SMOE August Orientation 2009: a brief description of Day 3, and preview of the SMOE orientation series coming soon

I just realized tonight that my new roomie in the four cell unit we're in at SMOE's 2009 August Orientation is a fellow K-blogger. His name is Matt and he writes a blog called, Matthew's eThoughts.

Roboseyo posted about him at The Hub of Sparkle in a post called,

How Koreans Do It (a blog you should have already been reading)

Matt also has a site called, KoreanClass101.com, which I haven't had time to look at but based on Roboseyo's recommendation I'd suggest checking it out.

Matt, apparently, likes to put up massive numbers of posts . . . lol.

• Is this a house where I have to take my shoes off? (Korean home manners)
• You’re the Designated what? (Korean drinking culture)
• Okay so I’ll pick you up at 8:00…maybe (Korean punctuality)
• Starcraft is like a fine wine… (Korean video games)
• Wah~ you really butchered that phrase, didn’t you? (Korean as a second language)
• ♪♪…now I know my ㄱ,ㄴ,ㄷ…♪♪ (Korean alphabet, 한글)
• Hey guy, can I use your house tonight? (Korean hotels, lodging)
• 404 Error: Understanding not found (Miscommunication in Korean)
• Uniform(ity) (Korean school uniforms)
• The little country that could (Korean geography)
• I can’t eat that… a vegan’s guide to Korean food (vegetarianism in Korea)
• You can lead a 물 to water… (Korean drinking water)
• Uncle Ben’s got nothing on Korean rice (밥)
• Ctrl Alt Elite (Korean electronics)
• My 오빠 from another 어마! (Korean kinship terms)
• Sink or swim with a smile (Korean language immersion)
• Wall Outlet Roulette: Korean Edition
• Caution – Beware of Pool! (Swim safety in Korea)
• Soap Opera? K-Drama? Korean TV shows? What’s the big deal?
• Hey that’s mine! (Intellectual property rights, copyright infringement in Korea)
• Business or pleasure? (Korean visa regulations)
• Teaching English in Korea: a checklist
• I.E. or nothing at all (web browser discrimination in Korea)
• Seoul Metropolitan Subway: clean, punctual, and scary
• So who’s driving in Korea? No one apparently (traffic safety in Korea)
• The DMZ: More fun than a barrel of monkeys (Korean Demilitarized Zone)
• I hate it so much here that I’m staying: Expats in Korea
• We’re going to the mattresses…well, kind of (Korean sleeping arrangements)
• Business or pleasure? (Korean visa regulations)
• The other red, white, and blue (The South Korean Flag)
• The curious case of Korean age (and why it makes no sense)
• 화투 (Go-Stop) – The cutest and quite possibly the hardest card game you’ll ever play
• The IMF crisis of 1997 – a brief history (and why you should care)
• Happy New Year (again) – the real New Years party – 설날
• Korean nursery rhymes – cheesy no matter what country you’re in
• 반찬 – Take all you want but DON’T eat all that you take (Korean sidedishes)
• 노래방 – The phenomenon that is Korean karaoke
• You have much to learn, young 파다원 (Korean children’s daily life)
• March First Movement – 삼일 운동 (Korean Independence)
• 화이트데이 – reverse Valentine’s Day in Korea (White Day)
• You’re in deep kimchi now mister – Korea’s answer to sauerkraut (김치)
• 소개팅 – Blind date: Korean style (or How I Learned To Lose All Pride)
• You’re so polite that it’s rude – Three different ways to be misunderstood in Korean
• KTX – Faster than a speeding bullet train
• 회식 – obligatory fun with your Korean coworkers
• For money, it’s key to have key money, okay money? (월세 and 전세)
• Children’s Day – Tylenol’s favorite holiday in Korea
• If you love someone, let them go (overseas to learn English) p.1 – 유학하다
• If you love someone, let them go (overseas to learn English) p.2 – 외기러기
• You’ve got a friend (for life), 마이 친구 (Korean Friendship)
• Money, Cash, Paper, 돈, 금전, 원 (Korean Money)
• Eat (or how not to run your mouth, gross everyone out and make enemies) in Korea
• Laugh Track 2.0 (or How I learned to love Korean TV post production)
• Korean Flight Attendants and why I should live on an airplane
• VAT and Tipping in Korea (service gratuity and why you should[n’t] do it)
• Sucks to be you – Korean attitudes towards being fat, skinny, and everything between
• and 안녕하세요 right back at you, jerk (greetings, introductions, saying hello in Korea)
• It’s nothing personal – unless you’re in Korea (Korean business relationships)
• Metal chopsticks (Korean eating utensils)

