Motel Life

The first few days of 'freedom' for us. We finally left Jeonju University!! We had lunch at a sit-down (just a low table, no chairs) restaurant for bibimbap, then were escorted to a parking lot where we met our co-teachers. I met my co-teacher whose name is Phie, Jae-soon, and my principal of Ugok Middle School. I will be teaching between 4 schools for the next 4 months: Ugok Middle School, Daejin Middle School, Daejin Elementary School, and DaSan Middle School. It's going to be a lot of work, but apparently I get an extra 150,000W stipend for my troubles. Both mine and Aaron's co-teachers are really nice, so this is a nice start ^-^ Aaron and I originally wanted to live in Goryeong, but because the way my school schedules are laid out, I would need to take a bus out of Goryeong to go to Daegu (a major city), then take a different bus back towards Goryeong to go to my school.

When we arrived in Daegu, it was too late to look for an apartment, so we had to find a motel to stay in for the night. The first motel we went to, we were rejected on the spot because it was full (also noted were the pics of naked women in front of the doorway). Thus, our first experience with a love motel. The second motel we were rejected due to the nature of our stay (we wanted to stay a night, but the proprietor stated we were only allowed an hour). The third motel we were rejected due to the size of our luggage. Finally, at our last motel, we were accepted and placed oddly on the 5th floor even though most of the hotel was empty @_@ It's a somewhat creepy room and quite different from Canadian motels/hotels. At least ours was. I am sure that a higher class motel or hotel would be much more similar to North American hotels. The sheets and towels are clean, but they did not clean off the tables nor give new soap. Our shampoo, toothbrushes, razors, and toothpaste came in a package. The body soap is shared in a bottle and the used hand soap just stays in a dish between patrons. Our aircon was somewhat sufficient, but the room was still stuffy enough that we used the fan the entire night. I found it entertaining that I could operate the TV and turn off all the lights with just a push of a button on the remote on our nightstand. ^-^ Easily entertained J!

It was somewhat difficult to sleep as I woke up frequently in unfamiliar surroundings. The next day was when we were to meet my co-teacher to look for apartments. We went down to find breakfast (two rice balls and a bottle of tea from 7-11). It was interesting to see everything from outside our motel room. There was someone selling squid in a tank outside our motel, a lot of vendors selling food and toys from the side of the road (or on the road), and there is a huge park and amusement park. The most interesting thing I have seen so far is the fact that there appears to be no left turns. Instead, there is a lane for U-turns, which I have found work quite effectively.

We ended up only going to look at three apartments in two buildings. The first one was a small one room apartment (with a narrow bathroom and narrow kitchen), which we dismissed immediately. The second one, which was right down the hall, was a roomy two bedroom apartment with a huge kitchen and larger bathroom. We liked it, but it was a bit too large for us. The last apartment, which we ended up choosing, was around two blocks away. It is on the third floor and has one large bedroom, a bathroom, a kitchen, and a place to hang our wet clothing. The bathrooms I have seen so far are quite efficient and there is no separate shower. Instead, there is a hose with a shower head attached to it. You stand pretty much anywhere in the bathroom and take shower. No bathtub either T_T
Well, hopefully we can get the apartment. The landlord is working today and does not want to sign the contract until Monday.... Two more days to go.... Two more nights in the motel @_@

Medical Exam

The medical exam is what I was most apprehensive about upon arriving in Korea. As H1N1 has been labeled a pandemic (It really isn't), extra precautions are being taken (such as temperature being taken upon departure from the plane and arrival at the university, and a need to take your temperature everyday during orientation). If we failed the medical exam, we would be forced to return to our home countries, bearing the brunt of all costs!
For my class, which was #8 (and the last class to be tested), we were allowed to eat breakfast, but not lunch as we could not consume and liquids or food for 6 hours before the exam. We arrived at the student union building and were handed a questionaire to fill our before heading over to have our height and weight taken. It was taken at the same time by standing on a weight while a bar came down and bopped you on the head. Next was the eye exam, which I believe I failed horribly as I could not read the bottom row for my right eye and the last two rows for my left eye even while wearing glasses. Colourblindness testing went by without a hitch, but I was not told what to do for the hearing test (I had to put on headphones and point out from which ear I could hear the tone), so I sat there while the attendant continued to beep the tone in my right ear until she had to explain. Blood pressure was taken, then the all so dreaded blood test. I was fine when I got out, so after talking to Aaron, I proceeded to the bathroom with my urine cup, not realizing that Aaron was behind me, almost fainting. The bathrooms had only squat toilets, which was a surprise as the dorm rooms has Western style toilets, so I had to remember how to use them after not having seen them for 9 years! Having finished, the last exam was the x-ray. I couldn't find Aaron, but after coming out from the x-ray room, he was seated, waiting for his exam. It was then that he explained that he had almost fainted (probably from having the blood drawn too quickly). Finally, it was the end of our medical exam and we were allowed to leave.
Things went by without a hitch, aside from Aaron's spell, but we have yet to hear back about our results. Hopefully things go well!

Jeonju University

Wow... It's been almost 3 months since I last wrote. Things were really hectic in Vancouver, what with moving out of my apartment, back to my parents' home, then getting ready to move to Korea. We managed to find a direct flight to Incheon, but we paid $1043 ($957 + tax) for each ticket on Air Canada Tango Plus. What made me mad was the fact that a week later, they offered not only cheaper tickets for Tango, but the Tango Plus tickets had dropped around $150! We should have just waited.
However, the time came when we had to leave for Korea. Two days prior, Aaron and I were still scrambling around to find everything we would need to bring and didn't pack until the last day pretty much. The flight was extremely long and uneventful, which is definitely a good thing. I never sleep well in planes, so I spent the 11 hours watching Sunshine Cleaning, Monsoon Wedding, and a Korean movie called Too Much Blue. I rarely slept, but napped fitfully on Aaron a little bit at a time. Once landed, our temperatures were each taken and we proceeded to the commuter train, which would take us to customs. Customs took the longest as we had foreign passports. I think Aaron and I were the last people at Customs as we were in the middle of the lineup, and people behind us were moved to other faster lineups. We finally moved through, retrieved our luggage and after a 4 hour bus ride, arrived at Jeonju University where we would spend the next 9 days in orientation.
The orientation consists of lectures from 9:00-5:30p (with lunch in between). The lectures are supposed to help supplement your knowledge of teaching English in Korea. I have never actually taken a TOEIC course of any kind, but the lectures albeit a bit boring sometimes, do help to give me ideas for lesson plans. We had a welcoming presentation where we watched a Pansori, a fan dance, and a Korean drum dance. We were then given a lecture by Kevin Price regarding Korean culture such as chemyun and noonchi. The lecture was enjoyable, but I found that I already knew about such customs as they are similar to the way I was brought up. That is one thing I have realized about Korea. How similiar it is to Chinese and Japanese culture, but at the same time is different in its own way.