Orientation begins

Yesterday marked the first official day of our orientation. It is very organised, and it seems to be an excellent transition into living in Korea. Because I am surrounded by so many other westerners, it almost feels like I am not even in Asia. Especially with our frequent trips to Paris Croissant.

We are staying in Jeonju University. It's a super snazzy university with all new electronic things. The best part about the university however, is its slogan: The place for superstars! How happy is that? As I've said, my room has a gorgeous view. After my last post I was able to watch the sunrise and it was gorgeous.

The place for superstars!!

Sunrise over Jeonju

During our first day of orientation we had a sweltering and sticky campus tour, following by some amazing opening ceremonies. We watched a Korean musical group play four traditional percussion instruments while a dancer swirled an Olympic style ribbon from atop his helmet. Amazing. There we go I googled it and found the real terms :  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samul_nori

Next up we saw the Jeonju University Taekwondo team who performed first a dance to Kpop and then Taekwondo demonstrations. It was amazing. And by demonstrations I mean like crazy flips in the air to crack boards with their feet left right and center. They even had a "fight" scene, and a comic relief skit. I feel hesitant to post  images of these people as I didn't have their permission, but here is a quick clip of the finale of their show which I believe is fuzzy enough to make identification difficult. (please excuse it's sideways-ness. Windows Movie Maker videos are popped out in a weird format so I can't edit it right now) This was followed by some very impressive speeches from the university's President and a Korean ambassador who assured us the taekwondo team would keep us very safe. Our day ended with a tasty banquet, full of delicious things. I sat next to a vegetarian and her plate of sad salad once again confirmed my decision to eat animals for the year.

Today is Day 2 which includes our medical exam. Sadly, this means we don't get any breakfast which is why I am hungrily posting this. The exam includes measuring our height, weight, blood pressure, blood, urine, and an x-ray. Apparently it's basically a drug test. Afterwards we get snacks, and they had better be good. This afternoon we begin our classes! Classes include teaching lessons, Korean culture lessons, and Korean language classes. Should be very interesting! We also will have a final project to present a lesson plan. My two teammates seem very nice and competent; one is even a real teacher!

Gingko Bilboa lined street!! They're actually native to Asia
so they look so much happier out here.

Nice to feel welcomed!