When I first arrived in Korea I had no expectations. Even though I'm a Korean American, I had never been to Korea, and sadly, I didn't know that much about my culture either. I decided to come and teach in Korea because it blended two things I love, travel, and adventure. Being an English major guided me into thinking that teaching could be a career path for me. Everything was fair game to me here. I wanted to take everything in and learn whatever I could.

My new job required a week of training before getting placed to different branches around Seoul. As soon as I arrived from the airport I checked into the hotel designated by the company. Each training day lasted for about 6 hours. It was unpaid, the beginning of winter, and unorganized because our group consisted of about 150 people. Our very first day all 150 of us were taken to a hospital to get our blood tests, x-rays, and physicals. That day remains to be one of my longest. Looking back I don't know how I managed to survive training and winter in Korea without getting sick.

After training we were assigned to our branches. I got placed all the way up to the northern part of Seoul, in Suraksan. The other trainees teased me, saying I was going to be living in North Korea. It's definitely different up here. The air is cleaner, it's less congested, and most of the people living here are either senior citizens or families. Outside my balcony are several mountains that look majestic during sunrise and sunset. These mountains attract bundles of hikers from all over Seoul. These hikers, geared up in their boots, backpacks, ICE PICKS, and bottles of soju or mokgoli, take their hiking seriously. The surprising common denominator is that they're all middle aged or older. A sprinkle of younger people go hiking, but most are strong willed and hard working older men and women. I got the sense that all those saturdays that my dad dragged me and my sister at 7 am to go hiking were simply the Korean-ness in him.

Moving into my officetel proved to be a story all in its own. I left the hotel where training was at 9am, arrived at my officetel by 11am, and had until 3pm to get it cleaned before going to work. The apartment was a MESS. Dust filmed the floors, a faint smell of pee permeated throughout the whole space, and the toilet was covered in all kinds of stains. Apparently, the person moving out does not have to clean the apartment, but the person moving in does, or at least hires a cleaning lady to do so. This last bit of information was never told to me by my ditzy real estate agent my company hired. So, on hands and knees, I cleaned off a corner of my new home with toilet paper, the only thing I brought with me that could be used for cleaning. After work, at around 10:30 pm, armed with cleaning supplies from the corner market, I scrubbed and bleached, and dusted everything I could. All together I spent about 6 hours cleaning and I still hadn't touched the fridge or cabinets. Overwhelming is the perfect word for my first two weeks in Seoul. It was like an initiation. When my new co-workers would ask about how I was doing I'd tell them my apartment ordeal, and they would smile and say they went through the exact same thing. I was told that if I could survive my first 3 months, I was here to stay.

It's my 10th month here and I'm proud that I lasted this long. Coming here with no expectations and then experiencing life outside of my little Californian bubble was like a huge slap in the face. As difficult as that first month was, I learned a lot about myself and what I'm capable of. I learned what most people learn when traveling, your weaknesses and strengths. But Korea has taught me more because it has given me an opportunity to experience a different way of life, and so far I'm appreciating all of it.