Day One in Seoul.
I arrived in Seoul today, with the help of my fantastic friend Jiyoung, who took me onto a bus from the Incheon airport to Daechidong. Without her, I would have needed to take an overpriced hour-long taxi ride. And I hate taxis, at least in America.
The flights were long but not difficult. Singapore Air was lovely, especially Jason Chang, a flight attendant who helped me a lot, very kindly. My seatmate, Ian Wing, was on his way to EPIK training, so we chatted some about our mutual hopes and fears. He was an art student in San Jose. He'll be teaching at a place called Gangneung, which he picked for the hiking and the beaches. Other than that, the ride was like spending all day sitting on your living room couch watching TV, with someone bringing you food every couple hours. Good food, too, except the coffee. The entertainment capabilities were awesome. I made a music playlist, watched "The Spiderwick Chronicles," "21," and three episodes of "My Name is Earl." I also got to play Korean vocabulary games.
Jiyoung's old boss (coworker?), Hoon Lim, happened to be on the bus, and he told us where to eat and buy groceries and go to Catholic church, because he'd been living in Daechidong for 20 years. He was also kind enough to help me with my suitcases and gave me his business card.
Someone picked us up at Daechi Station, and brought me to my apartment, which is beautiful. Very clean, in a very safe and cute neighborhood (I live behind a playground). It's a studio, but it's much bigger than I expected. The kitchen has a fridge and a stovetop, though no oven, alas for me. I have a wardrobe for hanging things, a cabinet for shoes by the door (I am very happy to take part in the no shoes in the house custom), and a bureau. There are dishes in the cabinets and a rice cooker on a side table. I have a double bed that did come with sheets after all, a desk/dining room table with two chairs, a hallway/deck area with my washing machine and drying rack (and a very dull view of three other apartment buildings, and enough floor space to do at least one cartwheel. I'm quite happy.
Unfortunately, my plug adapter doesn't work, but I'm sure I'll get that, the cell phone/laptop issue, and the supply needs taken care of.
Tomorrow I'll go see Joy and hopefully that will clarify things a bit. Oh, and hardly anything's in English. And there's a lot of neon. I never saw a school with a neon sign before, but now I've seen dozens.
The flights were long but not difficult. Singapore Air was lovely, especially Jason Chang, a flight attendant who helped me a lot, very kindly. My seatmate, Ian Wing, was on his way to EPIK training, so we chatted some about our mutual hopes and fears. He was an art student in San Jose. He'll be teaching at a place called Gangneung, which he picked for the hiking and the beaches. Other than that, the ride was like spending all day sitting on your living room couch watching TV, with someone bringing you food every couple hours. Good food, too, except the coffee. The entertainment capabilities were awesome. I made a music playlist, watched "The Spiderwick Chronicles," "21," and three episodes of "My Name is Earl." I also got to play Korean vocabulary games.
Jiyoung's old boss (coworker?), Hoon Lim, happened to be on the bus, and he told us where to eat and buy groceries and go to Catholic church, because he'd been living in Daechidong for 20 years. He was also kind enough to help me with my suitcases and gave me his business card.
Someone picked us up at Daechi Station, and brought me to my apartment, which is beautiful. Very clean, in a very safe and cute neighborhood (I live behind a playground). It's a studio, but it's much bigger than I expected. The kitchen has a fridge and a stovetop, though no oven, alas for me. I have a wardrobe for hanging things, a cabinet for shoes by the door (I am very happy to take part in the no shoes in the house custom), and a bureau. There are dishes in the cabinets and a rice cooker on a side table. I have a double bed that did come with sheets after all, a desk/dining room table with two chairs, a hallway/deck area with my washing machine and drying rack (and a very dull view of three other apartment buildings, and enough floor space to do at least one cartwheel. I'm quite happy.
Unfortunately, my plug adapter doesn't work, but I'm sure I'll get that, the cell phone/laptop issue, and the supply needs taken care of.
Tomorrow I'll go see Joy and hopefully that will clarify things a bit. Oh, and hardly anything's in English. And there's a lot of neon. I never saw a school with a neon sign before, but now I've seen dozens.