Orientation

Orientation



There were many opinions and much advice offered to me about traveling to Korea.

I remember two bits of information that pertained to my experience at Orientation.

The first was an opinion given to me by people who, even though excited for me, were weary that I would find the experience difficult and be very lonely. They said:

“As a single girl I think you will be very lonely in Korea. Those who go to Korea are either couples, who can depend on each other in difficult situations, or they are guys who go over looking only to score with Korean girls. Most single girls are very lonely. Have fun.”

The second was a piece of advice given to me by my neighbor back home who had taught in Korea for a year (coincidentally, she went with her fiance). She said:

“Just say ‘yes’ to every invitation you get. You want to meet people and build up a network. The people you meet and hang out with will be your support group when the homesickness kicks in. You want to start building a life in Korea. You don’t want to be hiding alone in your room every night talking to friends back home about how you are so lonely.”

May I say, that orientation has proved one of these correct and the other not so much.

EPIK Orientation is a week long survival training course for new native English teachers. During the course of seven days you get your medical check up, start a bank account, go to lectures on different ways to teach, prepare and handle a class, go on a cultural field trip, receive survival Korean lessons and socialize with other teachers.

We sleep two to a room in a standard dormitory except that each dormitory has its own bathroom which, in turn, has no floor divider between the shower stall and the rest of the washroom. This means that the water you run for the shower gets all over the floor and there is a single drain that it all goes down. This is why they provided every EPIK teacher slippers because the bathroom floor is always wet.

The first night I arrived I was down in the hall just looking confused when a guy approached me and asked if I wanted to go out at such and such a time with a larger group. I readily agreed. I in turn invited a couple more people. We ended up across the street at a bar and drank soju, which is like vodka but with less alcohol content and very popular in Korea.

It happened every night like this. I am not a heavy drinker at all so as it turns out I probably drank more in that first week, even though I was a light weight compared to most other people, then I have in almost six months. Everything from this first week has become a blur.


I meet so many different people and hopefully have made some lasting connections that will stay strong- or at least strong enough for me to visit them on the weekend once or twice. So, as you can guess it was the second piece of advice that I really took to heart. I avoided the first signs of homesickness by filling my day, or what little part of it was left for me to decide about, with making new friends. In turn, I learned that for many reasons the first part of advice wasn't all that true. Sure, there were a few guys you could pinpoint as having an over affection for the Korean aesthetic or who just liked their ego stroked by being able to make Korean girls descend into giggles with a wave of their english hand. But even then, they could make good company.
The couples that I made good friends with were also very cool and not exclusionary at all- including a pair who I will hit up later to have photography adventures with. Another flaw in the opinion that I would be lonely is that the speaker forgot that there would be an abundance of single girls that I could relate to and make friends with. Sure! We may be lonely but at least we can be that way together! ...right...hey, what do you mean you found a nice Korean boy to party with this weekend and your dropping out of our Saturday night Pictionary game with Baskin Robins ice cream...but, but...