An-nyong Haseyo

Hello to everyone! I made it. So much to talk about and not sure where to start. This might be a long read so settle in for a few minutes. So my flight left Phoenix at 10:26am. Said goodbye to mom at the security checkpoint (thanks for bringing that extra carry on Mom). I have never gotten through security so fast in all of my life. Yes, Ann Marie, even though I was wearing tennis shoes I still got through quickly (Miss you already.) The flight from Phoenix to San Fran was very bumpy. Which made me a little nervous for my 12 hour flight over here. I luckily ended up sitting in the window seat with no one in the middle seat. A man from Japan sat next to me on my flight from Phx to San Fran. He didn't say much until almost landing. He asked where I was going and what I would be doing. Gave me some pointers on how to get around to the international terminal at San Fran. If you have never been to the San Fran airport then you probably wouldn't know it but it is very high tech. I went straight to the bathroom and then to my boarding gate. Looking around I was suprised by how many non Koreans I saw heading onto the plane. Lots of other teachers as well as our military were on the flight. I ended up sitting next to a wonderful (small) Korean American named Patty. She works for the U.S. government at the air force base here in Osan. She was a very talkative lady and gave me lots of insight on what to expect over here. She even invited me to come visit here in Osan. The 12 hour flight can be described as: LONG, LONGER, AND FREEZING! Food: interesting but not authentic. I was excited when they said our snack would be chinese noodles. They brought it to us, and all it was was raman noodles that they added the hot water too. Haha! Not too many good movies to watch so I listened to the country music station on the plane about 3 different cycles through. Oh, and the most beautiful sight I saw (yes, mom I took your advise and looked out the window) was the snow capped mountains as we went over Siberia! Who else can say they've seen that?

Ok, WARNING: I told you this would be a long post.

Landed in Incheon at 7:25pm. Bathroom break immediately! (Did not have to go the whole flight cause I didn't drink anything) Their bathroom at the airport makes us Americans look pitiful in technology. They have the sanitation papers for the toilet were you push the red button and it automatically puts a new one on the seat for you. Its a circular machine around the toilet seat. Very fascinating to me...oh but that might be because I had been on a plane for so long too. Anyways, walked through the airport following the signs in English (thankfully) and was herded with foreigners and Koreans alike onto a train. In the airport? Yes, it reminded me of Denver. Anyways, when we got off the train we were at immigration. Met a teacher standing in line there. He is going to be here in Seoul to so I am going to look him up later. Immigration took about 20 minutes to get through (mainly standing in line waiting my turn). Then I went to baggage claim. THANK GOD for luggage carts. And, at the airport here you dont have to pay for them. Though the instructions were in Korean and it took me watching 5 different people get theirs moving before I could figure out how to move mine. Haha! Went through customs and saw my driver standing there with a sign with my name on it. No English speaker though. It was a long 40 minute drive to my neighborhood of Seoul.

We arrived at my apartment. My driver got lost 3 times. The weirdest thing getting here was that once we turned on my street there was cars parked everywhere! There is no parking spaces along these streets. So, use your imagination: A strip of a road that can fit 1.5 cars through it. On both sides of the street cars are parked. You might have enough space to fit a red wagon thru the opening. What does a Korean taxi driver do? He wiggles his van through the space!!!! I thought we were going to have skid marks on the doors and windows cause of how close we were to the other cars. Anyways, bless his heart cause he really helped me a lot. NEVER EVER pack as much clothes as I did in those bags. My employer did not meet me at my apartment. She had told my driver where to locate my keys for me and he gave them to me. Then he proceeded to help me carry my bags up the 4 flights of stairs to my apartment. Yes. 4 flights! And he wouldn't let me tip him at all which was really sweet. He left and I spent about 5 minutes exploring my apartment before I decided to leave.

My apartment: Just like the pictures most of you saw except the pictures do not do it justice. It is a huge apartment! Mom, its probably twice the size of my apartment in Nashville and its more like a one bedroom apartment than a studio apartment. I know I lucked out big time having a great employer come thru on their end of the contract with an amazing apartment for me. Though, it is lacking some neccesary things that I will be asking her about in an hour when she comes to meet me to go grocery shopping. Anyways, so there I am in my apartment. There is no phone. The internet is not working. I'm supposed to meet my employer at 10am tomorrow. No alarm clock. I'm a little stressed. Decide to go for a walk. Walking in my neighborhood= LOTS OF HILLS. Losing all this weight is going to be a breeze here. Really. Anyways, found a market about 20 feet from my apartment. The woman spoke Korean. I asked stupidly in English if she knew any. She held her hand up with a stop kind of motion. She went inside and basically dragged her daughter out to talk to me. Her daughter looked about 13 years old and slightly aggravated. I asked her where I could find a PC room. She showed me. I should have kept walking instead of stopping to ask cause the damn thing was right around the corner of the store. Hahaha. I thanked her and went to the PC Room. It was 10pm at night. I emailed everyone to let them know I was here and all was well. Paid 1,000 won for an hour of computer time. Was well worth it (about 75 cents), even though I struggled cause everything I went to was in Korean. Good thing I spend so much time on my computer in the states I know my way around on certain sites. Anyways, left the PC room and stopped by the market again. Bought two bottles of water, one bottle of coke, a crate of strawberries, and 4 oranges. Cost me 11,000 won. I think it was so expensive just because I bought the fruit.

Anyways, went home went to sleep. Woke up this morning around 6:30am. I know that because I took my time unpacking and getting ready before I left to come to the PC room again. I wanted to leave when I knew it was light outside so I was for sure it was morning time. By the way mom, my shower in the bathroom is awesome!! Its so cool and I totally had amazing hot water for my shower! Its definetely different, but not taboo. The floors all slant to the drain and no I did not get water everywhere. Haha.

Well, I don't know what all I have going on today. I'm meeting my employer in an hour to go grocery shopping and see the school. Might meet up with some new friends later this afternoon or evening. NASCAR!! DAYTONA 500. Totally paging my name! I hope my internet works later today or I will be in this PC room watching the race online at 3am tomorrow morning. Well, I guess thats all for now. Hope you enjoyed the read. Feel free to leave comments.