Misc Korea: All in a month

View Busan and the Sea

I've almost reached my 1 month mark in South Korea and so it seemed time to write some about it. I really love my location in Busan. The city is surrounded by high mountains (plenty of hiking opportunities) and sits right on the water (lots of seafood to eat). I'm living on the edge of the city in an area called Hadan, but it is very close to my school and also on a subway line so it's very easy to go to the city center. However, there are tons of cafes, restaurants, a university and giant nature reserve right by my apartment so I can very easily stay around my own area as well. The apartment itself is quite small (pictures to come...) but it is just enough space for me. I think I have gotten very lucky in terms of my school. I am working at a very small private school (called Haugwans here) that has only been open about a year. They are very open to any ideas or suggestions I have and have been extremely welcoming to me. The three of the other teachers are Korean and one is from India. I have between four and six classes a day with the majority of my students being about 11 or 12 years old. They are very well behaved (for the most part) and I'm really enjoying teaching them. These past few days were Chuseuk (Korean Thanksgiving) so I only had two days of work all week. Besides work, I've done some exploring of the city and of my neighborhood. I went on a really amazing hike from Children's park in the city center up a mountain to the oldest Buddhist temple in Korea called Beomeosa. The pictures hardly capture how amazing this hike was. Well... that's my very, very brief summary of the past few weeks here and I will try to keep this updated a few times each month.