First day of orientation

Hi everybody, sorry for the lack of posts. Between the jet lag and the full days it has been difficult to spend any time on the computer. I’ll break down the days so far and do my best remember everything.

Day 2 (First day of orientation) :

These first few days have mostly just been about the basics and meeting all the other teachers and administrators in our group. There are 83 other teachers in this group so that has been a task all in its self. We are meeting a lot of people from our area however and already have invites for activities next weekend. A sidebar – the city we are going to is called Mokpo and is pronounced Moke (rhymes with poke) po. We are also being fed extremely well, with 3 meals a day. The breakfast is a western style buffet which includes an omelette station. The other two meals are Korean style with the main dish being a soup and then lots of side dishes including fish, kimchee, and various other veggies and meats. Lots of things in Korea are shared including meals, so no one has their own plate you just stick your chopsticks in whatever dish you want.  Sometimes you have your own soup bowl sometimes not. 

The first day included meeting our bosses at Jeollmando Office of Education including Mr. Park and Ms. Kim. Mr Park gave a short speech and apologized for not having a more formal opening ceremony since everything was so busy.  Next up was Chris who also works for the Korean Office and is a Canadian. He is the guy we go to if we have any problems in Korea with schools, health or apartments.  He seems really great and has been tremendously friendly so far, he said we can come to him with any problems or suggestions at all and seemed genuine about it. He then gave out name tags and a 3 hour lecture about the basics of living in Korea - phones, banking, health insurance, taxes, etc.

In the evening after dinner Laura and I went for a short walk down to a convenience store. It is very hot and very humid here. It is over 30 degrees everyday and feels like you just came out of the shower as soon as you step outside. It was only a short walk but we were tired and sweaty. Laura bought some Pocari Sweat (a kind of Asian gator aide), a chocolate ice creamy thing and I had a beer. Here it is common to buy a beer and drink it at a table outside the store. They were the perfect treats after the walk and we enjoyed them until the mosquitoes forced us back to the hotel.  Laura may add her recollections later.