Pictures from Korea
Here are a handful of pictures from my vacation in Korea. The weather is way too nice to be on the computer today, so I’ll keep this brief. These are pictures from Seoul and Gyeongju, in that order. I’ve watermarked these pictures with my website name; if you want a clean image or a full-resolution file, just let me know.
(We did not go to the Seoul Museum of Chicken Art, but there’s always next time.)
Quick Updates
No time to write a long post, so here are a few brief updates:
- EPIK is going to bat for us about the settlement allowance and hotel payment. The coordinator for our city said not to worry about it. It was completely up to the school to cover the bill, and he would take care of it on Monday. Hooray for EPIK!
- The field trip was a success. It was a surprisingly tough climb for 7th graders, but I enjoyed it. Pictures at the end of this post.
- The apartment is looking great. Erin and I did more cleaning today. Look for pictures later.
- The first week of teaching is over. Thank God. I think I can handle it, though. There will be a bit of a learning curve, but when a lesson works out, it’s surprisingly rewarding.
- We’re going hiking with another teacher and his girlfriend tomorrow. We met them briefly when we moved into the apartment. Don’t really know anything about them, but I’m looking forward to the hike.
Enjoy some hiking pictures: (The pictures of tree species are mostly for my parents.)
Jet Lag sucks
Well, it’s 3:45 in the morning, and I’m wide awake. I managed to get a fair bit of sleep, but I expect I’ll be tired tomorrow. Probably shouldn’t have started reading. Finished Ender’s Game, which was a lot of fun. I should know better than to pick up a tacky sci-fi novel in the middle of the night.
Yesterday Erin and I (and a couple other friends) met a Korean businessman in the hall at the University. He was finishing some business course here, and asked about our pink t-shirts. He was really friendly. He spent 6 months in Texas on business, and drove around half the country. Gave us his card and said we could contact him if we were ever in Busan. Erin e-mailed him, and he responded. He seems like a good guy. People have been really friendly, which makes things easier.
We picked the right province when we chose Gangwon. Not only is the vacation time amazing, but we also get to interview with the regional office of education to express preferences for our placement. Other locations get placed more or less at random. The other teachers going to Gangwon seem like a good bunch as well.
I’ve met a few returning teachers, who have been helpful. I’ve been able to get some questions answered about paperwork and money. All-in-all, things are going well.
My dad in the Cadillac News
I got an email from my dad this morning, saying that his picture was on the front page of the Cadillac News. You can find the story here. There’s also a little video clip of him marking trees.
Pretty cool. The story doesn’t say a whole lot — it talks about some objections to the management plan for the Huron-Manistee National Forest. Always good to spread the Sapak name I suppose.
