Korea, Korea: How I love you

Realizing that I have neglected to post a single thing since my arrival, I will catch up. I am going to separate the posts, but they will all appear to be published on the same day, so be forgiving of my negligence. Enjoy!

I have been here one week now, and I can’t believe that I haven’t written anything yet! I wish that I had the energy to keep up a journal each day, but life seems to have caught me off guard, completely busy and otherwise exhausted. I am sure that I can recall much of what I have done in great detail, but I worry that some nuances will escape me. Since I have this feeling of regret that I have not even documented simply my thoughts of the past week, I promise to myself that I will try to write things down each day so to better remember them.

I will start at the beginning; my plane ride out of Toronto! It was nice that I was made to go to the Korean Consulate on Friday, as I could easily recognize faces on Saturday. I went into the airport to locate my gate to make unloading my suitcases somewhat easier and I ran into Pam and Rich, who fortunately knew where they were going. After checking my bags and getting my boarding pass, I ran into Jaime. Relieved to have familiar faces around me, I went to breakfast with my mom. I had not eaten much of anything in the past 24 hours, and I didn’t feel much up to eating just then, but I managed some banana bread and some OJ. Anyway, after spending time with my mom, it was off to board the plane. I sat in the waiting area with Pam, Rich and Jaime and we exchanged stories. What stands out most to me was I was not at all uncomfortable. I was not at all worried. It didn’t feel like I knew these people well, but it did feel as though I could trust them. I felt that I was doing something right.

On the plane we had seatback tvs (yay!) where I watched an episode of Friends, 21, What happens in Vegas, Smart People and some of Horton Hears a Who. I passed out (thank you gravol) during the last movie, and I think I slept for a couple of hours. I am so glad we had a direct flight, although I did feel disoriented once we landed. So, we landed, collected our bags and we were off to meet Mr. Im. While waiting for my bags, I noticed that a guy had the same carry on as I did, so I went over to him and asked him to make sure he collected the right bag. That would have been an inconvenience. So we met Mr . Im and one of the teaching partners, Vickie who brought us to get coffee andrelax while we waited for Angela to arrive. She arrived about two hours later and we were off to Yongin. We managed to pack all of our luggage, and all of our bodies into one van; quite a feat I must admit! Once on the van, we received calling cards, a transportation card, and maps of Yongin to help us get around. I felt so comfortable and I nearly fell asleep on the way to Yongin. About an hour later, we were taken to the school, where we looked around through very sleepy eyes. The school was lovely, but I am sure we did not appreciate it fully as we were completely exhausted. Although exhaustion was prevalent, so was hunger, and we were off to have dinner. I phoned home as soon as I could and we were taken to Korean BBQ. It was delicious, and different. The workers place hot coals in the midle of the table, using steel tongs. It was somewhat concerning, considering if the coals fell at all, well, it would not be a pretty sight. Anyway, the coals were placed in the centre of the table and covered with a wire lid and we were ready to begin BBQ’ing. We had pork, and apparently at Korean BBQ’s you cut the meat with scissors. A very different way of doing things compared to back home. The food was wonderful, some things were questionable, but all in all it was a great experience. I arrived back to my apartment at about 10 and I showered and unpacked. I figured why not get it all out of the way, and by then I wasn’t really tired anymore. After I unpacked everything, I opened up a few presents that were smuggled into my luggage by my mom. I had a few cute pyjamas, a lovely journal, awesome pictures and some things for my classroom. The Hello Kitty Bandaids she put in there have already come in handy. I am not sure that is a good thing, but it made me smile nonetheless.