I'm Here!!!

Sorry it took a little while for me to write.... I was struggling to figure out how to post a blog since everything in my Google account seems to be defaulting to Korean.

So I've arrived safely in Jeonju, South Korea, where I'll be living in a dorm at the University here for the next week for orientation. They've got us on a pretty tight schedule, so I'll probably not be able to write for awhile.  I've met some interesting people so far though.  My roommate is awesome.  Her name is Candace, she's 39 and from New Zealand. She loves to talk my ear off, her accent is adorable, and she's into the same kinda weird quantum physics type of thing that I am, so we've been having a great time together.

I also have at least one "close" friend (as close as we can be after knowing each other a day).  His name is Ramy, he's Egyptian but from Toronto, Canada.  He has the most GORGEOUS eyelashes (sooooo jealous).  We sat through the most ridiculously boring lecture and made an awesome piece of doodle art together (he taught me how to write my name in Arabic... it's so pretty... tattoo idea Kacie?).  He's in the same province as I am, so hopefully we'll get placed in the same town. 

There are 350 new teachers at this orientation.  They're all over the board as far as personality.... but I've had fun breaking them down into a few different categories.

1.) Overly excited first time traveler: "Oh my God, can you BELIEVE we're actually in Korea right now? Like right this minute, we're half way across the world!  I LOVE kimchee!" (that last one has got to be a lie, the cafeteria kimchee is the grossest thing of all time). "I'm never going to go to foreigner bars, I wanna be part of the culture" (lies again... you'll get homesick).  I can't discredit them for their enthusiasm I guess, but it's going to be awfully funny when the homesickness/culture shock sets in and the honeymoon's over.

2.) Super anal retentive detail obsesser: "Do you know exactly how this will work, why aren't they telling us ANYTHING around here? I'm freaking out!  Did you open a bank account already (no), I did it two weeks ago. Did you learn any Korean yet?" (no) Not that their panicking freaks me out, EPIK has been holding our hand the whole way so my theory is it's all going to pan out just fine.  But they do love to keep us in the dark about everything.  We get details on a need-to-know basis.  Or never, like our medical exam today where they shuffled us from room to room and never explained what was going on until a needle was hanging out of our arm.  But you'd think they would have successfully beaten the need to know what's going on out of everyone during the application process.  I think 90% of the people I've talked to didn't know if they would be here two weeks ago.

3.) Seasoned ESL Teacher: the best or the worst the group. One guy in my class (we're always together with our class) feels the need to remind us every moment that he already has his alien registration card, or dash your spirits every time you voice a desire to find some little remnant of home ("Nope, you'll never find that here, you'll just need to give it up").  I'll find it just to spite him.  Then I'll send him a picture.

4.) Married couples: surprisingly, there are so many couples here.  It makes me sad because then I remember that I'm on my journey alone, so I kind of avoid them like the black plague, through no fault of their own.

But for the most part there are some pretty cool, down to earth people in the program.

If Aimee ever reads this, I have almost witnessed the near-death of three hands through elevator amputation (not my own, thanks for the advice!). For those who don't know, there are no sensors on elevators in Korea.  If a body part is in the way when the doors close, you leave it behind.  My dorm building is also 18 stories high, and I'm on the 13th.  But the elevators are possessed and only stop on your floor when they feel like it, so I've probably climbed 200 stories since I've been here.  Thus begins my Korean weight loss plan.

But they are keeping us fat and happy here.  We eat like kings in the cafeteria! 

Tonight, we break free of the dormitories, somehow find some transportation, and hit the town!  Jeonju's population is apparently 700,000 (it doesn't look like it from my dorm/prison cell), so there's got to be some good bars!