Matt has a post up about the SMOE 2009 Orientation where we both are right now called, SMOE orientation. I'm hoping he'll write more about his experiences and observations as there doesn't seem to be a whole lot out there yet online from public school foreign teachers who attend orientations in Korea--Matt: wink wink, nudge nudge, sledge hammer over head HINT! I hope maybe later after the orientation (we're all busy and tired right now) he'll write some more . . .

As for me, well, I've edited and uploaded all the pics I took from Day 1 at SMOE's orientation, and am editing little 1 minute vids I made too. I then need to do some more writing and editing of the Day 1 post and then I'll put it up. Day 2 is also slowly getting put together, but likely won't happen for a few days.

Today was Day 3 of the 2009 August SMOE Orientation . . . and for Group D, the high school teachers, we had medical checks done. This meant doing the following 'fun' events . . .

1. We could eat breakfast but no fluids or foods after 9am.
2. We couldn't eat lunch.
3. At 12pm the 1st of 3 sub-groups in our class went for their checks. I was in group 2.
4. Go to coordinator's office and get med check form.
5. Speech about checking spelling of name, gender is correct, and birth date are correct on form.
6. After speech and picking up form we all got ear-thermometered by a Korean nurse (or doctor? donno).
7. Then head outside to an X-ray Truck--yes, I said an X-ray Truck (I have pictures! You'll see, lol)
8. The female foreign teachers had to remove, ahem, undergarments and wear a funky pink top for the X-ray event (some were not too happy about this).
9. After X-ray truck we headed back to area next to coordinator's office and inside a very large room were stations with about ten feet of space between each area.
10. Station 1: pick up pee cup, 2 test tubes for pee, 3 ampules for blood
11. Station 2: height and weight measurements
12. Station 3: vision test
13. Station 4: blood pressure
14. Station 5: blood drawn
15. Station 6: go to bathroom, do what you gotta do, then put in two vials and give to poor dude sitting at table with big ass grid of vials . . .
16. Station 7: recover after blood is drawn for five minutes
17. Station 8: doctor looks at everything written on form from all preceding stations, and then asks you questions: 1) any major surgeries?, 2) medical conditions? 3) taking any medicaitons? 4) and something I can't remember cause I'm tired right now

I took pics of pretty much everything--it was hilarious when I held my camera in my left hand while a nurse was sticking me with a needle (and missed, fished for a second and found the vein-argh) cause she got all flustered and smiley and semi-whiny "opa!" until I reassured her that I wasn't taking shots of her face . . . and I think she was actually disappointed, lol.

Anyways, I plan to do posts on each day of the orientation but need time and energy to get them finished . . .

Tomorrow is micro-teaching demonstrations for the high school group (originally scheduled for Friday). We found out just after lunch that we had to prep to do them tomorrow when we thought we had till Friday--in a way this is great cause it's pretty typical for a teacher in Korea to have times and dates changed without much notice. Newbies getting this kind of experience at orientation, while it's not the most ideal, helps them to get a quick sense of what they're in store for at their schools . . .

Well, I'm pretty wiped out and it's only 10:30pm . . . so I think I'll call it a night.

J