YOU KNOW SOUTH KOREA? THAT'S A REAL PLACE.
Or so I'm discovering.
After five billion hours flying, we finally landed in Seoul extremely early in the morning, but there was fog fucking everywhere, so I didn't really get to ogle much of the scenery during our landing, nor during the hour drive from the airport.
As a minor side note, Korean Air is fantastic, even in economy class. They keep coming by, offering you drinks and snacks, and even coach passengers got a little kit with a toothbrush, fairy-sized toothpaste, and slippers. Also they had a ton of entertainment selection (I got in something Richard Hammond was hosting about the invisible light spectrum, an episode of Oz and James' Road Trip [kind of surprised they didn't just have Top Gear on there and go three for three with the hosts], Tangled, True Grit [remake], and half of this movie called Spectrum in which there is a really cute Aussie boy, but the plot involves them getting flooded and trapped in this really deep cave where their friends keep dying horribly because nature hates them). Also there were games, which I did not sample, but appreciated that they were there.
ANYWAY, I got to the university at 6:00AM or so, but unfortunately the people who could check me in and give me the key card I desperately needed to get into and out of pretty much every damn door in this place were not showing up for a few more hours. Despite lack of personnel, taxi guy dropped me and my stuff off and left me to fend for myself in a place where I don't speak the language and where I couldn't get into any of the buildings. Also it was raining, and I have no umbrella.
There really aren't a whole lot of people around here who speak English, at least in the above 25-30 set. Some of them understand it a bit at least, but every time one of them talks to me, it's like they assume I'm fluent in Korean, which I am the complete opposite of. I haven't watched kdrama in so long that I've even forgotten most of the basic phrases that can get you by, so basically I'm just nodding and smiling a lot while they gabber at me and watch for the 0.0 face of not understanding, which I avoid with the nodding and the smiling. At least shop transactions pretty much only involve a bow and an, "Annyeonghaseyo" upon entering, taking stuff up to the counter, looking at the register to see what's owed (because I only understand number words up to 20), and saying, "Kamsahamnida" when they hand you your change. That I can handle. But I never travel like this, so it's unnerving to not know the language or the text (working on that, though) and not have many people around who can understand what I'm saying either. And I have no phone. I actually have (very few) people I can call, but I have to rely on pay phones. D8 At least I get internet in my room and wifi if they give me the password since I couldn't get the ethernet to work earlier and complained. I WANT ALL OF THE INTERNETS.
At the same time, though, this is kind of the most exciting thing I've done since I jumped off a cliff into a lake forty feet below last year. And it's something new and different for me, with the not really knowing things I would normally make sure I knew before I went anywhere by myself, so I think it'll do me good. Fresh experiences and all that. And I'm going to be learning the language while I'm here, so hopefully all those assuming people will soon be right in their assumptions.
But clearly jet lag is messing with my brain, because I actually unpacked all my stuff and put it away just now. DOES NOT COMPUTE.
EDIT: Also, while I may or may not have a roommate on the way, I don't really care because we have a bathroom ensuite and it's totally one of those drain-in-the-floor shower-in-the-middle-of-the-room joints that they're fond of in Korea.
So it makes sense, because I'm in Korea and all, but still, I'm like DUDE. I'm in KOREA. LOOK AT THE BATHROOM. THAT IS A KOREAN BATHROOM. SHIT.
EDIT PART DEUX: Miming and looking so obviously not Asian benefits me in communication more than I would have thought. Just ventured out for dinner and to buy an umbrella (since it's apparently the rainy season) and had very little difficulty overall. They make killer sandwiches here, among other things... the one I picked up, hoping it'd be something good since I can't read hangul yet (and even then would have to understand the vocabulary...), turned out to be three slices of bread stacked with ham, cheese, egg, sweet pickle, tomato, and lettuce. IT'S DELICIOUS. Also got my first 'free service' when I went to buy shampoo. :D
After five billion hours flying, we finally landed in Seoul extremely early in the morning, but there was fog fucking everywhere, so I didn't really get to ogle much of the scenery during our landing, nor during the hour drive from the airport.
As a minor side note, Korean Air is fantastic, even in economy class. They keep coming by, offering you drinks and snacks, and even coach passengers got a little kit with a toothbrush, fairy-sized toothpaste, and slippers. Also they had a ton of entertainment selection (I got in something Richard Hammond was hosting about the invisible light spectrum, an episode of Oz and James' Road Trip [kind of surprised they didn't just have Top Gear on there and go three for three with the hosts], Tangled, True Grit [remake], and half of this movie called Spectrum in which there is a really cute Aussie boy, but the plot involves them getting flooded and trapped in this really deep cave where their friends keep dying horribly because nature hates them). Also there were games, which I did not sample, but appreciated that they were there.
ANYWAY, I got to the university at 6:00AM or so, but unfortunately the people who could check me in and give me the key card I desperately needed to get into and out of pretty much every damn door in this place were not showing up for a few more hours. Despite lack of personnel, taxi guy dropped me and my stuff off and left me to fend for myself in a place where I don't speak the language and where I couldn't get into any of the buildings. Also it was raining, and I have no umbrella.
There really aren't a whole lot of people around here who speak English, at least in the above 25-30 set. Some of them understand it a bit at least, but every time one of them talks to me, it's like they assume I'm fluent in Korean, which I am the complete opposite of. I haven't watched kdrama in so long that I've even forgotten most of the basic phrases that can get you by, so basically I'm just nodding and smiling a lot while they gabber at me and watch for the 0.0 face of not understanding, which I avoid with the nodding and the smiling. At least shop transactions pretty much only involve a bow and an, "Annyeonghaseyo" upon entering, taking stuff up to the counter, looking at the register to see what's owed (because I only understand number words up to 20), and saying, "Kamsahamnida" when they hand you your change. That I can handle. But I never travel like this, so it's unnerving to not know the language or the text (working on that, though) and not have many people around who can understand what I'm saying either. And I have no phone. I actually have (very few) people I can call, but I have to rely on pay phones. D8 At least I get internet in my room and wifi if they give me the password since I couldn't get the ethernet to work earlier and complained. I WANT ALL OF THE INTERNETS.
At the same time, though, this is kind of the most exciting thing I've done since I jumped off a cliff into a lake forty feet below last year. And it's something new and different for me, with the not really knowing things I would normally make sure I knew before I went anywhere by myself, so I think it'll do me good. Fresh experiences and all that. And I'm going to be learning the language while I'm here, so hopefully all those assuming people will soon be right in their assumptions.
But clearly jet lag is messing with my brain, because I actually unpacked all my stuff and put it away just now. DOES NOT COMPUTE.
EDIT: Also, while I may or may not have a roommate on the way, I don't really care because we have a bathroom ensuite and it's totally one of those drain-in-the-floor shower-in-the-middle-of-the-room joints that they're fond of in Korea.
So it makes sense, because I'm in Korea and all, but still, I'm like DUDE. I'm in KOREA. LOOK AT THE BATHROOM. THAT IS A KOREAN BATHROOM. SHIT.
EDIT PART DEUX: Miming and looking so obviously not Asian benefits me in communication more than I would have thought. Just ventured out for dinner and to buy an umbrella (since it's apparently the rainy season) and had very little difficulty overall. They make killer sandwiches here, among other things... the one I picked up, hoping it'd be something good since I can't read hangul yet (and even then would have to understand the vocabulary...), turned out to be three slices of bread stacked with ham, cheese, egg, sweet pickle, tomato, and lettuce. IT'S DELICIOUS. Also got my first 'free service' when I went to buy shampoo. :D