Well folks, my next adventure has begun. I have entitled this post Ab Initio which means "From the Beginning" in Latin. I did this for a number of reasons. Firstly, because I feel like this trip and these decisions I have made to come and teach English in South Korea have started me down a new life path of which my destination is unknown... but will hopefully be a happy one. When my own parents decided to take the leap and move to Japan in their early 20's, that single decision started them down a path that has led them to where they are today; the happy, healthy parents of four living on the sea in The Head of St. Margaret's Bay, Nova Scotia. Who knows where this path will take me! This is only the beginning.
Also, it marks the beginning of a steep learning curve for me. Learning a new language, the intricacies of a foreign culture, how to be a caring and effective teacher....these are all things that I will begin learning from this point forward.
I will be living in Daegu and teaching at a public school through EPIK (English Program in Korea). Thus far, it has been an incredible experience. I left Ottawa early on the 17th of August after a great last night with close friends. I was seen off at the airport by two of my best friends; Moises and Brock and of course my beautiful girlfriend Louise. It was an emotional goodbye but comforting to know I had such great friends to see me away in the absence of my ever-supporting family.
Touching down after a long haul, we had a four hour bus ride to Jeonju University. It was comforting to come off the plane, grab my bags, my guitar, my longboard and right away have my co-ordinator James there to show me where to go. Completely exhausted we were shown to our dorm rooms where I met my roommate for the next 9 days of training; Dan Keller. He's a great guy from just outside of Washington DC. We seem to have similar reasons for being here which is great.
Day 1 in South Korea happened to be my birthday. It was strange going from being surrounded by friends to being on the other side of the world in a matter of hours and having no one there to wish you happy birthday. But I got on with it, heading to my medical check-up and opening cermeonies with the other 500-odd Guest English Teachers (GETs) from Canada, USA, UK. South Africa, New Zealand, and Australia. The opening ceremony had traditional dancing and drumming as well as an incredible Taekwondo Expo that included back flips, board breaking, forms and of course a K-pop Taekwondo rendition of LMFAO's power-ballad SHOTS! featuring Little John. Unreal.
From there, we split up into our classes whereby I was elected Class President. My campaign involved a 30 second speech to introduce myself and explain that I thought they should vote for me because it was my birthday. It must have pulled on a few heart strings as I took the seat with a rocking 19 votes. From there, we went to our opening dinner. Unexpectedly, before everyone got up for the buffet, the orientation co-ordinators pulled me up in front of everyone, sang happy birthday, had signs with my name on it, gave me a pendant and a big cake with a candle. I will never forget this experience and it really made it a special one for me. From thence forward, everyone knew my face as the Birthday Boy and a lot of us went out for some drinks after dinner. The bar scene, of which I'm sure I will be able to elaborate further on as this blog continues, is nothing like Canada's (duhh). For starters, the waitresses can be summoned by pressing a small button in the middle and they just pop out of nowhere asking if we want more beer or Soju (a nasty watered-down liquor which I was forced to take three shots of). After that, I was back in bed by 11 ready for the real training to begin the next morning.
I can't express really how I feel as it's a lot to take in. Once I get my own place and a bit of permanence and finally find out what age and what school I will be teaching, I'll be able to take stock of it all. Right now, I'm enjoying every minute of it and trying to live it up as much as possible. Hope everyone at home is doing well.
Much Love,
D
Also, it marks the beginning of a steep learning curve for me. Learning a new language, the intricacies of a foreign culture, how to be a caring and effective teacher....these are all things that I will begin learning from this point forward.
I will be living in Daegu and teaching at a public school through EPIK (English Program in Korea). Thus far, it has been an incredible experience. I left Ottawa early on the 17th of August after a great last night with close friends. I was seen off at the airport by two of my best friends; Moises and Brock and of course my beautiful girlfriend Louise. It was an emotional goodbye but comforting to know I had such great friends to see me away in the absence of my ever-supporting family.
Touching down after a long haul, we had a four hour bus ride to Jeonju University. It was comforting to come off the plane, grab my bags, my guitar, my longboard and right away have my co-ordinator James there to show me where to go. Completely exhausted we were shown to our dorm rooms where I met my roommate for the next 9 days of training; Dan Keller. He's a great guy from just outside of Washington DC. We seem to have similar reasons for being here which is great.
Day 1 in South Korea happened to be my birthday. It was strange going from being surrounded by friends to being on the other side of the world in a matter of hours and having no one there to wish you happy birthday. But I got on with it, heading to my medical check-up and opening cermeonies with the other 500-odd Guest English Teachers (GETs) from Canada, USA, UK. South Africa, New Zealand, and Australia. The opening ceremony had traditional dancing and drumming as well as an incredible Taekwondo Expo that included back flips, board breaking, forms and of course a K-pop Taekwondo rendition of LMFAO's power-ballad SHOTS! featuring Little John. Unreal.
From there, we split up into our classes whereby I was elected Class President. My campaign involved a 30 second speech to introduce myself and explain that I thought they should vote for me because it was my birthday. It must have pulled on a few heart strings as I took the seat with a rocking 19 votes. From there, we went to our opening dinner. Unexpectedly, before everyone got up for the buffet, the orientation co-ordinators pulled me up in front of everyone, sang happy birthday, had signs with my name on it, gave me a pendant and a big cake with a candle. I will never forget this experience and it really made it a special one for me. From thence forward, everyone knew my face as the Birthday Boy and a lot of us went out for some drinks after dinner. The bar scene, of which I'm sure I will be able to elaborate further on as this blog continues, is nothing like Canada's (duhh). For starters, the waitresses can be summoned by pressing a small button in the middle and they just pop out of nowhere asking if we want more beer or Soju (a nasty watered-down liquor which I was forced to take three shots of). After that, I was back in bed by 11 ready for the real training to begin the next morning.
I can't express really how I feel as it's a lot to take in. Once I get my own place and a bit of permanence and finally find out what age and what school I will be teaching, I'll be able to take stock of it all. Right now, I'm enjoying every minute of it and trying to live it up as much as possible. Hope everyone at home is doing well.
Much Love,
D
Great start, Dom! Glad to hear you got some birthday celebrations in.
ReplyDelete-Kat
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteEnjoy every moment. Living overseas ia a great experience that will lead you... well who knows. The blogg thing is fun too... especially when you look back at them. Good luck learning Korean. Melody
ReplyDeleteGod damn beautiful.
ReplyDeleteGive us the next set of detes, you dete hog.