Here I am!

(Slightly delayed because I just got internet service today!)

Yesterday I arrived by airplane at 5:22am. By the time I got my baggage and made it through customs, it was almost 6:30. It was not too hard to figure out. We’ve all been to airports before and it’s all pretty much the same but there were about 3 million forms to fill out and I had to wait in line for someone to take my temperature. (Swine flu ;>) By the third form, I had the process down and was able to slide right on through without any hassle. The baggage checker did look at me a little funny when he saw my two purses and four suitcases but forgave me instantly when he saw that I will be here for a year to teach English. Teachers hold a very high status here and I find most people are impressed when I tell them why I am here. Thank goodness, I could use a little grace.

Thanks to Cyrus, my recruiter, who sent Mr. Youngmu Noh as an escort, I was able to get on the correct bus to Jeonju. The bus ride was almost four hours but the bus was luxurious! The seats were better than the airplanes and reclined all the way back for riders to sleep-Heaven. I tried to stay awake but it was hard. We stopped at a rest stop that was quite well endowed with a mini-mart, restaurant and food carts in addition to restrooms. There were quite a bit of signs that had English “subtitles,” so it was easy enough to find what I wanted which was simply (mul) water. So, aside from my bus ticket, that was my first purchase and I did it all by myself!-whoopee.

When the bus brought us to the last stop in Jeonju City I did not see any obvious indication that my escort was there and I had a brief moment of panic until I found out that my phone does work here! I can’t seem to call outside of the country but I can call local numbers-hunh? So, I called YoungHee Lee, a manager from the school, and found he was sitting in his car. (Apparently he had a long night and found it difficult to be up at 10:00am, hee hee.) When he saw my luggage he almost fell over. I apologized over and over as we tried to fit it all into the backseat of his small car but he just laughed and said “Well, you moved, right?” Ahh, such understanding.

He took me to a market around the corner from my apartment and bought me the Korean version of Frosted Flakes, milk, orange juice, mul and toilet paper. Then, we visited the apartment, went over the details like mail and trash and went to lunch. We took another teacher from “Great Britain” and had a traditional meal of bibimbap, kimchi and a bunch of other things that I can’t pronounce or remember the names of. I know I’m going to have to develop a tolerance to spicy foods here. EVERYthing is spicy. Yikes, I was sweating and dripping snot out of my nose after only five minutes and I’m sure I made a great impression on my new co-worker but I seriously doubt Ian could tell given the stench of last night’s booze-fest coming off of him. Apparently, I have arrived in the middle of a holiday weekend.

Afterwards, I returned to my apartment to unpack and (hyusik) rest but I couldn’t sleep.
I spent most of the afternoon going back and forth to the market around the corner trying to make my apartment comfortable until finally the clerk commented that we “Engurish teachers” must be rich! I remembered references that in Asian cultures it is bad luck to brag and better to say that something is not good enough so the spirits will keep giving instead of believing that you have too much, so I just shrugged my shoulders and did the “so-so” wave with my hand. I don’t know if he understood but at least I can keep my good luck.

At about 7pm, Ian from Great Britain knocked on my door to see if I wanted to join him and some of the other teachers for a barbecue at the park. He was standing there armed with a soccer ball and (sool) alcohol. So European. At least half of that looked like fun but unfortunately by that time my brain had finally given in to the weakness of my body and I had already opened a beer in preparation for sleep. There’s no need to push it. I'm here for a year.