First Day Of School

So today was my first day of school, it was awesome! I spent 4 classes introducing myself to the class and the students responded really well to me. I think we're going to have a great year. I was so nervous walking in, with all these little kids running up and down the halls.

News spreads like wildfire here. By the time I introduced myself to the first class, all of the following classes started to know all the answers to my questions. As you're walking down the halls they'll secretly follow you and spy on you. They even poke you when you're not looking.

My co-teachers are awesome, they really do care about my well being here in Korea. They really did go out of their way for me and I really want to give back to them. I plan on buying food for all the co-teachers on my fist paycheck to show my thanks.

It takes me about 30 minutes walk to my school, going uphill and downhill. I plan on losing a lot of weight here with all this exercise. I've even noticed my pants are starting to fall and I actually have to wear a belt again, lol. Anyways..

Overwhelmed!

Sigh, it's a lot harder than I thought to make a blog, lol. There's just too much going on right now. I'll do a full post as soon as I have plenty of downtime. EPIK got us on a tight schedule. It's all hard work from here, I have a presentation on Thursday and I'm getting nervous! The field trip to Jeonju was absolutely amazing! The pictures that I took doesn't do it any justice. I wish I had a SLR! Yesterday was pretty rough, I had classes all day long. I felt like I was back in high school. Today is another day of classes, bleh!

EPIK Orientation Day 2 Summary

So day 2 is over and it was a lot of fun. Basically we had a medical exam and a class meeting. They informed us about Korean culture and some of the encounters we will be facing. A few things things they pointed out was Confucianism. Koreans tend to do things indirectly as opposed to western culture. They will always try to "save face" to negate embarrassment to any individual. Embarrassment to an individual is pretty much a scar to the entire family that he/she belongs to.

After class, I attended a Korean survival language course. I'm already starting to pick up the 10 basic vowels of Hangeul. As soon as I get my pronunciation down, I'll be set.

Afterwards, we hit up the bar again. I felt like a freshman in college again, lol.

Randon Pics of EPIK Orientation Day 2

The drunken walk home.

Party foul!

Back at the bar again.

If SNSD loves chicken, I love chicken.

Campus restaurants/shops.

View of campus.

Random Pics of EPIK Orientation Day 1

LOL


Figuring out how to use the karaoke machine, lol.


More Soju!





New friends.


More drinking


Soju!


Dessert!


Sushi!


Food!


EPIK team.


Fan dance.


Awesome drum show.


Where I'm staying for orientation.


I dunno why, but I see everyone drinking this.


Giant PC Gaming center.


Korean Pepsi


LOL, that sign was there when we first came in.


Workspace


My bed


Gifts from EPIK


My first meal in Korea. Kimchi Ramen!


Long line to EPIK registration.

I'm Finally Here!

So I finally made it to Korea after 22 hours of traveling! If I ever decide to come back another year, I will definitely take the least stopovers possible. Also, Korean Air is the way to go in Korea, BELIEVE me.

As soon as I arrived at the airport I was thrown into a bus for another 3.5 hours to get to Jeunju University. It was worth it though because I got to meet a lot of new people and made some new friends. A lot of whom are going to Incheon as well! So I'll have plenty of people to chill with.

EPIK Orientation is simply awesome. You get to stay in a brand new dorm with a roommate (hopefully a good one), they provide your meals and transportation. Not to mention the shows, field trips, etc. I can't wait!

There are a few things I noticed about Korea:

- You don't need to tip your server.
- Men here are VERY metrosexual, some of them even dress better than their counterparts.
- Korean food here is ridiculously cheap. I can get full off a meal that costs 3000 won ($2.50).

There's so much more to say but it's 2:00 AM over here! I will update more as soon as I get more time!