New friends, new memories!!

EPIK Orientation was great. It wasn't just the classes that helped us prepare for anything. It was the friends that we met, the line of support we established. No one else knows our situation except for the people that we have been with at orientation. I made several friends at the orientation and I'm grateful that I was given the opportunity to meet such a diverse group of people. First, there was Chuck and Clara, my team 8 leaders of orientation which I am shown with below. It was the classes we went to that I met many of them. Such friends as Charles, Rose, Brandon, Nichole, Kenmei, and Laura just to name a few of my close friends I made. Others I met at lunch or dinner and of course my roommate Ian. And it's really great that there is a facebook page with most of the teachers in the Gyeongsangbuk area so we can post questions on there if we are unsure about something and people can respond to it. Communication these days is so convenient.

One of my favorite classes was the Korean language class. They divided us into three groups for this class, beginners (level 1), intermediate (level 2), and intermediate to advanced (level 3). I was in level 3 class and I was excited to be in it because I really liked my teachers. One girl was Soohyun and the other girl was Heewon. Both were very nice and made the class enjoyable. On the first day I got a taste of what Korean class is like when Soohyun just started talking all in Korean with no English. At first, I was like whoa and then it went away. It's been like this for me several times. I have experienced in the Korean church, with my best friend and girlfriends so I thought of it as another challenge. In fact, the first time I experienced this was with my best friend DY and it was frustrating the first time so I told myself I will learn Korean. I hate not knowing something and being totally clueless.

Anyways, the first night we read a dialogue about a blind date. It was rather humorous and sad at the same time. It was about introducing themselves and their hobbies and when he asked the girl out to the movies she gave him an unknown. We then did some partner activities in front of the class about ourselves and wrote our names in Korean. We also wrote about our likes and where we were from. Heewon helped me out with my sentences. She was so cool. Anyways, after class they hung our names up on the wall in the University food court.

Our next class was just as good as we continued working on another dialogue. We got some real speaking practice which was nice because I needed that kind of practice. We also did group work in the class which was good for my speaking. The last class we read another dialogue and learned some new vocabulary. We also translated and sang a Korean pop song. It is really funny because Heewon was supposed to sing first and show us but I guess Soohyun didn't tell her. Lol I think Heewon would sing it well if she got another chance. lol maybe we'll get the chance to go to karaoke sometime or something. That would be cool. Anyways, we starting singing in class all in Korean and I thought to myself, I do this all the time. I guess that's why I didn't find it embarrassing. The song was "Moonlight, Starlight" by Secret, a girl group. It was fun but sad as well because the class would end that night. I made sure I would keep in contact with my teachers though. Heewon was very helpful and I felt like we could talk to each other easily. She always seemed to make me smile. I'm glad to be friends with her.