Beach Life

Well, folks, I have arrived. At the beach, that is. All my possessions are now safely stowed in a small one-room apartment just up the coast from one of the best places on earth: Busan's Haeundae and Songjeong Beaches! My town is called Gijang, and is actually in the province north of Busan city. Known as the Sunshine City or the City of Beautiful Mornings, it's quiet and cheap to live there. Gijang is truly a small town: the old man and wife at the mart near my house already know me. Not to mention that there are endless Korean BBQ and chicken restaurants to be had. It's scenic and hilly, clean, quiet (oh, I said that). But the best is that it's just a bus ride from the best beaches in the country. Read on...


This is the busiest you'd ever see Haeundae. It is well-known throughout Korea as the busiest beach in the country. There are loads of foreign restaurants and shopping to be had here as well. My new house is connected by bus to this area: Twenty minutes and a dollar - that's all it takes!


<-- Haeundae Beach



The picture at the right is Songjeong Beach. This is even closer to my house, only 15 minutes on the same bus route. This beach is much quieter and calmer, with far fewer commercial offerings. What it lacks in Starbucks and chain restaurants, it gains in cleanliness and convenience. From your parasol on the beach, it's only a minute up to the street where many mom-and-pop marts are ready to sell you cold beer.

Songjeong Beach -->

There's a surf shop at Songjeong Beach and even a newly opened foreigner bar called Blowfish, serving Mexican and hamburgers.

<-- Blowfish bar at Songjeong and, I now notice, a brand-new Angel-In-Us coffee! Maybe they have wireless...?

Songjeong Beach mid-week during vacation period / DK in the water at Songjeong Beach

Sunset on Songjeong Beach
(This photo and the first two on this page were not taken by me)

There's even a third beach in the city (Gwangali) and a fourth that's 10 minutes north of my house (Ilgwang). I've been to both and will post pictures soon. Ilgwang is another favorite of mine after only one visit. It's much more of a family, country atmosphere and seems like the Korean, ocean version of a MN day-at-the-lake.

My house is still a mess from moving in and unpacking, but I promise pictures are soon to come. Tomorrow morning, I'll be off to Japan for a 1-night-2-day (as the Koreans say) to get a new visa. I've just spent the day at Haeundae Beach but now I'm freezing cold in the Starbucks air-conditioning (using their wireless as I don't have internet at my house yet). I'm going home now!
Sending summer sun to you all!

Job, I'm leaving you...

"It's not you, it's me."

That's the line I told them -- sort of.
For the past 3 months I hadn't felt totally great there, but when I got back from vacation the ssst totally hit the fan, so to speak. Something pretty unpleasant happened in my personal life that was completely unrelated to work or the school, or even the apartment I live in. I did everything I could to keep the two separate and not let it affect my work (not calling in sick/didn't come in late/had fun in the classroom like I always do...). Unfortunately for me, some people I work with were all too curious, and reportedly just worried about me, so they started talking about what had happened to me. At work.

Long story short, word got around to my manager (who I've argued with on a few choice occasions in the past) and she pretty much all but fired me on the grounds that I had let something personal affect my work life. It was such bullssst, compiled with all the bullssst I'd already put up with, I wasn't ready to do it all over again for another 6 months.
I resigned later that week with no regrets.

In fact, my good friend at work got in trouble for an unrelated thing and another co-worker has been fired this month, too.
The manager and principal also lied right to my face about various parts of the procedure to cancel my contract. I only found out about these lies after the damage had been done. Just one example: I was told by them both that my visa would not be canceled until July 30, giving me until that time to find a new workplace and transfer the visa. On Tuesday, July 18, I discovered the truth: The school had canceled my visa on July 14. So now, I am required to leave Korea to obtain a new visa, which means a 2-day trip to Japan and at least a $400 cash outlay. On top of getting only a half-month's pay for Aug.
Nice.

Did I mention that no other foreigner has stayed more than 6 months there? And the Koreans are all pretty new as well. I'm sure they're now quite adept at canceling visas. It's just a nasty environment to work in and I'm glad I'm out.

New workplace: Daecheong Elementary School in Gijang

After 2 weeks of job searching, I've just accepted a job down south near Busan (amazingly beautiful coastal city, 2nd largest in the country after Seoul). I'm SUPER excited about moving there since I'll be just a 20-min bus ride away from my favorite beach in Korea and can ride my bike to another quiet beach. My new house is much smaller but in a brand-new (5 mos. old) building so is sparkling clean and totally functional! I'm trading in the oven for an air conditioner and I'm fine with that. Toaster oven will have to suffice again. The move will happen on Aug. 22nd. Coming too soon already - I only have 1.5 rooms packed up!

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