Orientation

Hello all,
I just got done with a 4 or 5 day orientation about working and becoming a better teacher.  It was kinda troublesome getting to the orientation area because the directions were a little vague.  I had to ride a bus into Seoul and from there I got off at the stop they told me to and was completely confused on where I had to go from there.  I waved down a cab and he knew where i needed to go so i eventually reached my destination.  During the next few days I made some pretty good friends with some other guys, 2 in fact who live in Incheon with me.
Throughout the course of each day we had 2 morning classes, a lunch break, and then another 2 classes in the evening.  These classes covered a wide range of topics from lesson planning to class activities to working with your co-teacher.  In the evening we would have classes learning the Korean alphabet and helpful Korean phrases, most of which i have forgotten.
Orientation went by really fast but at the same time it seemed like it felt as though i had been there for a long time.  Each night my friends and I would go out and explore a little bit of the city around us.  We never really made it that far but went to about 5 or 6 different bars.  Here when you go out to a bar they expect you to buy food as well.  They do not expect each person to buy food but instead they expect groups of around 4 or so people to buy like an appetizer.  Sometimes you can haggle your way out of it but not always.  Also one night after the bars we went to a karaoke place.  Its a lot different here then back home.  We could bring in hard liquor, i think, but not beer.  We had a group of around 15 people and we went to a room and paid for that room for an hour.  We had a curfew every night at midnite so we couldnt stay out too late.  They do have some stuff called soju out here.  Its absurdly cheap and vodkalike but you can pour it in your beer and its really good.
Overall orientation was amazing and im sad that its over and im now away from some of my buddies, but now i will be able to go and travel around different areas in Korea and actually know people.

Until next time