First Impressions

I have safely arrived in Korea.

It's been a been a bit over 24 hrs since I arrived, and I definitely have a ways to go before I feel comfortable? familiar? confident? in my surroundings. Not gonna lie, I feel like a total dork/loser walking around on the street. In Korean, the phrase for that is "Chashin opsoyo" trans. "I have no confidence." Sooo I need to make some friends. Soon.

Anyway, I have the weekend to myself - time to acclimate and explore, though I haven't done much exploring yet. I'm not certain where I'll go to church tomorrow, I have a few options, but I'm trying to decide whether I want to meet more Korean or more foreigner/ex-pat/American people at church... Either way, I'll have to brave the subway... Not that I don't enjoy subways, or whatnot, but I'm going to have to know my stops, etc.

So far, I haven't done too much, but I'll tell you how things have gone, anyway.

To quote Maria from The Sound of Music, "Let's start at the very beginning, a very good place to start..."

It was a very late night before I left - I think I fell asleep around 2ish. KK, as per my request, woke me up around 5:15. There was some last minute packing, saying goodbye to Gram, eating some breakfast, then we (me, Mom, Dad, and KK) went to the airport. As is somewhat expected, there was some re-packing at the airport to get the suitcases at the right weight. However, everything fit in somewhere, so nothing had to be sent home. The flight to Atlanta was uneventful, but I did enjoy the On-Demand entertainment - making a tidy little playlist that I listened to for most of the flight. One of the songs was Jai Ho from the film Slumdog Millionaire - I've determined that Jai Ho was my theme song for the trip - it played several times in my head, along with another song...

The layover in Atlanta wasn't bad at all. When I went to the Korean Air counter to get my ticket/boarding pass, the agent hooked me up with a more spacious window seat as opposed to the middle seat I was initially to get. My last meal in the States was an Arby's Beef n Cheddar Melt with a medium Jamocha shake. (I do love Arby's, even though they do top their Beef n Cheddar Melt buns with onions...) I met a few people in the airport waiting for the plane, one family of four, and a Filipino mother with her son (who were on the flight to ATL, too - they've lived in the States for several years and were en route to visit her family).

It turned out that the gate agent's good intentions were in vain - when I got to my seat, the passenger who was to sit next to me asked if I could switch with her friend so that they could sit together. I was a little grumpy about losing the extra space, but I went ahead and switched, moving up 6 rows to another aisle seat. Naturally, it was a providential switch, and the girl sitting next to me was also moving to Korea to work for YBM (my company), but in Daegu. We were going to exchange contact information, but I wanted to give her one of my calling cards, which were packed overhead somewhere, and after I had corralled my carry-ons and disembarked from the plane, she had already gone on to her connecting flight. Hopefully, we'll still be able to get in contact some way.

I'll insert here that the Korean Air flight attendants are very helpful and polite: For example, as I was stowing my bulky-and-heavy-but-still-carry-on-size bags, the attendant insisted on helping me find a place for my first bag, then encouraged me to allow her to find a place for my second bag instead of keeping it under the seat in front of me so that I could have room for my legs to stretch out. I really appreciated the thoughtfulness.

The plane was warm throughout the trip - not very good news for me, as I had worn pants that aren't very good for warm weather in anticipation of a cooler plane. It was not exactly uncomfortable, just warm. Most of my flying time was spent watching movies: Date Night, Invictus, The Spy Next Door, and Valentine's Day. For the record, Valentine's Day was lame. Invictus, however, which I watched on Dad's recommendation, was very good, not only am I now more able to appreciate the strides South Africa has made (even though there is still a long way to go), but I now want to watch a real rugby game. The rest of my flying time was spent chatting with Kelly (the other new YBM teacher), listening to another playlist, and, sometimes, catnapping.

