First Days in South Korea

Training

So we got into Incheon, South Korea at 10 p.m., it was a two-hour plane ride from Taiwan. Not too bad. We met up with hundreds of EPIK teachers in the airport. We found out that our class of new students is 650 strong. There were 2,200 applicants, so I feel pretty lucky to be here. Lots of people came from Canada, South Africa, USA, Scotland, England, and Ireland. There is a total to 7,100 English teachers in South Korea. Koreans really want to learn English! The economy of the country has improved dramatically since the 90’s. Watch, they’re going to beat our economy in the States here soon.

There are no animals in the country. They were so poor for such a long time that they hunted all of their squirrels, birds, deer, tigers, etc. You don’t even hear birds outside. They are slowly repopulating now that the country has money. There are 7 11s everywhere. It’s easier than hunting birds. Ha!

I never thought I would have to relive the first week of college, but here I am. The first night we took over this small university town. (I haven’t figured out where I am yet. Jeonju University, “The Place of Superstars!”) Everyone went out and did Karaoke, and shots of Soju. Soju is this vodka type drink that goes down dangerously smooth. We had a huge buffet feast with lots of entertainment for the teachers. They had dancers and singers perform for us.

Day two consisted of the medical check. They are very concerned with health. They want us to check our temperature and record it twice a day. They gave us X-rays, blood tests, urine test, eye check, hearing, weight, and fill out more forms. It was chill. I just sat and talked to all the people from around the world while waiting in line for the next test.

The 10 days were long, but very fun. Way better than the first 10 days of college. As you grow older, things become easier. I had no problem meeting great people. Reality TV doesn’t know what they’re doing. They need to take hundreds of adventurous people from around the world, throw them in a foreign country living very close to each other, and give them alcohol. Quite entertaining.

First Days In Busan

The day had come when reality was slapping us in the face. No more classes to fall asleep in. Now I had to teach! I was given Kum Jeung Technical High School. I was told that it takes many years before one gets into high school teaching! I wanted elementary school! Did I do something too well? I was happy to have the challenge. I also feel honored that they think I can teach high school kids. What am I getting myself into!?

All 80 of us Busan city people were lined up in a random gym. We just stood there waiting for someone to come along, look at our namtag, and take us to our province. A very serious looking man comes along. No smiles. He went right up to me and signaled me to follow. I thought oh s**t, what is this year going to be like. Now I know him to be a nice man. He just introduced himself as my mentor. In reality, he should be my co-teacher.

He came with one other person that works in the office with the principal. They took me straight to a BBQ restaurant. I thought I was eating steak, but it was actually pork. It was some of the best pork I’ve ever had. This included many shots of Soju, the national drink of Korea. It comes in what looks like beer bottles. It’s made with potatoes. It’s very smooth, and has about 20% alcohol. They only cost about $1.50. The Koreans consume MASS quantities of this stuff.

I was overwhelmed with the amount of rules in table etiquette that I was being taught. If someone hands you a bottle, they don’t want you to fill your drink, they want you to fill theirs. When you fill their drink, you must put one hand on your elbow as a sign of respect. You never fill your own glass. The top dog, either the one that makes the most money, or the eldest, is in charge of paying for the whole meal. The lowest status person is in charge of the cooking of the meat. (Confucianism) At BBQ places, there is a grill in the center of the table and you cook all of your own meat. I was the guest, so I didn’t have to cook. You wrap the meat in either a lettuce leaf of a sesame leaf. You can add hot sauce, soy sauce, and many other things with it. Every meal comes with the national dish, kimchi. This is fermented (pickled) cabbage. They add spices to it to make it very spicy. I had my fill of food, thinking that the meal was done, and then they brought out the biggest bowl of cold noodle soup. I couldn’t eat it all. At this point I was a little buzzed too. They told me that I don’t drink like a girl and that they are proud, so I guess I did okay!

After our meal, they proceeded to take me to my hotel. My apartment was not ready because the last teacher for the school had not left the country yet. I was staying in a love motel! I had a circular bed with stars on the ceiling. There were lots of lotions and porn channels. I heard weird noises from the other rooms as well. I was happy to have a clean bed though. The room came with a very old computer as well. I couldn’t get the computer to speak English, but I was able to still navigate around the web. Through Facebook, I was able to talk to the other teachers including my friend Cameron. That first night no one went out cause we didn’t know where the hell we were!

Monday came around and they picked me up from the hotel to go to my new apartment. I met the last teacher for the high school. He openly said the school sucks in front of the staff. He really scared me. He took me out to lunch to give me a heads up on what I was in for.

He told me the kids hate English class, the teachers hate him, he was always bored, everyone drinks too much… Which all might be true for him. What I realized is that, just like any situation in life, you can focus on the bad or the good. This place is more extreme than his hometown in Canada. There is a ton of great things, and a ton of crappy things. I’m addicted to the chaos. It’s okay that everything is extremely different. Some people get very depressed here, but I’m down for the challenge. I feel more alive here than I have in many years.