Orientation Exists?!

Thank you all for reading!  The comments that I received via Facebook inspired me to post sooner than I had intended.  Just a short one to let you know what I'm up to now that I've arrived in Korea!

Are you in Korea? Aren't you doing some sort of orientation?

I touched down at Incheon International Airport on the afternoon of the 14th, after a pleasantly uneventful, though ever exhausting, journey over the ocean.

It was fun to have a few days to hang out with friends before beginning the official EPIK (English Program In Korea: a government-run program that places native English speakers in public schools) orientation.

A much-missed Japanese friend that I met in Korean class last spring!
(Yes, we speak Korean to each other ;)

A super fun Korean friend that I met in a cafe last spring,
along with the much-missed Japanese friend pictured above.

The dorm room in Jeonju University that serves as my (and my Irish
roommate's) residence for the 9-day EPIK orientation period. 

Did you do an orientation last time you went to Korea? 

On the evening of October 4th, 2011, I stepped off of my first-ever international flight, took a bus from the airport to the city and threw my stuff in the back of a mysterious old Jeep before the "taxi" driver dropped me off at the school which I was to work at.  In the dark, my self-declared supervisor greeted me, handed me a subway map labelled "school" and "home," and instructed me to arrive at school by 2:00pm the following day.  It was about midnight before a middle-aged Korean man drove me to my apartment, rebuked me for not removing my shoes promptly enough, and muttered a few things, presumably instructions for the thermostat, washing machine, etc. in an unintelligible mix of English, Korean, and very wide gestures.

The next day, I arrived at the school, which was an elementary school, by the way, on time (after about a two-hour walk), observed a class, was observed teaching a class, observed a class, and was observed teaching another class.  I was told that I'd be doing this type of "on the job training" for the first 2-3 weeks.  But, the following morning, my phone rang and I listened to my supervisor request that I go across the street to substitute at the middle school for the day.

I was handed a bookmarked textbook and rough lesson plan.  Class started in just a few minutes.  I taught classes all day that day, and the next, and the next, and there was never mention of observations, training, or orientation again.

That was my experience with orientation at a hagwon (private academy/after-school cram school) in Seoul.

What kind of orientation did you do this time?

With the EPIK program, however, I arrived at the airport, followed the directions that I'd been given in advance to a meeting spot, checked in, and waited about an hour before boarding an official bus with several peers.  We stopped in Jeonju (about 3 hours south of Seoul), de-boarded, and checked in once more.  The process had a definite heir of organization about it.

Here's a brief clip of the taekwon-do performance that we watched as part of the Opening Ceremony:

After settling in at Jeonju University, we began an orientation period consisting of 7 full days.  This included everything from completing a medical check to taking a trip to a traditional village, from sitting in lectures about cultural transitions and teaching styles to preparing a lesson with a group and presenting it to the class.  It's been a thorough orientation, and I feel very oriented... perhaps over-oriented... but it's finished now.  I received an official certificate and everything.

Now it's on to teaching... and that will start a story of its own.

Thanks for reading :)