This one goes out to the tweens in Morning Mart who helped me get here.

I'm writing to you all from a PC pong (much like an internet cafe' but filled with teenage boys playing Starcraft), so I'll try to keep this short.

I'm settling down in Ulsan nicely. It's good to finally be here, and despite the immense language barrier, it already feels like home a little. Here are some highlights:

YAKSA ELEMENTARY SCHOOL

I had my first day at Yaksa yesterday and really believe it is the perfect place for me (although I haven't started teaching yet, so we'll see if my opinion changes!). It's a nice facility with an English lab, friendly staff, and a sense of togetherness I already enjoy. The staff even has weekly PE, playing volleyball and badmitton-- my personal faves. To celebrate my arrival yesterday, the principal and staff took me out for lunch. Listening to them speak was a major incentive to learn more Korean and practice it with them, but for now I'm content with being a little more subdued. It's probably for the best, anyway. I will be teaching classes with 2 different co-teachers and working with a third teacher occasionally (in the English department) so I have lots of support here. From what I can tell so far my co-teachers seem very nice and are invested in making sure I have a smooth transition here. Instead of teaching children in afterschool classes, I will be teaching teachers, which is something I hadn't even considered. All in all, I'm looking forward to starting school next week.

THE APARTMENT

My apartment couldn't be more perfect for me. It's brand new, with a tv, air conditioner, washing machine, sliding doors, and adorable sparkly wallpaper. It has a kitchen, bathroom, living/bed room and laundry room. I couldn't be more pleased. The only hitch is that there isn't any furniture yet, so I've been sleeping on the floor for the past few nights (those of you who remember the airport incident a couple weeks ago are probably laughing now). It's ironic, but at this point I don't even mind, and when the principal found out he became so worried for me that he let me leave early with the English teacher to go shopping for more house supplies and had the admin staff from Yaksa bring me a comforter that afternoon. This is definitely the very caring culture I have learned about.

EVERYTHING ELSE

From just a few walks, I can tell there's good food right by my house, a major department store, and many other accessible things like this PC pong and karaeoke. My mind is truly still in a whirlwind right now, but overall I'm happy and excited to learn more about life in Korea. In fact, I have to go now. It's time to explore.

Be well, and be loved-
Laura