Lost in Wonju

Before I talk about my week, I forgot to mention in my last post that I won a Best Teacher award at orientation! It was honestly so unexpected, and I was surprised! And happy! :) I'll have to try really hard this year to actually live up to it!

I also got to sit at the "important people" table during dinner after the closing ceremony, and I didn't realize that my name was on the table until more than halfway through (thanks for telling me Moon), and I flipped out. So I joined them after we were kinda finishing up eating! :( It was embarrassing. Mimi is incredibly kind, so I didn't feel too bad. And the head honcho of the TaLK program sat next to me, and I felt bad that I couldn't speak Korean because there were so many things that I wanted to tell him! We just smiled and bowed our heads at each other multiple times, and he pointed at my plate and took note that I liked fruit. :) Overall it was an interesting experience and I got to see how much hard work the staff put into orientation. And I got some other cool insight like how people are actually placed in their provinces. ;)

TBT to orientation:

Dorm sleepover~

So... My week. I came to Wonju last Tuesday, and it already feels like orientation is a world away. We were all taken to our respective provinces by bus, and each of our mentor teachers picked us up and took us to our apartments. My mentor teacher is is new to teaching, and just moved to Wonju like me! On the day of my arrival, after dropping off my luggage at my cute little apartment, she took me to visit the Vice Principal. I did the polite, formal Korean greeting I had been practicing and they were all so friendly and welcoming! :) Even if he didn't speak much English, there were just good vibes all around. They presented me with some lovely sunshine flowers.

From my school staff

My mentor teacher took me home by bus and then helped me carry a bunch of groceries! Ah, so my apartment is in a very convenient location. It's a walk away from Home Plus, and has a bunch of convenient stores, restaurants, and bus stops surrounding it. Wonju is a great base from which to explore the rest of Gangwon-do. And I'm only around 1 hr 10 minutes away from Seoul apparently. Although my school is a 40 minute bus ride away, I think it's worth it. I'll post pictures of my apartment once I've cleaned!

So later that night my mentor teacher dropped the news that I'd have to take the bus to school by myself the next morning. And I had never taken transportation alone in Korea before! So the next morning I got pretty lost. I took the bus that goes straight to my elementary school but I didn't know where to push the stop button, and the entrance to my school is pretty hidden! I told the bus driver "Jangyang" and he nodded. And after a while he stopped the bus on a bridge, and motioned to me and mentioned Jangyang. I found out that we passed the stop and I had to go back. :( So I got off on the bridge and looked around and saw nobody in sight. I don't even have a phone plan yet! I wandered to another bus stop, and took a bus back. I told the driver to take me to Jangyang (in korean). And... alas the same thing happened and we passed Jangyang again. I wish I had known how to say "tell me where the stop is because I don't know". This time I got off in a small town type of place. And I had written down how to say "I'm lost" so kept saying "gil il bore soryeo" to different people. Once again I knew I needed to take the bus back, but didn't want the same thing to happen. More importantly, I had no more money on my bus card, and only had a $50 bill, and no phone. Korea is a pretty chill place to get lost in though. I talked to an elderly cleaning lady, a grocery store woman, convenience store lady, and a mechanic who pulled out google maps on his phone. Oh and also two business men who gave me a look then completely ignored me. :P Oh well! I hopped back on another bus, told the bus driver I was lost and stated my stop, and he made me sit in the front next to him and dropped me right in front of Jangyang elementary school! And he didn't even charge me for the bus ride. :)

So the next day my mentor teacher, Hyesun, took me to get my ARC card and then I had to take the bus back to my apartment. An ajuma offered to help me get off at the right stop thankfully. :) However the bus randomly stopped on the roadside, and then the ajuma started arguing with the bus driver, and an ajushi joined in on the argument and I'm standing in the middle of it wanting to melt into a puddle. Then the alum grabs my hand and we leave the bus and she hails a taxi. And I'm just like wow this is my second day here! In the taxi she gave me a bunch of chocolate, and I drew a picture of the two of us with heart on it and gave it to her. And she kissed it! :3 When the taxi came to my stop, I tried to pay him and she pushed my hand away she gave him her money. Here's a selfie we took together in the taxi:

Ajuma rescuing me in the taxi

 All of this happened last Tuesday-Thursday, and I'm just really behind on the updates. I'm sorry! More to come soon. :)

The best advice I can give if you're like me, coming to Korea is: be shameless. Don't be afraid to ask for help! Sometimes you might have to mime, get rejected, or approach multiple people. But help is always there. :) It's okay to make mistakes. It's essential to learning. And honestly, getting lost, or experiencing a struggle that's outside of your comfort zone will only help you grow as a person. My new years resolution has been to simply go outside and not be afraid of the world. And I've been doing exactly that.