I got through passport control and baggage collection without too much trouble (except for those heavy carry-ons that didn't always cooperate with what I mentally ordered them to do...), and learned upon meeting my school's manager that we were going to stay awhile at the airport because the other new foreign teacher was arriving in another 1 1/2 - 2 hrs. In the meantime, I settled in before a display TV showing clips of StarKing, a Korean variety show. I also had an iced tea, courtesy of Mr Choi (the manager). When the other teacher arrived, it hit me that I had packed like a girl. Here I was, with 4 heavy suitcases on a luggage cart, and there he was, with one larger suitcase, a backpack, and one small (and I do mean small) carry-on rolly bag (rolly bag = suitcase with wheels). I have no idea how he fit everything in, or how our concepts of "everything" compare.

We drove to Hwajeong (the area where we will be living), which was about a half-hour trip (I think), and in the meantime I learned that Hwajeong isn't part of the city of Ilsan, but part of the city of Gokyang/Kokyang, and Ilsan is another part of Gokyang. I really need to find a good map to get all of that... Moving on... We drove past the hotel and made a circuit of the area, while Mr Choi pointed out significant places: stores, restaurants, and the school. Upon entering my room, I was confronted with a new reality: house shoes. I'm still getting into the habit of wearing them around and switching from regular house shoes to bathroom shoes/sandals.

The house shoes and the bathroom shoes

I'm still getting the hang of the whole "insert picture" thing...

I've also been confronted with another reality (for now): No A/C. I think you have to pay extra to use the A/C, which requires a remote control, and we didn't get A/C remotes. Right now, Korea is humid and warm, with highs in the upper 80s and lows in the mid 70s... yeah, it's not super comfortable...

There is also a very interesting shower - there are no shower walls - just a large corner tub with a shower head. It took some adjustment...

Some of you may be asking "Why are you in a hotel?" Well, it's really more of a motel, evidently, but it's because we (we here means myself and the other new teacher) will be moving into our apartments on Tuesday.

Anyway, we got our luggage into our respective rooms and when asked, I confessed that I was in fact hungry, so Mr Choi took us to a nearby Paris Baguette Cafe (a small version of Paris Baguette - a bakery, etc. chain in Korea), where we picked out sandwiches (mine was a BLT), and popsicles (green tea flavor! Yum.), then returned to the hotel. Mr Choi will pick us up on Monday at 11 with our large luggage (I think it's mostly b/c of me) so that we won't have to wrestle it out on Tuesday (instead we'll wrestle it out on Monday...), but until then, we are at our leisure. (The idea is that we recover from jet lag, I think.)

My ideas for going out and exploring fell by the wayside today - I wound up waking up around 8, trying to sleep longer, getting up around 9, putzing around all morning, eating the sandwich and drinking some instant coffee, discovering that I could get a wifi signal, then sleeping from about 1-3:30. I had set an alarm for 2:00, but the program didn't sense the new time setting, so I just woke up at my leisure.

After I got up, I watched some tv, then went out. My primary visit was to "E-Mart", Korea's version of Wal-Mart. I think it should be called Sigma Mart, and I will probably call it that around friends I've explained it to...

Tell me that ----> is not a Sigma!

Anyway, at E-mart, I managed, through the language barrier, to order some food and then made the mistake of mixing everything up, spreading the chili sauce everywhere. Next time, when I'm asked for how much hot I want, I am replying "opsayo" or "none" for now. Anyway, despite the fact that I really hate wasting food, I couldn't finish and left a regrettably large amount of food uneaten. Afterward, I found my way downstairs to, where I found a headset (as in, microphone and headphones) for 8,000 (Won, not dollars) and an umbrella, which is a pretty blue plaid, for 11,000. I considered shelling out the extra 4,000 for an umbrella which opened AND closed at the push of a button, but decided to go with the cheaper option. Next time I go out, I'm bringing along a tote bag, because it was decidedly uncomfortable to walk around carrying my purchases under my arm. On the way back to the hotel, I stopped in again at Paris Baguette Cafe and bought another Green Tea flavored popsicle.

And it is now time for bed. I plan to leave somewhat early for church to allow time for breakfast, transit, and finding the place, so I will finish for now. (By the way, I've decided to go to a church where I'll meet Americans.)