Orientation

I haven’t had any time since coming to Korea and now that I have some, here is a basic recap J

I got to Incheon airport on time and without luggage lost.  The bus ride to the Language institute (where my six day orientation would take place) in Seoul was interesting.  There would be open fields then arising in the middle of them would be a collection of tall apartment buildings. I thought it was strange to see random housing but that impression would soon be a normal sighting in Korea.  It turns out apartments are much more desirable than houses because people think living in an apartment means you are better off.  I would say this is completely opposite for the majority of Americans. 

When the bus entered the city, there was immediate congestion.  Mopeds cruising on the sidewalks, waves of people crossing the street, big cars trying to fit into small lanes, that type of thing.  As strange as this will sound (or read :P), Korea feels like home.  Even though everything is written in Hangeul, the people don’t speak my language and there are differences in little things around me, I find it all comforting in a weird way.  Before I left, I had people telling me that I was building Korea up in my head and I would be disappointed when I got there.  Well to all of you, take that!  It’s perfect and I do feel at home here.

Once I got to the language institute, I was given my materials for the next few days, given my room number and expected to be ready for the start of orientation in the hour.  I scrambled up to the fourth floor with my two suitcases, two duffel bags and my backpack and met my roommate.  Surprisingly, she was from L.A. which was a nice surprise, and she was going to be working in Busan (where I am going), AND she likes kpop!!  I knew I couldn’t possibly be the only American who was into Korean pop culture (Natalie, that’s for you J).

Orientation honestly is a blur now looking back at it.  I was jet lagged and thrust into a schedule that started at 8:50 am and didn’t end until 8:30 pm.  That’s not including the extra meetings I put in at the end of the night because I volunteered to be the class leader so I had the opportunity to meet with the program coordinators almost every night.  My day realistically did not end until 10 pm almost every night.  With a 16 hour time difference and serious lack of sleep from traveling, I held up pretty well.

The best day of orientation was the last day where the whole orientation (about 100 people) all had an afternoon out in Seoul at the Seoul Namsan Gookakdang (a traditional Korean park with traditional activities).  I got to make rice cakes and listen to traditional Korean music (which was beautiful).  

Our group then had the opportunity to practice bongsan talchoom (a masked dance).  We didn’t wear the masks but we had these long white silk slips that we put around our hands and where about two and a half feet long.  When we did the moves the head guy told us to do, they whipped and flowed around us, trailing our hands.  It was fun but I felt sort of like a monkey playing in a zoo because a bunch of Koreans were taking pictures or videos of all of us trying it.  In their defense, I’m sure we looked pretty comical and stupid so I probably would have taken a video of it as well.  Lastly, and most importantly, I wore a hanbok!  I picked the bluest hanbok I could find since blue is my favorite color :D  I wish I could of taken it home with me.

My impression of Seoul was very positive but I did not have any time whatsoever to explore the city so what I saw on the bus ride and at the Korean park is all I can say about Seoul.  But now about Busan... ^_^