August 2, 2011

The moment we've all been waiting for...

Where I've been placed!! I will be in Cheongju which my mother has kindly researched for me because I am too lazy to do much research. why? I have no idea since I'll be living there for a year you would figure I would want to know what there is to do however... I guess that's just not the way I fly. I do have some fun facts about it from conversations with people past.

Fun Facts!
1. My school!!!
My school's name is Namseong Elementary School it is a public, co-ed school and the website address is http://namseong-cb.es.kr/ feel free to visit it then let me know what's on there.
I will be teaching grades 3, 4, 5, and 6 along with an extra club class which is actually more of an "advanced class". I will be at school for 5-6 hours a day and teach 18-20 classes a week. I will have around 600 students altogether. We'll see how well I remember their names... There is a mandatory national textbook that I will have to follow but Jenna (who was there before me) told us that she used it minimally. My school is an English research school with AMAZING resources except that when people come to film there they tend to put on a show... awkward. My daily attire will be business casual (a polo and khakis so the sheet says) and I will have to wear sandals.
I actually visited this school already and Jenna and I are pretty much the exact same person. It's weird... haha but funny. I probably have one of the best elementary schools so I'm really happy about that. Also, Jenna tells me that there is a lot of competition to host the English teacher every year which probably means I will get a sweet awesome living arrangement.

2. Cheongju
As Monica emailed me "Chungju Lake is the country's biggest multi-purpose dam that links together Chungju and its neighborhoods. It is a manmade lake with a vast body of water. Woraksan Mt and Songnae valley are located nearby. Additionally, this area has cherished cave area/springs.[3]In 2013 it will host the 2013 World Rowing Championships." I guess I'll never be able to get away from rowing... cool.
Cheongju is also the home of 4 Universities which means there will be lots of people my age, there is a fortress wall that you can hike around and Korean classes are offered and some of the Universities. There are also a lot of good gyms and a mountain right outside of the city. It's considered to be suburban however it is a big city. Just not as big as Seoul... duh. It is also an hour away from where I am right now and 1 hour away from Seoul. I will be 40 minutes away from Leslie, 1.5 hours away from Lucy, 40 minutes by plane from Liza (she got Jeju!) and 2 hours away from Paddy and Jake (mom, dad and the strikes met Paddy).

Feel free to leave comments about other reasons why Cheongju is awesome!

3 comments:

  1. Ooh, ooh, I know! Cheongju has about 250,000 people, so it's pretty big. Big enough for a Dunkin Donuts, I hope. I'll bet there is train or bus service right to Seoul. It's an apple growing region. And holds the world martial arts festival each year. So that means there will be plentiful hotels. And it's not far from the airport, either. There seems to be a prison down the road from your school. Do Koreans break the law? How did you visit this school already? And why is Jenna still there? Glad you will be close to your friends, and glad one of your friends will be in Jeju... you can visit!

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  2. Wow. Monica, you are good at asking questions. The first thing I noticed is the fact that both Cheongju and Harbor Beach have a large body of water closed in by a man made wall. But... I think perhaps I am just looking forward to NEXT WEEK!

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  3. Cheonhju will be more awesome because Clare will be there. Sounds like you may have found a perfect spot.

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