Yesterday I studied a bunch for the first day of training (I passed every test except for one [which is better than most]). Then I went out to the palace district and saw some really great palaces! The first (and biggest one) was called Gyeongbokgung. Then we wandered down to Changdeokgung (gung means palace). It was really cool to see some of the Asian history that I took come to life. After that we wanted some dinner, so we went down to Insa-dong street. This was a traditional Korean street that was really great. We found an awesome restaurant that served fish. I just pointed to the fish picture and it came out as a whole fish... haha. I tried Korea's national alcohol for the first time, Soju. Its a rice fermentation similar to Saki, but it tastes like vodka. TONS of warnings from foreigners on how this stuff can creep up on you. I only had 2 shots because I had to wake up for training.
Training was kind of strange. They warn us that the instructor is going to be similar to a drill sargent. But when the class started it was this big Korean American that was super nice to us... too nice. I think tomorrow will be way different. The people I'm training with are pretty dorky but super nice. After training we went down to the Seoul Medical Center to get a medical exam. It was strange... Korean hospitals are WAY different than hospitals in the States. There were gurneys EVERYWHERE right when we entered the hospital. One kid fainted when we got our blood drawn. That was pretty concerning. Everything went just fine though.
Tomorrow I have to pass the retake of test that I didn't pass. Tomorrow I think will be way different. They keep reiterating that this is a corporation not a school. Tonight all 15 recruits want to go out to the Foreigner's part of town, Itaewon. Apparently it's a pretty crazy place surrounded by "hooker hill" and "homo hill". Should be a goodnight. I might have to duck out early tonight. :)
