I'll be starting Korean language classes next week on Wednesday at Korean Language Academy in Gangnam, Seoul. I'm going 3 times a week, Monday, Wednesday and Friday. I had planned on only going twice a week but my level class doesn't meet twice a week at the Gangnam location, only at the Jongno location, which is too far for me.
I visited the place last week and sat in on a lower level class. It seemed good, but we'll see.
Friday, March 28, 2014
New city, new job
March 6th I moved to a new apartment in Yongin and started working at a middle school the next day. So far I like middle school much better than elementary school. I'm teaching 1st and 2nd grades of middle school, which correspond to 7th and 8th grades in the US. Classes here are pretty big, around 36-39 students per class. There are 11 1st grade and 11 2nd grade classes that I see once a week, so I teach a total of at least 792 different students each week. I also have a 90 minute after school class I teach on Mondays.
Yongin is a pretty large city, but I'm living in the more rural southern end of it. Still it's only about an hour to get to Seoul by bus.
Below are pics of my school, apartment and neighborhood:
Desk at school:
English classroom. I teach all of my classes here.
English classroom:
P.E. class. The weather is getting nice:
School:
On the way to school. It's about a 15 minute walk.
Foggy morning:
Going home:
My home:
Dunjeon Station on the Yongin Everline. It's just a few minutes from my place, but not a very fast way to get to Seoul. The bus is faster. It's better for getting to other places in Yongin, Suwon, or Seongnam.
Little trains on the Everline:
Random stuff near my home:
Monday, March 24, 2014
immigration
Friday March 14th I went to the Suwon Immigration Office to renew my visa. Different areas are served by different offices, so we don't have a choice about which office we go to. Because I live in Yongin now I had to go to the Suwon office. I went here once before in 2012 when I lived in Pyeongtaek. It was a terrible experience. I was there literally the whole working day. In 2010 and 2013 I went to different immigration offices and it wasn't bad at all. I was hoping this year would be ok, but it was just as bad as 2012. I got there around 11:30, and my ticket number was 490, with 371 people ahead of me. I wanted to go there right away in the morning, but I was told I must come to school first so I can be marked as "leaving early" rather than taking a whole day off. The whole thing took more than 7 hours. This time wasn't as bad as last time cause I spent a lot of time at McDonalds and a cafe. I found out too late, that you are able to make appointments online. I'll do that next year if I'm still here.
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