Enjoying life

Hello again. I'm having a great time here so far. I'm currently sitting at work during my break. I've settled in, this being the end of my first full week. The job's not bad, the kids love to go apeshit for the first couple of classes since most are kindergarten aged or younger. They're not bad to deal with though, much better than assholes in a phone store complaining about their rate plans.

The culture here is quite different from back home. The locals are obsessed with work and think that working overtime for no extra pay is par for the course. We, the waygooks (foreigners), are exempt from the expectation of free work (we have a bit of a social stigma surrounding us from most accounts). I've seen people in my school actually sitting and doing nothing since they are expected to wait around for their time to be up, even though their is nothing productive being accomplished.

There is also a huge drinking culture here, one that overshadows that of Newfoundland's by a large margin. Getting absolutely smashed into oblivion is the norm. And not just on the weekends. I saw a middle-aged man in a business suit covered in his own vomit on a Sunday morning around 12 PM this past weekend. Surprising that he was out that late since most of the population here is Christian.

My classes are starting in a few minutes so I have to cut it short but I do have some pics up of my school and the environs. There is a walking hill near where I work which is nice because I have a bit of free time on Tuesday and Thursday to walk around. Here they are.

Andrew

Made it!

Well I'm now here in Korea. It's 10:30 in the morning on Saturday. I got in last night and was immediately told to get on a bus which took about an hour and a half to get to Suwon from the airport. Once there, two people were waiting for me. They took me from the bus stop to Reading Town, my place of employ. The staff are extremely nice and helpful. Mr. Lee, the assistant director, who is quite fluent in English, gave me the tour. He had a class so he had Chris, a guy who works in the office, and Jessica, the boss' wife, take me out for dinner.

The food was great. I had a type of seafood omelette, some kimchi (delicious), kimchi soup, as well as various other side dishes. It was all very tasty.

I was then taken back to the apartment, which kicks ass. It's much bigger than I was expecting. Anyways, I've gotta go since I am being picked up soon for an orientation, but I will post again in a little bit.

Oh Montreal...

Hey,
Just a quick update. Managed to pick up a Wi-Fi signal here in the Montreal Eaton Centre. I am going for my Visa interview at the consulate, which I just happened to locate. It's 9:38 AM here now and Mom and I are waiting for the shops to open up so we can do some shopping. We got a fairly pimp hotel, the Marriot on the Courtyard. I'll be in Korea in a couple of days so until then, let's just relax.