Seoul field trip

So for our cultural field trip of the EPIK orientation, we headed out to SEOUL! Here are a bunch of pictures and random tidbits about our trip!

yes. Gangnam style water. 

Korea House, where we saw traditional performances

cool ceiling

O-go-mu or Dance of the 5 Drums

The next few are of Korean fan dancing, which depicts peony flowers. This was probably my favorite, but I loved the drums too. These pics are from a bunch of other people's albums because they were closer and had better cameras so enjoy!

performers of a farmers percussion
group

Playing the daegum( I think), a traditional bamboo flute

Then we headed out into the city to explore the Namsan Hanock village

Namsan Tower

handmade straw baskets

the village

Chinese stuff is pretty integrated into Korean History,
hence the Chinese characters

and then in the middle there's a vending
machine. Oh Korea...

Playin games

Pretty flowers!

Lunch consisted of Bibimbap! Don't ask me to explain exactly what that is. Bap means rice tho. I think it's traditionally supposed to be served in that kind of metal bowl. You add chili paste to make it spicy, and it's delicious

Koreans are very into clean teeth- this is
mouthwash in the bathroom

Oh PS, I CAN GET MCDONALD'S
DELIVERED AAAWW YESSS

Anyway. Next stop, Gyeongbokgoong!!! I think goong means palace, so you either say Gyeongbokgoong or Gyeongbok Palace. It was here that we discovered that our lecturers weren't lying when they said we would be the celebrities of our schools and probably the city. A large group of westerners was apparently an amazing sight, because our group of EPIK teachers had their picture taken at least 50 times by other random tourists. It was quite humorous because they were unabashedly staring. Definitely going to take some getting used to!!!

Onward!

You can see a woman taking a pic of our group in the background

my bad for my finger being in the pic, whatever.
These pillars are where the servants had to stand
when the king was around

the middle is blocked off cause only the king
was/is allowed to use that staircase.

I think this was supposed to represent the
universe

again, see how the center is blocked off?
KING ONLY. 

PS, Korea doesn't have a king anymore. Ergo, NOBODY GETS TO WALK THROUGH THE CENTER

This is apparently where the king greeted foreign dignitaries 

I love this pic. So serene

Tiny doors that I still fit through!

garden!

some of decorations in the King's mom's quarters

not sure what this we, we spotted it on our way out

A changing of the guard ceremony

We then headed to the Museum of Contemporary History

Anti Japan liberation propoganda!

Being the president of the ROK

here's to many more!!!

 Driving out of Seoul I came across this mural:

Yup. 1 day in Seoul and I spotted something
Phantom related

tried this at dinner today. It was
chewy but not bad!

So there ya have it, my first trip to Seoul, which was nice to see since that's where I'll be living! Can't wait to get there Monday!

Fun things I saw today

Picture post of fun things I saw today, just cause I have some time to kill tonight

this is soap in the bathrooms here.
Kinda weird, huh?

These are like potato sticks, but I love
that they're called Legend of Potato

Instant spaghetti for my Italian cravings

those are corn dogs LOL

LOOK WHAT I FOUND IN KOREA
It's a taste of LONDON!!!

Korean Won! Their currency is SO MUCH COOLER

First post from Korea!!

I would say sorry that this is so delayed, but after getting barely any sleep the night before my journey that included a 14 hour plane ride, jet lag hit me hard guys. Like so hard my roommate and I were in bed before 9 the last few days. Today (Tuesday for me) was the first day I felt normal enough to eat a good amount at meal times and was the first day I didn't feel like collapsing from exhaustion at around 4 o'clock.  Seriously, want to torture someone? Put them on a 14 hour flight. Even with lots of entertainment and good food, it was exhausting.

Anyway, travel went smoothly and things are going pretty well. I had my first Korean class today, which was dubbed 'survival Korean.' I was excited that I knew most of the phrases we were taught, and I also realized that by learning these key phrases, I probably speak more Korean than most people in the world ever will! Crazy!!

Right now, we have orientation so I'm getting the basics about teaching and some info about Korea. It's a lot of long days (today I started my day with a 7:30 am extensive medical exam- FUN) but I'm happy to be here.

I have already learned a couple of things about Korea, the most important being the fact that I will NEVER complain about humidity again at home! Here we are talking like 85 degrees with 89% humidity, aka it feels like death. I have no idea HOW people function here without AC (and many do, since they're having an energy crisis, all government buildings have been ordered to severely limit or even stop using AC. YIKES). 

