My New Daily Life

As I am sitting here contemplating what to write about in this blog post, I decided to upload a few pictures from the last couple days.  The pictures below of my new environment speak louder than I could in writing. 

Since arriving to my new home, I have had a chance to get to know the town and the other teachers at the school where I'm working.  Everyone has been extremely welcoming and helpful in teaching me how to do daily tasks (i.e. grocery shopping, opening a bank account, walking around town, saying thank you, etc.). 

These are the streets that are close by my apartment. 

This rock is outside my apartment building (it says Life Apartments, Songtan).  I live in Life Apartment Complex, where there are nine buildings.  Each building has about eight apartments on each floor; there are probably ten floors altogether.  Life Apartments is just one of many complexes in Songtan. 

Across the street from my apartment is a 7 Eleven! How funny, right?  This is a yummy honeydew melon popsicle! 

This is my bedroom! My desk is a mess and I have nothing on the walls yet...but it's a start! 

The keys on the left are to my apartment.  The white plastic piece with the flowers gets me into the front door of the building.  The keys on the right are to room 303 at ICS-Pyongtaek, my new classroom! 

 

About 100 meters from my front door is a playground that has free exercise equipment! This is my favorite thing about Korea because they are all over the place!  Koreans workout at their leisure.  Along trails through the woods, these are placed sporadically.  I ran on a very safe trail just minutes from my apartment today. 

The equipment uses your own body weight as the resistance. It's genius! 

This is super fun and works your obliques like crazy! 

Korean outdoor elliptical. 

The most difficult aspect of transitioning to Korea for me is not being able to read.  I now know what it feels like to be a toddler.  I didn't realize how often I read, but words and letters are everywhere!  I can't read food labels, street signs, instructions, websites, forms, on/off switches, receipts, and the list could go on and on!  I am very thankful that time and money use numbers.  

Finally, prayer requests.  Please continue to pray for the transition of the new teachers and settling in.  Pray that the Lord begins to prepare the minds and hearts of the students I will be teaching in less than two weeks to return to school.  Praise God for safe travels and for blessing me with such a welcoming community!