First Contact

Greetings...

This is officially my first "blog" from South Korea. I hope to keep this thing updated regularly--keeping those that are interested interested.

Here's a re-cap of the first couple days:

--The flight actually ruled. From S.F. to Seoul we took Singapore Airlines which was more than quality. The female attendants were all "exotic" looking and dressed in very stylish "ethnic" uniforms. I had anticipated on-demand movies with my own screen in front of me--they did not disappoint. I watched a total of 3.33 movies ("W." "Rachel Getting Married" "Righteous Kill" and 1/3 of "Tokyo Sonata" which didn't have a chance against my exhuastion), played Tetris against Rob sitting next to me and even went through this language learning game with Korean. I "mastered" Korean numbers, days of the week, times of the day and months. For me, this much entertainment easily filled those 12 hours and kept my mind off the flight. For those who have no interest in movies, tv, music, games, etc. the flight was probably as brutal as could be.

--We arrived in Seoul at the Incheon Airport. "Customs" was basically a passport check/stamp and that was it. Totally painless. One of Rob's 2 suitcases got left behind for some reason but he's being reuinted with it any time now. We found the EPIK (English Program in Korea) desk, met our TeachAway rep (who gave us bottles of water!) checked in and got on the bus. We knew we had a couple hour drive on this bus but I suppose it could've been worse.

--We finally made it to Dankook University in Cheonan which is where we'll be for 8 days of orientation (no ethnic stereotypes intended). We're sharing a dorm room--there was talk of the room accommodating 2-3 people but, praise Buddha, we didn't have to share with some awkward third roommate. We've got a great view of some trees, a lake and, in the distance, nestled in the hills, a part of the main city of Cheonan. The beds are stunningly stiff but I'm actually diggin' 'em.

--Yesterday, we had our first orientation meeting in which we collectively applied for bank accounts and cell phones. We also got a tiny lecture from one of the EPIK coordinators about culture shock and a 5-minute lesson on the architecture of power in the Korean education system.

--Lunch provided a great story: We eat in the dorm's cafeteria and while in line with our trays, getting rice, tofu, soup and probably the best fruit salad I've ever had heaped on, we come across what looks like spaghetti (noodles in red sauce). Rob asks that lady serving this what it was--she responded by placing a tongs-full helping onto his tray...okay! We sat down and began the eating. If you didn't know already, Rob is very anti-seafood--he hasn't had it in years and is unreasonalby concerned about the mercury levels. I agreed from the very first meal on the plane to be the official food taster of the group. Naturally, he enlisted my services on this "spaghetti" and after a couple tentative chews, I deduced that it was "chewy, spicy noodles." This, of course, was entirely incorrect. As we were wrapping up our meal, some EPIK counselors (Koreans) sat next to us. There were naturally very nice and considerate--one asked, "Did you enjoy the food?" We agreed. I asked her, pointing to the "spaghetti," "What's this?" She consulted with her co-worker briefly and came back with, "Squid." After my naive deduction of "chewy, spicy noodles," Rob ate his entire portion of it and liked it. This only added to the hilarity as he found out that he not only ate seafood but SQUID on top of it. I laughed quite a bit and we explained to the counselor Rob's situation--they laughed a bit as well. Then she reminds us that Busan is like the seafood capital of Korea and we had a bit more laughter.

--In the convenience store, next to the cafeteria, I bought the Korean version of Sun Chips which are simply called, "Sun." These taste exactly like Sun Chips except they've got the tiniest bit of spice. I thought this was simply a matter of Korean taste until I finally noticed the picture of chilis on the front of the bag.

--Last night, we went to an Opening Ceremony with brief talks from the EPIK President and a representitive from the Ministry of Education. We also got two traditional/cultural performances: a "fan dance" and a really awesome drum performace. It made me want to sign up for giant drum lessons.

--After the Opening Ceremony, we all ate in this giant room. It was pretty neat: one of the lead EPIK women called three teachers up to the front--then she explained that these three people had birthdays that day or the next day. She lit candles on a cake and sang Happy Birthday (in Korean which thankfully has the same melody as the American version). I thought this was a great example of how accommodating and thoughtful the program's been. We sat with a couple from England, one of the Korean counselors and Ashley (my friend David's ex-girlfriend--did I mention that she randomly is in the same program?) We had a great conversation about the different cultures, sports, movies and many topics in between. It was really cool.

--Today we have medical check-ups: in order to complete our Alien Residency, we have to poked and prodded. We aren't supposed to eat or drink for at least 6 hours prior so both Rob and I are currently starving and thirsty as we wait for our turn.

So far, I'm having a great time. The jet-lag doesn't seem to be affecting me too much. Now, I'm just ready to take that 4-5 hour bus ride down to Busan in 6 days and officially move into my apartment. We still don't know exactly where we'll be teaching and we don't find out until the day before we leave.

Stay tuned...

-Brent