A few updates since I didn't start this blog until just a few days ago:
I landed here on September 8th. My flight was long, to say the least, but not as bad as I thought it would be. I love flying but after a few hours, I want OFF the plane so my 13 hour flight from Detroit to Seoul was not something I was looking forward to doing. Like I said though, it wasn't too bad. I had an aisle seat and I was seated in one of the emergency areas so I had a little bit of extra space. As soon as I found my seat, I got comfortable. I had my comfy, fuzzy socks with me (haha), my LU sweater (of course) and one of those funky airplane pillows (because it's always awkward when your head is going all over the place when you fall asleep on planes). I slept a lot, read the Lonely Planet Seoul book that I bought at Dulles Airport, watched random movies and then talked to the nice couple that was seated next to me. Every now and then, I would wake up confused because I was still in an airplane and thinking "What have I done?!?! I am going to be SO FAR AWAY." And then I'd fall asleep again.:)
My luggage:
Because I landed on a workday, no one was able to go pick me up at the airport. Great. I was nervous that I was going to have find my way through the airport, not knowing the language, and carrying two huge suitcases, a carry one and a gigantic purse. I made it, though! Thankfully, my director had given me very specific instructions on what to do. After going through immigration and security, I picked up my bags, called my director to tell him that I had landed and went to the Korean Air Limousine station to buy my bus ticket. I waited for about 10 minutes and the bus came and picked me up. There were only about 5 other passengers on the bus and it was a nice, comfortable bus. It took about an hour or so to get to my stop, Jamsil/Lotte (which is in the district where I work). It was a nice drive because I was able to see a lot of the city (the airport where I landed, Incheon International, is on a small island west of the city).
My director then picked me up and said that my coworkers wanted to meet me, so we headed off to my school. I quickly introduced myself to everyone and toured the school. Then, my director, took me to my apartment. He showed me how to find the subway station (it's only two blocks from my apartment) and then he took me to a little convenience store (which happens to be on the bottom floor of my apartment building) and he bought cereal, milk and bananas for me(very thoughtful!). I then went to bed because I was so exhausted.
The next day, my director met me at my apartment so he could show me the way to get to work. My first day, I observed the other teachers and talked to the kids a bit. It was a pretty laid back day but I did start teaching right away! I was nervous but it wasn't too bad.
My first weekend here, I went to a Korean Language class, met up with other foreign teachers and basically toured the downtown area of the city.
My first time in Myeondong, one of Seoul's main shopping and tourism districts.
Then, my first full week was full of exploring my neighborhood. There's is just so much to see!
No comments:
Post a Comment