EPIK Orientation Fall 2009 - A Review

Hey everybody, I'm once again blogging from a local PCbang in Daejeon. It's less than $1 per hour...but I still wish that I had my own internet. Oh well, hopefully I'll get that soon.

I just wanted to take another moment to write a bit about EPIK Orientation this year.

General Thoughts

First, an overview of how I thought everything was put together. In brief, I thought that everything was organized very well by EPIK. Before coming to Korea, I had read a lot of information about how EPIK wasn't a well organized program, and because of this I had pretty low expectations about orientation. Well, my expectations were easily surpassed. The week was well designed, with numerous lectures that were very useful, a field trip, and a "mock lesson" presentation on the last day to give us a bit of experience. I was very satisfied with how everything was put together. Yes, a couple of the lectures were terrible, and with four 90 minute lectures each day, it was occasionally a struggle to make it through them without a quick nap, but I persevered.

Jeonju City

I also thought that both the city of Jeonju and Jeonju University did an excellent job of hosting us. The Univeristy made most of its facilities (Gym, computer labs, etc) open to us, and the city put together a big picnic for us in the traditional part of Jeonju. Furthermore, the local businesses near the Jeonju University campus did a great job of dealing with a bunch of goofy foreigners invading their businesses. I'm sure we were quite a hassle for them, but I'm also sure that we gave them plenty of business in what is usually a slow time of year.

My Thoughts

Lastly, from a personal standpoint, I think I took away a lot from the orientation. From my experience with YFU Japanese camp, I've seen how these sort of short "10 day new country orientation" camps affect people mentally and emotionally, but in at those camps, I was still in my home country. This time, I was the one moving to a new country, so it was interesting to see how things went. Needless to say, I met a lot of people in a short period of time, and I'm curious to see how well I'll keep in touch with them. I'm notoriously bad about keeping in touch with people, but I think I met some people who will be in Daejeon that I can hang out with, as well as a few others who I would like to keep in contact with despite being further away. So, to any EPIKers who are reading this: I know I only met you guys for about 10 days, but it was a lot of fun, and I'm better off for it! Keep in touch!

Oh, and on a side note...lets just say I'm glad I made it through the week without being deported. I'm sure at least a few of you know what I'm talking about :P (Don't worry, nothing too bad!)

In Closing

I could probably write a whole book about EPIK Orientation if I set my mind too it, but I think I'll end here. If you have any questions about the orientation (either general or personal), feel free to ask me via comments or e-mail. Oh, one more thing, I do have a few pictures orientation, I'll put them all up on Facebook and probably upload a select few on here at some point. It will probably happen once I get internet either at my apartment or at my school, we'll see.

That's all for now, see ya!

Tireeeedddd.......

Today marks the end of my first week in Korea, so it seems like a good time to write something. I was hoping to write updates more often, but between classes and after-hours activities, I've hardly had time to relax, much less write on this blog. In fact, I'm skipping lunch right now to do so! (I'm pretty sick of the cafeteria food here.)

EPIK Orientation has been an interesting experience so far. The first few days were really really fun, just meeting all sorts of new people and experiencing the area around me. The past couple of days I've been feeling a little more blue though. I think my energy level is starting to dip a bit, and I think that has been affecting me a bit, both my mood directly and probably the quality of my social interactions with the other teachers here. Case in point: I'm in my room blogging and kicking out some jams rather than talking with people at lunch. Perhaps I just needed a little break today. In any case, overall I'd can say that I'm having a positive experience so far.

I think it's possible that it's also really starting to sink in that I'm going to be here for quite a bit of time. A few nights ago I was standing outside of a convenience store with some fellow foreigners, have some drinks (it's legal to drink outside here). I started thinking about exactly what all of the Koreans walking by us were thinking about this huge mass of foreigners, because we were obviously not Korean, nor following proper Korean drinking etiquette.

I kind of took a step back from the crowd to think about it for a bit, and also observe all of the "locals" passing by. Most of them didn't give us a second glance. I guess I was also just curious to see how they act in general and stuff. I don't expect to "become Korean" or anything like that, but I'd like to at least make an effort to fit in here, rather than completely rejecting the culture and separating myself from everything around me. I think that will make my life more enjoyable and run more smoothly.

Anyway, that's all for now I guess. Like I said, overall everything has been going well, and I hope they continue that way going forward! Peace.

All Quiet on the Eastern Front

I really haven't had much time to write here, unfortunately!

But, a quick update: I'm currently at the EPIK orientation held at Jeonju University, in Jeonju city, South Korea.

I'm meeting a lot of cool people, and enjoying myself so far. For the time being, I'm basically in an "English bubble", so I suspect my real battle with culture shock won't get started for a bit...but we'll worry about that when the time comes.

Anyway, I have to go out and enjoy Jeonju with friends, but hopefully I'll write a better update sometime soon!