My first thoughts...

I'll admit that my first thoughts were negative. I pictured me balancing a vase or basket on my head while trudging up a hill to our humble little grass hut. I know, it's very naive, but after living a very sheltered 24 years, I couldn't help it. After doing some research we found that we'll most likely be in the large city of Seoul, if not very near to it and all teaching contracts come with a rent-paid, furnished apartment. Really. Seoul is very contemporary and largely reflects Western culture. Transportation is super convenient and efficient and, thankfully, super cheap.

However, I'm still a little freaked out and would like to avoid the following:

Dog meat dishes- or anything other than beef, chicken or pork
Dance Dance Revolution
techno music
the city water- we hear it's HORRIBLE
Visa runs to Japan
bad Hagwons- schools with crooked owners
running out of deodorant- apparently Koreans don't sweat like us Westerners. Wha???

On the other hand, here's what I'm looking forward to:

shopping :)
being millionaires in Won
trying kimchi- it's a staple to Korean meals
hiking
being a stay at home wife
care packages from home

You can only imagine all the info we are reading about living and teaching in Korea. You never know what is truly legitimate and because of that, most of my questions and uncertainties will remain so until we arrive. For now, we're trying to find the most credible and repetitive information on the web and at will use it as a basic guide. Also, we want to be as prepared in advance as possible before leaving and I'm doing tons of research on what to bring. Like a years supply of deodorant.

Katie