Cheongyang, my home in Korea.

I still remember the first time I laid eyes on this tiny town that was to be my new home. I was driving with my new co teacher in her car. Ian was driving in the front with his new co teachers. It had been, undeniably one of the most awkward two hours of my life. We eventually arrived in Cheongyang and I noticed the main street was lined with chili pepper street lights. My eyes darted from left to right, looking for anything that was remotely western. No Pizza Hut, no Mr. Pizza, no Burger King, No Mc Donald’s, not even an E Mart. A few censored words entered my head at this stage. “Cheongyang is very small,” said my co teacher. I managed to say a believable “yes” whilst I felt my eyes fill with tears.






Cheongyang's main street at night








We drove down one of the side streets to a duplex house, our new home. I got out of the car and looked around. “Look, you live next to a beautiful park,” said Ian’s co teacher as she got out of the car. I looked to my left and saw a mass of brown, dead plants that was this so called beautiful park. The remainder of the day did not improve. We were taken out for lunch to a restaurant that smelt like an armpit which made it incredibly difficult to eat anything. I was then taken to a run down building that was crying out for a paint job and informed by my co teacher that this was the school that I would be teaching at. My co teacher and I then proceeded to have a cup of green tea accompanied with some fruit with my new head mistress. The two of them sat, stared, talked in Korean, sipped their tea and devoured the fruit that was in front of them like a cow chewing it’s cud. When I got back to my new home later that evening, I cried like I cried on the day when my parents dropped me off at boarding school for the first time.



Our duplex house. The beautiful park in front that improved in looks as the year progressed.








Everything deserves a chance and eventually I was able to accept my position. After a year and a half, I am still here in Cheongyang, affectionately named The Yang by us foreigners. There are still bad days; however they are outweighed by the good days. In a small town such as this, you get the full authentic Korean experience, you become the entertainment at the local noraybong (singing room), and you will always be looked at, talked about and smiled at.






Lights by the river. Gorgeous in summer.








So when is it a good time to come to Cheongyang? Never…just kidding. Cheongyang comes alive once a year at the local Chili Pepper festival which takes place in September. The whole town, old and young gather by the river to watch performances (we even had some famous faces last year), buy some things from one of the markets, eat some street food (if you dare) and of course consume bottles and bottles of soju. I was actually surprised how jovial the festival was and ended up having a marvelous time. Needless to say, I will be attending the festival for the second time this year and of course I’m looking forward to it.






The stage at the festival.














Street food at the festival