This was an ongoing post... The first few paragraphs were written last week, with the final paragraphs written today.
Well, orientation in Jochiwon has now officially ended. I am currently in Gwangju, the capital of the province i'll be living in, Jeollanam-do. The last few days of orientation were actually really great, and also kind of sad as a lot of good friends got scattered throughout the country. On Monday, our group got to do a challenge in the town of Jochiwon. We were given 10,000 korean won, roughly $10, and our challenge was to buy the best and most amount of items for kids that we could within that budget. We were able to buy things like playdo, coloring books, some random toys, and a few games. Not too bad, completely on budget. Wednesday, we go to actually go to an "English Camp" that is setup for korean kids to attend during their summer break. We paired up and got to teach in actual classrooms. I did a lesson on music using my guitar, which went really well. That was an encouragement, that's for sure.
Also on monday and tuesday, we, and by we I mean group 6, began filming for our sequel to our ever popular and successful video. The sequel revolved around the story of the lost kimchi and its recovery back to South Korea. Filming was great, and our coordinators were awesome. Check out the video in the post before this.
Now for the really interesting part... On Wednesday, the TaLK talent show was hosted at 7pm. The show went really well, and the talents were actually really entertaining. However, the highlight was that our video, the G6 sequel, got to actually be the finale for the entire show. And although we didn't win an award, the laughs and shoutouts to our coordinators made it well worth the effort, and the video made quite a splash amongst the scholars. It was definitely a proud moment for Gio and I as well, as we had put a lot of effort into it the night before.
Also, on Wednesday, I was approached by Dave, the Irishman over the entire TaLK orientation. He asked if I would be willing to give a speech as the final farewell to the scholars before leaving for their provinces. I gladly accepted, excited about the offer, but a bit nervous about what to say. Well, I spent most of the night up, writing and re-writing this pretty good speech , if I don't say so myself. The next day, during rehersal, I had to give a practice run of my speach. Half way through the speach, a korean lady stands up, and states that, "My speach could be offensive", and that I shouldn't say those things. From stage, I politely asked why, and if she had something written for me to say. I spent the next two hours deciding how to go about approaching the situation. The original speach was not offensive in any way, from my point of view. It mentioned hanging out at the noraebangs (karaoke basically) and even drinking together at the benches, but nothing over the top, and not by any means offensive. Then, she asked me to stay still, and not to make to many expressions, which really got to me. After speaking with Dave and some of the other coordinators, I decided to go ahead and re-write my speach. The more tame, less funny version of my speach was still good, but it lacked a lot of the flair of the previous version. The reasoning was that the minister of education was at this event, and he was going to be listening. So, for one visitor, I had to completely change my approach, even though the speach was for my fellow scholars. This was my first clash with the culture here, and it ended up just fine. However, it was definitely an eye-opener to be flexible when you are really put into a different situation.
After the ceremony, we loaded up on busses and headed for our provinces. We spent about half an hour saying goodbye to everyone, which was actually pretty sad. We will be seeing eachother in the future, for sure, but having everyone together in the same place is always great. The bus trip down was about 2.5 hours. After we arrived in Gwangju, the capital of our province of Jeollanam-do, we realized that we weren't technicallly "in" Gwangju, but instead about 20 minutes outside of the city. We are in a training facility which feels more like a nursing home. Let me explain. It's very quiet, and if you make much noise, the security guard goes nuts. We still have a curfew, which isn't too bad. But, we are in a very isolated spot outside of the city, so there isn't anywhere to go. Overall, though, it's not too bad, and our coordinator, Joo, is amazing. She just finished her TaLK program a few months ago, so she can relate to us really well. On top of that, she lines up some great meals for us and she helps us out with whatever questions we have, so in that aspect we are a lucky group.
We have been doing lectures during the morning and afternoon, but it has been equally balanced with outings and free time. We had one day when we went to visit a Eco Park, which is like a themepark that is ecologically based? Not rides, but instead paths that go through fields, near rivers, etc... It was actually very pretty, even though the temperature was crazy. It was all the way down in Suncheon, which is right next door to where i'll be living. Then, we went to a folk village, and to finish, we spent a couple of hours in a bamboo forest. For dinner, they fed us meat, lots of meat. We would get plates of meat to wrap in lettuce and mix with all kinds of small sides. It was delicious!
Then, on Sunday, we had some free time. We spent most of the day in downtown Gwangju, exploring the streets and shops. We met a few foreigners, which was great because they have lived here a while and are well connected. We explored some of the different bars around town and those who needed to buy formal clothes and other items were able to get some shopping done. A little bit about Gwangju: Gwangju is the 6th largest city in Korea, and that is fairly big. It was surprising just how big the city was when we arrived. There is a subway system, although it isn't very extensive. The city has a soccer team, the Gwangju Dragons, and we definitely plan to attend a few games while we are here. For more information on Gwangju, check out this link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gwangju
Tommorrow, we officially finish orientation. We get to meet our principals and school staff, who will then drive us to our apartments. Some of us start school on Wednesday, and some will start later. Overall, i'm pretty excited to get settled into my apartment and see where i'll be working. I will miss my group, that is for sure, but we are all fairly close to eachother, so Group 6 reunions will be happening. I may not have access to internet for a while, but when I am at school I can post and keep everyone updated. Real Korea starts tomorrow!
Good Luck and God Bless
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