update...

the president of the recruiting agency picked us up from Incheon airport yesterday and drove us across Seoul to a bus station on the east side of the city.  we drove parallel to the Han River the entire trip, which is a very large river that flows right through the middle of Seoul with bridges going across every few miles or so.  Seoul is a huge city comparable to NYC.  a few sights we saw were the Olympic stadium and Olympic bridge from the '88 Seoul Olympic games.  One piece of advice our driver gave us was not to go outside our apartment without our clothes, because a former english teacher did so and was fired from his job after parents saw him and complained...mental note made.  Mr. Jay put us on a bus to Yeoungju and we said goodbye.

the bus ride was 2.5 hours to Yeoungju, which we ended up sleeping most of.  when we arrived, a lady from the school board was there waiting for us.  she took us to the school board office where we met my co-teachers.  Jessica was offered a job, but it doesn't start until Nov.1!  Hong Soo Jeong and Dee Yeong Woo took us to our apartment, which is tiny but we love it.  it is right in the middle of downtown Yeoungju, which looks like an asian town you would see on tv.  if you have seen Memoires of a Geisha, when the two little girls went on the rooftop and saw the rest of the city, this is what it looked like...little oriental style houses packed in really tight, with the downtown buildings behind them.  we love it.  the apartment wasn't furnished yet, so we were put up in a hotel for the evening, which by the way has complimentary condoms and hair gel in the room.  next our two new friends took us to dinner in a traditional korean restaraunt where we had to remove our shoes before entering.  the tables were only about a foot high and we sat on pillows.  Hong Soo Jeong (or Sophie she said to call her) joked that our legs would be falling asleep soon.  this must be why oriental people are so short, their leg growth is stunted every time they eat.  The meal was great, some vegetable dish cooked in the middle of the table, tofu soup, several side items including tofu biscuits, sardines, and kimchi. 

i'll finish the rest of the evenings events later.  Gotta get in the shower to go meet my new school students and principal.