Yesterday was a lonnnnnng day. We went into Seoul for the Opening Ceremony of the TaLK Program.... We're the 6th group [6th Gen] to come through as scholars and teachers. (:
The bus ride was really long, and our bus driver was a little... Aggressive? Clumsy? ... Bad combination ... Traffic in the Seoul area seemed like it was really crazy, though it was different than in the States... Less honking. Our bus driver tapped a couple people on the way to and from the ceremony and while one time he got out of the bus and I think had a... Discussion... There wasn't really a problem.
The Opening Ceremony itself though was great. I think that it really hit me what kind of a responsibility I've been given... There were a few speeches that made me feel so welcome, but also very aware of what my job is and how important education really is. I think that sometimes we lose sight of that a little in the States. A lot of people go to university because they have to if they really want a certain kind of life; that means sometimes it can feel a little more like a job than a privilege. But anyway... I really hope I can be a good teacher. I'm really starting to think about it more... A month of Orientation seems like a long time, but it really isn't! I can't believe that so soon I'll have a group of kids I'm responsible for helping educate. :d
At the Ceremony there were a few performances as well. (: There was a kid's choir I forgot to film because they were SOOO CUTE (and pretty talented!)... Then a jazz ensemble using traditional instruments... Very nice... Annnnd this group of BA kids doing a taekwondo demonstration. I have NEVER seen anything like that before. They were so organised and just... Woww, impressive. Seriously. Can't even describe it.
After all that, we went into Seoul itself for scavenger hunt where we had to find certain locations and take a lot of pictures. It was pretty awesome, but FREEZING cold. :p Group 6 Team 3 all the way. We got lost once, almost got lost a second time, but all around had a pretty amazing time coming in last. Seoul is a very vibrant city. I really enjoyed it, and I want to go back sometime soon for sure.
Hope it's ok I borrowed this pic from you, Asraya. c:
The way the city was laid out was very interesting. It seemed like there were a lot of very big, very busy streets, and then a lot of smaller alley-like streets sort of branching off. So full of people... Vendors... Sounds. Street food! I wish I'd gotten to try some, but I guess we were on a bit of a mission. There were also SO MANY restaurants. I've never seen so many restaurants, coffee shops, bakeries, etc in my LIFE. You'd pass one coffee house and then there'd be another like two stores down. A lot of "sandwich and cake" shops too. Eventually we all stopped to eat... We went to a restaurant that was very busy. I forget what the food was called, but we sat around a little table with a hot plate in the middle, and our food cooked right in front of us. Soooo good. I'm loving all the spicy stuff. (:
No matter how much I write, I never really seem to express what it's really like... I can't put everything into words. And talking about how I feel... I should try to get more in-depth about it, but it's just so... There's so much running through my mind and heart all the time that I can't really fathom how to write it down. I don't really feel like pictures would do the job either! I did take video yesterday though. I put some of it together:
Like always, I'm still pretty exhausted, but I'm happy all the time and just really excited to be where I am. I hope that I can bring that to the classroom sometime soon. c: I'm also meeting a lot of people; it's really nice, but sometimes a little intimidating to be introduced to so many so quickly. I'm not the best at remembering names, too, so that's a little rough. :p I mean, there's 239 of us, so that's a lot of names!
Anyway, today I start lessons and that kind of thing... Looking forward to it. I'm going to try to write about more specific things I notice about the culture, or about different foods/places... There's just so much.
That looks so cool! I think you're right about how college is viewed as a job rather than a privilege in the US. I feel like that a lot about my education, even though I know that I shouldn't take it for granted. It's portrayed as a requirement so often that it begins to feel that way, especially if your classes aren't engaging.
ReplyDeleteLove love love!!!! :) <3 So much fun reading your posts!
ReplyDeleteLooks awesome!! :] love the video too!
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