Orientation

Apparently I've almost been in Korea for a week?

What?

It's all been a blur so far, and despite the fact that I'm in another country, it doesn't really feel THAT different yet.

But let's start from the beginning.

I left from Boston on the morning of the 18th.  Talk about an absolute insane mix of emotions.  As I sat in the Boston airport feeling completely sick to my stomach and trying my absolute hardest not to cry, I was seriously questioning my sanity.  Did I REALLY think it would be a good idea to go to Korea? What had overcome me in the past few months?!  Why did I think this was a good idea?!

Nonetheless, I got on the plane.  I actually slept for my entire flight from Boston to Chicago--I guess the 3 hours of sleep I got the night before weren't quite enough.  Once I got to Chicago I felt a whole lot better--we had a ton of EPIKers on our flight, so I was surrounded by people in the same position that I was in.  We were all nervous, we had all just said goodbye to our families, and we all had no idea what was ahead. There was some sort of comfort in our collective uncertainty.

The 14 hour flight from Chicago to Korea wasn't nearly as bad as I was expecting.  There were plenty of movies to watch, and after days of stressing out about moving, it was kind of nice to sit back and just watch some movies and sleep.

Once we got to Korea, I gathered my things and met up with my recruiter.  From there we got on a bus with other EPIKers and began another 4 hour bus ride to our orientation site at Jeonju University.  We made a quick stop to get some food.  And what did I buy?

Pringles and Vitamin Water.

Nice work, Sarah.  Really starting life in Korea by taking in that culture!

Once we got to the University, we were all hot, tired, and had way too much luggage to haul around.  Luckily, check-in was easy enough (although they did check our temperature as part of the check-in process...random?)  and before not too long, we were finally in our rooms and ready for bed.

The next day started out pretty easyily.  We had a pretty awesome taekwondo performance at out Opening Ceremony...seriously these people were AMAZING! I really wish that I had recorded it because there's just no way I'll ever really be able to convey the awesome-ness that it really was.  You'll just have to believe me on this one.

Wednesday morning started with our medical check-up.  I knew about this check-up beforehand, but that didn't make it any less awkward.  This is a full on medical checkup--they do simple things from taking your height and weight, but they also do more intense things like take your blood and urine AND do an x-ray of your chest.  FUN!

Besides that, our days have consisted of classes until 8:30 night.  Classes range from everything from taekwondo (pretty fun!) to the more traditional stuff like lesson planning, classroom management, cooperative learning, and basically mini refresher classes on stuff I've already spent a lot of time learning about in college. It has been pretty exhausting to say the least, but after a year of being the teacher, it's interesting to be in the student's position again.

Today we went on a field trip around Jeonju's cultural sites.  It was really cool, but it was POURING pretty much all day (which is funny  because every other day it's just been INSANELY hot and humid).  We started the day by making a craft with traditional Korean paper (hanji).  Then, we headed to drumming class, where we all got to use traditional Korean drums --it was fun! Then we had a traditional lunch--bibimbap with a bunch of different side dishes.

After lunch, we headed to Hanok Village--this was a super cool area with some really traditional Korean architecture, but also plenty of modern shops.  It was a really cool area, and I definitely want to go back at some point when I have more time (and when it's not raining!)

Tonight we had the night off, which has been great because there really hasn't been any time to just chill since we've been here.  I've been meeting tons of people from all over the place, which is awesome, but also really draining.  I'm definitely the type of person that needs some alone time to recharge, so days that are so jam- packed with people 24/7 are super draining for me (don't get me wrong, going out after class has been fun!  But everything in moderation....)

Tomorrow and Sunday we have classes 9-8:30.  Monday we have our lesson demonstrations and meetings with our POE supervisors (and finally find out where we're going to be!), and Tuesday we head out to our new homes.

Although I've been in Korea for almost a week, it doesn't really feel like I'm in a different country because I am still surrounded by other westerners.  As much as I'm sure I'm going to miss orientation once it's done, right now I'm anxious to get settled into my new life and really start experiencing Korea.