Korea!

The flight from Chicago to Seoul was not nearly as bad as I had anticipated. The flight was only about 60% full, which meant that there were plenty of open seats. I myself had an open seat on my right and it was delightful. Additionally, the flight was scheduled to leave Chicago at 1 am. By then I was extremely tired and fell asleep almost as soon as I got on the plane. I slept quite a bit during the trip, which was surprising because I often cannot sleep on planes. Overall it was a pleasant flight.

I arrived in Seoul at 5am. After making my way through a medical screening, immigration and customs I found my way to the bus that would take me Jeonju. There were five people on the 6:30 am express bus to Jeonju and that included the driver. I arrived in Jeonju and met Chris, the manager of the school that I would be working for. We chatted in the car, he asked me how my trip was, if I knew any of the other new teachers that would be arriving that same day, and so on. He informed me that I would not have to start teaching right away and that I was supposed to not really go over to the school because of the whole H1N1 flu scare. The Korean government asked schools and companies to not have international employees start working immediately. This way the school or business could make sure the new employee did not have H1N1. Chris then took me to a supermarket near my apartment and bought me some water cereal and orange juice. We then headed up the block to my apartment. I was really excited to see what my new place would be like. Unfortunately, when I walked in I was a little taken aback. I am not entirely sure what I expected but I felt like the place was a little dirtier that I prefer. Chris opened the fridge and let out a yelp; there were all kinds of stains and maybe a few things growing inside. (I did eventually learn from some of my coworkers that the person who lived in this flat prior to me was not anywhere close to clean or even tidy). There were no chairs in the flat and Chris said he would get me some by tomorrow. Eventually he left me to my own devices, telling me to rest because I must be tired. I was not at all tired and decided to go out and buy all kinds of cleaning supplies and set to work cleaning my new home.

After about an hour Chris called my apartment and asked me if I wanted to go to lunch. I said yes and met with Chris, Sun and Hong, all of which are my bosses, and a few other Korean women who work for my school. I was invited to go to a staff meeting with my future coworkers later that afternoon. After lunch Chris and I went to a few more stores and I picked up some more essential items, towels! I went back to cleaning and arranging and walked over to school for my staff meeting. I started to feel right at home, everyone I met was incredibly nice and relaxed. I was able to get all kinds of advice and insight into the coming months. I then went home and continued to unpack and clean.

About 5 pm a man showed up to install my internet. He spoke no English whatsoever so after about 30 minutes of charades we had the internet up and running. I then went out and found some dinner. I decided that in honor of my first night in Jeonju I would have Bibim-bap, which supposedly originated in Jeonju. I am now sitting on a nightstand at my table pretending I have a chair. I cannot wait to see what tomorrow brings.