Hello friends, family, and the occasional random stranger who stumbles upon this blog in the future.
Today was my first day of orientation. Officially, anyway. It was a bit interesting and I made a bunch of new friends. I also met someone who is going to be in the same province as me. Here's to you, Leo, I can tell we'll be hanging out a lot.
Anyway, our classes were held in Trinity Hall on the BUFS campus and for our first class we went over how orientation will work and the TaLK orientation staff. Our group leaders are all foreign TaLK scholars, as well as most of the staff, so it's pretty cool. We took a Korean test so that we could be placed into language classes. Seeing as I speak like, no Korean, I'd understand if I was placed in the Beginner level. Whatever. I plan on taking classes at GIC while I'm in Damyang anyway and I know I'm a total Korean Language newbie.
After the language test we proceeded with a couple of icebreaker games, some of them we can play with the kids, like the frying pan game which is all about rhythm and memorization. I intend to use games I played as a kid like Telephone and the like, I bet the kids will really like it. I even thought turning vocabulary into cards and playing card matching games (like card concentration? I don't know exactly what the game is called) where the card is flipped upside down and they can match synonyms or just words in general. Like maybe the English to the Korean word, synonyms, cards that belong in the same group, that kind of thing. We also decided to go with themes for holidays for our respective countries (the TaLK program accepts teachers from 7 English-speaking countries), like Independence Day, Labor Day, Veteran's Day (or Armistice day), Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas. I think it would make lessons a whole lot easier.
Anyway, after class we had lunch and then changed into our formal attire for the opening ceremony for the TaLK orientation. It was held in the same building as our classes, Trinity hall. There were speeches given congratulating us and thanking us for taking a year of our lives to teach children in rural areas. Tania (did I spell it right?) gave an awesome speech as the representative for the 14th Generation of TaLK scholars. We also saw a performance from a traditional Korean percussion ensemble and I'm a bit mad that I didn't record it, it was pretty awesome. Anyway, after that we had a break and I decided to take some pics with my classmates:
From the left to right: Kirk, Leo and me taking a selfie (or should I say Selca now, because that's what they say in Korea?). Leo is Korean, but spent a significant amount of time in the States. Kirk is from South Africa, I believe.
Me and Saya. And two more girls in the back, but sadly their names escape me at the moment. Sorry... T_T
Me and Sebastian. He told me he likes taking weird faces. The camera loves weird faces. He's a pretty cool guy and he's from Australia.
Anyway, after the break we had one more presentation from a guy who had been living in S. Korea for almost 17 years and he gave us some advice about life in S. Korea. Korea is really fast-paced, the people are blunt, they love singing, Korean fashion, and drinking culture.
Drinking culture is important to me because anyone who knows me knows I don't really drink much (unless it's wine). However, drinking is HUGE in south Korea and refusing to drink with others could really put a damper on your relationships with your co-workers. Now, in the US, it's advised that you reserve that kind of things for your friends, not your co-workers and definitely not your boss. I don't even drink, so I'm worried about it. I don't mind taking a few shots of soju, but I will definitely cut it off early. It was confirmed that I can refuse to drink by leaving a little in my glass. I think it's the most polite way to stop drinking. Why the heck would I want to be drunk in front of my fellow teachers anyway?
After the opening ceremony we all went and had a delicious dinner and I found another kpop fan like myself. They're coming out of the closet now that they're in Korea. Why hide it? Anyway, afterwards me and a few girls gathered in my room and had a long conversation about anything and everything. It was pretty cool how everyone was able to have a calm discussion. I think our generation is overall a pretty cool group. I haven't talked to Everyone, but they all seem cool.
Anyway, I'm gonna end it here. Peace, love, and Ice-Cream.
Cheers~!
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