Well, I am here safely at my orientation site at Jungwon
University! South Korea is amazing so far! I know, I know – I have been here
barely four days. But trust me -Korea is making a great first impression.
Below is a link to Jungwon University’s website. Scroll down to
the bottom of the page to see all the things it has to offer, including a golf
course, spas, and an amazing swimming pool! (I will put up lots of my own
pictures soon in a separate post)
Now, time to tell you about getting here, as I am sure lots of
you are curious about my 12+ hour flight. Getting to LAX was pretty painless. I
flew on Virgin America, which has to be the nicest airline I have ever flown on.
The entertainment included Satellite TV with a bunch of popular channels,
plenty of complimentary refreshments, and the flight attendants were genuinely
helpful and cheery. There was even a function in our entertainment screens to
text chat with other peoples’ seats! It was great. If you can ever afford
to fly Virgin, do it.
Once at LAX, the few Fulbrighters and I who were on the Virgin
flight met up with the ever-growing number of nervous/excited Fulbrighters
waiting at our gate for the flight to Seoul. Imagine roughly 80 young people
from all over the country, most of whom have never met or spoken to one another
before, being thrown together with the same feelings of anticipation, anxiety,
but mostly enthusiasm for the mutual year ahead. Needless to say, we were
noticeable to those around us. I loved walking around getting names and meeting
people, and I quickly realized that I was already known by many of the people
there due to my heavy Facebook activity on the Fulbright Facebook group we had
been using for the past few months. Luckily, it was a positive recognition.
Soon we were on our way! The flight, I happily admit, was much
smoother an experience than I was expecting! In the end I probably slept a
cumulative amount of 6 hours, watched two great Korean movies (“Miracle in Cell
No. 7” and “A Werewolf Boy” – I highly recommend both!), and chatted with my
new Friend Meghan (who slept for a majority of the flight. I’m not jealous…).
Asiana was a very nice airline and I would definitely not hesitate to take them
again when coming back and forth to Korea. I must admit I wasn’t brave enough
to gamble and take the Korean meals offered on the flight since I feared I
wouldn’t like them and then go hungry. So, I ate the Western meal options,
which were beef stew with noodles and a cheese omelette. They were delicious
though, and I was happy to be well fed for the flight. Overall, a great
experience!
ARRIVAL!!! We landed without a hitch, and soon we all had our
bags together and were being greeted by our lovely Orientation team. They
signed us in, gave us our first allowance, and gave us time to freshen up
before our 2 hour bus ride to Jungwon University.
This is my first meal! Not exactly the most exotic, but it hit
the spot. It was also cool to try a new flavor of my favorite granola bar!
After getting to the university, we were given a chance to
settle into our rooms and unpack before lunch, so I unpacked and showered
(extremely necessary at this point) before taking a short tour with some new
friends of the campus. I will do a future post all about Jungwon, but believe
me when I say it is unreal. After lunch we had introductory info sessions, a
break-down of what to expect in orientation, and were given a chance to buy
some needed items left to us by past Fulbright ETA’s. The extremely long day
ended with a group of us sitting around with our coordinators and asking them
all sorts of questions about what to expect in the coming year as teachers in
Korean schools. It was so much fun to just talk to them like peers and get the
inside scoop of our very near future; it left me excited and also extremely
tired, as the day caught up with me at around 8 p.m. I happily report though
that I had a long, restful night’s sleep and feel completely fine now. The
Fulbright people were smart to keep us up and busy from 5 a.m. the first day
since it seems to have largely helped me prevent any jet-lag that I might have
been experiencing. I did lose all of Friday after all.
IN CONCLUSION, the trip here and the first day were extremely
memorable and I am loving my life as a Fulbright ETA here in Korea already. I
wish I could articulate to you all the things I am looking forward to and have
already experienced, but I don’t have the time nor the energy to do so. That’s
just why you have to keep an eye out for my future posts, which will cover
topics ranging from food, travel, my Korean classes, my teaching workshops, and
Camp Fulbright (very exciting)!
Thanks for reading this far and I hope you found it interesting!
Feel free to comment below or email me if you want to know more specific
details or have questions J
Lots of Love,
David
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