So I have been back in Korea for about a week and a half now. Things have been going pretty well. Here's a little run down of what has been going on since I've been here.
I landed in Seoul on February 20th. Got on a bus with a bunch of other people and headed to orientation in Daejeon, which was about a 3 hour ride south. This time around I am working in a public school. They have two main hiring times, so there are tons of people coming at the same time to start their jobs. People know the provinces they are place in, but no one knows the exact town.
Anyways, this whole thing is organized by a government program called EPIK. There were about 240 of us participating in this 8 day orientation in Deajeon, and there were 2 other orientations happening around Korea at the same time.
We arrived at the orientation site around 9:30pm, they gave us all a welcome gift consisting of a Snickers, a towel, and an EPIK sweatshirt among other things. We had a medical check up the next morning. We had to pee in a cup, pour it in a little vial, then bring it out to the main room where they kept all of them. So...you could see everyone's pee just sitting around hanging out. I will spare you the details, but I will just say people have some funky looking pee.
We also had our blood pressure, eyes, and ears checked. They also took some blood, and I still have a bruise from that. They always have trouble finding my veins. The lady just kept saying, "So small, so small", and changed arms like 3 times. I am happy to report I am AIDS and Syphilis free!
Orientation mainly consisted of lectures about lots of topics ranging from Korean Customs to Technology in the Classroom, to Getting Along with your Co Teacher. The lectures were very informative for the most part.
We also had a field trip to a farm village one day where we dyed scarves, learned how to make tofu, and made cell phone charms. We also played some traditional Korean games. I tried one that was really fun. It is sort of like a see-saw except you are standing and you basically try to time your jumps with the person across from you so that you launch each other into the air. It was pretty fun.
The other high light of the week was taekwondo class. Taekwondo was invented in Korea, so they are pretty proud of it. The class was actually a pretty good work out. I did end up with a floor burn on my right foot, but I'll get over it. It just hurts when water hits it in the shower ((((jkjk, but it does actually sting a little.
By about the fourth day of orientation I was ready to get out of there. I was just tired of living out of a suitcase, and not know where I was going to be and such. I just wanted to be able to settle in and get going.
They do not tell us where we are placed until the second to last day. I don't know why. They say it is because they do not know, but I'm pretty sure that is not true. So, finally, on Monday I learned that I was placed in Chilgok at a middle school. My first choice was elementary, but who knows, I may end up loving this age group.
I was pretty happy because I looked on a map and Chilgok looked to be really close to Daegu, which was my first choice in placement. Turns out Chilgok is a county and not a city. So...my city is a very small place called Seokjeok-eup. It is right outside a city called Gumi. I think there are only 2 other foreign teachers in my town, but there are quite a few people I met during orientation who are in Gumi, so a lot of my weekends will probably be spent there.
We left the orientation site yesterday, and they took us on 4 buses to Gumi. When we arrived there, they told us to get our luggage and stand in front of the buses, and our co teachers would have signs with our names on them. Co teachers are important people to us here. We team teach with them, and pretty much rely on them when things arise that we cannot deal with because we don't know the language. They pretty much told us at orientation that co teachers can make your life awesome, or not so awesome. So we were all nervously waiting with all of our luggage, feeling like we were back in elementary waiting to get picked for the team, but this time waiting to see if we are gonna get a good co teacher who makes life easier, or a bad one who makes life much harder.
After waiting for what seemed like forever, I finally saw my name. Two teachers came to pick me up. They seemed pretty nice, but talked to each other a lot in Korean, and didn't at all attempt to fill me in on what they were saying. Then one of them told me that I had a choice. I could either live in a 3 bedroom apartment with another teacher from the school, or have my own 1 room place. I was not expecting that at all. I told them I would rather have my own place. They said that was fine, but I would have to live at the other place for a few days until they find an apartment for me. I felt bad because every one said you need to make a good impression and be really easy going so they will like you. I didn't want them to think I was really picky, but I also really want my own place. I am pretty sure they are not at all upset by it. They told me it may take a few days because they don't just want to find any place, they want to find a place I will like. So, I don't think I have caused them too much of an inconvenience. I met the principal, told him "I look forward to working with you" in Korean, and gave him a bottle of Iowa whiskey. My co teacher told me she thought I impressed him. That was the plan;)
The school also bought me a brand new bed set with a pillow, comforter and all. I was not expecting that at all. The rest of the day was spent with the younger of the two who picked me up. Her English name is Jenna, and she speaks very good English. She is only a year older than me. I am pretty sure she is the one who is assigned to taking care of me, as they apparently give that job to the lowest person on the totem pole, and this is her first year at this school. She showed me around the town a little and took me to dinner. It was an amazing dinner. My first authentic Korean food since arriving. All other meals were from the cafeteria at the orientation site. Not the best food.
Jenna took me to apply for my Alien Registration Card today. I won't get that for a couple weeks, and then I can set up a bank account and get a cell phone. I do not have to go to until Friday. Thursday is a holiday, so the new semester doesn't start until Friday. This is actually the start of the new school year, so I think there are a lot of ceremonies going on that day. I was told to have an introduction power point presentation ready, so I will be working on that tomorrow.
I went for a short run today through the town. This town is MUCH smaller than where I was before. I definitely get more stares, and little kids point and snicker much more than when I lived outside of Seoul. I guess there are 2 other foreigners who live here, but I have yet to run into them. Even though it is small, it seems like a pretty nice place. There are tons of restaurants and shops all around, and it is only like a 20 minute bus ride into Gumi, where there is a lot more stuff around. One really nice thing is that there are way more mountains here! They are basically in every direction you look. It is very pretty in that way, but one thing that is not so pretty are all the factories. Samsung and LG both have factories here. Apparently Gumi accounts for like 90% of Korea's exports, so there are quite a few factories.
Forgot to mention that we had 3 survival Korean classes during orientation. They were great! I learned, and have used, more Korean while being here for a week and a half, than I did my entire year last time. Tonight I was walking along the street and passed a little old lady selling fruit. I was able to ask her how much for the oranges, and understood her answer. It was great! I think I will make more of an effort to learn some Korean this time around. It certainly makes life here much easier.
Right now I am in my room enjoying Cass(Korean beer) and watching Korea play Kuwait in a World Cup qualifying game. Koreans love their soccer. Not a bad way to spend a Wednesday night.
Well this post was much longer than I intended. I guess quite a bit has happened;) I will post a picture that shows the general area of where I am. I will also post a link that shows a map of Gumi. My city is basically connected to the south east part of Gumi. It looks like a little tail coming of the the southeastern part.
My goal is to make videos of some of my experiences this year. I have quite a few now, so I will hopefully be putting them together into a video in the next week.
Hope this finds you well...talk to ya later!
The star is roughly where I am.
Here is a link to a better map...
http://maps.google.com/maps?client=safari&rls=en&q=gumi&oe=UTF-8&um=1&ie=UTF-8&ei=lCJOT9fPBsuviQeYhYBG&sa=X&oi=mode_link&ct=mode&cd=3&ved=0CCIQ_AUoAg
Just zoom in to the south east part of Gumi, the tail looking thing in the south east part is my city.
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