안녕 하세요
It's 6am in the morning in Korea and I can't sleep.
The night before last I found it pretty cold in the room; I think something might have been wrong with the heating. However last night, it felt much more like the 28 degrees which the thermostat was set to. The heater here is so powerful that it seems to be generating a magnetic field. As a result a soft glow waves back and forth through the adjacent tungsten light.
The lights are out in the dormitory room, at room 446 in Eulji university, where I am attending the EPIK orientation. It's 6am in morning and I have my medical in two and a half hours. We've been banned from eating and drinking since midnight this morning. My throat feels dry and my head heavy. I was holding off from relieving myself off for a couple of hours, but my body eventually defeated me. I'm hoping they have some way of getting us to urinate when they need the samples, as without water in our bodies, I'm a bit miffed how it's all going to work.
Sorry about the gritty details!
It's a good thing I've woken up early this morning. For the last couple of evenings, I've been trying to time to write in this blog, but have felt a little too exhausted to do so. At least this way, my mind is fresh enough for writing. I should probably stop babbling about my current state of mind and tell you about my Korean experience so far.
I left London on Thursday, after a night of drinking in Luton, and a morning of sad goodbyes to my girlfriend. The flight was at 8.10 pm, and things went smoothly going through security. Although Korean Air claimed you could only have 20kg baggage, they didn't seem too stringent about the checks which was relieving as I was certain to have over packed. The journey itself was almost 11 hours long, and I found it pretty restless. However I was pleased to be fed my first Korean meal of bibimbap on the plane: a rice based dish, with a little meat, lots of vegetables and chilli sauce, all mixed together. Sounds simple right? Just in case however, they did supply us with instructions on how to eat it:
OK so I admit maybe it's a little more complex, but I found it rather quaint.
During landing, I was treated to some beautiful views of the islands just south of Incheon from the air. It was quite cold down below, and there was a reasonable amount of snow on the islands. However, interestingly the snow had settled at lower ground, leaving the higher, rocky hills jagged and bare. It really did look beautiful, contrasts of grey, white and blue. Just south of the airport I noticed a farm of tidal electricity generators, which I felt impressed by. The airport itself was also surprisingly pretty, with runways and passages for the planes carved away aside thin blankets of snow. In the distance, I could see more jagged hills. The main terminal itself has an interesting architecture and perhaps resembles an alien spaceship.
Once we had landed, things became quite hectic. There was the standard long queue at passport control, but managed to get through it in around an hour. After I arrived to collect my luggage, the was very little items left on the conveyor belt. I heard a short 'Hyueah' sound to the other side of the conveyor belt, and my head turned to investigate. A kind Korean man was calling me over. I arrived next to him and saw that he had taken my luggage off the belt and was looking after it for me. I gave him a quiet 'kamseh hamyida' (thank you), still unsure of my Korean speaking abilities, and headed for the exit.
Getting through customs was quite easy, with my signed custom declaration form seeming of little relevance to them. They examined mine however a little more thoroughly than most people, probably because I declared some duty free shortbread on the form, which I was smuggling through as gifts for my Korean co-teachers. I wasn't sure at the time if they'd be counted as 'agricultural produce', but I guess they're not that strict.
At the arrivals desk, things were pretty organised. There was a EPIK orientation desk set up, for all teachers coming in and quite a few were gathered around the desk. Alongside the teachers, were the Korean organizers and all the recruitment agents who had flown over from Canada and Taiwan to greet us at the airport. Mine however wasn't at the desk, and I had to send a young Korean man out to look for her. She arrived fortunately minutes before the bus was set to depart, just in time to give me a 'Reach To Teach' t-shirt. I feel so privileged!
On the bus, I sat next to a Korean-American girl, who told me quite a lot about her home-town of Minnesota. She'd only lived in Korea for three months when she was born, so didn't really consider herself much of a Korean. Being British, I was happy and in awe to see Korea in snow, a sight I didn't really expect to land to. However, it sounded like she was pretty sick of it, and hoping to see the back of it quite soon. I later learnt this was the case with many of the Canadians too at the Orientation. A young Korean lady on the bus was telling us what to do once we arrived, and after only about half and hours sleep I was finding it quite hard to concentrate. My mind drifted away in fascination, as we drove over the bridge which connects Incheon Airport island to the mainland.
After about an hours driving, we drifted into a wide street, with tall buildings aloft and neon lights everywhere. This was Seognam city, apparently the 9th largest city in the country (according to Wikipedia anyway). We were dropped off into Eulji university dormitory lobby, where there was a registration procedure awaiting us. The procedure was straightforward, but felt confusing after so little sleep. We signed in, picked up cables for the internet, had our temperature taken by women in surgical masks and picked up a welcome package. I could tell you what it contained, but thought it might be easier just to take some photos.
The rolls were pretty tasty, similar to sushi, containing vegetables and ham and wrapped in bread. Also we were given a towel and a sweatshirt, the latter of which we have to wear in various circumstances, including to the medical today. We were in fact told to wear nothing but the sweatshirt, but I think I may also wear my trousers, as it's pretty cold outside.
Not really too much to say about the orientation. There are a lot of people here, think it's totalling around 600. As a result the canteen is pretty busy. The meals are decent enough, generally rice based with buffet vegetables, lots of kimchi, and a soya based soup (probably Udon). Most of the people here are American, although generally I'm bumping into more Brits and Canadians. The dorms here are shared dorms, two to a room and the floors are unisex. Apparently the dorms are being surveyed by cameras, and we may get into trouble if a male wonders into a female dorm, or vice versa. There is however a separate floor for married couples.
Lectures here have only just kicked off, with an introductory lecture yesterday and a Taekwondo demonstration from elementary school students. Those kids are tough, wish I got a video of them, as they were quite impressive. You could see how focused and serious they were about the martial arts, just by looking at the determination in their eyes. They had some interesting move, and could kick apart blocks above their head heights, flurry through a line breaking the blocks again as they did so. One girl even leapt off another boys folded arms, and did a reverse kick, into a block set at twice her height, behind her. If you're interested in seeing their performance, have a look on YouTube for Midong Elementary School.
I also had a walk around the city yesterday. One thing I've noticed, is it really does smell in places. I think they must have an open sewer system because the rising smell from the grates is enough to make me want to puke. Something I certainly need to get used to. The university dormitory itself opens onto a main road, where you can see older Korean men and Women with walking poles walking towards the hills. Further outside the city, we found a resort, which I think serves as a base to the hills beyond. I had a quick scout around this resort, and found a stage, an inline skating rink and an outdoor gym, all seeming to be free for anyone to use. Here's some more photos:
I've not really had time to interact with the locals yet. A lot of people have been out for a few drinks, both nights, but have been feeling generally exhausted. Hopefully in a couple of days I'll have this jet-lag under control.
Anyway, I better be signing out now, I have the medical this morning followed by a couple more lectures this afternoon. Also this evening will be our first 'Korean Film Night'. We're going to be watching a film called 'Take Off' about a Korean Ski Jump team. Will write here to let you know how it goes.
P.S. For anyone who wants to see the rest of the photos, have put them up on Flickr. Here's the link:
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