I am here. I landed after 30 hours of traveling, jumping airports, delays, cheap flights that do not feed you!! (United!) But, I made it. I left mom at the airport. No crying for me! I managed to get myself and all my bags onto the plane. BY THE WAY...you can only have one personal item and one carry on! No briefcase!
I was very fortunate to meet a couple of teachers on the flights out to LA and then some more in LAX. Then, I sat next to a couple from Buckhead on the flight to Seoul. 12.5 hours, no way am I coming home before I have to.
I landed at Incheon International Airport. The view of Seoul from the plane was endless! Wow! It is HUGE. I walked out of customs praying that someone would drive me to my school instead of taking a bus. My luggage and I would not have made it otherwise. There was a nice man waiting on me with my name on a card. We were supposed to pick up another guy but either he didn't make it or we couldn't find him. That would be my worst nightmare, so we left without him. I tried to stay awake on the taxi to Gunpo, but I kept falling asleep. What i saw was amazing. Seriously, everyone here lives in sky rises. My taxi driver played American music for me, brittney, bg's, donna summer, hanson, kidrock!
I made it to my school where I met my principal, Sang won Han, or Linda. She doesn't speak any English. She uses an electronic translator. She wrote one day, "military personnel to take action," but meant, "medical examination." Imagine my alarm.
My principal wanted to get me some food so she took me to a bakery where I picked out a few things. I have noticed that things are not as sweet here. We went into a market and the cash register was wide open with lots of money in it and there was no one around. I thought the store had been broken into, and my principal started freaking out. But, the guy was outside hitting on some girl.
Made it to my apartment finally. I almost cried, but was too tired. It is so small. I can lay down and stretch my arms out and touch both walls. I do not have hot water yet, so I have to take public baths for warm water. Cold showers are not fun! Basically, a public bath is 30 women or so bathing in one large room together that gets so hot you almost suffocate.
I was able to move the next day into a larger room, only to find out later that night that I had to move back into the smaller room. wow. let down. But, I met my co-teacher, Amanda, from Texas. I like her a lot. She is enjoying being her because everything is her size. NOTHING IS MY SIZE. My foot is too big! Seriously, I only wear a 7.5. My body is way too big! I can speak enough Korean now to talk with the shop keepers and they laugh when I ask them if they have my size.
I am enjoying the food. I like kimchi so far. I have only had spicy jalapeno so far. The bibambop is good. I tried it with spicy shrimp. I had sweet and sour chicken in cheese with broccoli. VERY good. Waffles with bananas, PIZZA and other things along the way. The coffee here is good. I found Starbucks, pizza hut, kfc, krispy kreme, dunkin donuts, baskin robbins, etc.
I have been to E-mart twice and Lotte World once. I have been exploring the area and have found some good hiking areas. I ran last night and it only takes me about 10 minutes to run everywhere that I would ever need to go. The police station is right next to my apt. building. I like to go out on the roof of the building and watch teh clouds move over the mountains and spend time with God. The markets are great. Amanda and I went to Anyang, a nearby city to visit another American teacher, and walked the markets. Wow, fish, octopi, everything! I bought a hand fan or puchae that has a great scent to it to ward off the heat. It is soooo humid here. My hair is amazingly thick here or rather just frizzy.
Amanda and I are going to Seoul later today or tomorrow for training, so I will try to keep you updated as I experience new things here. Please pray with me that I will find a home church here!!!
