First Hike in Daegu

Following the weekend of the veggie dinner. Holly, Vincent, and I met at Holly's place and went for a hike up Mt. Apsan. The mountain is locate very close to Wolchon station and one of the entrances to the mountain was only about 10 minutes away.

When we started at the bottom we saw a short outdoor gym, not far up the mountain. There were a lot of older Koreans exercising there. A couple of them told us to come over and they gave us all a red-bean pastry and a yogurt drink. The people here are extremely nice and I see their generosity every day!

I really enjoyed the climb, I was sort of sprinting up the mountain while Holly and Vincent were following behind. The climb can get tiresome, so if you are looking for a easy, relaxing climb, I wouldn't recommend this. We weren't looking for anything in particular but we enjoyed this climb a lot, at some spots it was more rock-climbing than hiking.

The best part of the climb was there were some really nice views of the city from up top. We brought our cameras/phones with us, so we all took many pictures. Once we reached the top, we met another Korean who gave us some tangerines. After a short 10 min break, we headed back down. For me, going down is a bit more difficult because my long legs equal long strides and thus I build a lot of momentum. There were some dangerous curves on the way down but I always kept holding on to the trees to slow me down.

Overall we all had a great time and I would definitely recommend this climb to others. After the climb there was a small chicken/pizza place close by that had some really good food, and we ate there. There was a bunch of school kids inside who were very kind and helpful and were so excited to see us. Our day didn't end there, at night time, the 3 of us and 2 others all went out to noraebang (karaoke)!

Veggie Dinner

The weekend before last, I invited some people over to my place for a veggie dinner. Although I invited about 8-10 of us, there was only 4 of us there. However, we still had lots of fun, we ended up playing DJ Hero 2, and eating lots of food such as, curry, rice, pineapple bread, fruits, and two types of cake.

We all had fun playing DJ Hero, but Vincent always wanted to play "one more game", I understand, the game is fun and addictive! After dinner and a few more games of DJ Hero we went out for some coffee at Holly's Coffee. I had a Caramel Hollichino.

While we were there, we had also learned that Holly lives near Mt. Apsan, and we would try to hike it next weekend.

We're off to Daegu

After the orientation dinner (which was not very veggie friendly), a few of us went out for one last night out in Busan, didn't do anything special but just grabbed a bite to eat. At the dinner we got to meet everyone from the orientation and it was our last chance to say goodbye to our class teachers; tomorrow we were going to say hello to our co-teachers.

Once we arrived in Daegu, we sat in an auditorium where our teachers were waiting. Then our names were called in matching pairs and we met with our co-teachers. My co-teacher immediately took me to my apartment and I also met my landlord. After that, we took a walk to my school and I got to meet other staff members, such as my principal.

On first impression I really like my school. It is the only school in Daegu with a woman's soccer team. Some of our soccer players play on the Under 19 National Team. The school is fairly big and it has a very nice soccer pitch with artificial turf.

I have enjoyed my first few days in Daegu. I am a vegetarian (although if I am limited, I will also eat chicken) so things are a little more difficult when it comes to food but my co-teacher and landlord did everything to make sure I had a comfortable transition. My co-teacher made his wife cook me some veggie food, and my landlord also cooked some veggie food and brought it for me.

I've been fairly busy but I'll try to write when I get the chance...

Remainder of Orientation

It has been a while since I posted, been really really busy. But to sum it all up, there was nothing too exciting that happened during orientation. We finished up our remaining lectures and the next day we met with our DOE/POE's and found out or placements. I already knew where I was going but this just confirmed it. Surprisingly some of the lectures were really useful and even fun!

One of the days in Busan, my friends and I went to the Charlie Brown Cafe, it's a nice little place close to the university and it looks really cool and trendy. Across from the Charlie Brown Cafe is a burger place that actually had veggie burgers! Writing this from memory, so instead of babbling, why don't you just check out the pics I've posted!

Day 5 at Orientation

Today we took a break from lectures and went on a field trip. There were two places we visited, POSCO (a steel factory) and JUMP an comical martial arts styled play. The steel place was fairly boring, it was a 2-hour trek one way and the tour only lasted about 10 minutes, very inefficient use of time. The JUMP play however, was very very entertaining and very fun to be a part of and watch. In between we stopped at a hotel for lunch. The lunch was OK, nothing spectacular.

Day 4 at Orientation

Another long day at orientation. The day starts early, waking up around 7, and it just ended now at 11pm with a movie. We did some more lectures today and compared to yesterday, I actually quite enjoyed the lectures. One of our teachers was a small Korean lady who was lecturing on the Education system in Korea. Not also was this a useful lecture but she was so funny and most of the class was laughing and enjoying the lesson very much.

Tonight at dinner, I was able to eat more food than normal since there was a lot more veggie stuff, I especially enjoyed the spring rolls and had about 10 of them. I am looking forward to tomorrow, we get to go on a field trip and get a well needed break from the lectures!

