I'm Here!!!

I finally made it to GwangJu, S. Korea. I'm safe, excited and tired. I boarded the flight and 14 hours later I arrived in Seoul S. Korea. The flight was okay. My plan of not sleeping the day before so I would just fall asleep on the flight worked! I slept most of the flight and only had to entertain myself for about 5-6 of the 14 hours in which I watched Charlie St. Cloud and one of the Twilight movies. Sorry Twilight fans, I don't really keep up with this series so I'm not sure which one it was. It definitely wasn't the first movie, maybe the second?

During dinner on the flight, the Asiana flight attendant gave me a choice between two different meals. For some reason he didn't say the options in English or I just didn't catch it seeing how I was severly sleep deprived. I just replied by shrugging my shoulders and saying, "mmm, whatever you have." As he was getting my meal I looked around and everyone else had some type of asian influenced dish. I was pretty excited to see what new food I would be able to taste - he gave me a small beef steak and steamed vegetables. Pretty American, ugh?!

I landed in Seoul ~6am Wednesday morning (Korean time). Secruity wasn't intense like when it was in Rwanda. I was actually pretty shocked to see how relaxed it was. I suppose the secruity going onto the flight may be more intense. At least, I hope so. Anyway, I grabbed my luggage and walked to the main area squinting to look for a Korean person holding a sign with my name. Looking, looking, looking....ah ugh, found him! As soon as we made eye contact and confirmed we were looking for each other, he ran up to me and without saying a word he just grabbed one of my large bags and started running - I'll call him Bob. I of course, started running behind Bob. I didn't really understand why we were running, but we just kept going. If he stopped than I stopped. If he ran faster than I ran faster. At one point during our run Bob turned to look back at me. Without hesitation I started to turn to look behind myself, but then realized he was just checking to see if I was still following him. We ran more until we reached the bus and then it all came together. I was late. The bus I needed to be on was scheduled to leave. Bob smooth talked the bus driver and I was able to get on the bus. Since the bus driver was yelling at Bob, I could only assume he was probably a little irritated. I took the last seat on the bus and we left Seoul. Unfortunately, I was unable to thank Bob; I'll probably never see you again, but thanks for getting me on the bus!

Four hours later I finally arrived in GwangJu! I gathered my luggage and started to walk towards the waiting area to look for another person holding a sign with my name, but no one was there. I decided to see if there was an area where I could exchange money. Oddly, the bus station seemed to be connected to what I would call a strip mall and there was a bank. I walked in, didn't understand anything and how this was going to happen so I walked right back out and headed back to the waiting area. I kept looking for a Korean individual who seemed to be looking for an American. As I was standing there taking a 360 degree gaze around the place a petite Korean woman came up to me. She was there to pick me up! She kept saying, "I'm sorry, I'm sorry." I assumed it was because she was late. I purposely failed to tell her she wasn't late, I was just trying to exchange money. Later in the conversation I asked what her name was and she replied, "I'm sorry," and yet again, it all came together. She wasn't apoligizing, she was introducing herself; her name was Sunny, my co-teacher! She's very nice and friendly and I think we are going to get along great! I told her I didn't have any Korean money (won) and we immediately went to a bank. They also stopped at the market to get a few things for me: bread, jelly, milk, juice and a few other items to get me going. After the market and bank, they took me to lunch at an Italian restaurant and following this we went to my new apartment!

My apartment is small, but doable. I just need to clean it than it'll be great! I couldn't figure out the internet so I decided to watch a movie, something that will put me to sleep. Shawshank Redemption it is. I didn't realize how tired I was, but I immediately fell asleep and was knocked out cold. Apparently my co-workers stopped over around 1pm and knocked on my door, but I didn't hear anything. I only know this because they stopped over again around 7 or 8 pm. There was about five of them and again they seem really nice and we will probably get along great! Also, there's a teacher from Iowa here as well.

Tomorrow will be my first day. Well, not an official day at school. As of now, tomorrow I'm getting a health assesment and have to complete orientation. I'm just not sure if I will start Friday or if they will just have me wait until next week and this week will be used for orientation/observation. Everyone has been asking if I'm really nervous, but as of now, I just feel really indifferent. I'm sure I'm just really exhausted from traveling and the nerves will come later. We'll see what tomorrow brings -- good night!