I can’t believe 3 weeks has passed since I’ve arrived in South Korea to teach English with EPIK. So much has happened since then, and I wonder how I could ever possibly explain it all in a single post! I’ll try, but thankfully I plan to write more as I experience a new life here 6,500 miles away from my home in Texas. (Wow…I’m still processing that, too.)
I arrived in South Korea on August 18th with a group of other EPIK teachers, so it never really felt like I was completely alone. In fact, the girl sitting next to me on my treacherous 14-hour flight to South Korea was also with EPIK–she just didn’t know there was a slew of us on the same plane! Along with us, about 535 EPIK teachers attended a 1-week orientation at Jungwon University. The campus was beautiful; no filters were used in the taking of these photos:
One thing I was concerned about with orientation was who I was going to be dormed with–as it would be at random and we’d be spending a whole week together full of many mixed emotions. So I prayed for a good roommate, and I got even better. Gabi, who soon became Class Rep (AKA “President”) became a friend for life during our short time together. We went through all the emotions, talked through so many excitements and concerns, and we just worked together really well! I literally told her my life story and when I looked at the clock, it had only been the first hour we met 😛
Orientation was a lot. EPIK did everything they could to prepare us for teaching English as a foreign language at any kind of school (we wouldn’t know where until the last day), and for living in South Korea in general. We did Taekwondo classes (“Allison, I loved your voice. It was the loudest!” – Homeroom Teacher Ruby), had lectures out our ears on how to teach, we even did arts and crafts based on ancient Korean culture. Most important of all was our Lesson Planning project. We paired up with (initially) strangers in class and worked together every day for hours to develop a lesson plan based on a random subject. My partner Tory and I were tasked with teaching about Animal Facts to a Middle School class (that class being all of us teachers in the homeroom pretending to be students). I’m very honored to say that Tory and I won Best Lesson! That really boosted my confidence for what was to come–and trust me, I needed every ounce of confidence. Orientation is also the reason I made so many friends, and we still keep in touch even though we’re placed far away from each other.
Then, on the very last day, we were given our contracts which marked what school we were going to teach in. It was quite anti-climactic considering all of us had been waiting for this moment for 6 months, but oh well! I turned the page over and read Paju. I’ve been to Paju. I looked up the name of the school on the contract and saw I was going to teach only one mile away from where I had been in Paju just 4 years ago. It still blows my mind! I had been in that exact area during a DMZ Tour! Now I was going to live and teach there!
So, here’s what you should know about Paju: it touches the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) which is a border that runs along the Korean peninsula and divides North and South Korea by 2.5 miles of uninhabited land. The DMZ represents an armistice–not a treaty–between the two nations and I can see the North Korean flag just a few miles away from my school.
I think this would scare some people, but I feel incredibly hand-picked by God to be here. Over the last few years, my heart for the reunification for Korea has grown. I’ve read several books on North Korea–not just the politics but the people and their stories–and I’m honored to be able to pray for them just five miles away when I’m at school.
Very early the next morning after finding out our placements, we said goodbye to most of our friends who were heading in separate directions and I got on my shuttle bus for northern Gyeonggi-do. I expected to have some extra time with my friends once we arrived at our accumulative destination, but once we arrived, someone told me, “Allison, your vice principal is here to pick you up.” My what?! I didn’t have a chance to properly say goodbye, and I was tossed into my new life like a bean bag in a game of corn hole.
Off I went with a kind-looking, older Korean fellow who barely spoke English but tried is darnedest–who took me out for lunch and said, “It’s my first time having lunch with only a foreigner,” and I asked. “Is it scary?” (Typically it would be for native Koreans who don’t know English), and he said with a huge smile, “No, this is very exciting!” He was so, so kind to me.
So off we went to our school–except he took a wrong turn, and so off we went on a spontaneous tour! Mr. Vice Principal (AKA “Good Guide” now) showed me my new home in Munsan, the Imjin River, and downtown Munsan. Good Guide was a really good guide; his mistake turned into a fun, memorable time where I knew I could relax and not take this moment too seriously.
Good Guide then took me to Gunnae Elementary School–but first we stopped at the DMZ Checkpoint. The military looked in the vehicle, asked who I was, and Mr. VP / Good Guide told them I was the new English teacher! They took my US Passport (so I’m left just being a Canadian while I teach which is cool, too) and returned it once we came back through. I have to do this every time I go to school now, and have since had a friend kindly write a paragraph in Korean explaining to the DMZ officers who I am. It’s helped me a lot so far!
So I went to Gunnae and met the teachers there, including my co-teacher–whom, as Orientation specified, is solely responsible for helping me adjust to life in Korea. Her name is Young-Shin, but I call her Unnie (older sister) because of how well she takes care of me, despite her lack of English skills. On my first day meeting her, she took me to dinner, helped arrange my bedding and checked the quality of all my furniture, helped me buy items for my house, called her daughter and let me speak with her because she’s fluent in English and it was amazing, and had her husband drop off food for me. Like…who does that? Unnie does.
