A car company sponsored beach

So today took a dramatic turn. I was all dressed to the nines in me bestest outfit to meet with the principal at the school. And then I get a phone call from my co-teacher as Im about 5 minutes from the school. She wants the weekend off so we will just meet on Monday. Hooray. A reprieve. I now know how death row inmates feel when the governer calls. Well maybe not that severe, but still.

So we decide to make the most of my freedom. And rush back to the hotel and get changed into civvies. We make a beeline for Haeundae (pronounced Hyundai, like the car company!) beach as we want to see what all the fuss is about. Our first escapade on the subway as well. Very efficient. About the only bloody thing that is in this country. After an easy transition to the correct line for the beach we finally make it. It's quite far. After some snooping around (I even spy a bike shop) we grab some lunch in...TGI Fridays! A burger for me then. Then the afternoon goes a bit south. I then endure an hour or so of idle chit chat. Bore. But then we head to the aquarium and see some...fish. Well what else would there be in an aquarium. There are even sharks. Killer. The best bit was the death ride I endured at the end. There was this 3D ride where you grab a pew on this piece of plasterboard with seats, and then get hurled around by hydraulics. All the while fearing for your life and hoping you dont end up being plastered to the wall by the end. No such thing as public safety.

After I escape with my life, we go grab some dinner and then back to the hotel. What an exciting day. Ha. Tomorrow is another day off though.

Pffft

I am writing this in the luxury of a hotel room. Why? Because the school haven't sorted out the housing situation yet. Bugger. So who knows how long we will be here. Hopefully not long. But its warm, clean, close to the school and has a TV and Internet so its not all bad. Apart from the fact we will need to spend some of our dimes of eating out every night.

Anyway, today was very busy. And I am tired. So tired.

It all started at about 0900 when we woke up and went down to get some breakfast. After that we loaded up the luggage and decided to head down. And so did everyone else! We waited for a good half hour as the lifts went up and down, up and down, up and down and finally there was a space that I could squeeze into. And then we hiked down to the car park for the buses. After trying to arrange seating on one of the buses we finally went and found the right one to find out that all the space for luggage is full. Well duh. I mean, trying to squeeze everyone's luggage into one bus just will not work. So after waiting around for a while, a truck pulls up and we load our luggage onto this. Let's hope the driver knows the way.

The journey down was alright. I hate buses at the best of times so this was a bit uncool. But after a couple of hours (I watched a movie on my iPhone) we stopped for lunch. Some really crap Bibimbap whilst sitting cross legged was not a good lunch. I just don't think I'm built to sit cross legged. Then we loaded onto the bus again and headed for Busan. The road into Busan is crazy. It's all downhill. It's like going into hell. And the fact that we passed a pretty nasty car crash didn't ease my worries.

We arrive at some school somewhere in Busan. It could be in Timbuktu for all I know. I meet my co-teacher who seems nice enough and has a good grasp on the English language. And then we wait. For like an hour or so, on the jackass driver of the truck with our luggage. Then there is the problem of fitting all the luggage into what can only be described as a toy car. So the cavalry is called in and we are shuttled to the hotel. Get booked in, and then taken to dinner. I was not relishing the thought of another piss poor meal. But luckily we went to Outback and I got the mother of all steaks. And a baked potato and chips. Ya dancer.

So now tomorrow I have to go to the school to meet the principal. On my day off! Seriously!

An end

So today was our last day of Orientation. In the morning we had the presentation that we had to prepare yesterday. The group I was in really worked. The other two people were this couple from America who were pretty cool. The guy even rode BMX. But they had teached before so they knew what to do. Anyway, the whole presentation thing went pretty smoothly. We just rattled off what we had talked about and we filled the time. And after every one else went the class decided who did the best job. And we won! Hooray.

At about lunch time we got our mobile phones! They are pretty standard Samsung phones. Although they do video chat! Its crazy. The beauty of a 3G network though. But it will be easier to keep in touch with mobile phones.

