Boom

                Training completed! By the end of the first day I got to know more people and others a lot more. Everyone was really great; guess I was just tired and putting WAY too much on first impressions. My bad. Hope that I stay in contact with a lot of them. I know it has been a long time since I’ve blogged (information wise), but I have had absolutely no free time. Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday have been jam-packed with training. Wake up at 7 am, take subway to training center, start training at 9:30 am, half hour lunch at noon, training till 3 pm, prepare for following day, leave around 6 pm via subway, grab a quick bite on way back to hotel, prepare/study till midnight, sleep. Needless to say, with this same routine for the past few days, the days have all blended together.

                We have been bombarded with information about teaching techniques, methodology, and company (Chungdahm) information. Honestly, I’ve put more effort into this past week than I did with 95% of my college classes. If the time and effort was not put-in it would be impossible to pass training. To sum it up: it’s a lot of work and I’ve started to dream about my training classes! Chungdahm training is not for the weak.  Nevertheless, I have been in Seoul (South Korea’s capital) for the past week.

                Considering lack of free time, I didn’t really get a chance to explore or sit down and take in the city. However, I will try and give you my few impressions. The subways are amazing! The only time they are unfortunately busy is during rush hour; in which case you learn how crayons feel in their boxes. Besides that they are clean, quick, and easy to use. I will say though, that the ads in the actual railcars are mostly for cosmetic surgery. At first I thought this was strange until I learned that Seoul is almost beating Brazil as the plastic surgery capital of the world (hmmm… maybe I’ll get something done...).*

                I should also point out that I know more about Gangnam Style than you. This is fact and you will have to accept it. Our hotel for the past week and our training center has been in the heart of Seoul’s Gangnam district. Really it’s a normal place; it’s just the rich business area. For example, Samsung’s headquarters were a block or two from our hotel. All the people just wear suits, drink coffee, and think they are super fancy. The area itself is much like any other city: busy streets, tall buildings, and beautiful lights at night.

                However, some of the buildings are amazing! Sorry to pull a Ted Mosby, but the architecture in Gangnam and throughout Seoul is fascinating. Many of the buildings don’t differ from that of cities in the U.S., but others are fairly divided stylistically. There are the concrete blocks of brutalism most often seen in eastern European countries with histories of communism and then there are the super modern structures. The modern ones are really cool (no offense to those who enjoy concrete blocks). If I was smart I would have been taking pictures the last week, but I was rather focused on other things; sorry guys. However I will try and use my descriptions to paint you a mental picture. My favorite building was about 80 stories and black. Instead of just being straight up and down it was curvy, similar to how you would draw waves or a slithering snake. Okay, hopefully that makes sense. That wasn’t the coolest part though! At night, each window lit-up blue in random patterns throughout the building. It reminded me of the Matrix. Anyway, it’s great and there were a bunch of cool buildings throughout the area. Ted Mosby out.

                 Now let’s talk about food. Honestly there’s not a whole lot to say at the moment. I tried some pre-prepared Korean BBQ which was good, hard to eat though. I’ve been grabbing a lot of food from Paris Bagette which is a French deli/bakery with an Asian twist. Their food is really good, but I love carbs so that may have something to do with it. Besides that I’ve grabbed Asian rolls/wraps from convenience stores. They’re fast and don’t taste like much since they’re mostly made with sticky rice. Also, the cost of food is REALLY cheap. Even eating out in Seoul three times a day for the week has only cost me about $70. Not too bad, eh?  

                But the time has come for me to leave Seoul. I’m not too heartbroken; I’m just not a big city kind of gal. Today I passed training and am on my way to my school in Gangneung. This is currently being written in the taxi van that is taking me there in fact. I’m shocked that I’m in a taxi though. It’s a three hour drive. I’m banking on Chungdahm paying the bill for this ride. If not, I’m not going to be happy paying for a three hour taxi ride.

                Just as a side note, the weather has been quite foggy and rainy. Don’t get me wrong I love a good grey day, but I feel like I haven’t seen the sun since I left Colorado. I think that’s because the weather, tall buildings, and I’ve been inside most of the day. But really? I need to get some sunshine!

Nice to blog with you,

                <3 Stine

*Need not worry Mom & Dad. I’m not sure I want to look like Bruce Janner as a 22 year-old-female.