Arriving in Seoul

My flight was scheduled to leave at 8am and both Donna, my friend that I stayed with in San Diego, and I overslept. We went running out the door at 5:50 am like our lives depended on it. When we got to the airport the customs line was about a mile long and I could feel the panic starting, but I said a quick prayer and hauled my 3,000 lbs of luggage up to the check out counter. The man told me he was going to put me on a earlier flight to make sure I didn't miss my flight to Seoul. He weighed one of my bags, the lighter one, and it came out to be 48 lbs. I held my breath as the red one ticked past 50, to 53, 55 lbs. The man was so busy, he didn't even notice. (Sigh of relief). I went to a shorter line at customs, only for them to decide they needed to search my purse. The lady moved so slow, I almost wondered if she were trying to get me to miss my flight. I made it 10 minutes before the flight took off. I met a husband and wife from Iraq who were Catholic and spoke Aramaic and spent most of the time talking about religion with them.

The flight to Seoul I thought would never end. I was stuck in between two people and my legs kept getting numb from being forced to sit there. I think I watched all 5 American movies in the course of the trip because I was trying really hard not to sleep. When the plane landed I had a moment of sheer panic and started asking myself what I was doing there and why would I want to be in a foreign country and how I should go home. And then I remembered that there wasn't anything for me in SC and I wanted a change. So I said hello to my new home for the next year and the panic went away.

My flight arrived at 6:30 last night in Seoul. I was pleasantly surprised how easy it was to get through customs. I was expecting that I would have to go through a long process and hoping I wouldn't have to pee (can I say that in a blog?) But it all was easy. I handed my passport to a lady, she looked it through, entered a few things on the computer and I was on my way. The driver couldn't speak any English but his brother could and kept telling me to slow down when speaking til I felt I was ennuciating every syllable. It took almost two hours to get to the hotel because of the traffic in Seoul. I have to say, at first I was really disappointed by what I saw. It was an overcast day, cold and dreary, and the pollution seemed pretty bad. I also started getting a headache which I contributed to the pollution. I told myself "Stupid hypochondriac, it's not pollution, it's in your head." But that didn't stop the endless chatter in my head about what are you going to do if you get really sick from the pollution and you have to leave? I also panicked about the two men picking me up and selling me to a human trafficking drug lord and no one would know because my cell phone doesn't work (because cell phones save people's lives apparently.) Anyway, I eventually calmed down and began to get excited once we came into the city. Seoul reminds me of New York city...maybe Korea town in New York (Is there a Korea town?).


They took me to a motel because my apartment is being occupied by a girl who is going to be leaving in the next week. The motel is a little hole in the wall in an alley way about 10 minutes from the school. If I were taken to a motel like this in the states I would have laughed about how old and ghetto it is. But because it's Asian, and the rooms have a certain style about it, it really is charming. My hotel room is the size of a bathroom. By the time I arrived it was 6am my time and I could barely walk I was so tired. I was just about to shower and go to bed when the phone rings and a man says in broken English he's from the school and coming up to my room!? I quickly throw clothes on, fighting the thoughts of "what did I sign myself up for?" He has come to take me to meet with Sarah, from the school. Sarah and I went to a little Italian cafe (I was too tired to be adventurous with Korean food) and ate yummy pizza and pasta and talked about the school and children.



Yesterday I met Rachael, one of the teachers at the school. She took me to a Korean restaurant and I was surprised at how much I liked the food. I can't really remember what all we had, I ordered dumplings and we also got these rolls very similar to sushi only the tuna was like that from a can and not raw. The texture was a little weird but it was still good. Then we walked to the mall and to a French cafe near the motel. One thing I am somewhat disappointed about is that cafes are expensive. Everyone says it is so cheap in Korea, and the food really was cheap...most of the meals averaged about $2-$3. But the coffee is the same. In fact, an herbal tea is more expensive here than in the states. I may have to give up my coffee addiction....




So far my experience has been very positive. There are a few things that are different. On the plane I sat next to a sweet Filipino lady who invited me to come visit anytime, whether she was there or not! On the other side of me was a nice looking Korean man, probably in his early 30's. He was highly regarded by the Korean flight attendants who seemed to talk to him every chance they could get. He seemed like the intellectual type, maybe he was visiting home after studying in the states. But I was astonished when we received our meals and he began smacking his food. I had heard that it is common and part of their culture to slurp their noodles. I was very proud of myself for handling his slurping so well. But when he began to smack his food, I thought I was going to lose it. I put my headphones on and turned them to full blast and still I could hear his relentless mouth. I even stuck tissue in my ears and the headphones but he even overpowered that. I was glad the flight ended when it did. Homicide wouldn't be the best way to start my new life in Korea.

The other thing I noticed is most Koreans are very friendly to foreigners. They smile and try to be helpful no matter what. There are those who stare but I was told that is to be expected, especially having red hair.

Well, I'm exhausted. I fell asleep at 7:30pm and have been awake since 4am. My goal is to fall asleep at 9:00 tonight and then hopefully I'll sleep til 6.