Orientation week has been incredibly busy. Soooo many new faces and job requirements to remember, including the location of my office! Most buildings at Taejon Christian International School (TCIS) are newly built but there are a couple buildings still around from when the school started in 1958.My office is in one of the older buildings where each room is heated and air conditioned individually. I actually like my office location because it "has character" =)
In the following photo, you'll notice the new high school and administrative offices in the back with the Tech Building and courtyard in the foreground.
Interesting history of the building: I was told my office, which used to be a classroom in the original high school, is pure luxury now with its modern electric heating and cooling. Apparently these old classrooms had huge 50 gallon kerosene tanks in the middle of the room with exhaust piping to the outdoors to heat the rooms in winter! Not only was it difficult to maintain a certain temperature because they would always run out of fuel but it was hard for the students to see the blackboard with this contraption sitting in the middle of the room. The good old days =)
And just so you know I'm not making this up, here's a picture I found of the first 1962 graduating class (of 4) walking in front of the now-Tech Building. Hard to imagine so many memories exist on this one campus!The campus itself is really quite beautiful; the buildings and layout of the campus actually remind me of Trinity Western University in British Columbia (school I attended for my undergrad). Unlike Trinity, however, I was a bit surprised at first to learn how TCIS is situated right in the middle of downtown Daejeon! As mentioned previously, the school originated in the 1950s when there were rice fields adjacent to the school property. Some of the older staff told me that over the last 50 years the city grew around the campus and now TCIS finds itself in the midst of a bustling and very active downtown environment!
The nice part about being part of the downtown is the number of small restaurants and coffee shops in the neighborhood. You literally walk out any of the school gates and you have a vast selection of restaurants and small shops. It amazes me how many English words I see on their signs, but then again, these shops are catering to an international staff right next door!
Jin Hong (a co-worker in tech support) and I often frequent the local 'Star Expresso Coffee' shop. It doesn't have quite the selection of a Starbucks but you can't beat the price... strawberry bubble tea and 'choco shakes' for only $1.
It's also interesting having my apartment in this downtown environment too... quite the change from living in rural Canada by the lake! All in all, I really like the change of pace and the fact that I'm only a few minute walk from school -- makes my daily commute virtually non-existent.
