The Beginning

After 2 plane rides (one which was 13 hours), a 17 hour layover in Detroit, and a 3 hour bus ride , I finally made it to Jeonju University where the EPIK orientation is taking place. For the rest of the week I, along with 300 other EPIK teachers, will be staying at Jeonju University where our orientation classes will be taking place. Yesterday, EPIK held an opening ceremony for us which included a few different performances. To the left is picture from the Tae-kwon-do performance, which was amazing (in the picture you can see that the guy in the air is doing a back flip about 7-10 ft off the ground while breaking two boards with his feet at the same time), and below are two pictures from traditional Korean music and dance.   These classes include a little bit of everything, from Korean speaking class, to creating lesson plans, to tae-kwon-do class-- yes, today I did partake in tae-kwon-do in which I totally kicked butt. So far I’ve met lots of people from all around the world including, South Africa, Australia and New Zealand. Last night a group of us went for drinks and within that group there where at least five different countries represented...awesome.

 










In the midst of meeting all these new people, I fell into conversation with a girl who also used to be a competitive swimmer. As soon as she realized that I was also a swimmer she asked me if I had any interest in training for a sprint triathlon with her. For all those who know me well, you know that when it comes to working out my self motivation to keep doing it is pretty low. So having the opportunity to work out with someone, both moving towards the same goal is going to be great! AND, here' s the best part...the triathlon will be in Bali! For all of you who are geographically challenged, Bali is in Indonesia. For finding someone with similar interests like this on my first full day in Korea, I feel pretty lucky.

Now for the food! Most of you know how much I love food, and for the most part I'm not too picky. However, I think eating here is going to be more difficult than I thought. Granted it's still early, but so far, maybe not so good. First off, the main dish of Korea, called Kimchi, is served cold and is pretty much a spicy, pickled cabbage that is kind of the color of pad thai. Kimchi is served with EVERY meal...that's right, even breakfast. A lot of the food is pan fried and also almost everything has a faint but distinct fishy smell. Now, when I say a fishy smell I mean the kind of smell that if we, in the US, were to open up some leftovers in the fridge and they smelled the way some dishes do here, we would throw them away immediately. Definitely something to get used to. I have high hopes for Korean BBQ.

So far the orientation has been helpful and provided a lot of valuable information, but I'm really anxious to get to Busan and get situated in my apartment. Many people here have been to Busan before and have great things to say about it! I'm looking forward to hopefully playing lots of beach volleyball, doing some open water swims in the ocean, and lots of traveling around the rest of county and Asia! As excited as I am for everything that's to come, I still miss everyone from home and wish you could all be here with me. For now, I'll you all with a little Korean, 많은 사랑을 보내!