It’s been almost 1 month since my last post but I was at home for awhile sans internet with my folks. I left my parents last Friday at 11:30am and hopped a plane bound for Seoul, Korea. As I sat in the Dallas airport, I honestly still couldn’t believe I was going to Seoul.
Many thoughts ran through my head such as, “Will I hate it”, “Will I never want to leave”, “Will I get stared at constantly” and more importantly, “Will I ever learn any of the language”??? I had 14 long hours to contemplate my future in Seoul as the plane glided through the air. At first, I didn’t think the flight was so bad but by hour 11, I wanted to land anywhere even it was the Pacific ocean.
When I deplaned, I got my bags and exited out of customs in less than 15 minutes. I was so excited to see a man holding a sign with my name on it. I’ve always secretly dreamed of having my name written on one of those cardboard signs! I presumed someone from the school I am working at was going to be there to pick me up but I soon realized it was just an ordinary cab driver who knew no lick of english.
I kept trying to ask him questions and he shuck his head no a few times. Looks like we were about to have a silent ride to the school. When I walked out of the airport, I caught my first view of Seoul. All I saw was dirty grimy smog. The smog effect in Seoul makes LA’s smog look like a newborn baby before it hits the terrible two’s.
Next up the cab driver couldn’t find the address on his GPS and we waited in the Airport parking lot for an additional 30 minutes while he called the school and got directions. From what I have heard from the other teachers, no one knows how to find anything here in Seoul because the buildings are marked funny.
So after 2 hours, I finally reached the school. I met the director and she seemed really sweet. She took me for dinner to a tiny Korean restaurant that had this yummy spicy chicken dish that I can’t pronounce. After we left the restaurant, I kept looking around in awe. Everything was so colorful; I felt like I was in a hybrid between Las Vegas and NYC. So much energy abounded from the streets as people walked, ran or drove on their mopeds and cars. I even saw cars parked on sidewalks.
After dinner I went back to the apartment I am staying at and got acquainted with a few of the teachers. They were all going out to a bar that night and I tagged along. I was freakishly still awake and was prolly on my 15th wave of new energy for the day. The bar was in the foreigners part of the town which I swore I would avoid but I couldn’t pass up a first night out on the town. The bar played house music so that was right up my alley.
Of course I had a not so chic entrance into the bar. There was a long flight of stairs to get down into the bar and I tripped on the last step which made me fall flat on my face. The whole bar just looked at me with blank stares while the people I was with yelled, “Oh my god, we killed the new teacher!” But after 3 drinks I forgot all about my collaspe and enjoyed the night. This is how it all started in Seoul and I’m sure it will get even more interesting from here..