Day 3 at Orientation

Today was another long day at EPIK orientation. We started lectures at 9 and they went all the way into the evening with a break for lunch in the middle. After that was Korean lessons from 7-8:10, next we are supposed to watch a movie but it is not mandatory. Many of us are going to go out and venture into the city since this is a unique opportunity for us to all hang out, whereas a movie we can download and watch any time.

Day 2 at Orientation

Today was the first day of activities at orientation. We did our medical check which included, being poked with needles, pissing in a cup and being checked out by an x-ray machine. There were also hearing and seeing tests as well as having our measurements taken.

The other major event of the day was an opening ceremony with some Korean dancers and later on a formal dinner which included a variety of options, I would say at least 20+ different things but most of them being meat. Not really interested in eating the meat, I stuck to the veggie options and I made another friend there who also was a vegetarian. One thing that has been unique since I have come is that for every meal, I have eaten with a different group of people. In other words, there are a great bunch of people here and it has been fun getting to know and meet all of them!

I'm in Korea

Well I'm finally here and surprisingly the trip went pretty well. I know many people always have their crazy travel stories of how so many things went wrong or how uncomfortable they were, but I have nothing to contribute to that.

I flew with Korean Air and I highly recommend them. The food was great, the entertainment was great, the flight was fairly short, and all the hostesses were pretty (bonus!). I had ordered veggie meals and if any of you are veggie remember to do that when you book with your airline or travel agent. The meals I had were great. Pasta for dinner and pancakes for breakfast.

Once I arrived in Seoul I had to pick up my luggage and clear customs and then catch a flight to Busan. It was a very smooth process and I have no complaints about that.

I arrived in Busan and the airport was filled with EPIK people, I had already made some friends along the way from flying from Toronto to Seoul and then Seoul to Busan, but I picked up a few more at Busan. (Yaay for me!).

We all got sent to Busan in groups and I helped my groups load and then unload the luggage from the bus, that's nearly 70+ suitcases I had to lift and boy is my back sore!

Once we arrived at the orientation and got all registered we were given our dorm keys and also met our roommates. The dorms are really clean and come with a desk/bed/fridge/phone (only for calling other rooms). We also got a nice little gift package from EPIK with goodies such as towels/soaps/alarm clocks and other assorted useful goodies. The rooms also come with wired internet, no need to bring your wire, as you are given one (but must return it at end).

After setting up my internet, I went to go grab lunch but unfortunately I was denied, apparently I entered the cafeteria 1 minute to late, somehow the guy who entered after me was apparently on time, as he did get to eat.

It was all good though, my friends and I decided to go for a little walk and we found a really nice noodle place with very generous portions and we all got our fills there. While we were walking around we also found a Hello Kitty store, the entire store only had Hello Kitty stuff, it was pretty cool.

We came back from lunch, played a few games of cards, had dinner (which I didn't enjoy too much, sorry EPIK), said our goodbyes and went to bed! All in all it was a long fun and adventurous day!

You've Been Warned

Just a reminder to those who are going to Korea to teach; by law, you are not allowed to tutor to private students and get paid. The following wreaks of xenophobia but be aware that it is a crime to do paid tutoring. Here is a copy of a post from Dave's ESL that explains the accompanying photo.

I notice these days, particularlity, in Noeun dong Daejeon, that several (I counted 10 so far) of the hagwon buses are driving around with huge banners attatched to the side of the buses both in Korean and English saying that "All Foreigners are being watched for private teaching and if reported you will be deported and fined. Also there is a 500,000 Won reward for turning in the foreigner along with the Korean household and the Korean who may have introduced them". It also goes on to say that "The foreigners are not "qualified teachers" and that in hiring a private teacher you run the risk of something bad going wrong with your kid and/or apartment". Three phone numbers are included: Immigration, the Police, and the Haqwon Association.

Just yesterday as I was walking to the gym, one of the hogwon bus adojis screamed at me through his window with a big glee on his fat face "You are being watched!!!" The kids in the bus looked horrified as to what the psycho was going on about.

Now, I don't even do privates, but I feel as if I'm somekind of terrorist in the dong. I think the Hagwon Assosication of Daejeon needs to be called on this. Any ideas what one can do about it? Just ignore it and let it pass????

Getting Ready

Just to update everyone on what is going on. I have now booked my ticket and received my visa, also purchased a nice little camera called the Canon EOS Rebel T1i , hopefully I will have some nice pictures to share with you guys in the future. Stay tuned...

Contract is here...

Well I got my contract today, but I am still a bit in the dark. I was emailed that they are interested in placing me in a private school and that has slightly different stipulations, but the contract I have been given is the standard EPIK contract for public schools. The games continue...

Still Waiting...

Still waiting to hear from EPIK on whether I get a contract or not. However, I have started looking at flights, and from my research it is MUCH cheaper to fly out of Buffalo than from Toronto.

If anyone else is in the same situation, you may want to check out the following links:

http://ca.megabus.com/Default.aspx <== $7 To bus from Toronto to Buffalo Airport

http://www.statravel.com <== Tickets starting at $600


Considering the average cost of a ticket from Toronto to Busan/Seoul is $800-900, one should seriously consider flying out of Buffalo if they are interested in saving some money!