After making my way through Immigration, Baggage Claim, and Customs, I met the man holding my name in his hands. I've always wanted to be one of those people who had a stranger waiting for them at an airport.
Quickly, he whisked me to another area of the airport where I met my future co-worker (wouldn't it have been a good idea for my recruiter to have introduced us before then? No worries, though... just an idea). The driver handed his cell phone to me and I was greeted by my recruiter on the line welcoming me to Korea.
About an hour's drive later, coworker and I arrived in Namyangju and met the new head of the school's English department and the new head teacher. It was about 9 p.m. While K (I don't feel like I know her enough to publish her identity here just yet) seemed a little surprised that we'd be meeting our boss, I wasn't all that shocked. First impression: the dept. head and the head teacher are super cool. I'm extremely happy. It's also nice to know that we're all new. While I suppose it would be helpful to have an old hand around to help out, there's something comforting knowing we'll all be going through this together.
Before we headed to dinner, we stopped by our individual apartments -- Yippee! It came true - I DO live by myself! SCORE. And the apartment is so much more than I expected (especially since I could never acquire pics from the school). If I knew how to post pics in this blog, I'd show you the place, but because I'm new to blogger, I haven't figured out how to do that yet. Stay tuned for a future blog dedicated to apt. pics. The place is seemingly brand new... at the very least, everything in the apt. is brand new... the table chairs still have the cellophane on them. The school provided a twin bed (with really kick-ass hot pink bedding!), a flat screen TV (hell yeah!), a couple plates, a few coffee mugs, a refrigerator, a washer, an iron (but I need a board), a microwave, and a pot and a pan.
The head teacher, who has been in Korea for a year and half, mentioned how lucky we are to have the accommodations we have. He's never had anything this good. He also said that he's pretty happy about the school -- it has a great reputation, it's prestigious and everything checks out (as compared to the horror stories of places he was sure we had heard... and he assured us those horror stories are generally true!).
Back to the night's events... we had a great dinner, but I was knackered and fully ready to hit the sheets (not the hot pink ones; I'd been advised to bring my own... thanks for the sale BB&Y). After the head teacher dropped us off (and after his quick purchase of toilet paper and water for us), I showered, unpacked a few things and nodded off around midnight. All in all, my "day" had lasted longer than 25 hours.
Eight hours later, I was up and at 'em, though I'll admit I lounged around for two hours before finally unpacking the rest of my stuff. And then is was time to venture out, explore the city, find some grub, and hit a PC Bang (since the adapter I bought at RadioShack, is indeed, incompatible with plugs over here).
I knew that English was not well spoken or used much outside of Seoul... and wow, is that true! No signs, except for a few street signs, businesses promoting PC Bangs, and the occassional "chicken" restaurants, are in English. Intimidated by the first few eateries I passed, I opted for a place that had "chicken" written in English. When I attempted to pronounce the Korean words for "chicken"and "water", the guy was like, uhhhh, whhaaa? He was really nice, though, and we worked it out. Turns out I also asked for a crap-ton of chicken and paid the equivalent of $15. Well, what can I expect when I don't know the language??? Overall, the experience wasn't too tramautizing!
Walked around a bit more, found the school I'll be teaching at, and came to the PC Bang. Language barriers definitely exist. The girl who works at the PC Bang didn't speak any English, and of course, I don't know Korean, so it made for a very interesting interaction. No worries, though. I got sorted and once we figured out how to switch the keyboard from Korean to English, I was off and running to my first blog written in Korea.
The head teacher should be coming by my apartment this evening with dinner. And I think we'll be securing cell phones as well. I hope!
Also heard from a friend of a college buddy (who gave me the friend's name) who has been in Seoul for the last three years teaching English. We're going to get together Friday night.
It's all very exciting!
Cheers.
Sunday, February 21, 2010
DOD: Day of Departure!
Timing, they say, is everything. After my hotel conveniently forgot to honor my 3:45 am wake-up call the morning I was scheduled to depart to South Korea, I was supremely pissed. My best friend in the world luckily woke up just before 5 a.m., thanks to her natural clock, and we rushed to the airport so I could check-in and catch my 6:30 a.m. flight.
