everyday things

I've been in South Korea for a couple days now. I've had enough time to settle in and it feels like a good time to write a blog about it. I said my goodbyes over the few days leading up to my flight. Leaving the people I love was sad and bittersweet, I worried I would miss too much of their lives and things would change a lot while I'm gone. But now I realize I'll still be there for the changes. The internet is perfect for that.

My flight was around 15 hours long. Korean Air is a great airline. The flight attendants wear cute sky blue uniforms and look pretty and pristine. Although I accidentally slept through one of the three meals, the snacks and the meals I did eat were good. There were dozens of movies, shows, music and games to keep me distracted. The girl sitting next to me was going to be a teacher too. The only words she really said to me were "good luck" when we parted ways. I'll never forget that because she hadn't talked to me the whole 15 hours, yet we had an unspoken understanding that we were both young foreigners, so must both be in the same boat.

I arrived at the airport, got my luggage, went through immigration and customs, waited a bit at the international gate for my ride, got unsolicited help from a nice Korean man who knew a little English and offered to call the school for me, found out from his phone call that they were running late in traffic, and after a while I saw a Korean girl about my age holding a sign with my name in big letters. Happy sight.

She was the daughter of the owner of the school. Her mom would drive me through Seoul to my town and my apartment. I slept on and off through the drive, a new view of Korea every time I woke up. The best moment was driving through Gangnam and only knowing where I was because I can read some Korean and the name of the area was on a lot of the buildings.

That night the school's owner and his wife showed me around my new apartment, how to use appliances and such. They had done a bit of grocery shopping for me already! For breakfast this morning I had bagels, cream cheese, cereal, milk, orange juice, oranges, apples, toast and jam to choose from. Anyway, after I dropped off my luggage we went out to eat at a cute little Korean barbecue place, so basically they cooked the meat for us right at the table over a coal burning fire. I've had Korean food at a couple places like that in the states but it was awesome to think I was at an authentic Korean restaurant in THE Korea. Anthony Bourdain style. Also we sat on the floor to eat and I ate raw crab meat, so it was special that way too.

"To awaken quite alone in a strange town is one of the pleasantest sensations in the world." -Freya Stark

This morning I took it easy. I made myself breakfast, put on the nature sounds Corey downloaded for me before I left and genuinely had a calm morning in the Land of Morning Calm. I took my time and unpacked all my things. I'm thinking before long I'll move some furniture around in my apartment and hang up some posters to make it more "me" or get the feng shui right. I'll post pictures or a video tour someday soon, tonight I just want to lie in bed and type. I'm so grateful for this laptop Corey gave me.

After about an hour of trying to figure it out, I finally spent a while talking to my brothers on webcam. It was great to see their faces, it convinced me that no matter how far from home I am physically they will still be a part of my life, which for now just happens to be taking place in this beautiful country.

One interesting thing about my apartment and Korea in general is that showers don't have curtains or glass walls or any other kind of partition from the rest of the bathroom. So when I take a shower I stand in the middle of the floor and try not to splash too much. I've been curious about this since I first learned about it in my research. It wasn't bad at all. The water stays pretty much in one place and things stay dry. The only hitch was the water didn't get warm, but I asked a teacher about it and figured out the water heater temperature is adjusted manually here. Now I know that and so I won't be taking any more cold showers.

Today was a great day. The other new teacher (a guy my age from Canada) and I had an orientation at the school with our head teacher who has lived in Korea for three and a half years now. He is really helpful and enjoys telling us all we need to know about the culture and the area we live in. We got a chance to see the school, I opened up a bank account with the help of one of the Korean teachers to translate, and I learned about my teaching schedule. I'll have five classes, ranging from kids who know no English at all to kids who are at a pretty high intermediate level. I teach about 6 hours a day Monday through Thursday and have a longer day on Fridays. The rest of the time is spent preparing lessons and grading. This is what I got out of the first day of orientation.

I'll know more when I actually start on Monday. So I have a few days to just explore. We just finished today with another great meal at an authentic Korean place, this one sitting in chairs and without a fire. Then we went out for a few beers, and they serve small foods to snack on with drinks here, which is something I LOVE because I've always wished bars in the states did something like that.

Most of the other teachers are still on vacation right now, but I'm really looking forward to meeting all of them, having people to do things with every day, and hearing their stories. There are a bunch of restaurants and stores I want to check out. The food I've had so far has been really good and apparently cheap. This weekend I'm hoping to go into Seoul to see a palace and be a tourist. I'll post pictures soon and maybe a video tour of the apartment.

countdown

Yesterday I went to the Korean embassy in DC only to find out my interview had been rescheduled. They had tried to notify me but I had my cell phone turned off most of the time I was in Montana to save the battery. Anyway, it wasn't too bad because my cousin Jessi and I had, at the last minute the night before, decided to go museum hopping before my interview, so it wasn't a wasted trip. The Hirschhorn is so awesome. Jessi went to the Holocaust museum while I walked to the embassy. We ate lunch in the city and then left. It was an overall good day, so I'm not going to let the inconvenience get to me.

And today I went back to the embassy to turn in the paperwork for my visa. I filled out forms, turned them in, paid a $45 fee, waited an hour for something that took less than two minutes—you know, typical bureaucratic stuff. The so-called interview was just the consulate telling me if I committed any crimes I would be in big trouble. His voice will now echo in my mind in the quiet, contemplative moment before entering the bank I was planning to rob and I won't be able to go through with it.

"Your true traveler finds boredom rather agreeable than painful. It is the symbol of his liberty-his excessive freedom. He accepts his boredom, when it comes, not merely philosophically, but almost with pleasure." - Aldous Huxley

There were two other people there for the same thing as me. One was a woman who was going into her third year teaching in Korea. She said this was the first time she ever had to wait for her visa, and it was because of the new policy of doing an "interview." The other guy was either in a bad mood or was just naturally a real jerk. He was very impatient and rude. I would not want to be one of his students or co-workers. I bet he will not enjoy his time in Korea. I didn't ask where either of them would be living. Wish I had.

So that was that, and tomorrow I have to go back into the city for the third day in a row to pick up my passport and visa. The only complaint I have is that driving in the city sucks, especially during rush hour, which is precisely when I will be there tomorrow. It was bad enough driving there today without traffic. I would take the metro if the walk from the station to the embassy wasn't so long. Little things. Tomorrow I'll decide what would be less of a hassle. Tonight I'm going to relax.