Hey everyone,

Sorry its been a week since I posted but the last seven days have been full on. We had a medical check up on Saturday and thankfully I didn't faint when they took blood - in fact it didn't hurt much at all which surprised me. After that we began 13 one and a half hour lectures over four days, plus three lots of beginner Korean lessons too. The lecturers were really good and I got lots and lots of new ideas to implement in teaching. We learned everything from how to do co-teaching to how to make after school classes, how to do classroom management to the intricacies of the Korean education system. Unlike the UK, Korea has three levels of schooling instead of two - elementary school, middle school and then high school. I'm not sure exactly what the ages are yet (especially as Korean's also have a different age to everyone else as they are considered 1 from the moment they are born) but will explain more when I do. I will be teaching at both an elementary and a middle school.

Monday was a great day as it was a trip out to Jeonju. Jeonju was a major city in Korea historically and it has some really good cultural aspects. We first visited the Cultural Centre where we go to make Hanji paper. This was really good fun. Then we went to a restaurant and had Bibimbap. This is a lovely and colourful meal in which one puts rice in the bottom of a bowl, then puts lots of different types of vegetables on top in a circle and then some red pepper paste on top. It's then mixed and eaten. I put a bit too much pepper paste on mine so it was very spicy, but delicious all the same and definitely the best meal I've had in Korea so far. The afternoon was spent exploring the Hanok village. This consisted of lots of traditional style Korean architectural buildings and homes. It was very very busy though as the Korean schools were on holiday during all of February. There was also a big shrine complex called Gyeonggijeon which houses a portrait of a famous ruler. There was also a Korean catholic church which was built over the site of some martyrdoms.

Thursday was presentation day. We had to work in groups of three to present a 15 minute class on a given topic. Our topic was "What's this?" I was very nervous about it because we were getting assessed by the other teachers and the lecturers too. It went ok and the feedback we received will be very helpful. I must remember - clearer instructions and simpler activities. And to relax lol! We were lucky to go first because that meant I could relax for most of the day afterwards. There was a closing ceremony and a lovely buffet dinner to end and then it was time to go out for a drink. We had been visiting a local bar with cheap drink prices (2,500 won i.e. $2.5 for a beer) most of the week but decided to go downtown. 330 foreigners descended on one little bar called Ho-Bar. Drinks were expensive but the music was good. We all needed a drink after spending many hours preparing and practicing for the 15 minute presentation.

This morning we said our goodbye's and headed to our new cities. It was a 4 hour bus ride from Daejeon to Ulsan but the scenery was lovely - once the trees get their leaves I think Korea will be one of the most beautiful places I've ever seen. Most of the country is mountains and forests and that makes for some wonderful scenery. We arrived at the Ulsan stadium at 1pm and I was picked up by a Korean teacher called John. He took me to the elementary school I will be teaching in, showed me around and I met my new co-teacher (In Korea the foreign teacher co-teaches with a korean teacher in the class too). After meeting the principal (where I managed to muck up my introduction due to being very nervous again), we then headed to my new flat. It's a really nice place. I knew beforehand to expect a very small place and compared to somewhere in the UK it would be considered small, but it's actually bigger than many flats here. It has most of the stuff I need and they bought me a new vacuum and toaster oven. It already came with bed, desk, wardrobe, Tv, sofa, internet, , microwave, kettle, fridge-freezer and so on. I just had to buy myself a new iron. The person who was here before me, Alexa, has been very kind and left me lots of things I might need - from maps to bedding, cleaning supplies to food. And she told me all about the place so I'm very grateful for that. John and my co-teacher took me around town and showed me where to find things which is very useful. There is even a domino's pizza place at the end of my road. Most importantly, there is internet here from day one! I'm very very happy with this flat. I am not actually in Ulsan itself but rather in a small town nearby called Eonyang. I think its about the size of Paignton which is nice. It's right on the Korean KTX (high speed line) too so travelling around the country will be quick and easy.

Tonight I'm going to relax and watch season 3 of House of Cards, tomorrow I'll explore and Monday I begin my new teaching job. Exciting!