Cheongcheongbuk-do: Landlocked in South Korea

Placement Announcement:
My province, Chungcheongbuk-do (CHUNGBUK), was announced dead last, so I was left standing the entire time—nearly 45 minutes—before I got to hear my name called, step forward to bow, walk to the stage, perform the formal Korean handshake (bow while either using two hands or shaking with the right hand while using the left hand to support it—ALWAYS USE TWO HANDS!), and proudly plop my sticky tab on the “suburban” city of CHEONGJU, South Korea. Ironically, this is the ONLY city I have visited in South Korea and now I will call it my home for one year. I am quite pleased with my placement. Stay tuned and I’ll share more details.

Logistics:
Province: Chungcheongbuk-do (Chungbuk)
Population: Approximately 1.5 million
**Country’s Lake District (Chungbuk Lake)
**Only landlocked province in South Korea
**Three national parks: Songnisan (GIANT BUDDHA) National Park; Woraksan National Park; and Sobaeksan
**Produces apples, peaches, and chestnuts (All Korean cities have something they are famous for—even the itty bitty cities)

City: Cheongju
“Green Capital of Korea”; Capital of Chungbuk Province
Population: Nearly 700,000 people
Reputation: “city of education and culture”
City Flower: White Magnolia
Points of Interest: Compliments of Wikipedia:
• Sangdangsanseong (Sangdang Mountain Fortress) lies on the slopes of Mt. Uam within the city limits. The fortress is mainly a 3-4 metre tall wall that stretches over 4.2 kilometers in circumference. The present walls date to the 1716 restoration of the site. Within the walls lies a small tourist village that has several restaurants.
• Cheongju National Museum also lies near Mt. Uam, and houses several exhibits of cultural artifacts from the nearby area.
• Heungdeok Temple Site is the home to the Early Printing Museum, and is purported to be the site of the printing of Jikji, the oldest existent book printed using movable metal type. The museum itself contains exhibits related to the art of printing through the ages.
• Yongdusaji Cheoldanggan (The Iron Flagpole of the Yongdu Temple Site) is designated Korean National Treasure number 41, and is located near Lotte Department Store in downtown Cheongju. Made of twenty iron cylinders, the flagpole stands 13.1 meters tall, and was formerly used to hang flags to honour the Buddha


Job: Conversational English Teacher
Location: Cheongju, South Korea
School Type: Co-Ed Middle School
School Size: Roughly 1,500 students
Class Size: approximately 39-44 students

Information provided about Province (from previous ETAS):
** Compared Korean wives in this area to that of Orange County, California wives
**Nearly 100 miles from Seoul; thus, high emphasis on learning English and will invest heavily to achieve high level
**GDP of province and neighboring one to the west is comparable to some of the richest Western countries
**There is an airport!
**In some ways, functions as suburb to Seoul
**Nearly 28 ETAs are in this province.
**Neighboring Province, Chungcheongnam-do (Chungnam) is home to one of the most popular beaches on the West Coast: Daecheon Beach. This beach resembles Las Vegas architecturally. This is a must-see for me!
**Further, Chungnam (Province to the West of me) once housed the capital of Korea. Therefore, legally the capital could be moved there again. Currently this is being debated given the congestion and sprawling of Seoul.

All in all, I am quite pleased with my placement. Not only am I placed closest to Seoul, I am in a navigable city with great access to transportation. No TKX (high speed train system) in Cheongju, but one in a neighboring city (Daejeon—population approx.1.5 million). Further, I am placed near many ETAS. This was a primary concern. Although I am not teaching high school as I originally wanted, I imagaine middle school will bring many adventures all by itself. As for now, I have two more weeks of language class.

Day-to-Day Business:
1) I experienced a traditional tea ceremony on Tuesday. Imagine this: we are sitting on the floor with a four-person tea set in front of us in a Taekwondo room while three women in traditional Korean dress and one admittedly adorable old Korean man instruct us on how to sit and position our hands (left hand joined under right placed half-way up one’s right thigh—fingers together and thumbs hidden), taste the five flavors of ginseng tea, its marvelous ability to clear the mind, and finally how to conduct a tea ceremony complete the brewing process and all. Of course if anyone knows me, sitting STILL for two hours on the floor in a dress (I was not prepared for the floor crossed-leg style of sitting whatsoever), having the patience to either sit contently with my hands positioned or methodically perform the meticulous and precise serving procedures, was not an easy task for me. My childhood nickname of “Jill Jill who can’t sit Still” rang true once more. And further, memories of my mother telling me I am a “bull in a China shop” (just as a reference point, I thought it was “bowl in a China shop” for the longest time growing up, which of course muddled my understanding of this idiom) reverberated as I over poured the water into the kettle, causing the water to flow ceaselessly out of the spout and all over the tray while everyone turned to stare and for some reason, I kept pouring and pouring. My tea party “guests” understood my sincere efforts to perform each task flawlessly, so this catastrophe caused a loud outburst.

2) My Korean language teacher announced to the class yesterday that my Korean sounds the most natural and comparable to a Korean accent in the class. I was absolutely floored, for since day one I was easily one of the worst speakers in my class. I could not distinguish sounds and I avoided reading aloud. Learning a language at the capacity we are here has broadened my appreciation for learning a language in general. Each day is a puzzle. Some days I construct the pieces in such a way you can see a vague image, while others the image is very blurred. Whatever the case, it motivates me to create a clearer, more concise picture. I want to continue studying Korean beyond Orientation; this is something I sincerely thought I would never say.

3) Please keep in touch. Send me facebook messages or email me (jillian.moga@gmail.com). I miss each and every one of you. I will try to respond as quickly as possible.