I Arrive in Korea

Am sitting at my new desk, in my new office. This morning was a whirl of excitement. Got my health check (drug test, blood test, chest x-ray), opened up a bank account, met my principal, was shown to my classroom and given textbooks to study, ate lunch (beef and vegetable soup, kim chee, rice, tempura eggplant, pickled vegetables), and met a Canadian named John who promised to introduce me to some Koreans and Canadians. I guess he’s lived here for two years now. We’re supposed to meet up in front of the E-Mart at seven, because I have absolutely no contact information yet. I haven’t even seen my apartment.

On the whole, I am grateful to have even MADE it to my home town. I nearly missed my transfer flight to Busan when I discovered, an hour before departure, that my light left from a DIFFERENT airport than the one I currently had my feet planted on. Yay! Just what I wanted, not an hour in a strange country, and already I had to figure out the transportation system. Fortunately there was a bus that left for the other airport at just the moment I needed, and I managed to convert a few thousand of their currency with the little cash I had on hand. Thirty minutes before departure, I arrived at the airport, whisked through security—only to be held up by the presence of one aerosol can that security determined to be hairspray (it was actually my mace that my mother had bought for me years ago, never used once, but got in the habit of carrying around anyway, didn’t think would be a problem shipped under). At precisely 8:16, my flight leaving at 8:30, I sprinted to my gate, arriving at 8:19. Eleven minutes to spare. Awesome.

The rest of the day proceeded smoothly. I met my teacher, got a brief tour of the elementary school, got into my apartment, unpacked, ate…hmmm, lunch consisted of soup, rice, kim chee, pickled cucumber, and….some sort of beef dish, I guess. Korean food appears to be mainly rice, kim chee and other pickled veggies, a soup (often seafood), and a beef/veggie dish.

Oh! And I met my first non Korean friend, a Canadian who’d been living in Korea for two years, teaching of course.

Update:
Apartment is lovely. Big room with desk, chair, couch, and bed. Two big closets and a third smaller. Sliding door opens to kitchen area, small table, and washer/dryer. And a bathroom, although with no proper shower. Koreans just use a showerhead. More space than I have at home, although the kitchen isn’t as nice as ours.

Sleep now, although jet lag has yet to catch up with me.