Anyway, that was all on a Friday and my first weekend living alone in Korea was…hard. I didn’t think it was hard until I ran out of things to keep me busy. That’s when I was faced with the truth: I’m far away from my family, my friends–even the ones from orientation–and I’m living in a strange, unfamiliar place all by myself. I cried, even though I knew God put me here for a reason. All I could do was invite the Holy Spirit into my new home, and let my first week of teaching English in Korea unfold.
Monday morning, I learned how to take the bus. Busses in Korea are insane. Sometimes they stop. Sometimes they don’t. Sometimes you have to wave your arm off your body for them to stop. But what’s for certain is that they all drive like bats out of hell. The process of taking the bus is very complicated so I’ll spare you the details, but essentially we Tokyo Drifted through the DMZ checkpoint (I had my passport and translated paragraph at the ready; I got through without any problems all by myself!), and went along to every stop the bus had to take before reaching Gunnae Elementary School.
One of such stops is the Joint Security Area (JSA), which is the only portion of the DMZ where North and South Korean forces stand face-to-face. I don’t see the forces, but I see the barracks, and sometimes a troop of officers will get on the bus and I become still as ice for about 10 minutes until I get off at school.
Anyway, my first day, I arrived at school without any problems, and also without any expectations. I didn’t even know if I was going to teach on my first day, as a lot of EPIK teachers don’t. But sure enough, I was given my textbooks 2 hours in advance and was told to teach out of them. Guys, these textbooks are at least 50% Korean. Those first few classes I relied on my introduction PowerPoint to kill as much time as possible before cracking those books open!
Gunnae is a very small school, so each class is a single grade. I taught 5 classes on my first day–so I basically met all the students at once. Some of them told me I was pretty (still makes me so happy; they said that about my mom, too!), some of them thought my dad was really cool because he was so “cowboy,” and some of them thought I looked exactly like my twin brother! A few classes even sang happy birthday to my nephew. They’re so kind to me, especially outside of class when they see me in the hallway or have lunch with me, or even ask me to play outside with them.
But I’m also very new to teaching and so my first week of school was terrible on my nerves, and I honestly did a poor job sometimes. I barely ate anything for at least five days. I cried alone in my office on my third day of school because I was afraid I couldn’t handle the workload. Because the homeroom teachers don’t really know English, I’m tasked with teaching the lessons and managing the classroom without much help. So all this among culture shock and stress, I thought about how easy it’d be just to get on a plane and fly back home–and honestly I’ll probably continue having these thoughts pop into my head as I go through the frustrating phase of culture shock. Eventually, I’ll learn to accept and adjust to my new environment, but that’s going to take some time. So as you think of me, please pray into that!
Nevertheless, I made it through my first week, where I learned that I actually teach at two schools. Gunnae, the one passed the DMZ checkpoint, and Munsan, which is actually a 5-minute walk from my door to my classroom. Once the first week was behind me and I experienced all my firsts, my appetite came back and my nerves greatly subsided. Every day, I get better at lesson planning and thinking of activities on the go. I can’t say I’m very confident just yet, and I still bomb activities and after school classes sometimes, but I know I’ve been improving little by little!
So how am I doing, then? I can eat again, and I’ve found a coffee shop I like that I’m going to make my frequent place (that apparently helps with culture shock.) I’ve gone grocery shopping at a local store twice which I’m proud of, and have returned with very American products like hot dogs, pancakes, cereal, and sandwiches 😛 Having familiar food in my apartment helps me feel more at home. I’ll branch out when I’m ready! And sometimes, random things will make me cry. Today I saw a man walking a dog and cried because at that hour, I usually go outside and play with my dog in Texas.
Overall, my first 3 weeks have been a rollercoaster and right now I can barely make sense of anything. And that’s okay. I call my family and friends on the weekends (my morning is their evening), and I have plans to get involved with an international church in Seoul, which is affiliated with YWAM! Building a community will help me so much. And I know that if I continue making progressive efforts to connect with people and grow as a teacher and a person, I can survive at least one year in South Korea. Or even better, perhaps I’ll thrive.
I know I wrote a lot today, but there was just so much to say! Life isn’t picture perfect here as it may appear on social media, but I’m going to do my best with what I’ve been given. Even though when it gets difficult and I want to fly home, I’m going to lean into what God is doing with me here. And if you think of me, pray for me. I love adventures, but I’m not so different than the next person who wants to be with their family and friends in a place they know well.
Nevertheless, let us go on and take the adventures that shall fall to us!
Signed,
Allison the Adventurer