After lunch we had a huge meeting with our POE supervisor. Now there are about 300 of us going to Busan so it wasn't very personal. Ha ha. But at the end we found out where we will be placed. I am going to be placed in an elementary school (boo). After some looking on Google Maps I have found the shcool. It is on Yeongdo-gu, the small island on the south of Busan.

Then in the late afternoon we had the closing ceremony. This was quite a big affair, with loads of dancing and drummers doing their thing. And some lady doing some slow dance kind of movement thing. Then a load of speeches and we got our certificates to say we had completed orientation and that we are capable of teaching.

We had heard the other day that some people had been sent home! I guess they failed their medical or lied about their qualifications. Too bad.

After the closing ceremony we had another banquet dinner like the first day here. Same thing. A buffet which was quite good, with roast beef and potato, and rice, and even cake. Then there was a kind of talent show. So weird. Some guy playing jazz sax, and then a guy from the US who starting rapping, then a couple from California who played some really good guitar. Then some kid who tried to show us his dancing moves. At this point I decided to split.

We have a pretty big day tomorrow. Load of the busses and then head on down to Busan and meet our co-teachers and hopefully get our new place.

Lectures

Two days have passed now, and we have had lectures, lectures, lectures. About all sorts of stuff, and from so many people. Some were interesting, most were dry and boring. There was one lecture from this guy who looked like Jack Black about how his adventures for the past year have gone. He seemed to dive into everything and do everything headfirst. Good for him. He seems to have enjoyed himself. Then there were the lectures on how to teach. I guess these are supposed to be informative but most were pretty dull.

The food has been pretty uneventful. Except for tonight when I went into the local town, Cheonan, and went to a pizza joint called Mr. Pizza. Hell yeah! Pizza. It says that he has 'love for women'. The place looks more like a dating venue for kids though. The town is actually quite crazy. Its just one strip about 3 blocks long but it is cliche Asia, with all the flashing lights and tall buildings and crazy side streets. Our first real taste of Korean night life I guess.

Decided on a taxi back to the dorms as it's a beast of a walk and didn't want to wait for the bus. And we managed all this in Korean! I have been learning the basics of the Korean language, so I can read what all the characters are, just not what the words mean. Although I do know some words. Its not too hard.

Tomorrow is more lectures and how to make a lesson plan, which is for thursday when we present a lesson. Oh joy.

Freezing my ass off

Today was certainly different.

It started normal enough. Grabbed the usual breakfast of toast, cornflakes and some milk. Got washed and ready to go. I could see that it was going to be a cold day. There is a load of snow on the ground. And it's very, very cold. So I grabbed my new jacket with fleece liner and headed down to the busses. After what seemed like forever we arrived at a traditional Korean folk village. AKA tourist trap. We got a guided tour for about an hour, around some old style buildings and what they were used for. Unfortunately my camera's battery has died and I have no charger adapter to charge it back up. So photos are courtesy of my iPhone. Then we got some lunch. Which wasn't too bad. I got a couple of sticks of skewered pork which was pretty tasty. And of course rice. Had some free time to wander about and view some of the old buildings and artefacts before we were treated to some more Korean dancers, and then a couple of girls going very high on a see-saw that they jumped off. Then a very old man doing some tightrope walking, and finally some kids hooning about on horses firing bows and arrows! But it was very cold sitting about. After a nice warm journey back on the bus, we made our way to the cafeteria for some dinner. This Korean diet is not agreeing with me. Where's the meat?!

Another easy evening in the room and then off to bed soon. Lectures begin tomorrow.

Fainting

That noise every morning will no doubt drive me mad before we leave here. Another OK night on the slab they call a bed. No breakfast today as I had my medical exam. Which meant nothing to eat or drink until probably lunch time. Lame.

Todays schedule was our medical check-up, a lecture about english camp and task based learning and then a Korean movie in the evening. The medical check-up went OK. There was of course lots of waiting about. I had to pee in a cup, get some blood taken, take an eye test (which I totally cheated at) and get weighed. After the blood being taken I was a little bit light on my feet. But after cannon-balling about 4 cartons of apple juice I was back to normal. Then a long wait for the x-ray bus. It broke down yesterday so there was a back log of people. Everything went OK, nothing looked out of the ordinary so Im not being sent home yet.

