Dear Sal,
I woke up at four o clock this morning, slightly confused as to where I was. Damn you jet lag! After failing to fall back to sleep, we decided to make the most of the short amount of free time we had before the training begins.
We walked around Gangnam subway station in search of breakfast and a photo booth. I had forgotten to bring three passport pictures that I needed for my medical examination. The photo booths here are crazy, you can perform alterations on your picture. Digital plastic surgery. You can change the distance between your eyes, thin your nose, narrow your jaw, make your skin lighter or darker, and still use the image as a passport picture. I mean, how is that even legal?
We passed countless phone shops until we found a cafe that drew David in with a large window display of donuts. I had an English muffin with bacon and egg and David had a blueberry jam sandwich, with surprise cheese. Then we went to a place called Paris baguette, where we drank coffee and played Candy Crush on the tablets that are built into the table. It's like another world.
We made our way back to the hotel where we met some people in the lobby. We chatted inanely as we waiting for the bus to take us to our next destination. Once we got to the training centre, we were given a brief introduction on what to expect in the week ahead before being put into small groups of three and four. I wasn't with David. I had to walk down three flights of stairs to find my room and it was empty. One guy just hadn't turned up and the others plane had been delayed. I felt somewhat awkward sat on my own in that classroom... I had to answer every bloody question.
After about four hours of overwhelming training, we were huddled onto a coach like cattle to a nearby medical centre, where we were made to change into some ill fitted pyjamas. The whole process was very bizarre. We were thrown from pillar to post as one nurse after another took us to different locations to be weighed and measured. We had our eyes tested, our hearing, an x-ray was taken, our teeth examined. And of course the obligatory urine sample. "You pee, this?" said a tiny woman holding up a tiny paper cup and two glass test tubes.
If the security check at the airport was dehumanising, then I don't even know what this was. After we escaped what I can only imagine to be a North Korea induction centre we'd been sent to by mistake, we had our first traditional Korean meal. Ah, kimchi, how I missed you, and metal chopsticks, how I haven't. After not being able to eat all morning, I was more than happy to fill my face with spiced fermented cabbage and dumplings soup. It was delicious.
We returned shortly after our late lunch and began to review our training for the day, complete a number of online tests and prepare for tomorrows' lessons. This is so much harder then we thought it would be. We have so much to cover in so little time, I feel like my head might explode. I think David is finding it harder because everything he's learned in teaching over the last four years has been pretty much thrown out the window. We have a final assignment on Friday that if we fail, we get fired. I'm remaining optimistic.
Hopefully not seeing you soon,
Samuel James.
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