got rice?

(korean gayugeum)

so i've been here for almost 3 days and i've got 1 word.  RICE.  we eat rice three times a day at this prison they call orientation.  don't get me wrong, the people here are freaking off the hook, BUT orientation is extremely regimented.  our days go from 9-9pm and sadly only 1/3 of it is actually useful information.  spops definitely helped me with endurance, i've probably slept a total of 7 hours since i've been here.  i think it's partly due to the nerves and jet lag, but also because our days start at 7am.  i'd say the most educational stuff comes from my convos with people who have already taught here.  they have gotten me so freaking excited to start teaching.  our job is basically to play games with the students and make english "fun."  it's so crazy to think i'm going to be miss. johnson for 22 classes a week!  i'll be teaching secondary school in the dongbu district which is central north eastish.  it's about 20 minutes from gangnam which is considered to be the beverly hills of seoul.  i've been told it's a pretty happening spot with lots of happening spots surrounding it, so i can't wait to move in!  also, get this, the only COSTCO in seoul is 10 minutes away!!!  

yesterday, one of the coordinators told us we couldn't drink for the duration of our stay here.  they even had the convenient store downstairs put their beers away.  bullocks!  come on now, how are you going to tell 250 jet lagged people who flew 12-17 hours to get here that they can't drink?  so in protest, a group of us walked down the street to another convenient store and bought some 40's and soju.  two bottles of soju are like 2500 won, which is equivalent to $2.50!  haha, add the europeans to the picture and 20 minutes later it was utter chaos.

i feel like i'm still in the birthing canal.  this week has been a nice intro to what we're going to be doing out here, but the fact that i'm around 250 native english speakers hasn't done "being in korea" any justice.  everyone here is antsy to get out, including me!  i've been mentally preparing for the culture shock that awaits me in 4 days.