Well, I'm here. In my big apartment..........survived the first and second night last night. ^^ Orientation ended for us on Saturday, thank goodness. *lol* It's bitter sweet though because I'll miss some of the people I've gotten to know during orientation. Everyone found out their schools the night before we leave, but I waited until the day that we're leaving to check what school I got. ^^ Since the list is already posted, what difderence does it make when I check it? Anyways, the next day (Saturday) we all piled onto our designated buses (I was on bus #21) and we made our way out of Suwon and into Seoul. The bus ride to Seoul felt like we've all been let out of jail. *lol* There was excitement as well as nervousness in the air. What's our school like? What are the students like? What are our colleagues like? Where will I be living for the year? What's the size of our apartments? So many questions floating around as we neared Seoul and our pick up spot.
Our bus parked in the parking lot of a middle school and there were a lot of school representatives there to pick us up. I was unsure how thinsg will turn out as I gathered my heavy luggages. Schools were walking around with signs with our names on it, so walked around trying to look for a sign with my name on it. ^^ I finally spotted a girl around my age and an older lady walking around with my name on a sheet of paper so I went up to them and said "Hi! I'm Heather!" And I showed them my name tag (so cheesy). *lol* Turns out the girl is going to be one of my coteachers and the lady is the school's accountant who will also be incharge of my salary. ^^ They told me that the vice-principle also came to pick me up so we gathered my luggage to his car. ^^ I felt so touched that the Vice-Principal came to pick me up too. ^^ Looking around most of the other people only had 1 or 2 people coming to pick them up, so I feel blessed that the vice-principal came to welcome me too. ^^ They took me to my apartment which turns out to be in the boonies in the north-eastern corner of Seoul. I felt so isolated from everybody. But my co-teacher, Ji Hyun, and the accountant and vice-principal seemed very nice and welcoming that I felt more at ease. I talked to Ji Hyun the entire car ride to my apartment which was nice. ^^ I think we'll get along just fine. ^^ My apartment turns out to be fairly big! ^^ There's even a loft! ^^ And Mrs Yoon (the accountant) was so nice to also buy me a rice cooker and water. ^^ Check out the video below for more info about my apartment. ^^
They taught me how to use all the appliances in the apartment. Then Ji Hyun helped me reset my apartment lock. ^^ I feel more secure now in my apartment. ^^ In the evening, Ji Hyun took me shopping across the street in HomePlus (so convenient) for household good. ^^ She's so nice. ^^ Then we met up with her boyfriend and we had dinner in the fast food section in Homeplus and they also helped me buy more stuff for my apartment like a drying rack, mop and hanger. ^^ I'm so grateful towards them. ^^
On Sunday, I finally got the chance to meet up with Gwang-hee. ^^ Yay!! ^ I miss seeing him after so long. ^^ He took me to the Korean National Museum to see the Egypt exhibit in Icheon. ^^ It was fun but there were a lot of peole because it was the last day. ^^ Afterwards, we took the train to Konkuk (his area) and he treated me to a very yummy dinner at this Korean restaurant famous for grilling (I don't know what they call it in Korean). The food was sooooo good!!!!! ^^ Yummy!!!! ^^ Afterwards, we walked around Konkuk and then we went to Lotte Shopping Centre and I bought more household items from E-mart for my apartment. ^^
On our way back to my apartment, we missed our stop because we were busy looking at his cell phone pictures. At first we thought we just went over 4 stops, but it turns out we went over 10 stops. But finally we made it back and we went to Homeplus again so that I can pick up a trash bin and fruits. ^^ It felt awesome hanging out with Gwanghee again. ^^ Big hugs for him! ^^ I've missed him since he came back here a year and a half ago. ^^ I'm grateful. ^^ Pictures to come soon because I'm currently not using my laptop (no internet connection yet. My co-teacher friend Ji Hyun lent me her laptop for 2 days so that I can keep in touch with everyone. ^^ She's so sweet!! Plus her mom is so sweet to because she gave Ji Hyun fruts to give to me. ^^ I've gotta do something in return for her soon to pay her back for her kindness.
Picture time!! ^^
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