Nothing is ever as simple as that, though. Though I had expected fees for overweight baggage, I was NOT expecting those fees to be $700!!! WHAT?! For those of you who know me, you know I generally thoroughly research information... that was not the price listed on UA's website. But, there was no arguing. Instead, the representative said it would be cheaper to check a third bag. I'm sure that's true, but unfortunately, I was sans third bag and all the airport shops were still closed! The UA rep disappeared into the back for the second time and returned with an extrememly beat-up duffel bag. After shuffling around toiletries and clothes, Liz and I managed to get the bags close to the maximum weight and my new UA friend ignored the few extra pounds and loaded the bags to the conveyer belt. WHEW!
Off to the clusterf*k that was security... How the lines were soooo backed up at 5:45 in the morning is beyond me. After snaking through the mess, I finally made it to my terminal where I walked on to my already-boarded plane at 6:20 a.m. We taxied from the gate a mere 15 minutes later.
Liz says I'm the luckiest person she's ever met. There was absolutely no way I should have made that plane (though is hardly the only reason she says I'm the luckiest.... she can list a host of examples pointing to her conclusion!).
Bound for San Francisco, I settled into my very, very nice aisle seat and reflected on what else the day might bring! During the next six hours, I realized that had La Quinta not so irresponsibly disregarded my morning wake-up call, I may not have met my new UA friend who was so unbelievably cool in helping me cut my charges! So, ok, La Quinta, you're off the hook. This time.
With a four-hour layover in San Fran, I somehow managed to only make the last call for boarding for my 1:30 p.m. flight. Don't ask... between eating lunch, checking e-mail, updating my Facebook status (you know, the important things in life), charging my phone in the walkway of the airport, calling family and friends, and exchanging US dollars into South Korean won, I just lost track of time.
But once again, I made it. :)
Twelve hours later, I landed in South Korea.
Stay tuned for the next blog!
A post note: I realize this isn't the most exciting entry you've ever read, but in an effort to capture details of my trip for myself, as well as for you, it's a necessary evil to include blow-by-blow information ;)
Nothing is ever as simple as that, though. Though I had expected fees for overweight baggage, I was NOT expecting those fees to be $700!!! WHAT?! For those of you who know me, you know I generally thoroughly research information... that was not the price listed on UA's website. But, there was no arguing. Instead, the representative said it would be cheaper to check a third bag. I'm sure that's true, but unfortunately, I was sans third bag and all the airport shops were still closed! The UA rep disappeared into the back for the second time and returned with an extrememly beat-up duffel bag. After shuffling around toiletries and clothes, Liz and I managed to get the bags close to the maximum weight and my new UA friend ignored the few extra pounds and loaded the bags to the conveyer belt. WHEW!
Off to the clusterf*k that was security... How the lines were soooo backed up at 5:45 in the morning is beyond me. After snaking through the mess, I finally made it to my terminal where I walked on to my already-boarded plane at 6:20 a.m. We taxied from the gate a mere 15 minutes later.
Liz says I'm the luckiest person she's ever met. There was absolutely no way I should have made that plane (though is hardly the only reason she says I'm the luckiest.... she can list a host of examples pointing to her conclusion!).
Bound for San Francisco, I settled into my very, very nice aisle seat and reflected on what else the day might bring! During the next six hours, I realized that had La Quinta not so irresponsibly disregarded my morning wake-up call, I may not have met my new UA friend who was so unbelievably cool in helping me cut my charges! So, ok, La Quinta, you're off the hook. This time.
With a four-hour layover in San Fran, I somehow managed to only make the last call for boarding for my 1:30 p.m. flight. Don't ask... between eating lunch, checking e-mail, updating my Facebook status (you know, the important things in life), charging my phone in the walkway of the airport, calling family and friends, and exchanging US dollars into South Korean won, I just lost track of time.
But once again, I made it. :)
Twelve hours later, I landed in South Korea.
Stay tuned for the next blog!
A post note: I realize this isn't the most exciting entry you've ever read, but in an effort to capture details of my trip for myself, as well as for you, it's a necessary evil to include blow-by-blow information ;)
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