The Week of the Thousand Hotels...

Good news - I am officially a teacher! Training went all of last week and was a pretty intense process. We went from 4:30 - 10 pm every night, which sounds really late but is actually the times we will have our real classes. There are two different programs offered at my school in the area in which I was trained: a Memory English program and a Listening and Speaking program. The Memory English basically involves learning to read and how to use certain phrases and vocabulary. Training involved a LOT of mock teaching, as well as gaining thorough knowledge of the school's methodology. The curriculum is very strictly followed, but there is still plenty of room for creative freedom in teaching. Mocking was pretty nerve-wracking at first, but you get used to it quickly.

After passing training on Friday, I was finally told my branch location. I will be teaching in Mokdong, which is on the western side of Seoul, south of the river. It's a pretty good location, in my opinion. The subway line I'm on (purple/5) goes directly into the downtown area. One of the really weird things about Seoul is that the subway closes at midnight, which is rather early for a city which pretty much runs on public transportation. Basically the train just stops running and you have to get off at whatever stop you're on, whether or not it's where you wanted to end up.

On Saturday, Jenn and I moved to our third hotel of the week, where we will be staying until we find apartments to move in. Unfortunately, Jenn and I are headed for opposite sides of the city after this. Our training group has been through quite a complex string of hotels since our arrival. Within a few days of arriving at our first hotel, we began to notice some strange things about it. For example, we were never allowed to stand in the lobby or parking lot while waiting for our rides to training. One of my fellow trainees got a very non-G-rated "welcome pack" upon arrival. In the interest of the mental state of my friends and family, I refrained from mentioning the accommodations until now, but yes, we eventually discovered that we were staying in what is often referred to as a "love hotel." If you don't understand what that means, let's just say most people don't stay there for more than a few hours at a time.

When we brought the state of our hotel to the attention of our employers (they had never used the hotel before), they said they would look into finding us another. However, no move happened until a seeming disaster struck on day 4 of training - my fellow trainee Mike came to work with a fever and some stomach issues and was whisked off to the hospital for a swine flu test. An hour later, the remaining members of the group were informed that we were under a REAL quarantine, until the following Tuesday or Wednesday. Of course, this had certain implications. For one, we would miss the first few days of work. For another, those trainees who were heading to other areas of the country would not be allowed to leave the city until the swine flu test results came back. And finally, we were told we would have to switch hotels (this was one result that we were more than okay with). Luckily, we were able to get in touch with Mike the next day and found out that his fever had gone down before he reached the hospital, and so he hadn't needed to be tested for H1N1. This also meant that our 24 hours under quarantine were officially over, and we would be able to report to work as planned.

On Saturday, Jenn and I made our third (and final?) hotel move, and the rest of my fellow trainees were dispatched around the country. For now, I have nothing to do but prepare my classes. Oh, and open a bank account. And get an Alien Registration Card. And find an apartment...