Hye won was the very first person I met from my school. She picked me up from my POE Orientation in Chilguk and she was the first friend that I made here in Wolpo. I don't get to hang out with her too much anymore because she's pretty busy, but I felt like I needed to dedicate a post to her since she's the one that really helped me out my first few days here.
So, I first met Hye Won when she picked me up from the English Village in Chilguk, which was all the way back at the end of February (gosh- that feels SO long ago). She was super sweet and a little shy at first, but that quickly disappeared during our hour and a half car ride together to Wolpo. First we went to apply for my Alien Registration Card (ARC) which is basically a temporary citizenship card- kind of like America's social security number (aka it allows me to get paid and buy a cell phone- so getting one early on is really important). After that we picked up Tae Hwa (my co-teacher) and we dropped off my stuff at my apartment. We walked over to the school (literally- it's right across the street) and that was the first time I met my principal and vice principal of my school. We said a very brief hello, and we were out the door again. It was pretty late into the evening so we went out for dinner in downtown Pohang at a western buffet called "Ashley's" (how appropriate, right?).
After dinner I went grocery shopping for the first time EVER in Korea, and dropped about 200,000 won! Groceries are wicked expensive here. Also, you have to pay for a bag to put your groceries in, OR you can take them to a table near the exit and put them in cardboard boxes- which is what we ended up doing.
My first few days in Wolpo were awful. I was alone in my apartment, it rained for three days straight and I had no idea what I had gotten myself into. It felt like the weekend was going by so slowly. Hye won was pretty worried about me, so she drove over to my apartment on Saturday night and picked me up. I spent the night at her apartment and we stayed up watching Korean dramas and she fixed me a plate of oranges! SO sweet :) She even offered me her bed while she slept on the floor. I tried to tell her that it didn't mind sleeping on the floor, but she insisted.
I know this all happened back in early March, but Hye Won was a big part in making my transition here go smoothly. She is so nice, sweet, and kind- and she was a HUGE help to me in the beginning (when I literally didn't know anything). It meant so much to me that I could depend on her- and the thing is, is that she didn't have to do any of it. She wasn't my mentor teacher or my co-teacher- she just did because she's a good person- I can't thank her enough for everything she's done for me.
Here's Tae Hwa in front of "Ashley's" where we ate dinner.
This is Hye Won packing up my groceries into cardboard boxes at Homeplus.
This was while I was at Hye Won's apartment in Pohang. We were watching some sort of singing show.
These were the oranges she cut for me. They were so delicious! What a sweetheart :)
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