I don't have time to update you about everything that's been going on but I wanted to share a picture I took the other day while walking home from school. Though I live in a town of 50,000 the school I teach at is on the outskirts of town so it feels a bit rural. Though the town is a bit industrial it is surrounded by rice paddies and mountains which makes for a beautiful backdrop. I have to walk up a hill to get to my apartment so I have a great view of the valley - I'm just a bit scared when it gets cold out and I have to maneuver the hill with the ice and snow. :|

After a few mishaps I got to meet up in Seoul with Kate, a good friend of mine. Kate moved to Seoul in June of 2011 and works for a hagwon (private English school). Though we were both very busy during that first week we were able to meet up a couple of times before I left Seoul.

A few people have asked me about how I'm faring with the food in Korea and up until I moved into my apartment the answer would be, not that well. The cafeteria at NIIED was completely unprepared for the few vegetarians during the week long orientation. Breakfast became my favorite meal because I actually had options - cereal, juice, fresh fruit, milk and bread whereas for lunch and supper I got to eat rice and eggs. After a few complaints from some of the vegetarians they improved and offered tofu at each meal. On occasion there were vegetables cooked without fish sauce. Though Korean food heavily leans towards vegetables what many people (including Koreans) do not seem to realize is that some form of meat is usually cooked in with the vegetables to add flavor. Sometimes its easy to avoid the dish because the chunks of meat are obvious whereas other times its a bit more difficult, like in the case of kimchi which is typically prepared with fish sauce.

I've decided to simply prepare all my meals at home unless I am as sure as I can be that the food is vegetarian. Now that I live in my apartment this is pretty easy to do since I like to cook. What I didn't realize was how my co-workers would respond to this - many have commented on my lunches in Korean, a few seem overly concerned that I'm not adjusting to Korean food and my co-teacher seems tired of explaining to others that I'm a vegetarian. Whereas being a vegetarian helped me be accepted by the Hindu temple community while I was doing my research over the summer I suspect its going to at least partially alienate me here in Korea.

After a 14 hour flight I arrived at Incheon airport in Seoul and met other EPIK teachers. After waiting for a few more newly arrived teachers we were whisked away to the National Institute for International Education (NIIED). This school served as our home for the next week. We lived in dormitories, ate in the cafeteria and took classes on things ranging from co-teaching techniques to the wonders of Korea. The orientation sessions were surprisingly informative, even with prior experience teaching abroad and co-teaching I learned a lot. We were kept extremely busy with classes starting at 9am and finishing around 8:30pm so we had little time to explore Seoul. However, on Sunday afternoon EPIK had arranged an outing to a small historic palace as well as a viewing of the show, Miso. On Monday morning we met representatives from our local province and we were taken  to a city in the province where we were met by a co-teacher and escorted to our apartments. I'll give you more information on my schools and apartment in a different post. Below are some pictures from the orientation.

It only took three tries but I finally got my vegetarian meal on Asiana! When I flew to and from Vietnam there was a problem and for some reason none of the vegetarians in my group were listed as needing a special meal. There weren't  any extra vegetarian meals and so they could only offer us the regular meal which meant we had to pick through the food to find something suitable. However, this time I was a bit persistent - I requested a veggie meal when I booked the ticket, called the airline to confirm and then asked again when I checked in my flight. It might not seem like a big deal but a 14 hour flight with little to no food isn't much fun. Overall the flight was great - Asiana offers top notch service.

I'm at the airport waiting for my flight and wondering how I'm going to get all my luggage to the dorms in Seoul for orientation and then to my apartment next week. I'm a bit shocked by how much I ended up packing but in my defense half the big suitcase is filled with spices and gifts. I'm not sure how much internet access I'll have over the next week but I'll try to update the blog as soon as possible.

The past week in the USA was spent getting things in order for the move but I was able to spend most of this weekend with my family so we could say goodbye. My niece and nephew are very happy that I'm moving somewhere that has toys because they're excited to get more.

During my most recent stay in Muncie my friends Joshua and Eric showed how truly hospitable they are when they invited me to stay with them even though they were preparing for their upcoming nuptials (with which my visit coincided). They were wonderful hosts and I hope I was an unobtrusive guest. Congratulations to you both! xoxo

It's a testament to how much I enjoyed my research and how welcomed I felt by the Hindu community that, though I initially planned on only visiting the temple for a few hours during my final visit to Munice, I actually ended up spending the entire weekend there.
Though I felt prepared by years of classes in anthropology when I entered the community to do research I realize now that what they don't prepare you for is when you leave. It's difficult to say good bye to people who overwhelmed me with kindness during my time there and all I can say is a heartfelt thank you.

As I have been preparing to leave to Korea I kept finding myself back in Muncie for a couple days here and there for a variety reasons - which permitted me to meet up and say goodbye to a few different friends. Though I definitely won't miss Muncie I will miss the friends I've made while living there!