The Flight and First Day

While on the flight, I still do not think I understand how much my life is going to change in the next few days. I feel like I will arrive and everyone I know will be there, but that is unfortunately not the case. However this brings a challenge to meet new people in an unfamiliar place using what little I know about the culture, people and language.

One of the most nerve-wracking things now is what awaits me at my apartment and school (by the way, this part is still written on the flight). I would love to know what exactly awaits me in both. Pillows, sheets, towels, grocery stores, kimchi, hardware store, Bed Bath and Beyond-esque stores, etc. Classrooms, technology, library, books, papers, supplies, etc. I do understand that I need to just be patient and my answers will come soon, but it feels like such a tall task at the end of a job search that felt like a tall tale.

This flight has been extremely lengthy. My legs are so sore, I have barely gotten any sleep in the past 24 hours which leaves me in a less than perfect state to make good first impressions when I arrive at my school. I suspect that the staff is used to it or gone through this with each new teacher so I’m not too concerned. The definite positives about the flight has been that I had a whole row to myself and the food! If I was not able to stretch out for the few times my mind wasn’t racing so fast to lay down for a quick nap, I’d be in much worse shape. I was joking with someone in the airport about how airline food is always bad, and since this is an Asian airline, that maybe the food would be like the junky Chinese food found in airports that always seems to taste great even though you know how bad it actually is for you. I was disappointed in that facet since the food was actually quite good. First meal was BiBimBap (a rice dish with vegetables and beef). With BiBimBap, there is usually a red chili paste which the flight attendant warned me it was hot and to just use half the tube, but as I ate I kept adding more and more because it was SOOO good! I really need to find out what that stuff is called, what is in it, and how to make it. No Korean meal is not complete without Kimchi (vegetables fermented in a spicy sauce), which also was quite good. The second meal was a chicken teriyaki which was also good, would have preferred another round of BiBimBap.

I have used my iPod, iPad, in-flight movie entertainment (Crazy Stupid Love and Rise of the Planet of the Apes), books(Hitch Hiker’s Guide, I love Doug Adams), and magazines to keep me occupied. I’m working on the sudokus and crossword from the United Magazine, and my goal will be to try to finish the crossword without too much cheating before I come home (just to make sure I actually have enough time). I did read a few articles from the Asiana Airlines magazine (one on Kimchi and one on a Korean Chef, seems like food is become a theme of this post), but there were no puzzles in it which was sort of disappointing. I wanted to see what a Korean crossword would look like, not that I could actually do it.

I arrived in Seoul an hour late due to bad head winds, but my chauffer was waiting when I arrived. From there, we drove to my school. Driving rules in Korea are much different than the states. The driver was on his phone constantly calling and looking stuff up. He also was not paying great attention to cars around him when merging and had some difficulties with the directions. He also did not know much English which made it difficult. Luckily I was in and out of sleep during the drive so I did not notice all his driving problems. When I finally arrived at the school, I met my coworkers. We talked a bit and then I went to eat with Sanjay and Katie at a little Korean place. I had a MASSIVE dumpling soup. It was incredible and was a good substitute for a bowl of Matzah Ball Soup after a long day of traveling (food again!).

I took a stroll once I was dropped off at my hotel. I do not move into my apartment until Friday due to availability issues. I just walked up and down a little courtyard area filled with restaurants, coffee shops, and mini-marts. Many of the restaurants had tanks outside of them filled with live fish! My favorite was the one with squid! They were squirming and swimming around. It was cool. I did go into a few mini-marts to see what they had. One of them was called 7-Eleven, however there were no slurpies.

That is pretty much all about my travel day. I’ll try to write again later in the week once I start adjusting.