First update

So it's currently 10pm on a Thursday evening on night 4 of this year long adventure to Jinju, South Korea and I am currently without internet in my box of an apartment.  Luckily there is a coffee house not to far away that looks like something that was transported out of the West Village that has free wireless as well as some soothing Louis Armstrong (although it is about 600 degrees in here).

I will use this space to update all of you with what is going on over here instead of sending out e-mail after e-mail saying the same thing to everyone.  I'll try and update frequently (for those of you that actually are going to continue reading this) with all the happenings.  As I get more access to the internet in my apartment I will add pictures and other things that you guys really want to see and less of me rambling but for the first entry it'll be graphicless.

Adjusting to a new life halfway around the world is both exciting and completely overwhelming at the same time.  There are times I have felt completely lost yet there are times like right now that feels eerily very Manhattanish and like home.  Of course Jinju is nothing like home.  Take out the McDonalds, Dunkin Donuts, Outback Stakehouse and Dominoes (no plain pies though) and it is nothing like home.  The city is active until all hours of the night and it's like no kids have any curfews or responsibilities at all.  It's like Fridays and the Movies in middle school just every night.  Kids walk around all day in their school uniforms even though I can't seem to ever tell when they go to school (I swear this place is Weber's porn collection come to life with all the Asian school girls).  It really is mind-blowing but just one of the overt differences between our cultures.

My apartment is extremely small.  There is a stove in the kitchen with a sink and that's about all.  The bathroom has a showerhead but no actual shower so I had to tape it to the wall and create a shower space (picture will follow about how the construction of the bathroom has the toilet unable to shut fully).  Single bed with a pretty hard mattress but that seems to be customary.  College sized refrigerator was included.  Luxurious it is not but I have never been one that needs a lot of space.

The school I am teaching at is a start-up school actually.  The school SLP (Suwon Language Program) is a chain throughout Korea and are just opening up the Jinju school so I am here for the beginning of it.  The school is extremely nice looking and has all the makings of something that will be real good but I will elaborate as I learn more myself.  My boss today, Mr. Jeong (very Bond villain sounding) told me that Shin-Soo Choo of the Indians is a national hero and he is a Red Sox fan.  After not quitting right on the spot he told me that he doesn't like Derek Jeter and Chan Ho Park is great.  My resume is en route to other schools in the area as we speak.

The other American at my school, Grace, is very nice and we have gotten along great these past few days which is good cause we have yet to find another foreigner in this city even though we know they exist.  We actually found a Thanksgiving dinner going on at the English speaking church here on Sunday night (one of the biggest in the country actually) which hopefully will open up some connections.  I also hope it will be as non-denominational as possible for all the obvious reasons.  But I do hope there will be some foreigners there so we can start making some more friends here.

So I'll end this now.  A Happy Thanksgiving to all at home as Thursday is approaching the end for me and it's just starting over there.  I'll check in in a few days, if not sooner since I really like this coffee shop.  Now all I have to do is start drinking coffee.