Orientation and Move to Incheon

So... orientation was Aug. 21-Aug. 29. Emily and I were supposed to fly together from San Francisco to Korea. But my first flight was delayed...not because of Fay...but because of a mechanical issue. So after crying and much planning with the United Air lady we found another plane...24 hours later. Luckily I found a military lad who was sitting next to me on the flight from Atlanta to Incheon, South Korea. So we talked a lot when we weren't watching our personal tv or sleeping or eating. Wait, I kept talking and eating.

Thankfully Emily was in the dorms already for orientation so she helped me move my bags. Oh, backtrack after the 14 hour flight I had to take a bus for over an hour. So motion sickness? I think yes.

(We went on a little tour between lectures. We just found a few stores near the university.)

But it was so nice to be in the dorms and they were really modern. Almost everywhere in Korea you have to push a button on the door from the inside just to get out. After much deliberating and being facilitated to for 8 days, all the English teachers reached their home and school destination 2 days ago.

During orientation we went to an amusement type thing but no rides...it was a Korean Folk Village.

Yesterday I found 2 random people and I was not afraid to ask if they were foreigners so I could speak English with them...haha. I love how I don't care about stuff like that. I was like, I need to find an English speaker if I want my life easier. So one of the guy's is named Ben and he lives on the 12th floor. Luckily, I'm on the 2nd so I can take the stairs! BTW, the elevators here....they close really fast and hard so I run in and out of them. I got hit once and I'm not letting it happen again. But you can push the open door button to keep the doors open...and you're prolly like, Duh, Rebekah...

Okay so yesterday Emily and I were able to meet up because when all the teachers met with their Korean co-teachers on Friday we were all dispersed very quickly. So no one really said good-bye...so after Em came to my apt yesterday we found Ben and he gave us a nice drawing map of where the closest subway station is. So she and I bought a round trip ticket for $2.80 to go to Seoul on Sunday.

I spent the night at my co-teacher's house Friday night in Incheon before my apt was ready. It's common to have a "home stay" while transitioning from orientation to the apt. Many other English teachers are in that process. It's fun to hear about everyone moving in and how they like their new places. Some ppl already have cell phones! But I won't get one for another week or so.

(This is our cute tour guide in the Folk Village.)

THE HOSPITAL: I got my medical exam at the hospital this morning with my co-teacher. I had some shocking experiences ...ugh. There was a man in a wheelchair with pins coming out of his leg!!!!!!!! They let him do that? He was being pushed but still....I was just doing an exam and he's freakin' coming out of surgery! And then one girl either had a really bad hair dye or she had been bleeding from her scalp.

Quick blurb: This was my favorite part of the Folk Village...learning about the Dutch Wife. It's great for all you Florida residents. It will beat your body pillow in a death cage match. It allows the cool air to flow through instead of trapping all your body heat.

...when I was changing for my x-ray my co-teacher thought that I was supposed to take off all my clothes and wear this big shirt they have. I asked if I could keep my undergarments on...but I had to take off all the top. But I also took off my sKirt. When I came out and asked the guy if it was right his eyes got really big like he was in shock and starting saying something to my co-teacher. Turns out I only needed to take off my top to put their shirt on. Haha....I was like, ugh, I didn't know. I quickly put my sKirt back on. So for x-rays you can keep your bottoms on...awesome. For the blood test I was a little nervous but when I didn't feel pain I made myself look at the needle. I felt so hardcore!!!!!! But it only hurt when the needle was out and I had to keep the alcohol wipe on the opening. I saw a couple other English teachers when I was leaving the hospital and that made me feel better with the transition. We were seriously still in a bubble from orientation. And we had been surrounded by mainly 'English as an L1' speakers. (I had met a lot of cool people and found out who the other ultimate players were. And there were some cool ppl I met who didn't play ultimate. I found a Gator! So that was sweet.)

Emily and me with a traditional musician/dancer.

Right now I'm waiting for the tv guy to come back from yesterday with the fixed tv. Yesterday (Sat) the screen showed no lights but could hear only sound. And after the tv guy leaves Em and I are going to play our first official pick up game of ultimate! These are the people I am expecting to play with every week and go to tournaments with.

I don't have any lesson plans to do this week and my teacher said next week I will start. And then we are off on Friday and the following Mon and Tues for a Korean holiday like Thanksgiving. So pretty much I won't be having a first full week of lessons until my 4th week of teaching. Can we say sweet? But it's sad in a way cuz I really want the students to speak English. Koreans in general are really good at reading and writing but not good at English conversation. So I'm excited to use my enthusiasm and linguistics background to help...I am working on getting material to help me. It's like I'm in school still. There are different teaching methods so it will be interesting to figure out what works best for my students with my personality. It's a social experiment...mwhahaha!!!!!!!!

This is a tight rope act from the Korean Village. He was fairly old and mind you I was impressed anyways from his tricks...

Emily and I are supposed to live together. Our schools did not get the memo. For now, she and I are chilling in my studio until she can move into her's on Monday. But she is seriously only across the street. Right now Em and I are stealing internet until mine is set up tomorrow.