Training: Days 1 and 2

As you can probably tell by my lack of posting, training has begun! The rumors were that training was a nightmare week and really hard and intense, although I had heard that about 90% of people pass training. Also, those that failed were usually still given their jobs, as the schools need teachers. But these were all rumors, and in reality, I had no idea what to expect. Needless to say, we were all a bit intimidated.

The bus picked us all up on Monday, at 8:45ish. We finally got to meet the rest of the teachers, and a lot of quick introductions were made. Almost everyone is from the United States, which is a little disappointing, but almost everyone has traveled a lot anyway. Perhaps there will be more international teachers at my branch.

At the training center, we were split into a lot of smaller groups, mostly groups of three, I think. These groups are the group we have all week. That was a nice surprise, as we only have to embarrass ourselves in front of two other teachers and our instructor, not the whole group! They introduced the company, and we went right into training. The best part? We get Samsung Galaxy Note 8.0’s to use during training, and then we’ll get our own to use at our branches. They’re pretty cool. And so is the new way Chungdahm teaches, entirely through these tablets. No paper or whiteboards. It’s a little scary because we have to know all the answers ahead of time, but it’s not bad. And we can use the tablets for our own uses too, which is a bonus.

Monday, well, was a bit of a nightmare. We got done with training around 1ish, and were shuttled over to a medical center. We then spent the next couple hours being poked and prodded as they did all sorts of medical tests. I felt like a lab rat. Korea now has my fingerprints, over 5 passport photos (so far, there’s more I have to give before this is over), all of my medical measurements and the like, including probably a gallon of my blood (just kidding, but they took a lot). And it took forever. By the time we were done, we all knew exactly who the squeamish ones were (I definitely fall into that category), and what we all looked like in ridiculous pink and blue robes and nothing else. Talk about bonding. But finally, it ended, and a bunch of us grabbed some Japanese food, as we were all starving (we weren’t allowed to eat from 8:30am that day) and feeling faint from the blood ordeal. We probably spent too much time at lunch, but it was the first chance we really had to socialize and regather our humanity.

After that, we all headed back to the hotel.

Taken on the way back to the hotel.

I had just settled down with my training open on my laptop, my binder open to the instructions, and my tablet open to the lesson program…when the hotel phone rang.

All set up for mocking.

I picked it up…big mistake…they told us we were both going to have to change rooms. We went downstairs to try and convince them otherwise. What I think happened was that someone never showed up to the hotel, and so they had one person in a two person room, and us in our two person room…taking up two whole rooms instead of having three people in one three person room, which would free up two smaller rooms. At this point, it was around 7 or 8pm at least, and I was majorly panicking about how I would have enough time to finish the modules and practice my mock lessons for the next day. I somehow packed up all my stuff and moved rooms, despite the stress and panic, and got back to work. Our new place isn’t so bad, I was just really mad at the hotel for moving us right when we were the most stressed out. I was so exhausted, that I only got through the modules, and by 10pm, I was ready to pass out. I did so, but I set my alarm for 4am so I had time to mock some lessons.

View from my new window at night (the last room had no view so…better?)

View from my room during the day.

Tuesday morning, I successfully woke up at 4am, not even tired, and mocked all the parts of the lesson I’d learned the night before. I didn’t do it out-loud, however, which I should have, but lesson learned. After Monday’s shuttle, we’ve been responsible for getting to and from training on our own, which is hard without GPS. Luckily the subway app works without wifi, as long as you know where you want to go and what station you’re closest to. And it’s in English! Which is amazing. Tuesday I stumbled through my first mocks, and I think I did pretty well, considering the lack of practice. I was really nervous, so my main critique was to work on my presentation and enthusiasm. But I was fine with technology and meeting the objectives. I don’t think I was any better or worse than my other group members, so I felt pretty confident about everything. I just needed to get over my nerves.

Tuesday, we went to get lunch again, to a Korean place (lunch seems to be the only real meal I eat, but once I get my own place and pay check that will change). The place was pretty pricey, considering it was just soup, (about 13$) so another teacher and I left to find something more affordable. We found somewhere and I had my second bibimbap meal (that’s what I had for my first Korean meal), and have decided it might be a keeper. Apparently it’s what the k-pop stars live off of. And it’s actually a vegetarian dish, usually, as it’s rice with vegetables and some soup stew stuff. So being vegetarian in Korea is possible. I just think I’d get sick of it very quickly if it was all I ate. Although, every meal in Korea is served with a pretty consistent array of side dishes, which are bottomless. So it’s pretty affordable to eat a cheap main dish, and eat as much side dishes as you want. My main dishes so far, however, have been filling enough. I have enjoyed trying some different foods, though! I tried snail on Tuesday for the first time! And I actually liked it! The little silver hard crunchy fish that they served, however, were pretty nasty. But I still tried one (after losing one due to my clumsy Korean chopstick skills)!

After that, back to the hotel for some studying. I completed the first half of the online components before realizing that I had woken up at 4am…and needed a nap. I got up in the evening, got some yogurt and chips from the store, and finished the second half, and mocked the first half before needing to sleep again (around 11pm). Again I set my alarms for early, only 5am this time, though.

And I’m about to go for a little stroll to get away from the stress of mocking, maybe pick up some tea. I am so sorry if this is all rather boring, I’m just focusing on surviving training right now. I’m sure the future will hold many an adventure!