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...