So yesterday one of my co-workers took me to Seoul for my first real experience of the city. We had planned to go to the War Memorial of Korea, Seoul Tower, Gyeongbokgung Palace, then Itaewon (a foreigner area) later to have drinks. 

The ride to Seoul was about an hour. Luckily we were on an express bus that went straight there. Our first stop was to the War Memorial of Korea. The War Memorial was free to go to which makes it a great place to visit but also you get to learn more about the Korean War. It was very interesting to see how big Korea used to be, compared to what it is now. Also, you get to see really old weapons and military equipment they used. There are 8 main exhibits to see, so I would advise planning to be here for 3 hours. I was here for 2 hours and did not finish.

I've been teacher for about a day now, which has been a little scary. I like working with kids and all but I never really saw myself as a teacher. I'm actually starting to like it. The first couple of days will be a little rough because I will be nervous but I think I will definitely get better! This is what my classroom looks like....

Well it's been a hell of a week. Also, such a busy weekend. I haven't had a lot of time to myself. So today I just took the day to relax. I decided to get to know my neighborhood a bit better, what better way then taking a walk. Of course I can't go too far or i'll get lost. 

I decided to go grab some coffee and just walk around. There's a coffee shop on EVERY corner here. Coffee is also NOT cheap. I'm so used to going to Tim Horton's or McDonald's and getting good coffee for $1 and change but here its equivalent to $5. I know right! Expensive!

Today is Valentine's Day! But, I spent the day doing 3 mocks and 2 quizzes. All this to pass training at go to my school. It was a lot easier than I thought it would be. Of course I passed! Yay! Off to my school in Hwaseong! These are some pictures of the drive from Seoul to Hwaseong......

After about an hour I finally arrived at my school! I love the scenery here, so mountainous. Lots of reasons to snap pictures. I am so anxious but excited to be at my school. Can't wait to start this new journey half way across the world...alone....Can't wait to meet the other teacher, the students, my own apartment.....YAY! 

So training has started :( Goodbye to my sleep! I am still jet lagged and have to go to training for 11 45 am. I know this sounds like not a big deal but it is! The first day of training we were taken by bus, after that we have to take the subway......
Well a 20-30 min subway ride took us 1 hour and 30 min. The subway made sense, we just didn't know how to find the subway we needed to transfer on to who confused us. Thank god for locals who didn't even speak English but took us to where we needed to go! The people here are too nice! But this is the Seoul subway map....It looks a mess!

The next morning I woke up hungry. The only place I knew how to get to with out getting lost was the restaurant in my hotel called "hit the spot". So I went there alone to have breakfast. It was good but kind of expensive. I paid 17,000 won for an omelet with home fries, bacon, sausage, salad, bread and coffee. At Denny's in North america it's like $8. But I can't complain because I didn't want to get lost.

So I finally got all my paperwork together in order to leave for Korea. Yay me! I'm actually happy I decided to do this after all. I dropped everything to come to a country where I know no one and no one knows me.....But i'm so excited to see Asia and travel! And work of course. I am one of those people who don't mind being alone which is why this job will work for me. I love adventure, I thrive off of doing new things. For my flight I have 2 layovers....I hate layovers! The first one is in Chicago, the second was is in Tokyo. 

This was the worst experience I have ever had while flying! My planes all took off late which caused me to get to Korea late. On my American Airlines flight the food was disgusting lasagna that tasted like hospital food. Thank god I had the seat next to me empty. I took a few naps here and there but i didn't get a really good one. I can't sleep on planes. American Airlines has the worst movie and tv show selection I have ever seen, never flying across the world with this airline again! On the bright side here are some pictures of what I got to see in the sky! The Rocky Mountains in BC!