DAY ONE: Arrival
The plane ride was pretty uneventful, though long. My seat buddy and I talked and hung out - she's from Korea too so we exchanged info for a possible hang-out in the future. Not by choice, I sat in the window seat, but sitting there has one advantage ....you can see out the window clearly. As we flew over Japan, I gazed out into the sea of clouds and was blown away by the vastness of the sky beneath me. It was then that I was hit by my insignificance and God's deity ....and I was overcome by a new sense of fear and wonder for our awesome God.
I arrived in the early evening and was met by my uncle and grandma. At first, we missed each other so I just walked around like a lost tourist stranded without a phone, or any way to communicate with my uncle and grandma. I think the ten minutes I waited felt like hours. When I walked out of Incheon International Airport I was hit by a wall of humidity that most Californians would only dream about in their nightmares. NOT FUN.
It was nice to see my uncle, aunt, grandma and two cousins. They all greeted me warmly and took me in immediately. Gotta love family. :)
***oBseRvAtioN: Seoul is a busy and bustling city with so many sights and sounds that sensory overload is inevitable.
DAY TWO: Errands Galore
I decided to get going on crossing off my "To Do" list, especially finding housing.
In the morning I paid a visit to Korean Immigration and spent TWO HOURS there trying to figure out what the HECK they were telling me to do ... and where was my Korean-English dictionary? Safe in my backpack back at my uncle's house. In the end, everything worked out but experiencing a sense of complete helplessness for the second day in a row was very humbling. I felt so frustrated by the lack of communication!!
Out of this experience though, there is a highlight ....the comment box. Below the box are two stacks of paper to write the comments on. One stack was titled "Kindness" (as opposed to Friendly) and the other was titled "Unkindness" (as opposed to Unfriendly). Gotta love Koreans and their English translations. Haha...
So out of my exhausting day, one thing I did do was find a place to live (thanks to a lot of help from another uncle)! It's an officetel (aka studio) in Shin-Sol Dong, right by the subway station. It's a 5-10 minute bus ride to my school (Korea University). I also saw part of my school and it's an awesome campus. It's much bigger than I expected considering it's in the city!
oBserVaTionS:
1. The subway is as awesome and clean as ever. Woot woot!
2. There is SO much good food here. Yum.
3. For those of you who know what Paris Baguette is, they are everywhere in Seoul and there is one ONE BLOCK FROM MY NEW PLACE. Hollla!
4. People are just plain rude here sometimes. I know my patience will be tested frequently. I guess it's good training eh?
DAY THREE: Operation E-Mart
I woke up to what sounded like a roaring river gushing by my window, except that I'm on the 5th floor so it couldn't be a river. It turned out to be rain...the type of rain that comes down so hard that you feel like someone is pouring water out of a bucket straight down from heaven. WOW.
My uncle and aunt were kind enough to take me to the Korean version of Wal-Mart called E-Mart. This place is way nicer than Wal-Mart though ...it's like a Target on steroids. I got a cart full of stuff I'll need to live ....like you know ...cups and detergent and stuff. And I finally got my phone!! YAY! You can't live without a phone in Korea.
Oh.
And for those of you who complain about their phone bill, just come to Korea and you'll feel loads better. After all, paying $.20/ 10 seconds will make you appreciate your free nights and weekends, roll-over minutes, mobile-to-mobile ...etc. Those options don't exist here.
I also met with my program coordinator/professor and I accidentally ran into two of the girls in my program from UCLA. One of the girls came with her mom so she treated us to Starbucks. :)
OMG. Don't get me started on Starbucks. Let's just say that the cheapest drink - just a drip coffee - is 4,800 won (about $5). Fraps and other specialty drinks ...you do the math.
And now, it's time for bed cuz I am POOPED. :)
