First Days in Daegu

On Thursday, after months of waiting, we were finally given more details about our future jobs and homes. I was assigned to Jeil Middle School, a co-ed school very close to downtown Daegu. I wasn't particular about what kind of school I wanted to teach at, but I was very happy to hear that I would be so close to the downtown area, and also that I only have one school so far - it's not uncommon for teachers to have to commute between two or three schools.

Our last evening and morning at Jeonju University included some more cultural performances (really beautiful fan dances and drumming, I'll try to put up links to some videos), a closing banquet, and a closing ceremony. Friday morning we loaded our luggage into buses and set out for our respective cities and provinces. The Daegu buses stopped at a wayside for an amazing lunch of bibimbap, eaten in the traditional Korean style of sitting on the floor at a low table (which, with eight people at a small table, takes some practice and flexibility!). We arrived at the Daegu Provincial Office of Education, and were brought up on a stage and introduced to our co-teachers.

My main co-teacher (or handler, as one of our lecturers in Jeonju put it) is Carrie. I'll be teaching English with several other Korean co-teachers, but Carrie is in charge of me and my go-to person for any problems. A lot of English-speaking Koreans choose English names for themselves, and she told me later that she loves the show "Sex and the City" and that's how she chose her name. She was with another employee of the school who works in administration, and the three of us managed to load up all my luggage into Carrie's tiny car. We stopped at Jeil so we could follow some superintendent to my apartment, and he helped us haul everything up to my room.

My apartment is on the second floor of a small building. It's one room, with a bathroom, a small scary-looking boiler room, and a tiny little enclosed patio with a washing machine. The room itself is big but there isn't any storage area at all - just a small table with two chairs, a shallow musty-smelling closet, a bed against one wall and the kitchen against the opposite wall. One thing that I do like about Korean storage is the fact that there is usually a big cupboard or rack for shoes right next to the door, because shoes are never worn inside the apartment - so that's one thing I do have enough room for! There are cupboards in the kitchen area, so I think a lot of my clothes and books will end up going in there! The bathroom has a very common type of Korean shower - just a shower head hooked to the wall and a drain on the floor, with no specific, designated shower area. The shower head sits at about chest-level, so you have to hold it in your hand to use it, and aim very carefully so you don't spray water everywhere. It's very efficient as far as the use of space and water goes.

I wasn't very happy with the room at first - the whole thing smelled very musty and old; almost everything was dirty and mildewy (I have to scrub out every cupboard and line it with paper before I put anything in it); the refrigerator smells awful; there's no hot water, Internet, or cable; I have nowhere to put my stuff; and I've killed one cockroach so far. However, as I've been unpacking and moving around it a little, the smells are starting to go away (except in the refrigerator) and the whole thing is starting to grow on me. I haven't found any more bugs so far, there is air-conditioning, and you can't beat the location - I'm within easy walking distance of both my school and the downtown area.

Carrie has also been awesome in helping me get settled. After we dropped off all my stuff on Friday, we walked to Jeil Middle School so I would have a rough idea of how to get there and what kind of shops are around. Then we drove to a giant E-Mart, which is kind of like Wal-Mart only a little nicer. I bought cleaning supplies, garbage cans, kitchen stuff like a pot, pan, cutting board and knife, a few groceries and some other basics. Carrie gave me a bunch of stuff out of her own house - laundry detergent and fabric softener, toilet paper and paper towels, clothes hangers, some kitchen supplies, and probably other stuff I'm not remembering. She also bought me some flowers and Mandarin oranges at the E-Mart, as well as dinner that first night. Carrie's English is really good, and she mentioned that she studied for two months in San Diego and was really confused about how to do things like order at restaurants or shop, so she knows just how I feel! I'm so lucky to have her helping me out.

I slept in on Saturday, and then spent most of the day cleaning and organizing my apartment. A lot of my clothes are still just sitting in my suitcase, where they will stay until I'm ambitious enough to finish scrubbing out the rest of those nasty cupboards or break down and buy some sort of shelving unit. I also haven't figured out what to do with my garbage yet - in Daegu you have to buy specific garbage bags depending on the district you live in, and separate out paper, plastics, food garbage, and garbage to be burned. That's all fine, except that I haven't actually seen a dumpster or large trash cans outside where I can take my garbage. Carrie bought me these little plastic bags for food waste, and I'm just keeping that stuff in my freezer until I figure out what to do with it!

Carrie met me again Saturday night and we walked downtown. I told her that I liked reading and books, and she showed me a huge bookstore, Kyobo, which is famous in Daegu. It has a big English-language section and a Starbucks, and I think I'll be spending a lot of time there. I've already bought one book and signed up for a frequent-buyer card! Carrie bought me dinner again, which was excellent - I'm liking the food here more and more every day.

I'm keeping my fingers crossed for Internet, cable television, and hot water sometime in the next few days. I'm also going to work on finding the other native English teachers that are around here, and get involved in some activities or classes of some sort; the lecturers at orientation told us that we should be able to get all of our lesson planning and school stuff done during the work day, and I really don't want to just go home and sit in my tiny apartment every night! Carrie told me that the local YMCA offers Korean classes, so I might look into that, or into taking online classes of some sort.

Sorry for the long post! For those of you who've read the whole thing, thank you and please keep in touch!