Learning Korean, Peeking Outside Jungwon, and Teaching Placements

Korean Class + Extracurriculars

The past 3 weeks have been totally packed! But I'm glad that I have finally caught a moment to sit down and write a little. They were not lying when they said we were going to be busy during orientation, but in the short time that we have been here, I have learned so much. Our 6-week training program takes places almost entirely at Jungwon University, a huge, fortress-like building in the middle of sprawling green mountains. It's a pretty interesting place in comparison to typical American colleges - the majority of the campus is a golf course that is usually off limits to non-club members, and everything is contained to one building. There is also a small town called Goesan which is a 20 minute walk from the university and consists of some restaurants, coffee shops, a central market, and 노래방 (karaoke). Although Goesan is considered a small, middle-of-nowhere town, it has far more people than Oberlin does. To give some context, South Korea is about the size of Maine and has an average of 501 people per square mile, versus 84 in the U.S. So small is a relative term.

Since arriving, much of our time has consisted of Korean class (4-5 hours a day), cultural and teaching workshops, and Fulbright English Program, a two-week English immersion camp for Korean kids where we can practice teaching and receive feedback. Despite the fact that I am in a new country, in many ways it feels like I am still a college student. The workload is comparable, and I am surrounded by American peers who I can hang out with and complain about our four hour exams. The midterm actually ended up being easier than most of us expected, which was definitely what I needed. My personal highlight was realizing that when my teacher asked me, "Where shall we go eat together?" I responded with, "Together we eat the younger sibling." The word for restaurant is pronounced 'shik-dahng,' while younger sibling is 'dong-sang.'

Thankfully we also have a lot of other activities, so I'm not solely focused on my ~amazing~ Korean and teaching skills. Over the past few weeks I have taken a K-pop dance class, a cooking class where I learned how to make kimbab and mung bean pancakes, and five out of eight taekwondo lessons with other ETAs. There has not been a single taekwondo class in which someone hasn't fallen down while attempting a kick, including myself, so it's generally pretty entertaining.

We also had a really wonderful trip to small city in the northeast called Sokcho, which is on the coast and very close to the DMZ (sorry Mom!). There was a lot of free time to explore, so I went on a hike in Seoraksan National Park with a few other ETAs and got to see some really incredible views. Our couple hours of hiking only scratched the surface of how many trails were there, so I really hope that I am able to return at some point during the grant year - apparently it's amazing in the fall when all the leaves turn. Sokcho is also right on the water so we spent some time on the beach and went swimming fully covered in clothes, as people do in South Korea. One of the coolest parts of the trip was visiting a Buddhist temple on a hill overlooking the sea - it was both beautiful and also a really interesting experience. I will be doing a two-day temple stay this weekend, so I'm sure I'll learn more about temple life when I'm there.

Overall, orientation has been a crazy but very valuable experience so far. It has also really been a privilege to get to know the other ETAs. On a surface level, it can feel intimidating to be in a group of so many accomplished, outgoing, and driven people, but everyone has really interesting experiences and backgrounds that led them here. The more time we spend together, the more evident it becomes that we're all in the same boat and trying to figure out what this upcoming year will entail. And on an individual level, each person I have gotten to know has been friendly and kind.


The Placement

So I also have some big news! In a sweat-inducing ceremony, I was given my school placement for the next near. I will be teaching at Wonkwang Girls High School in Iksan, Jeollabuk-do. I haven't had as much time as I've wanted to research the area, but from what I've heard from the former ETA who taught at my school, the girls are really sweet and about high intermediate/low advanced. Iksan is also pretty close to the water, 15 minutes away from Jeonju which supposedly has the best food and the largest traditional village in the country, and an hour from the ferry that goes to Jeju Island. Iksan is also a stop on the high speed train runs between Seoul and Busan, so all in all I think I lucked out on my placement!

Sokcho

Seoraksan National Park

Jungwon's golf course

Kimbab that I rolled allll by myself