Begin

I am currently sitting in the back corner of my classroom in a little cubical typing away while another TALK teacher is teaching about, while his students scream and shout until my ears bleed, while kids wave, yell at and hit me as they walk (RUN!) by and while all this is happening I SHOULD be working away on my lesson plans for tomorrow, but as so much time remains in my day, this is a much better option for me at the moment.

And ........As I landed in South Korea more than a month ago in mid-late August, it is easy to understand that much has happened and much is to be said, but since I'm not much of a talker as you all know, I like to go over the past little chunk as fast as I can. Sure, there are stories that I could go on and on about for ages, but I have a lot of time left on this island and I do not want to bore you with every inch of detail that comes up, so I opted to use this blog as a sort of online diary for myself to express what I am going through for you to seem, while showcasing everything (music, art, photos, quotes) I've enjoyed including things around my environment in Seogwipo to things I can still find in Western culture, I mean why not?

Oh Oh O...Orientation is where the journey or whatever is it call that I am doing starts. Much like an O-week in university we spent much of this week learning absolutely nothing in pointless classes while meeting people who we would later drink with until are 1am curfew took affect - to be fair some classes did help in the long run, but at the time they felt like a minor speed bump on the way to a night filled with Sojo, Kim Chi and Noribong. The week was tough on everyone as for most of it we were getting up at ridiculous times all while adjusting to the new environment and time, to go sit and listen to teachers who had just as much knowledge as a apple core, well at least some of them did. The week offered great new Korea foods, language classes and sites that my camera could not keep up with. We spent much time walking around getting to know the other teachers, the Korea language and customs, and our new environment, but because we were located in vacant university in a dead town, it never really felt like we had left home as we were always around other foreigners. This was the week in a nutshell, aside from all the dry classroom fun! The group of 600 teachers were treated to cultural festivals and shows including art and music, field trips to temples and amazing scenic hikes, a medical and drug check that scared that shit out of me, and one particular trip to a small village were myself and some friends (Amy & Clare) got runned down by a local fashion designer who made clothing out of paper. As I was still on my heals from a drunken Korean man who felt it was necessary to make out with a statue I was taking a picture of, we were stetched out by another fair dressed man who was trying to track us down to come into his shop - after our leader assured us of his safety, a local tv crew and a wardrobe change later, we were stars in our right. Althought this week was fun, it became tired, and all I wanted was my own place and bed to sleep in.