EPIK week

This week I have been in Gyeongju, about 2 hours away by bus, for Teacher Training run by English Program in Korea (EPIK)

We left on Sunday at 11am (sneaky) and it started that afternoon, running until 9pm at night.

It ran until 9pm every night - doubly sneaky.

I already knew my room-mate as she lives in the next door city - and she was brilliant. We were put in an ondol room - which is the more traditional style - see, there is nothing on the floor - and the floor is heated. At night you roll out thin mattresses, a pillow that is like a small bean bag and add covers. It is a hard surface and lots of tossing and turning ensues. And lots of complaining the following morning by some. Others had real beds in their rooms.

At night we took to walking 5 minutes to nearby convenience stores, buying something to drink and then sitting outside in the freezing temps and drinking it. It is mostly around zero celcius at night here.
One night we found more teachers at a restaurant above the convenience stores - a lot warmer. We joined them for spicy chicken and beer. The spicy chicken turned out to be a local specialty and is super hot - something I discovered after a few mouthfuls. More beer...

There were lots of late nights and much alcohol was consumed. Think of 280 foreigners, most isolated in schools where they are the only Native English Speaker and living alone in their respective 'shoebox' apartments. Then think what can happen when you put them all in one place - and most are younger...

I'd like to say I was perfectly behaved but I wasn't - proving that age is no barrier.

There was the "Fire Extinguisher Incident" that saw a couple of teachers having to return to their schools and possibly get fired.

No one got too much sleep - either they were partying, their roommate was snoring, the parties were too noisy or their mattress too hard.

The last morning - my roommate is struggling to waken - that's her nearest the window.

And finally we all go home. The organisers and the hotel probably breathed a big sigh of relief.

Oh - I almost forgot - the actual training was brilliant - lots of great speakers, good networking and learning from others' experiences and also cultural activities.

The last night we provided the entertainment - we'd been taught to sing Korean songs (my class did one about a little tadpole complete with actions "out pops a leg") and the idiots volunteered to perform song, dance or comedy. Some were awful, some slightly shocking and some very good. I think it accords with the Korean way - they who are so practised from their Karaoke/Noraebang experiences.