Thursday was Departure Day. We had a really nice ceremony where our co-teachers and other representatives from our schools came to pick us up. We were all lined around the auditorium, and we went up to the front by province. Then, each person's name and school was called and we stepped forward, bowed to the audience, and stepped back. But many ETAs' co-teachers ran up and gave them flowers, including mine!
After the ceremony, we met up with our co-teachers and principals or vice-principals. My vice-principal was present, but he didn't speak any English so I didn't really talk to him. My co-teacher, Mr. Lee, is an English teacher, and really nice and funny. I like him a lot! He's also really helpful ^^. After lunch and a few other meetings, we put all my luggage in his car and drove to Andong, about a 2 hour drive from the university. We went to the school first, where I met the principal. He personally walked with Mr. Lee and me during the tour of the school, which I was rather surprised. In Korea, principals are really important people, like CEOs are back home, so I was very honored. All the other teachers seemed very nice.
Then, Mr. Lee drove me to my homestay. We were a little early, so the only people home were two of my three homestay brothers. They opened the door and then ran away into their rooms! Then my homestay mother came home. She asked me to call her "onni," which means "big sister." She is really nice and cute, and we sat at the table with Mr. Lee while they discussed important stuff in Korean, he occasionally translating for me. She doesn't speak very much English, but she knows a bit.
Later that night, my homestay father returned home from work (he's a doctor). Soon after, we met up with Mr. Lee at a restaurant and had dinner. They were all really nice and funny, and spoke a lot of Korean so I have no clue what they were talking about. But I did use my limited Korean to talk a bit, I was proud ^^. After dinner, I presented the family with the gifts I got them; a Fulbright Korea t-shirt for each of them, a deck of playing cards, and a deck of Uno cards. Then I taught them how to play Uno and we played a few rounds. After that, I was completely exhausted and went to bed.
Friday, the school gave me the day off, so I was hoping to sleep in... until my onni woke me up at 7:30a to have breakfast... Mr. Lee had already told her that I don't eat seafood, so she had set out some rice and broccoli for me to eat. I was so tired, and I don't really eat a big breakfast anyway, so I nibbled some rice and asked if I could go back to bed. I felt rude, but I was exhausted. My homestay father said that was fine. Friday, I pretty much slept all day. In the evening, I ate dinner with the family and studied Korean with my host dad. He also told me the names and ages of all the family members. So, my father is Hanmu Lee, 49 years old; my onni is Yunsuk Kim (women don't take their husband's last name) and she is 43; the oldest son is Youngsang Lee, 17; the middle son is Moonsang Lee, 14; and finally Jisang Lee, 12. Jisang is studying abroad in the Philippines right now, so I actually won't meet him until December. And then of course there's Uju, the very... energetic poodle.
The boys are really shy and have been pretty much hiding from me so far! I think they'll warm up soon enough. On Saturday (yesterday), my host parents took me to the Andong Folk Museum, across a really historic bridge, and then we drove through the historic folk village, Hahoe. So, we get in the car and I'm thinking, "this music sounds familiar." Hanmu goes, "oh, Michael Bolton choaheyo? (do you like Michael Bolton) He best singer!" I cracked up on the inside ^^. I had a really good time at the folk museum, and my parents are really fun. The boys stayed home for that part of the day.
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| Part of the Hahoe folk village. |
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| The Andong Folk Museum. |
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| Random giant swing. |
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| My host mom, Onni! |
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| Host mom and host dad being adorable ^^ |
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| The Weolyeonggyo Bridge |
After the outing, we went back to the apartment and picked up the boys to go out to dinner. I sat in the back seat with them and they both cowered away from me! As soon as the car stopped, they literally ran to the restaurant. My host parents were laughing, and my father told me they are "shamed." Dinner was good, even though we had an awkward moment where I was asking where a nail salon was and no one seemed to know "nail salon." After dinner, the boys asked their mom to sit in the back with them, so I just chuckled and sat in the front.
Later last night, I met up with another American that the former ETA hooked me up with. He was really nice and took me to a bar where we met up with quite a group of other foreigners. It turns out that there are about 140 foreigners in Andong, teaching English or working for other programs! I was so surprised since Andong is considered a fairly small city. Most of the others are here through EPIK, English Program in Korea, which is run through the Korean government. They are from all over though, not just the US; I met some people from South Africa, New Zealand, and the UK. I had a good time, but decided to go home early because I didn't want to worry my host parents. I mean, I've only known them for three days!
So, that's about it for updates right now, but here are some pictures of my new bedroom, and my own balcony!
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| View from the doorway. |
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| Desk and wardrobe. |
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| Bed and balcony. |
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| My balcony! You can just see some buildings and mountains out there. |
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| My host dad loves fish, so these goldfish hang out on my balcony. |
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| View from the 14th floor! |
And here is the apartment complex. It's a brand new, fancy complex, and really nice! There are five buildings, gated, with a stream, pond, two playgrounds, and a few Korean-style gazebos.
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| A really nice stream runs through the complex with a little pond. |
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| Kind of rainy, but there's a playground, and that's my building to the left. |
Lastly, if you want to send me a letter or something, which I would totally appreciate and reciprocate, here is my address at school, where I will be receiving mail:
Meghan Thomas, Fulbright ETA
320 Angyori
Poongsan-eup
Andong City, 760-802
Gyeongbuk
South Korea
Write it just like that, lines and all. More to come ^^
Hi Meghan,
ReplyDeleteYou're host family looks and lives very nice. Looks like you are in a big room with a great view. City living- now that is a new experience. Was this a guest bedroom or one of the boys?
I read your other posts about the food. I hope even though you are pickier about what you eat, that you are trying their foods. When we went to Europe last year, that was the neatest part-trying their foods. I will never think of pizza and pasta the same way again. I love the authenic Italian food. Have you tried cooking a real American meal for your host family yet?
Michael used to bring from the food convention these bakery goods- yeast donuts with meat and cheese in them. These were very good. So if you see any of these- try them.
Keep blogging- enjoy experiencing this new culture and how you are surviving!
Love ya,
Aunt Pam
The room was one of the boys' rooms. The thing about the food here is that it is so different. European food is fairly similar to American food, but here they eat things that my stomach literally cannot handle. Also, they don't have ovens in Korea, so I can't bake, and my host mom does the cooking as part of her daily routine. She won't let me cook! Or clean for that matter.
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