Yesterday morning started with Mrs. W letting me know that I'll be getting a roommate sooner than expected! I'll have someone moving in on Sunday, so I've spent the last couple of days trying to consolidate the unpacking that exploded after my shipment arrived :P At this point the apartment is in pretty good shape, although I haven't hung anything up on my walls yet. EB said no sticky methods she used were working, probably because of the humidity, so I'm going to wait a bit to try. Slash, I'm awful at decorating so I might never get around to it. My darling roommate SC can attest to the fact that unless she contributed, my decorating made it about three-quarters of the way before I gave up!
Anywho. We started out the day with a discussion of MBTI (Myers-Briggs Typology Indicator), which was GREAT! I absolutely love MBTI; not only was I a psychology major, my dad is really into it as well, so it led to many dinner table conversations. I'm an ESFJ/ISFJ, which for those who don't know is Extroverted/Introverted, Sensing, Feeling, Juding. My extroverted/introverted tendencies vary based on social preferences vs. idea processing preferences! I volunteered for a demonstration for iNtuitive/Sensing and did exactly what Mr. M wanted -- described an apple in very scientific, specific terms. It was wonderful to start to develop a common vocabulary! After that we had a presentation on the school's interactions with Songdo, Incheon, and South Korea as a whole, which was absolutely fascinating.
After a quick break (yum, mini croissants!) we had breakouts with our divisions, and we talked about the school's philosophy and the International Baccalaureate's Primary Years Programme. After lunch (bibimbap, YUM -- I think that's my favourite Korean dish so far) we got a chance to look at our grade level's yearlong plans. Each grade does six yearlong units, each dealing with one broad essential question. I'm excited to meet my co-teacher tomorrow and start to dig into planning our first unit on who we are! HY and I also wandered the campus a bit and found these gems in the lower school library...
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| SO COZY |
We had some free time to be in our classrooms (or in this intern's case, chat with KR in the staff planning room), we had a presentation from the headmaster, then a really cool segment on the school's way. Mr. P, the presenter, had us split into seven teams and gave us each one topic and essential question to consider. We had 15 minutes to research in our teams of 3-5 people and come up with a 2 minute presentation! My team was talking about the school's founder, while others presented on our sister campus' past and present, our past and present, the future, and a summary of what everyone else had to say! Really fun and really interesting activity.
After school, one of the administrators led a trip to the farmer's market at the Incheon Bus Terminal. I took the subway for the first time (slowly building toward feeling confident enough to tackle public trans on my own!) and it was a GREAT market. The vibe really reminded me of the shuk in Jerusalem, although the offerings were more limited. Everything was at least a third of the price you find in the supermarket! I got most of what you see below for 10,000 won (about $10 USD), other than the 2 kilos of garlic (SO MUCH) which was 14,000 won.
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| Already used the big onion, all the bell peppers, and a third of the tomatoes! I LOVE cooking :) |
I came home and made one of my favourite pasta dishes, a one-pot wonder. I didn't have any fresh basil (still looking for fresh herbs, hmmm) or cheese or salt. It was much better when I warmed it up tonight with a handful of parmesan-romano and a pinch of salt! However, working with veggies did give me the chance to start stockpiling my veggie scraps to make some vegetable stock soon :) I also pureed and froze some of my garlic in ice cube trays for later use, although it's barely making a dent! Contemplating making garlic soup this weekend...any other suggestions for using up a LOT of garlic fast?? Or any recipe recommendations really!
Today was probably my favourite day of orientation overall. We started out with a continuation of yesterday's MBTI presentation, so of course I was jazzed. Then we had a presentation on our insurance...not the most thrilling part of the day, I must admit XD After a break (today, chocolate chip scones!) we had a discussion of Korean culture and school life, which was great. We wrapped up the morning with a conversation with a representative from IFEZ (Incheon Free Economic Zone) and the services they provide for ex-pats. They include free (!!!) Korean language classes and translation services!
We headed downstairs and scarfed down lunch before many of us headed off to Costco. I had visited Costco once before with my high school boyfriend's family, but never as someone actively shopping. I was so overwhelmed! EB and I walked around together and wound up splitting a bunch of things, especially perishables we couldn't finish before they spoiled. Overall I made out pretty well, although as EB and I discussed on the bus back, it'll be great once we've gotten the bulk of our settling-in shopping done so that we won't have to make so many big trips. We came up to my apartment and divvied up our shared purchases, then I put away my groceries and froze some more garlic -- still SO MUCH left!
In other news, it continues to be MAD hot here. Well, not really that hot, but wicked humid. Stepping outside feels like your entire body is getting smacked by a warm, damp towel. Pleasant. Counting the days to September, which is supposed to be absolutely BEAUTIFUL here in South Korea!
Finally, a quick announcement! I love getting mail, and I'm sure you do too. If you're interested in a postcard from South Korea (once I do some actual sightseeing, maybe), e-mail or message me your address! I'd love to hear from you as well, so you can feel free to send your fanmail to:
Grace Hudkins
307-602 Well County Complex 3
Songdo-dong, Yeonsu-gu, Incheon, South Korea 406-733
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Currently reading: I'm a few pages into The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao
Current high: great chats with EB on the bus back from Costco today!
Current low: too hot to functionnnn
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