Well, I left you last time while I was contemplating all the stuff I still had to get done to finally get settled in this very pleasant land. Thankfully, it all seemed to go without a hitch - I got my bank account set up, I'll be getting my ARC on the 1st October which means I'll FINALLY get my own Internet access, and I had a very relaxing Chuseok basically just resting, on account of actually not being able to go anywhere because I don't have very much of this.
However, once that was done, it was off up to Seoul on Saturday 25th for the orientation I should have had a month ago, but sadly missed on account of not making it to Korea on time. I wasn't totally sold on the idea of spending what little is left of my money on a trip up here but sadly I didn't have a choice: attending orientation at some point while you are here is mandatory. So off I went, and luck appeared to shine on me as I fluked my selection of bus from the main road near my house - me picking one at random and it taking me to right outside the long-distance bus station!
Once at the station I found a buddy to travel up with, and a bus and two Seoul Underground lines later (many thanks once again to Korea's extremely affordable and efficient transport system) we arrived at our location, the NIIED (National Institute for International Education and Development). Turns out there's about 120 of us here, some like me who arrived just too later for the August orientation, some who have only just arrived in the country. It's an interesting but fun group!
Both of us got to NIIED for about 5pm on the Saturday, so there wasn't really that much to do other than get booked into out rooms, then have something to eat and head on out with some new buddies to sample Seoul's nightlife:
(The guy in the middle is my roommate for the next few days - Nick from Seattle.)
Much beer and soju later and I had a decent sized hangover the following day. Well played, Ross.
More to follow in part 2!
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