Here are some pictures of my first few days here in the Land of the Morning Calm!

Pre departure meal- getting my peace sign ready!

Korean BBQ with the fam before I left

In a post flight and 2 hour bus ride haze, we received EPIK swag bags, which included:

Legit. Embroidered towel! 

As I said, we had a 2 hour bus ride to Daejin University, home of EPIK orientation. I haven't actually seen Seoul yet, but we have a field trip there this Thursday, so I'll get a glimpse of it then! Here are some shots of the beautiful university!

As part of our welcome, the National Taekwondo Performance team (I think that's what they were called) did a demo that was AWESOME

This guy is doing a backflip while
simultaneously breaking two boards

And I've also started trying things I recognize from America to see how different they are, such as these two drinks

I like this taste better here. It's less IN
YOUR FACE than in the states

This is waaaaay sweeter here and I
didn't really like it

So there you have it, my first update from Korea! I'll try and update regularly, but I have no idea what my life will be like post-orientation, so until things settle down, keep that in mind. Also keep in mind that you may be expecting me to post when I'm actually asleep! Yay 13 hour time difference!!!

Time is ticking

So I don't update this as frequently as I should because it's been a pretty hectic couple of weeks. 

First of, the wedding was gorgeous and wonderful and a TON of fun!!! It was great to see a bunch of my mom's side of the family for something fun (the last couple of gatherings, besides Nick's wedding, have been funerals and memorial services. Not so much fun). My cousin Katya looked GORGEOUS and the wedding was not thwarted by rain. My family even got along pretty well, which is quite a feat for two 9 hour car rides in 3 days. 

Katya with her family

She's such a goofball and was really
eager to say "I will" before the guy
told her to

D'awww first kiss!

Just married!!! 

And now a couple of my family

With my daddy!

The whole family!

Look how classy we all are

My mom, uncle Rob, uncle Jim and my Grandpa!

A bunch of us lookin' fly

Overall, it was a great wedding. It was lovely to hang out with a huge part of my family before my departure. I got lots of well wishes and hugs, and I'm glad I got to feel lots of love before I leave America.

The next week was a bunch of shopping not for clothes, this time for basic necessities like toothpaste, vitamins that aren't available in Korea, travel sized necessities for orientation, and most importantly CURL CARE, which is NONEXISTENT in Korea and also initial attempts at packing. Thus far, I'm about 97% packed, and I'm bringing about 100 pounds of stuff. Not an exaggeration- I have two suitcases clocking in at 50 pounds and about 37 pounds, a duffel bag, and finally my backpack. Amounting to probably about 100 pounds that I'm dragging across the world. 

Right now, it doesn't feel like I'm leaving for a year- right now, it feels like I'm packing for college or another semester abroad, not a full year that includes missing major holidays and everyone's birthdays. It's scary. I've been visiting friends and family for the past few days, trying to say all of my goodbyes. But in actuality, a year isn't so long, and I know I will have friends in Korea and meet new, amazing people from all over the world. How could I turn that down?

People always ask me if I'm afraid... Well, wouldn't you be if you were leaving everything behind to go live in a place where you don't speak the language and can barely even sound out what I'm reading? Wouldn't you be if you were 13 hours ahead of your family that you love and adore? Of course, I'm terrified. But I'm also crazy, crazy, CRAZY excited for this new adventure. I think that it will teach me so much about myself and will open so many new doors for me. I obviously can't deny that I'm scared, but right now the feeling I have is overwhelming excitement (with a little bit of dread for the 14 hour plane ride...). I cannot wait to start having adventures in Korea with my new students and my new friends and to start posting pictures! 

In other news, I went to Lilydale this weekend, which is a famous little place that has been home to a community of spiritualists/mediums about an hour and a half away. A couple of my aunts, Cesca and some friends, and mom and I went. It was a beautiful place- readings were really expensive tho, so we just went to the group ones. One of the mediums called on me, but just told me random stuff that didn't really apply (like that I'm a HUGE procrastinator- any of my college or high school friends can attest this is highly inaccurate) and we think that maybe the reading would be more applicable to Cesca, but I dunno. So I'm still on the fence about mediumship, especially cause if I got called I was hoping to hear from my grandma, but many of the messages seemed quite generic. I like my one on one readings at the Renaissance Festival better. I'll reserve judgment on mediums until I actually go to an individual, or maybe I'll just avoid it altogether. 

Regardless, it was a great last weekend filled with family and friend time, and I did enjoy myself.