Jinju

In November, 2012 we found out that the next place in Korea we would be moving to was Jinju. Evan's reply, "NO!!!! Anywhere but there!" See... we had been into Jinju a few times, but driving in Jinju was crazy! We had been to a festival in Jinju and it was hectic.... people everywhere! And if there are two things Evan hates... it's lots of people and having a hard time getting places when driving.

Well... we braved it, and moved back to Korea. Our first month or so was spent mostly getting ourselves sorted, moved into our apartment and me getting used to my commute (25-30min drive each way) to work every day.

In February of 2013, we decided that we would help out in a local charity fundraiser - The Vagina Monologues. This was a first for both Evan and I, so we had no idea what we were getting into, but we were soon happy that we had. We made LOTS of new friends, and life in Jinju became fun and interesting.

We made many good friends in the charity work, that once it was over, we kept ourselves busy with these people. They were a true blessing.

We had also started going to church again. For this, we were thankful. We had found a place, after 3 years of not being in church, to worship with others, and we were feeling a lot happier in ourselves.

Jinju Church, in Bongnaedong is a great place to go. We attend the English service every Sunday, and the pastor and his wife have helped us a lot with our everyday lives in Jinju.

I have enjoyed the ease of access to supermarkets, stores and coffee shops, not to mention many wonderful restaurants and knick-knack stores around. They are all so much fun to explore, and there is so much that we haven't even gotten to yet.

I think I'll leave this one here, and write more on my schools, the do's and don't's I've found along the way, the church, and many other things in later posts.

Arriving in Korea

Korea... where to start?

I moved to South Korea in 2009. I didn't speak any Korean, and wasn't sure really what I was getting myself into.

I moved to a small town by the name of Uiryeong (의령) and I was to be working at Uiryeong Girls' Middle School (의령여자중학교). This is all I knew of the area and the school. I was a little nervous but happy to be starting a new adventure.

When I got to Uiryeong, I was a little shocked by what I found. The town was TINY! I was in for an interesting year. I wasn't sure if there were any other foreigners in the town, nor was I sure what to make of the place. My co-teacher had taken me to the school, introduced me to the principal, vice-principal and head-teacher and then taken me to my apartment where I was going to be living. I remember sitting in this one room, thinking "Oh my God! What have I done?" but that feeling soon went away.

I met the other foreigners in the town and soon settled into a nice rhythm of Work, Playing badminton/basketball, walking around the town and learning Korean. I was shown the bus schedule and how to get a bus to the city and many other things by the wonderful new friends I had made.

This was to be the beginning of my journey. Now, I can't tell you everything that happened, as you'd be reading for hours and hours on end. But here's a few highlights of my time in Uiryeong:

June 13, 2009: Arrive in Uiryeong, South Korea

June 14, 2009: Starting working at Uiryeong Girls' Middle School.

September 2009: Say goodbye to one of my new friends (he returned to USA)

December 25, 2009: Celebrate Christmas with foreigners in Uiryeong

December 26 2009: Fly to MS, USA to meet Evan and help him pack to move to Korea with me.

January 8 2010: Evan moves into my apartment in Uiryeong

March 2010: Say goodbye to one of my new friends (she moved elsewhere in Korea)

                    Met a new friend (she'd come from South Africa)

June 14 2010: Re-sign contract for a 2nd year

July 24, 2010 Evan and I get married in New Zealand

October 2010 We met a new friend (from Scotland)

December 2010 We met 2 new friends who lived just out of Uiryeong, one of whom moved into Uiryeong to be closer to other foreigners

March 2011 Say goodbye to SA friend as she moved elsewhere in Korea

              

May 2011 Met another SA friend

June 14, 2011 Re-sign contract for a 3rd year in Uiryeong

October 2011 Say goodbye to Scottish friend as he moved elsewhere in Korea

                      Met yet another SA friend

June 13,2012 We say goodbye to Uiryeong Girls' Middle School, our friends in Uiryeong and many other people we had met, and we move to New Zealand for a short time.

At this point I think it's best to end this post (If I can figure out how to, and start the next part of our Korea journey a new)