Orientation in a Nutshell

Over the past six days, Corey and I have been staying at the hotel and attending mandatory training sessions to prepare us for our role as native English teachers. We've had mini lectures on everything from classroom management and lesson planning to Korean language and culture. We've had the chance to meet a lot of other foreign teachers from the United States, Canada, the UK, and South Africa.

Today we had our culminating event for orientation. As a group of 80 English teachers, we took a field trip around Incheon. We took tour buses to a large office building. There we met a sort of foreigner welcome agency. They taught us how to make miniature Hanbok (traditional Korean costumes). Corey's and mine turned out quite differently even though we had the same materials. I'll try and upload a picture of our work :)

Afterwards we went for lunch at a restaurant in Chinatown (yes, Incheon has its own Chinatown). We sat on cushions on the floor to eat our dohl-sot Bibimbap (steamed rice and vegetables served in a hot stone bowl [Corey wants me to add it was minus the egg]). It was very cozy as we all tried to find ways to sit comfortably and manage our heavy metal chopsticks.

Still in Chinatown, we went in groups of ten to "complete a mission." We were told there was a prize for completing this mission, but were never actually told what the mission was. I think we were supposed to take photos as a group in front of certain buildings, but our friendly tour guide insisted we just enjoy our time strolling through the streets, viewing a museum dedicated entirely to jjajangmyeon (a type of Chinese noodle dish with fried meat and vegetables that the Koreans have adopted), and sitting outside a local convenience store watching the traffic go by. When we got back to the buses, our tour guide insisted we had completed "the mission" and handed out cookies to our group members. 

The last stop on our tour was Bupyeong Market. The market is actually a huge mall/maze combined with a subway station that connects the Incheon line with the Seoul line. They have everything you could ever imagine there and some things that are probably beyond your imagination. I know for me the fancy spam gift packages were something I never would've dreamed up. 

I needed to buy a new USB connector cord for my camera since I left mine at home in Toronto. Our tour group stopped by a huge camera shop and the sales clerk quickly found the exact cord I needed. He sold it to me for 8000won (about $8) and threw in a free case when he saw I didn't have one for my poor abused Canon Elph. I thanked him in English and Korean. After looking around at a few other shops, our group headed to the subway to get back to the hotel. We loaded money on our new bank/T-money cards (they work kind of like the Presto system that Toronto is trying to set up) and away we went.

I'm looking forward to meeting my co-teacher tomorrow and finally seeing where we are going to live for the year! Hopefully Corey and I will be able to find each other again without phones or internet. I'll keep you posted when I'm able to get back online.