is even one that goes by the name of "Eat Bread". They turned my life motto into a bakery, what more could I ask for?

One of the markets I go to (frequently) has a bakery attached to it, and there are ALWAYS discount - and I am reminded of this fact everytime thanks to the cutie who mans the stall. He is always way to happy to see me and eager to use the little amount of English he knows. Which includes the aforementioned "discount" along with other words; hello, very good, pretty, goodbye, and I love you. The last one is my personal favorite. He always cons me into getting bread. Always. How an I deny a little Korean man confessing his love to me, even if it's because that's all he knows how to say in English?

 

One of my favorite parts about life is how much exploring there is to do. With so many new things in my life, it's hard to get bored. I visited Ulsan Grand Park before work one afternoon and rode around the same area of the massive park for an hour on my bike rental trying to find the butterfly conservatory. It was a massive fail, but wandering around was a blast. I ran into a few cool parts of the park and am looking forward to exploring it more.

  



And friends. So many new people, from all around the world. Foreign and Korean. I am so excited to get to know these people and to create and share memories with them. It's been so easy to get into the swing of things here. I've felt welcomed from day one. 

                                

Makkoli and banchan, YUM

Sandcastles at Ilsan Beach, Ulsan

There's a storm a brewin'

My apartment on the right

Normal. It's wild to me how normal everything feels. I've set my heart on being in Korea for so long that really, it just feels like I've come home. It's been relieving. I  didn't hate Las Vegas exactly, especially the last few months I was there. I was so happy spending my time with people who love and care about me, making amazing memories - because I knew I was leaving. I am so thankful for the memories I have to hold on to - with new friends and old friends alike.  If it wasn't for the people I surrounded myself with, there probably wouldn't be much for me to miss.

Coming into this experience I was most excited about my job. A REAL job hasn't been on my agenda for over a year, since before I left for Europe in  June 2013. I can't explain how ecstatic I am to finally be putting the past few years of studying in affect. I have a job that I am passionate about. A job that makes me feel like I am making an impact. One that is always challenging me to be better, for myself and for my students. Teaching English isn't just something I want to do for a year to get away - this is a career choice. A life choice. To finally be taking the first step towards my future is exhilarating. 

Edward the Snow Prince blowing out his birthday candles

And my own apartment! Which is paid for by my employers? The best. It is bare as hell right now, and will be until I get my first paycheck - but it's MINE. Soon enough it will be decorated in memorabilia from my travels and cheap furniture from Gmarket. It will really feel like home in no time. I am even sewing my own pillow cases.

I love living alone. I'm such a loner on the inside, it's nice to be able to come home and not worry about anything and to have my own space. Mine, mine, mine. Anyways, I have a friend right next door if loneliness ever creeps up. 

This week there is a typhoon headed straight for Japan, my next door neighbor. It's missing us, thankfully - but we are still getting loads of rain and lightning and thunder and I LOVE IT. It's ironic, because Vegas is having similar weather which isn't typical for them at all. The weather here, although humid, is a refreshing change from the Vegas heat.

My first month here is going to be very grounding. I don't get paid till August. I'm on a budget where won't be able to do all the things I want to or, more importantly, EAT all the things I want to. The good thing is, I have plenty of time. When I first got here I was excited about going out and experiencing EVERYTHING. I've now realized that's not going to happen all at once. I want to be here for a while, there is no rush. I have time to learn the language and discover the country, and more importantly Ulsan - my city. I have time to eat at every whole in the wall restaurant my that lines the streets of my neighborhood. I have time to travel to other Asian countries, but I'm not going to make that a priority like I first intended too. Instead, after I'm done living in Korea I would rather save money and take a chunk of time off to travel. 6 months should about do it :) A long weekend here and there simply won't cut it for me anyways. That's not enough time to fully explore a country, or even a city for that matter.

Korean Pancakes - kimchijeon and panjeon

Anyways, Japan is on the agenda for August. Let me tell you how damn exciting it is to be planning my trip and figuring out what I want to do while I'm there. I'm starting with Couchsurfing. That's the way to go. Free, number one. And you get the chance to meet awesome locals who always show you a different side of a city. Not your typical tourist agenda. Sign me up. I'm taking baby steps with Japan. It's close to my home and flights are cheap. I want to explore every nook and cranny of that country, eventually. For now I'm sticking to Osaka, Kyoto, and other places in the Western Honshu region. I definitely need to check some cultural experiences off my list.

Lucked out

I can't believe my first week of teaching is over! My transition to Korea has been made ridiculously easier thanks to the remarkable people I work with and my perfect recruiting agent. She's getting flowers this week, because I owe her a big fat thank you for finding this job. It's the perfect fit.

I was worried about working in a private school because set curriculums taught out of textbooks sound like a drag to me as a teacher. Luckily, our boss gives us the capacity to be creatively free with our lessons as long as they correlate with the book and we stay on top of our shit. He isn't constantly breathing down our backs or checking up on us. He trusts us.

I was gung-ho about teaching at a public school, it seemed like I would get more out of my experience here. I interviewed for a position and got offered a job, but there was so much confusion about where I would be teaching and I had such short notice to accept - my gut told me to hold off. I couldn't have made a better decision. 

My first day teaching was my first day at work and only my second full day in Korea. I was anxious as all hell and I felt incredibly unprepared, but my English coworkers promised I had nothing to worry about. They were right. How could I be worried when my biggest class size has only 10 students? One of my higher level classes had only 3 students. I had my book as a guide for my lesson and with my uncanny ability to be flexible and adapt, I did just that for my first day as an English teacher. 

A student-designed apartment, complete with a room for Burgers.

This week I've been getting into the swing of things. Overcoming jet lag and trying to get on a normal sleeping schedule has proved to be more difficult than I thought. I'm waking up at 5am when I don't work until 3pm. At least I have loads of time to do normal life things, like blog and paint and study Korean and explore.

My new friend making me my favorite cheap dinner, Gimbap

                                   

Food. So much food. And surprisingly I've been eating more foreign food than Korean. My boss took all of us out to an Italian restaurant for lunch my first day. Korean Italian, however, takes a slightly different spin on things. We had a bulgogi (불고기) salad, which may have been the most delicious thing I've are thus far. I celebrated Canada earlier in the week with my coworkers at a western cafe and ate eggs Benedict and poutine, and then had Indian food the day after that. 

Spur of the moment on our way home from work Karyn and I decided to go out for chimek - a shortened version of chicken and the Korean word for beer, mekju. There are fried chicken places on every corner. Other than it being completely western influenced, it has definitely earned it's place in modern Korean culture. 

Daewangam Park