First Day of Training - Medical Exam and Orientation

Today we all got up early to get on a shuttle to take us to the medical exam for our ARCs (Alien Resident Cards). This would have been fine if the driver had dropped us off where we were meant to be, but instead we were dropped off round the corner and subsequently lost. When we called for directions (note, at this point we didn't know where we were meant to go, or even the name of the place) we were told to turn left, so we did, and walked half an hour in the wrong direction before eventually running around in a big circle and arriving half an hour late to our medical stuff.

We were all expecting some sort of private clinic, but it was a full on working clinic with Koreans all there doing their check-ups as well. So we sat there and got called one by one into the process, which all took place in one big massive room with lots of seats in some sort of station rotation sort of thing. We'd go to a changing room, where we were supplied with orange or blue Korean prison jumpsuits based on gender, as well as some Korean slippers, and then we were shuffled about the room to different stations.

One by one we were measured for height, weight, and blood pressure. We did hearing exams, a quick cursory dental check-up, and a chest x-ray looking for tuberculosis. Then we had blood drawn, did urine tests, and did some sort of Electric Cardiovascular thing, which involved stripping down and having stuff stuck to you while an electric current was run through you to check your heart rate and other cardiovascular things. It didn't hurt, but it was quite strange to do. One of the boys in the group was told off for having too much chest hair, so the little things wouldn't stick to him, so they took a pair of scissors to the patch of hair they needed, and shaved it for him to make it work, then chastised him for not shaving his chest.

Then we had a medical consultation, which was really more of an interview. I apparently checked out fine, so off we went back downstairs to wait for the bus, all feeling a bit uneasy and strange, once again back in our own clothes.

We got some sandwiches at a nearby shop, and the daring ate vendor food from the street (we still aren't sure what). We then headed off towards the Chungdahm main branch office to begin our training orientation.

This was a lot of fun. We found out what sorts of programs we'll all be teaching when we were separated into groups for our main lessons. Our days from here on out will be 9:30 to 3:00 and then we'll have homework to do. On friday, we break into our respective groups and head on along to our schools.

We also got the first taste of the subway system today. It seems simple enough to follow, once you have an idea where you're going, and they gave us some instructions to follow which were and were not helpful at the same time. I think there's been a bit of construction since last the instructions were updated, so it took a bit to work out the directions to go. We're on the subway until friday when we get another shuttle now, so we've got time to practice. Also, the subway cards you get (called T-Money Cards) work not only in the Seoul subways, but also in several other major cities, and they also work in taxis. You just put money on it, and then carry it about, top it up with funds when you need to. I've got one already, but it's got no money on it at the moment.

I'm also almost out of cash, so sometime soon I'll need to find an ATM. I've still got about $70 worth in my purse and don't expect to spend it quickly, but I don't want to run out, so tomorrow afternoon I'm going in search of the citibank to see if my debit card works in their machines. I'll report my results with that tomorrow.

Time for bed now. Thanks all for reading! Speak to you tomorrow!
-Sam