The first couple of days, though, were seriously rough. Right after I landed, I had to wait in the airport for four hours to be shuttled to our orientation. On top of that when I finally got to the orientation site, I found out that our orientation would be 10 days with like 7 hours of lecture EACH day! I thought I was going to die! We even had a curfew so we couldn't even go out and explore at night. It was awful. Plus, there were like 100 other ppl (most of whom are or want to be teachers so they're actually taking the whole teaching thing seriously; I was actually one of the few who didn't have anything to do with education) so I was SO out of place. Each day, I was just thinking, 'what did I get myself into??"
And, I was really missing LA :(
But thank god, it all started getting better on Wed. After 6 hours of class, our program took us to the theatre! Even though I had no idea what it was about, I was just excited to finally get out of the dorm area. It turned out the b
e an awesome show!! It's called NANTA, and if you get the chance, you HAVE to go see it. It was such an amazing show. The whole show is basically a twist of the traditional Korean drumming rhythms, but it was done in the setting of the kitchen. It was totally hot! And it was even more fun cuz they would always get the audience to participate. This little blurb definitely does not do the show justice, but just trust me, go see it!!!The highlight of these few days, though, was definitely seeing Dave on Thursday!! After missing all my USC peeps for the latter part of the week and trying exhaustingly to meet 100 new people, it was really good seeing a familiar face. I was so excited when I found out that I could catch him just in time before he left! We took the cable car up to Namsan Tower, which is an observatory overlooking all of Seoul. It had been raining a lot the two days before and even that day, but luckily it cleared up that night so it was a SWEET view! We had troubles taking good pics in the beginning but we gradually figured out my stupid camera and by the end of the night, we were pros :) It seriously made my week!!
Friday was the end of our orientation (finally!) so they took us out to a really nice seafood restuarant. Not gonna lie, but the food kinda made it all worth it, lol :D Afterwards, we went out to the bar and then... karaoke, chyeah!!! It was awesome. Basically everyone in our program and the awesome Korean staff (The Korean staff are all so sweet, I absolutely adore them and so them joining us made it all the better) went out. We pretty much took over the entire bar and then 4 karaoke rooms. It was awesome!
On Saturday, we got paired up with our schools and co-teachers. The whole pairing up process was kinda nerve-racking. We all sat there while they called us one-by-one to pair us off; it was kinda like picking teams in elementary school, it was awful!
But I super lucked out! My co-teacher is really sweet, and when they showed me my apt. I couldn't believe it! Granted it's on the outskirts of Seoul, but it's SO much bigger than I expected! The building is pretty much brand new. My school was awesome super nice in preparing everything for me, so it's so pretty! Also, it's right across the street from two supermarket/department stores AND it's on the same block as the subway stop. Everything I could need or want is basically within a two block radius from my building. The only qualms I have is that the bathroom is really small, but oh wells, you can't have everything.
Just when I thought everything was going to be chill, I randomly met another English teacher at the elevator to my building. He gave me tips on the area and the bus situation, but the best part was he knew another teacher who is just moving out and leaving Korea. He introduced us, and basically, she just gave me everything else that I needed that the school didn't give me. And to top it off, I'm getting her phone off her for uber cheap! Yeah, Canto luck!!!
So now after all this awesomeness, I'm kinda nervous at how the rest of the week is going to go. Not really sure how it can get much better, but I'm meeting my school tomorrow, so hopefully this awesome streak will continue ~fingers crossed!!!~
Hi Grace! Reading this blog makes me wish I was in Korea with you. I'm glad you had some highs alreadys. It sounds awesome - good shows, good food, good times. =) I have to admit, I am already jealous. Btw, I finally got Korean food in K-Town here in NY. Have a good first week of school. =)
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