The lectures were oh so boring though. Except for one Australian guy who just tried to make lewd jokes and was very proud of the fact he never tried to fit in to Korean culture, didn't know any Korean people and generally didn't like the place. Might be me soon.

After some dinner, rice, rice and more rice with a measly piece of meat, I dodge the movie and decide to head back to the dorm to settle down and watch some shows. Another early night as we have a Korean cultural experience tomorrow. Hmmmm.

Dancers and banquets

Today is the first day of our orientation at Dankook University. After a good nights sleep (despite the slab of rock under my back) I am awoken by the sound of some very loud bleeps and then one of the co-ordinators telling us what will happen today. A class meeting, some free time and then an opening ceremony and banquet dinner.

I make my way downstairs to grab some breakfast and am pleasantly surprised that they have laid on some toast and cornflakes. And even milk. My initial enthusiasm is short lived as I find that the toaster barely toasts the bread, the cornflakes are far too sweet and the milk Im sure has sugar in it. Maybe I will try some of this Korean breakfast they have also put out.

After getting washed I am back down in the cafeteria for the class meeting which will last all morning. Most of this is speeches about what to expect, both from the next week of orientation and Korea in general. Two good things though. We get our bank accounts set up, and should be getting a mobile phone next week. All sounds promising.

After an afternoon spent resting and enjoying the free Internet in the dorm room, I make my way to the opening ceremony hall. For the next hour we are treated to some traditional Korean dancers, some speeches and lots of clapping. Then onto the banquet. Which is a very large buffet. Get a decent dinner here. Sausages, potatoes, rice, fish and even chocolate cake. After some idle chit chat with the other teachers around me, everyone starts to float off and I make my exit to try and catch up some more on my sleep.

Im leaving on a jet plane...

I am absolutely knackered. I left Glasgow airport at 10:50 local time, Wednesday. I had some harsh words to the check-in lady who decided to try and charge me for my extra luggage, even though I specifically went with Lufthansa because of their international baggage allowance. Otherwise I could of had a nice flight with Emirates. An hour or so in the sky and I was in London for a connection. Managed to grab some lunch at a pizza place and then make the next flight to Frankfurt. Arrived in Germany, and everything seems to be going well. Apart from the fact that they changed my seat. So then I got to speak to a very bossy German lady about changing my seat back. Got that sorted and then settled in for the flight to Seoul.

I did not manage to sleep on the flight. Bad. I watched movie after movie and then I got a bit restless and wacthed the miles count down until we hit Korean airspace. Finally landed. Got luggage together and then changed some money. An arrival party is waiting and we are ushered off to the bus that will transport my sorry tired ass to the University where the orientation is being held. The campus is about two hours south of Seoul at Dankook University. I manage to sleep some on the bus journey down.

We are paraded about the campus and then sorted into our groups and given the specifications to our dorms. Some fancy electronic device. Haul all the luggage across campus and then into the elevator and off to the dorm room. Very nice. We even get free high speed Internet! So thanks to that, I can keep this up to date. The bed is like a rock though. After some rest, we get a nice enough dinner in the cafeteria, and now I have made my exit to the dorm to get some shut eye.

Korea-bound

So. The start of a new blog. About the next year of my life in South Korea. Why am I doing this? Where am I going? What will I be doing? All of this and more will be answered here.

I have finished my job at Apple. I went in on Sunday for the last time to the all-store meeting and said my goodbyes. And tomorrow I will be going to the airport to leave for the next year of my life abroad. I will be working as an native English speaker in a public education school in Busan, South Korea. This is what I am doing.

I have finished packing my bags. I have managed to squeeze everything into a roll-along suitcase and a large rucksack. Along with my backpack for my laptop Im running pretty light really. I am well under the maximum baggage allowance that Lufthansa have allowed me. And now I am just killing time in my last evening in Scotland before I go to bed and then wake up and go to the airport.