Orientation Day 1

Today, we only had a few things on the schedule. I think they are trying to ease us into everything. Our real classes start tomorrow, so it was just logistical things today.

First, we had breakfast. They had the rice, kimchi, and a white pumpkin soup. They also had more of my typical breakfast food: cereal and eggs. They serve all the drinks in these small metal cups, and you eat with only metal spoons and chop sticks. I need to practice with my chop sticks, but I'm not that bad. There are murals on the walls of the cafeteria with Jeonju University's slogan on it. Jeonju University: A Place for Superstars! Oh god!


After breakfast, we went on a short campus tour where our orientation leaders, Ellie and Song, showed up some of the buildings where we are going to be having classes starting tomorrow. We had a few hours off afterwards before the Opening Ceremony. Gianni and I just went back to the room to take in some of the air conditioning. It is SOOO hot here! And everyone just keeps telling us that it's going to be way worse in Daegu. Something to look forward to!

Lunch was also really good, like breakfast. The food as been great so far. We had excellent fried chicken and bean sprout salad. I tried the kimchi again, and I've decided I can't eat it; way too spicy! They try to make sure there are lots of options available at each meal. There is always a soup and a salad. There was also some sweet rice drink that tasted a lot like iced tea to me.

The Opening Ceremony was great. There was a speaker, Walter Foreman, who talked a lot about Korea in terms of culture, geography, and history. He was very informative. I'm really glad we have the opportunity to go through Orientation before being plunged into our schools. It feels like a much easier transition. Mr. Foreman mentioned that South Korea has the highest population density in the world (I believe), despite it being only the size of Indiana. Also, 70% of South Korea is mountainous, meaning that over 50 million (the population of South Korea) lives in only 30% of the country! That's amazing! Another thing he said is that Soju is the top selling kind of alcohol in the world, and Soju is only sold in South Korea, which is a very small country comparatively. So you do the math about how much soju is consumed here! Mr. Foreman also talked about the fact that Koreans are very open about discussing their bodily functions, specifically poop. I know someone who would do very well with this aspect of Korean culture (you know who you are! :) ). Apparently, Korean water pressure is also not that great, and we are supposed to throw away all used toilet paper in a trash bin in the bathroom. Honestly, I don't think I can handle this. Ellie said westerners tend to use a lot of toilet paper, which Korean toilets can't handle, so maybe I can just really try to use less. I just don't think I can have a trash can with use toilet paper in it at my apartment. I'm going to need to do some research on this one.

The best part about the Opening Ceremony was the Taekwondo team that performed. They were amazing. Apparently, 4 of the Jeonju University team members are also on the national team. They did all kinds of crazy jumps and broke tons of boards. It was really cool. I think I want to take up taekwondo. Might be a good way to get involved in the community and learn about Korean culture because it's a traditional Korean martial art.

We just got through eating dinner, again really good. We had some steamed dumplings, pork belly, fruit, and cakes for dessert. We're in our room about to watch a movie. I'm writing this to try to make myself stay awake for the next two hours at least. Trying to beat this jet lag, but it's getting the better of me. The air conditioning is really nice, but it shuts off every few hours, which means I wake up to turn it on at night! It also makes kind of a musical beepy noise when it turns on and shuts off, so that wakes you up. Gianni and I also figured out how to get the internet going, obviously, but we can only use one computer at a time. We've been able to call home using Line2, and it works alright. The internet here isn't the greatest though, so the reception was pretty bad. Again, I'll try to post pictures later, but I'm too tired now.