incredible Journey day 4

The pace has picked up a lot since we arrived in Jeonju from the airport in Incheon.  Our schedule begins with breakfast at 7:30am and ends at 8:30pm. Each day we have 5 classes with very little time in between for sight seeing but I have to say, my discoveries have been incredibly fun and interesting.  

First, I didn’t think I would find such progressive teaching methods being used at the training. I’ve been amused and delighted the entire time by both Korean and Native English speaking teachers. We’ve had trainings for presentation of American literature, using power point and multimedia for teaching English, introduction to English language  curriculum, and a very active class for Tai Kwon Do,(which I may regret and well remember tomorrow).  During these classes, I’ve laughed hysterically at the presenter and members of the class when they volunteered, and later was encouraged to scream loudly and let it all out in Tai kwon Do.  If you know me, you know my real Asian passion is Tai Chi. We’ve never been encourage to scream. I have to admit, the screaming was a real release for all the anxiety that I was feeling for the last few months while planning and preparing for this wonderful adventure. Thank you Teacher Parks!

Let’s just say you have a variety of unforeseen pleasures here on campus.  The other day, I was reminded of the old style potty. Have you ever seen a squatter? Well I was surprised to find one here on such a modern campus.  But not nearly as surprised as when I found a super modern fully automatic potty. When I say fully automatic, I mean this baby does it all. You sit down (as girls will) and go... forget the toilet paper, you push a button and you get auto bede’, the water just flows to the area and then you push another button and a cool breeze blows you dry.  I can’t imagine what anyone waiting for me to finish was thinking because I was laughing hysterically out loud, tears in my eyes. I couldn’t stop and I couldn’t leave the stall because I was laughing and felt silly. 

I was so glad my roommate shared that she had had this experience as well, because I just had to talk about it. Lol Lol. I’m still enjoying the experience, but I have to admit. Old habits die hard. I chose the usual do it your selfer for my next visit. I couldn’t risk another hysterical fit in the auto potty stall. 

Finally, I have been very busy, very well fed, and feel very welcome by everyone that I have met while here on campus. Tomorrow we have a field trip into Jeonju to see some historical sights and eat the Jeonju invention, “Bibimbap”. This I am told will be the highlight since the dish, while served all over Korea originated here. I have to close now, because it’s almost time for my Korean language lesson. I didn’t do so well last night. Maybe I should take some time to study before I go.