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Published: January 11th 2013
Anneyung haseyo!!
So the first week of my new life in Korea was spent in the KT Human Resource Centre in the city of Daejeon. EPIK organises a week long orientation for new in-coming teachers, to introduce us to life in Korea as well as work on teaching ideas. About 300 of us, from all walks of life, descended upon Daejeon, bound for cities and provinces all over Korea. It was a very strange and intense week. We were woken up at half 7 every morning with the exact same intercom announcement: "Good morning EPIK teachers, this is the announcment from the head office, breakfast will be served..." (More annoying for the fact that we had our alarms set for 8am, no need people!!) We also had a nighttime anouncement telling us to be back in the dorms by the 10pm curfew, and basically spent the whole week being herded around like cattle. We had classes every day, some of which left us with really good teaching resources, and also evening Korean lessons from which I've remembered about 5 phrases!
I found myself sharing a room with a really cool girl from York called Bex, and my class was
Welcoming ceremony
Traditional Korean music, singing and clothes.full of other people going to my city, Busan. I also got to know a lot of people going to the province of Gangwon, as well as the city of Ulsan (Bex included).On Tuesday we had a welcoming ceremony complete with a traditional Korean orchestra and a tap dancing man. That night we went out to a nearby bar for an introduction to Korean beer (nothing to write home about) and a chance to get to know each other. Wednesday morning was medical check day which involved a lot of queueing and fear about the possibility of being deported if we failed anything! The weather was horrible for most of the week - wet, sticky and humid, and overcast most days. Bring on winter!
On Friday we had a "cultural field trip" and like everything else it was over-organised and stifling. We had to wear our matching navy EPIK t-shirts and name badges and were herded around in the rain all day. However, the automatic highlight was when we boarded our bright pink "limousine" buses to discover that they were kareoke disco buses!! We started off with a trip to the Gongju National Museum, which featured the culture of
the Baekje era (AD475-538). Many artifacts were interesting, particularly decorative ornaments recovered from the tomb of King Muryeong, a man who brought stability to the country during this era. Afterwards we were brought to a nearby cultural centre for lunch, and had our first taste on
Bibimbap - a delicious concoction of different vegetables, meat, and rice topped off with an egg and drizzled with gochujang (hot pepper paste). It was delicious! After lunch we went to a small traditional Korean style hall for a concert featuring more traditional instruments and an amazing drumming display. Back on the bus we were taken to King Muryeong's tomb, or rather a replica/visitor centre as the tomb is closed to the public. Then it was up a steep hill in the rain for a view over the tombsite before another bus trip. This time the driver put on the disco lights as we danced to "Gangnam Style". We were taken to a pottery centre for a demonstration and a chance to paint our own pots. We were also given some clay to play about with, and I made a poo sculpture in time-honoured Korean tradition. (I'm not joking apparantly there are poo sculptures
all over Seoul!)
On return to the Orientation centre, most of us were chomping at the bit to get out and away from all the organisation, so about 6pm a group of us went out into Daejeon for dinner. We ended up in a Korean BBQ restaurant and someone ordered
Samgyeopsal for us all. This turned out to be raw slices of streaky pork belly which we had to cook ourselves on a hot plate in the centre of the table with garlic cloves and kimchi. Then when it was cooked we cut the pork into pieces with scissors, grabbed a lettuce leaf and filled it with kimchi, garlic, pork, beansprouts and hot sauce. It was delicious; a finger-licking, lip-smacking combination of flavours. And after attempting and dismissing kimchi in the canteen, I actually appreciated it in the restaurant. Choosing a pub for after took awhile but we found a chaotic looking street and parked ourselves in a Mexican-themed cantina. We all ended up breaking curfew but it was worth it to feel like we were actually in Korea and not in a bubble.
Saturday and Sunday were spent keeping our heads down after our very late returns
to the dorm, and also preparing for our lesson demonstrations on Monday. Sunday evening also brought us a Taekwondo lesson! We filed into a hall and were met by members of the Korean National Team. They gave us a demonstration of their skills before putting us through our paces. Monday was D-day!! After all our lesson demonstrations we met representatives from our MOE to find out where we were going to be placed. First we got the results of the medical exam - I passed with "normal" levels of liver, skin, and psychiatric disease. Then it was the moment of truth! I was placed in Jang-an elementary school (yesssss) in Haeundae district, which is famous for its beach, bars and nightlife. It's a big district so a lot of us will be there, including three more Irish. It all looks positive! That evening we had a closing ceremony with lots of speeches and a hilarious video compilation made by one of the staff. We feasted in the canteen and went out for a few quiet drinks that night as a farewell.
Overall orientation was a strange other-worldly experience, but despite being bossed around all hours of the day and
samgyeopsal
photo courtesy of Sarah Frawley generally being treated a child, it brought some great and memorable experiences too:
- K-pop: particularly Psy's "Gangnam style".
- Korean food: OK not in the canteen but our trips out brought some culinary delights. I'm looking forward to eating out!
- Friends! I spent so long getting to know people who are going to different places in Korea, but I'll never be stuck for a sofa to sleep on! 😊 Busan here I come!
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