Arrival & Orientation

August 17th & 18th

I'm here I'm here!!!!

It only just hit me once I stepped off the airplane in Seoul! I had a great flight from Orlando to JFK to Seoul. I enjoyed Jetblue and Asiana Airlines. Asiana provided me with free alcohol too! I was surprised that the plane was a double decker and thankful I had a nice aisle seat. I ended up watching 5 different movies on the flight.

Anyways, once I landed  found Alister, my recruiter waiting with a few others. He took us to the guesthouse about 5min from the airport where we stayed for the night. I roomed with two other girls, one from Kansas and another from Toronto. Alister took all of us (about 25) to dinner and soju (Korean vodka that comes in what looks to be a beer but is simply really cheap vodka). I enjoyed a beef soup with the various side dishes. I'm happy I enjoy kimchi and the radishes! They are a bit spicy but nothing too bad.

I met so many other teachers too from all over! American, Canadian, South African, Australian,  and British! The girls and I didnt really sleep much last night. I suppose the excitement combined with being jet lagged. Alister took us all to breakfast which was bibimbap (rice with various veggies, beef, and egg) or a rib soup. Both were very tasty! The coffee here seems to be a bit sweet and weak so it looks as though I'll be switching to tea! Alister gave us all various books, maps, and an adapter which was nice. He seemed to like the Florida hat and whiskey I gave him!

We took a 3 hour bus ride to the orientation venue in Daejeon where we checked in and were assigned a room for the week. Its dorm style with 2 twin beds, 2 desks, closet, sink, and bathroom. I took my first shower in the wet bathroom which is basically a shower head next to the toilet and everything gets wet. I thought it was odd at first but the nice water pressure combined with the nice avocado shampoo/conditioner provided made the shower well worth it. I forgot I was standing right next to the wet toilet!

The pillow is interesting...theres a pillow case and inside is a zippered netted case that is filled with what looks to be cut up drinking straws. The drinking straws aren't too bad but it makes for a rather crunchy pillow at times.

 For today it was mostly chatting with everyone, had dinner at the cafeteria which consisted of various items including really spicy kimchi, broccoli soup that tasted like vanilla pudding, beef, sausage, rice, sweet potato blueberry mash (really odd mix), and a spring salad with kiwi dressing. Afterwards, I went walking around Daejeon with a big group and we all chatted and went to bed early!

August 19 & 20

This morning I woke around 6:30am (I actually slept alright!) and have my medical exam at 8:00am. The medical was so organized! We had just basic things done such as height, weight, eye sight, hearing, blood test, and pee test! Afterwards, we had lunch and an opening ceremony which consisted of an amazing taekwondo/ dance show!!

We had a nice dinner which had been served buffet style always including a soup, kimchi, beef, salad, and other various items. I went to a craft beer place with some other folks and learned how delicious it was to mix soju and a dark brew.

On the 20th, we stared our lectures. I'm enjoying the food so far for breakfast, lunch, and dinner! :D The lectures were actually interesting and very helpful. We were given a EPIK book with lots of important info too! I also took taekwondo class today which was fun! I broke a board too! These are my friends from Busan below! Russell and Jessica!

The evening ended with a Korean language course. I can now introduce myself in Korean! The days at orientation are busy but interesting and fun. I'm a bit short with the blog for now but hopefully you get the idea of how orientation is! I have the blog set up including pictures and commentary now instead of separating the pictures and videos. I think this works better! Ask away any questions or comments! Thank you for reading and much more to come on my adventures in South Korea!