First days

It's been eight days since I've come here and one week since I started teaching. Jangyou is a suburb of Gimhae, roughly half an hour away from Busan, which is Korea's second largest city. It is a relitively small city surrounded by mountains.  So far the people have been kind and patient, and of course, curious. There are definitely prolonged looks and stares, but thankfully so far they've been followed by smiles.  More often than not if there are children around, they'll come right up to you and say "hello" and practice what little English they have. 
There are old Korean ladies sitting on sidewalks selling anything from fresh fruits and veggies, tofu, kimchi, or sea food. Everything's fresh and cheap. It gives the city character, its own identity and flavour. The street food is cheap and delicious.  I can't help but think how amazing Toronto could be with all its diverse culture if they eased up on all the permits. 

From what I've gathered so far it seems Koreans are hard working, focused, and a motivated people. This is most evident in the life of a typical student. Kids here go to several schools. Their regular school followed by a series of other private schools like English classes, math academies and etc.... During some of my conversation classes I try to get them talking by asking them what they like to do outside of school for fun. In one class the majority of them said sleep, others said Nintendo. They barely have time to play or travel. One of my students said around exam time at some schools it's not uncommon for them to be in school studying til 2am. These aren't university kids pulling all-nighters for exams and papers, these are over worked middle school children. In class they're mostly polite and do their work, but when they don't it's hard to get too mad at them. They really don't have an outlet for their energy so it's understandable if they get a little hyper in class, or on the flip side, if they fall asleep. 

There's a decent size foreigner community of English teachers here. There are local hang outs and regular get togethers.  These are all people who've signed up for an adventure and left their comfort zones so it's not too difficult to find at least some commonalities with them.  I've been lucky so far and have two other great English teachers working at my school. One great thing (among many) about traveling is you get to realize there are cool and interesting people no matter where you go, and you become exposed to new point of views. Next step is to become more familiarized with language and culture....to become a little bit more immersed.