An EPIK beginning

After a long traveling experience, I have finally arrived in Daejeon, South Korea for a week long orientation. The final days in the U.S consisted of last minute goodbyes, frantic trips to the store for last minute supplies, phone calls and of course, packing. It took the better part of three days to pack up the stuff I wanted to take, realize that it would never fit in my decided upon luggage (two large hard shell suitcases, a backpacking pack and a small messenger bag) and then weed out the necessities from the "But I MIGHT need this!" There was a brief moment where I tried to convince myself that both of my red heels needed to come with me (despite the fact that I have only worn one of them once in the past year). The verdict? Neither made the final cut.

Finally the bags weighed in at 50.4 lbs each and I was off to the airport early on the morning of February 19th. I was sweating by the time I made it to the gate as I wore my heaviest clothing items on the plane, and the walk to the gate was not a short one. The plane rides were decent enough, however 12 hours is really quite a long time to be on a single airplane. This one was a giant one that had two levels. Unfortunately, passengers had to pay upwards of $1,000 extra to be able to enter the upper deck, so I didn't get to check it out. Instead I was on the aisle of a cramped economy row with a mother and son. They were pleasant enough and that coupled with the many other EPIK teachers on the flight to get up and chat with and the in-flight movies, the time passed quickly enough. Unfortunately I didn't sleep much so I landed in Seoul with about a few scattered minutes totaling 3 hours of sleep over the 20 hour period. Once we made our way through customs, we made our first purchase in Korea: Jamba Juice. Yes, unfortunately, I fulfilled the American stereotype of finding American food upon arrival in a new place. Despite the fact that we had hardly left the country, we clung desperately to our frozen cups of home and headed towards the EPIK desk.

Now, if you have not read my first blog post, EPIK= English Program in Korea. It is the official government program of the Ministry of Education that hires native English speakers to teach in public schools around the country. I now know that it was started in 1995 and now there are over 9,000 native English speakers in South Korea in public schools, thanks to this program. So really, a solid place to get started if you are looking to teaching English in Korea for the first time.

The opening ceremony complete with detailed slideshow of events

If I could describe EPIK in one word, I know what it would be: Organized. This is different from efficient, but we'll get to that later on.

Once we checked in at the desk with our visas we got a number and waited for another hour or so to get a spot on the bus. We arrived in Daejeon at the KT conference center around 10pm and promptly went to sleep.

So for the next week there are around 300 EPIK teachers from around the world (ok, seven countries, the U.S., England, New Zealand, Ireland, Australia and South Africa) stuffed into one dormitory building.

Over the course of this time here we are learning the basics of teaching in Korea, working in the public school system, vacations and pay, organizing summer/winter camps, classroom management, Taekwondo and going on a field trip the cultural city of Jeonju. Oh and the most important part, learning Korean! But first, we needed to have a demonstration on Taekwondo.

The eight day orientation passed in a blur, here are a couple of highlights in picture form!

The dorms where all 300 or so of us foreign teachers were housed for 8 days

At a temple on top of a hill in Jeonju

Overlooking Jeonju

Watching fancy paper being made!

Our fearless and fun group leaders, Jun and Suzie

Playing in the bamboo gardens

Bibimbap, yum!

Pencil case making

Wandering around and noticing the cute city signs

Drum class that was really just us hitting a drum and laughing a lot

Finally we made it through to the part we were all waiting for: The school placements. All of the EPIK guest teachers who were placed in the city of Busan sat in a room and were handed an envelope containing our contracts and our region/school assignment. I am pleased to announce that I am in the Haedunae region of Busan at the Haedong Elementary school. That may not mean anything to you, so check out this link with a map!
 http://wikimapia.org/9616980/Haedong-Elementary-School

From what I can tell, I will be nearby the famous Haeundae beach and the worlds largest department store. Basically I will be in the school quarter that is just next to the central downtown area. Whatever that means, I will find out tomorrow when I get there! Right now there is only a closing ceremony, dinner, possible karaoke and a 3.5 hour bus ride between myself and Busan.

Last night celebrations in a neubang (Karaoke bar)

I'm ready to go! An-nyeong-hi-ke-se-yo Daegeon, An-nyeong-ha-se-yo Busan! (Translation: Goodbye Daegeon, Hello Busan!)