EPIK SERIES: How to not be shook @ ORIENTATION (Teach in Korea)

[@skycedi]

Yesssss thanks for the extensive overview of orientation. It’s mad helpful. I’ll be there in Spring 2018👌🏽

[@roydonk2878]

I passed the interview and my documents have been accepted, now I'm just waiting to be officially accepted/placed by an office of education. Your videos have been very helpful letting me know what to expect!

[@ChenFromBklyn]

Yay!! That's awesome!! Thanks for watching!

[@emileeinkorea832]

Thank you so much for posting these videos. I've just had my EPIK interview and based on how it went, I think I'll make it into the program :D You mentioned in the video that you came a couple days early before orientation. I'm curious as to how you went about finding a place to stay and what that experience was like. I'm more of a shy person, so exploring by myself is a little nerve wracking, but I definitely want to beat that jet lag lol Were there enough people who spoke English that you were able to explore around the area without too much trouble? Thanks for your help!

[@ChenFromBklyn]

Awesome! Glad it went well!! There will probably be other people who want to come early as well, you can start by posting a discussion in the facebook intake group.Since there are usually only 2 cities used for orientation, people can meet up before orientation if they want. Our orientation was in Busan, and about 2 months before we had to leave for Korea, people started asking on the Facebook group who was coming early. Then you can make a separate group to talk about meeting up once you arrive. About 30 people from our intake came a day or two early and stayed in the same hotel (closest to the airport). This lets you group up and explore together for a day. It's manageable even with limited Korean, but it makes you feel better being with a group of people your first few days here. People at the other orientation location also coordinated their own meet ups/hotels before orientation via FB as well. The Facebook group is really helpful!

[@emileeinkorea832]

Wow! What a great idea! Thanks for your help! 😄 That also makes it easy to make good friends your first couple days too

[@ChenFromBklyn]

No problem! Yeah it was so nice to make some friends before orientation!

[@mashalyn2012]

So you said on the last day you wear business casual, but for the rest of the week can you wear jeans/shorts and t-shirts?

[@ChenFromBklyn]

Yep comfortable clothes are fine the rest of the week! You'll just be sitting in classrooms all day anyway haha

[@frecklesflower]

Thank you for this video! How closely did your placement align with your preferences?

[@ChenFromBklyn]

We both put Daejeon on our EPIK application as well as wanting to teach elementary students and we both got it!

[@mellorin5683]

They take blood tests? I am super scared of needles oh my god...