Gianni's Daegu Experience

My first day in Daegu went off pretty smoothly. I was a little nervous about going to the immigration office on the subway, but my co-teacher knew the way and we made it just fine. The subway was interesting. It took quite a long time to get there but the cars were clean and cell phones and wifi worked down there as well. My co-teacher is very nice, she hasn't told me her first name because it is apparently hard to pronounce but her last name is ban. The school isn't too big. I think around 500 students, although I'm not exactly sure. Its only around five or ten minutes from my apartment too. My apartment is very nice. I'ts two big rooms with a pretty large bathroom. I sleep in the first room which seems to double as a bedroom and living room. There is an airconditioner, a washer, a fridge, and lots of pots and pans that the previous person left.I think she must have left unexpedtedly or something like that because i also noticed a lot of books and mugs and even her sun glasses. One of the books is the Epik orientation book and from the date on the cover it looks like she has only been here since February. The internet is not turned on yet because I need a bank account first. I have a piece of paper from the immigration office tht basically says I already applied and that the card should be coming soon. I'm under the impression I can use this to set up a bank account and get a Korean cell phone. Anyway back to the apartment. The apartment is on the first floor of a two story building. It seems pretty small and the door from the street opens directly into my room. Its in an area with lots of other small apartment buildings and seems to be kind of close to the high way. Abbi lives a little farther away in the more downtown area of southern daegu, which I know isn't actually downtown but it looks a lot more metropolitan than my area. It takes roughly twenty to thirty minutes to walk from my apartment to hers, however there is a bus that makes it take much less time. The bus goes from my school to the subway station nearest abbi's house. My co-teacher wasn't sure which bus goes from abbi's apartment to mine, but she said we'd figure it out today. 
 Her apartment is right across from a Home Plus, which is like a giant grocery/everything store. Her apartment is a little different than mine, although she still lives in a pretty small building. Her bedroom/living room is about twice the size of mine, allowing for a couch and several pretty big cabinets. Her kitchen is only a third of the size of mine and her bathroom is a whole lot smaller and definitely not as nice as mine. We had a problem with flushing her toiltet last night, but it seems to be fixed now. So last night after I got settled in my apartment I walked up to my school and took the bus to abbi's house. We got some stuff she needed at home plus and then met up with an Irish guy  who teaches at her school. He showed us around the area and took us to a really amazing Korean BBQ place. We had pork that is grilled and then put into pieces of lettuce with other vegetable side dishes on the table. It was really good. All I have to do for the next few days is show up. My co-teacher told me that I'd probably start teaching on either Friday or Monday, but she wasn't sure. The office seemed kind of busy yesterday when I came in and the head teacher said she'd explain everything to me today. I haven' seen her yet though. I was told to get here at 8:20, and I showed up a little early. My co-teacher says that Korean teachers mainly lecture students in Korean about English, and that I am expected to do activities and play games. I think that I will make a powerpoint today introducing myself and giving the students some information about where I'm from. Teachers apparently have to teach till 420 or so every day, and must stay even if they don't have class. I've heard that you're even supposed to come in if you're sick and just sleep at your desk. If you didn't go to the hospital, which basically just means go to the doctors here, then you should be at work. We're going to a trivia night that the Irish guy who teaches at Abbi's school is hosting, so we should be walking around an area with lots of free wifi. I'll try to call then.