i have been in korea for 5 months now, can you handle it? that’s almost the halfway mark. well halfway on a one year contract. i may extend to 2, i’m open to it because i sure am having a good time.

i had a lovely holiday in the philippines but i won’t be writing about that here. what happens in boracay stays in boracay. i will be writing about returning to korea and then being invited to orientation. orientation is for newbies in korea to adjust to their new life. they have 2 big intakes in february and august and usually people will be fresh off the plane and straight into orientation. a nifty little way of helping you to adjust to your new life etc. i however missed the big february intake and thus missed orientation first time around.

not too worry, i coped just fine. i did a fair amount of research before i came. i had been teaching already in south africa and i knew people who had taught in korea or who were still there. so it was mostly smooth sailing. plus everything was exciting and strange and new!

coming back from the philippines was interesting. things were not so exciting and new anymore. i did not appreciate the drunk adjosshi (old man) on the subway telling me and my friends that are too many english teachers in korea and it is not good bla bla bla drunken bullshit. well played to my friend jade who just politely told him to tell his government. i also thought people would stop staring at me by now. not so much.

so i guess it was kind of cool to go to orientation to learn more about korean culture and culture shock. like a little refresher course. it was also nice to get new lesson ideas and have a few more days off from school. but that’s the boring part. the best part was meeting lots of new interesting people and sharing many memorable moments. how’s that for alliteration? go margo english teacha !

half the people had been in korea for a couple of months (some even years) and the other half had landed just a few hours before. nevertheless we were all instant friends after the first night. on the first night there was no schedule other than dinner and unpacking… oh how we would miss those heady hours of freedom in the next 6 days where we followed a schedule of lectures from 9 am to 10 pm. the only break being lunch and a 10 minute reprieve every now and then. but i digress.  that night we sat outside sipping soju and juice and sharing anecdotes about korea with the newbs and genrally discussing things you discuss with people you just met.  i met the new girl that was coming to my town and discovered that her mom had read this here blog… hi!

orientation was held at a conference centre. so we all got nice hotel style rooms with own bathrooms etc. the cafeteria was really beautiful but unfortunately the food was not. after day 2 of fish soup, kimchi and rice for breakfast i decided sleeping in was the better option. it was also necessary because although days were filled with lectures nights were filled with… well it’s hard to say. there was definitely drinking involved but that wasn’t the what made the nights so  groovy it was more the craziness that happens when you combine 30 english teachers from all around the world and keep them cooped up and isolated from the real world. there were crazy dance offs. there were koreans teaching us k-pop dance steps. there was breaking into the noraebang room turning on the machine getting busted and getting shat on like we were still in high school. there were hilarious jokes about how jamaicans say bacon and beer can. there was a lot of hysterical laughter. there was literally a facebook party. like a LAN party, except everybody was on facebook friend requesting each other. i could go on and on. but i won’t.

we were lucky to have a break from lectures one day (can you tell how much i loved the lectures? more on that later) and have a “cultural experience”. this meant going to the indenpendence hall of korea. it’s more like the independence park as there are about seven different museums, monuments etc. all about the japanese occupation from 1910 to 1945. all i’m going to say about that topic is the japanese sure were cruel and the koreans are not goin to forget anytime soon. the independence monument was really beautiful but i think the most enjoyable part for everyone was the arts  + crafts and dress-up component of the trip. we were taken to a building resembling a korean military school from back in the day. here we got to assemble our own little military school house as well as dress up like soldiers. basically act like kids. awesome.

now to get to the real reason we were there: the lectures. with all sorts of topics like culture shock, classroom management, effective co-teaching etc. the first couple of days i genuinely did enjoy more than i had expected to. the speakers were interesting, mostly other EPIK/SEPIC teachers who had been here a while. the class conversation was stimulating, we shared lots of ideas and tips. but by saturday i felt like i had heard it all. plus i had very little interest in the korean middle school curriculum or adjusting to being a new teacher, topics that didn’t apply to me. i guess my biggest gripe was that i was sitting in a lecture hall from 9 am to 10 pm on a saturday and a sunday. my weekend had been taken from me! and if you’ve read the last post you’ll know how much i love my weekends : )

i coped by bringing in my laptop and sitting in the back doing random things on the internet and pretending i was taking notes, i was not the only one. being in korea is a lot like being in high school sometimes, but that is a whole other blog post for you to look forward to.

before i had gone to orientation i was complaining to my friend that i had to go. i told him the only good thing that would come out of it would be making new friends and i felt like i had enough friends. a completely crazy sentiment, i know. i ended up making a whole new bunch of totally awesome friends and i am so stoked about it. we’ve already planned a reunion in hongdae this weekend and they’re all coming to my rooftop party the next weekend. we had a lot of great conversations throughout the week of orientation and one thing that came up a lot was that friends are important in korea. you are miles away from home and being a recluse is not going to help you enjoy your time here. get out, do things and meet people was the advice that was passed around again and again. and i agree with that wholeheartedly. it’s so simple, and on that note i will leave you.

happy travels, happy campers!