Not the Train to Busan; The Bus to Busan

And just like that, somehow my first two weeks in Korea seemed to fly by. But so much has happened, it feels like 2 years. 

I arrived at Incheon International Airport at 3:45 p.m. local time, exhausted and already sweating from hauling around all my worldly possessions in two suitcases.

After a 12-hour flight and struggling with some broken Korean, I had managed to reach the train station. Then my friend and I took the subway toward the AirBnB a handful of other English teachers had all rented together before orientation. 

We reached the Airbnb a little over an hour later, having been caught off guard by the stifling Korean summer heat and the seemingly unending ability of the human body to sweat.

Those first three days in Incheon were a whirlwind of traveling to Seoul on the train, getting lost in its many neighborhoods, sweating more than I ever had in my life, and nonstop wonder and amazement.

From unmanned coffee shops, to mid-city streams, to comic book cafes lined with little cubbies you could rent and hang out with your friends in — Korea really has it all. 

Even though I had visited Seoul last October, I was still blown away by all the new and interesting things to see. My limited understanding of Korean earned us a bit more ease than we would’ve had without it, but that was pretty much it.

I soon discovered the limit of my understanding and that people in real-life don’t have subtitles (unlike so many of the dramas I’ve watched). 

As always, I found myself enamored with the ease of public transportation and the simple pleasure of riding a train and watching the scenery and the small universes each passenger lived in.

I found myself imagining what their lives might be like. Where are they going? Are they meeting someone? What do they feel right now? I wonder how differently the world looks from their eyes as compared to mine. 

Those three days flew by at an exceptional speed. My English teacher friends and I soon found ourselves back at Incheon airport patiently waiting for the program to load us onto buses which would take us to a university where the orientation was to be held. 

I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t having cold feet at that moment. “What have I gotten myself into?” I thought as I gazed out the bus window at the rolling green hills of the Korean landscape passing by. The challenge in front of me seemed almost too monumental. 

But after arriving at the university, getting a meal, and talking to friends, my worries lessened. Sometimes the world feels impossible and scary but really you just need some food and a rest. 

The next day, we started our orientation at 6am with a medical checkup for our visas. Then we launched directly into classes to prepare us to be teachers. 

Now, I graduated in May of 2022, so it really hasn’t been that long since I was in college, but I forgot how tiring it was. Four classes a day of completely new information, paired with a vast campus to trek, boiling heat, and ever persistent jet lag, left me barely able to see anything other than what was right in front of me. 

Actually, it reminded me a lot of a summer camp. Like those summer camps that offer mini-crash courses in activities like dance or cheer. And just like camp, you make friends fast and become close fast. Orientation was no different. I soon found myself surrounded by familiar and friendly faces. We were all on this adventure together. 

The week was jam packed with classes, a historical tour, lesson demos, workshops, lectures, and even a taekwondo class. Somehow I managed to keep the energy up for the full seven days. Until it was time for the teachers who were going to Busan to depart on yet another 6am adventure.

Not the train to Busan, but the bus. 

Once again, on that journey to the city I would call home for at least a year, I found myself wondering how exactly I ended up where I did. Certainly Joy one year ago wouldn’t believe Joy now. 

We arrived in Busan at 10am in the morning to the central office of education. One by one, like barn kittens being adopted by neighborhood kids, our assigned co teachers came to pick us up.

I was lucky enough to be picked up early by my teacher, offered an iced coffee, and helped carry my luggage through the subway and to my new apartment. 

A small studio apartment on the 5th floor of a building nestled deep in what I now know to be old town Busan is where my teacher brought me. We put down my things and took a few gulps of air before heading right to the school where I would be teaching. 

This is when I really started to feel in over my head. We entered the school and it suddenly occurred to me I had no idea what I was doing. My co teacher introduced me to other teachers and I was doing my best to keep up in Korean but I’d be lying if I said it wasn’t extremely difficult. 

And then we headed to the classroom. 

Fun fact: if you want to feel like a celebrity, try being a blond woman at an all boys Korean middle school. The students actually crowded around us as we navigated the school halls. I definitely tried to hide behind my co teacher, but he advised me to be brave, as I was a respected teacher after all. 

The school looked just like the ones in dramas. It was actually crazy. I couldn’t believe where I had found myself. I observed my first classes and was told that the next day I would be teaching. I could only think “Great. How do I do that?”. 

I got back to my tiny apartment and flopped down on the bed, trying to wrap my head around everything I needed to get done. But the first thing for sure was to go to Daiso. Thankfully the Japanese variety store is ubiquitous in Korea and I was able to get the essentials. 

Organizing and unpacking would have to wait until the next day because I only had the energy for the Daiso trip, a convenience store dinner, and a shower before the exhaustion that had been creeping up on me all day pulled me under the murky waters of a dreamless sleep.  

The next morning I awoke with a jolt, quickly got ready, and left my apartment into the humid Busan morning. The city seemed to be yawning and stretching as the hum of buses and cars began to grow and office workers trickled into the street on their morning commute. 

The buildings in Korea are tall and close together creating tight alleys lined with storefronts and cafes alike. Finding a cup of coffee in Korea is as easy as finding a grain of sand on a beach so soon I was armed with an iced latte for me and enough iced americanos for my office. I still can’t get over how affordable food is in Korea. 

Of course I immediately spilled coffee all over my desk but I suppose that’s just how things go sometimes. And thus began my first official day teaching English in Korea. 

The first lesson I taught was a self introduction and my first class was a mess. Despite their interest in my foreign appearance, I couldn’t seem to catch their attention in an academic sense. But Rome wasn’t built in a day and I did my best to remedy my mistakes. 

That meant adding a questionnaire that they could fill out, so as I introduced myself, they could introduce themselves to me. This lengthened my lesson so it didn’t finish so quickly and gave the students a chance to talk to me. And when I asked for people to raise their hands and there was no takers, I decided to go to them instead. 

Nothing catches someone’s attention quite like walking right up to their desk, getting on their eye level and asking them directly. I think it helped that I could speak a tiny bit of Korean too. I could tell them to answer me in either language and that seemed to sooth much of their hesitation. 

I found I was just as curious about them as they we're about me. 'Tell me your favorite food! What games do you like playing? What do you want to be when you grow up?'

They were all so different, some of them looking like adults while others looking like young children. And their demeanor differed greatly too -- from shy studious children, to loud and mischievous ones. 

But it was cool to talk to them all and it gave me a chance to gauge their English level. So I spent the entire week, giving the same introductory lesson, trying to get to know my students. 

After school, I spent my time exploring, looking for apartment necessities, and desperately trying to find my way around. I stumbled into adorable boutiques, trendy cafes, and questionable alley, but all of it was genuinely so exciting. I guess these first two weeks were only the trial run.

We’ve got a long way to go. As they say on the ever-so intellectual show Love Island UK, 'It’s early days, babes.'