FIRST WEEK IN KOREA

My first week in Korea went really well. Of course I was pretty tired and jetlagged, but didn't have any major problems (except being a bit spaced out).
I spent the first few nights in my motel (love hotel) and then moved into an apartment here in Gangnam, quite near my place of work.
The apartment is small, but nice and new although it's quite empty except the TV, refridgerator, washing machine and bed. But I'm slowly accumulating stuff and as the mess on the floor grows it's starting to feel more homey.
As for work, it's been great. There are a lot of Christians working and studying at my institute so everyone is really nice and friendly.
The company I work for is called JungChul and they have many branches all over South Korea, but I am working for a new branch called JungChul Advanced which is aimed at the higher level students. There are four Canadians, one American and myself teaching here. Our boss is Korean and very nice, which is a big relief since I had heard some horror stories about Korean employers.I teach two classes; Intra-Office Communications and Current Issues Discussion. Both are very high level business English and my students abilities (but not mine) reflect this. Currently class sizes are quite small (one, two or three students), but they will expand in future I think. This department has only been open three months.
It's great being in such a new place. The classrooms are awesome. We have all new comfy furniture, computers and big plasma TVs. And the receptionists give us tons of supplies that are bright-coloured and shiney and they help us with any requests. It's a far cry from the institute I taught at in Peru where I had to battle for a new marker if it ran out before the end of the month.I like my students a lot, though sometimes feel a little incompetent when we are discussing things like the US elections. News, politics and current affairs have never been strong points of mine since I'm not overly interested, but here I just have to force myself to watch the news everyday and stuff like that.
I guess our courses are expensive compared to others in Seoul and most of our clients seem to be from wealthy or high positioned backgrounds. Nevertheless they are all very pleasant and helpful especially when I have questions about Korean life and customs.My days alternate so that I teach one subject (eg. Current Issues) one day, and the other (eg. Intra-Office Communication) the next. I start work at 1pm, teach three two-hour classes and go home at 9pm. 6 - 7 is dinner time and I usually get cheap takeaway Korean food. And a couple of times a week I partake in Lounge Hour from one to two. This involves sitting in our lounge and chatting with anyone that comes along (usually quite a lot of students/prospective students).
I like it a lot so far, with the only negative thing being lack of holidays. I basically have none. I get public holidays of course and each month one or two days between courses, but they don't necessarily creat long weekends. So it's going to be quite differet from the months vacation I took every Christmas in Japan. But I've just had an eight month vacation around South America so I'm ready to work.

Photos are from my employer. They show a typical classroom, the comfy lounge and reception area. I'll get better snaps up when I finally get a camera.