The Crazy move

Hi Guys! (this is a long one, Im sorry) So last Wednesday I get an email that says "Reed you will be moving into your apartment on Friday not Saturday". Carm and I were both a little bit shocked this meant I would be moving alone because I was requested to be in my city at 1pm Friday afternoon. Now, I have told our Korean recruiter a million times that Reed is my LAST name not my first name, but she refuses to call me by my first name. She addresses Carmen by her first name but not me I sure dont get that one at all, maybe she cant spell or say my name so she is just gonna call me Reed as long as I am here. Bummer we can not go together , but hey what can we do? My recruiter sent an email with the address ( in Korean and English ) and said it should cost around 20, 000 won ( about $14 usd) to get there from Carm's city ( Cheonan) to my city( Pyeongteak). So Carm and I lugged all my stuff and went to get a taxi. We walked about two blocks and found a taxi. The plan was Carm was going to meet me once she got off work in front of my school around 9pm ( that was the plan). I hopped in the taxi fingers crossed and praying I made it to my school. I called my contact Hanna before I left Cheonan with Carm's phone and she said she would look out for me. The taxi driver said in Korean ( I guess) it was gonna cost 30, 000 won having no choice and not being able to say any different I just said ok he then turned the meter off. Soooooooo why this man did not use his gps is STILL a mystery to me. We must have stopped 5 times for directions, and each time we stopped he said "sorru, sorru" I take that was to be sorry. I was just thinking no need to be sorry just get me there sometime ummm today lol. So after the 2nd time we stopped he turns around and looks at me and changes his hand sign for 3 to 4 i said 40, 000 won? He says yes!!!!!!!!! Ohhhh I wish I knew Korean because I sure would have told him about him self! So he ended up calling Hanna and then 2 mins later we were at my school, my HUGE school. I give the driver my 40, 000won and he turns to me shakes his head and changes his hand sign for 4 to 5!!!!! 50, 000 won for a taxi ride?!?!?!!?!? I was sooo salty! I gave him his money and slammed his door. Hanna came rushing outside and this was our convo:

Hanna: "Reed!!!! I am ao happy to see you"

Me: " Hi Hanna! My name is Tasha, Reed is my last name"

Hanna: " Ohhhhh Reed is your last name? Im sorry Jane said your name is Reed. Ok we will call you Tasha"

Me:" THANKS Hanna!"

Hanna:" Wow you are so pretty, even pretty nose and eyes"

Me:"Hahahah...ohhh thank you"

I have never been told I have a pretty nose before but hey, I will take it lol. Hanna and a co worker name Sugi helped me carry all my stuff to my apartment which was right around the corner, it was less then a 2 min walk. As I told you guys before I was soooo worried about what my apartment was gonna look like. We went up one flight of stairs and turned to the right and there it was. She unlocked the door and we went in. I was like a kid on Christmas, grinning from ear to ear! It was big! I had a TV, a desk, kitchen area separate from the living room and the best part....wait for it a FULL sized bed in my bedroom!!!! This may seem minor for the US but in Korea this is a HUGE deal.
Most teachers get a dorm style apartment, or an efficiency for our hood rich people lol. Ok, cool everything is working out great! I then got a tour of my school and found out I was going to be teaching grades 5 and 6 not the little kiddies. My kids are 12 and 13 years old but in America they would be 10 and 11 however that works? I also found out I will only be teaching for 22 hours a week, the rest I just do what ever in the classroom but go to sleep pretty much. I work for 8:30am to 4:30pm. I don't have a phone here yet and there are no Pc labs around either... How was I going to get in touch with Carm? So Im in my apartment and turned on my computer hey I may get a wireless signal I hope! Hey what do you know, I did it was really weak and kept cutting off but it was enough to hook up with Carm and make plans for her to get here. After talking to her she said to meet her at 10:40pm in front of the school and if I was not there yet she would Skee Wee so I could hear her ( good plan right). So it was 10:30pm and I walked around the corner to meet Carm. So its 10:40pm. 11pm, still no Carm. I go back to my apartment to see if she had logged back on or what ever there was nothing, I asked my friend Taray ( via facebook chat) to call Carm, she said her phone is going right to voicemail. I go back outside looking for her. Its 11:30pm and I am getting scared because the subways stop running in Korea from 12am to 5am where is she... Im walking all around my neighborhood yelling Carm's name and Skee Weeing all over the place still no Carm. After looking for her for 2 hours I went back to my apartment, to see a Facebook message from her stating the taxi driver got lost and her phone has switched over to Vonage as well so she just went back home before the subways stopped running. THANK THE LORD she was safe is all I kept saying! I then sent Carm an email with directions to my apartment as well as Hanna's home and cell phone number. The next day I decided to go shopping for some necessities for my apartment, and when I was walking back up the street to my place I was thinking "hey there is another black girl" YAY it was Carm! I was sooooo excited lol. So Carm helped me get everything I needed and we went to dinner. So yes it was a crazy weekend, next weekend we are going to explore my city and see what going here. I am told this is lil America number 2 lol, I sure couldn't tell!

Monday was my 1st day of school/work. I got to school and took my shoes off and had my slippers on and was ready to go. In Korea you take your shoes off when entering a home, school and even some restaurants. No messing up yo granny carpet here lol. I went to my classroom, where I met my co teacher Sujiin and was told to take it easy today. So one of the 1st things I notice was how COLD it is in the school. I asked Sujiin how to turn the heat on in the classroom and she said "Ohhh heat no working", the kids have their coats on and all. So after doing nothing all morning it was lunch time. We went to a place "in the mountains" for lunch with some other teachers. After the deathly terrifying ride there on unlawfully narrow roads we made it up the mountain. My life flashed before my eyes at least 3 times. The road was just barely big enough for one car and it was a 2 way road I was so scared. And you guessed right the man driving was acting like it was the freeway up this mountain, we almost hit like 2 cars and three people. Everyone was in the car just chilling, like ohhh its cool we almost killed 6 people, no biggie, I had to just close my eyes and pretend it was a Kennywood ride. We get to the restaurant, take our shoes off, and go sit down. Now as you all know I am not a short woman, and in some restaurants here they sit on the floor Indian style with a mat. I just have one question for you all, when was the last time you sat Indian style anywhere???????? It takes a lot to get down there and even more to get up, I felt old! Then this was Sujiin and my convo before lunch.

Sujiin: " We are going to have dug for luncho"

Me: "What?!? We are gonna have dog for lunch?"

Sujiin: "Yes dug!"

Me: " Like woof woof dog?????"

Sujiin: "Oh no woof woof, quack quack dug"

Me:" Oh you mean Duck? Quack Quack duck"

Sujiin : " Yes quack, quack Ducku"

Me:" Oh good duck! Quack quack not woof woof right?"

Sujiin: "Yes"

Lunch was good I struggled with my chop sticks as usual, I sure hope I get the hang of those soon. Then we went back to the school. Before I go I have some more things I have noticed about Korea and Koreans:

1. They LOVE to line dance! Cha Cha Slide and Cupid Shuffle ohhh they gets DOWN!

2. Nike makes big bucks here! They keep their Air Force ones so crispy! They LOVE Jorands too! They will take a wet napkin and clean their shoes in a heartbeat.

3. They drive so reckless, the speed limit for a school zone is 30mph! Watch out for the kiddies.

4.They LOVE to drink! and to get DRUNK!

5. They have Koreans teaching English that cant speak English lol PRICELESS

6. Teachers are encouraged to hit the kids if they are cutting up in class.

7. The students call you " Tasha Teacher"8. All the kids play pc games that have something to do with death, killing, or zombies, it normal here.

Still Seoul Searching...