Set the Wayback Machine for...one month ago (Part III of my Apt in Pictures)

Greetings program!

Today I thought I'd talk a bit about arriving in Korea. It of course started with a really long plane ride, from Atlanta to Seoul non-stop. I believe the flight time was about 14 1/2 hours. I flew Korean Air and enjoyed it very much. First off, it wasn't a full flight, so I actually had an empty seat next to me. It wasn't that way at first, but since there were open seats, the person in the middle seat decided to move elsewhere. Also, every seat had their own, personal TV screen in front of it. Not only that, you could choose what to watch, listen to or pick from a few simple games. It also came with a remote control. (Caption: my living room, a bit messy but mostly cause I don't know where i want things yet. Straight back is the kitchen. First right is bedroom, next right is another room.)

Because of this really cool personal TV, I spent most of my flight watching movies. Many of the choices were pretty new releases and I hadn't seen a lot of them, so it was really cool. In part because of this I didn't really sleep a whole lot on the plane, but this turned out to be a good thing later. Anyway, my plane landed in Incheon Airport around 7 or so. It was super easy dealing with Mewster, all they did was look over his papers and that was it.

I actually got in to Korea about 25 minutes late so once I got all my luggage together and on a cart I found a pay phone and called Andy, the person who was going to meet me at the bus stop. I let him know I'd be a little later getting there and then I purchased my bus ticket. It was a short wait for the bus, and then I was on my way. It was a hour and a half trip on the bus.

So, I arrived at the bus stop and Andy was there waiting. I got all my luggage of the bus, but then we had a problem. The motel I was going to be staying at was only about 2 blocks away so we were just gonna walk. But I had too much luggage for me and Andy to carry at once, and it was raining slightly. What we had to do was Andy grabbed what he could and took it to the motel while I waited on the side of the street and watched over the rest til he came back. Then we both grabbed what was left and made the walk together to the motel. It really sucked. Up until this point I had always had a luggage cart from the airport so I had been able to handle it all. I was not looking forward to the move from Seoul to Daegu later that week. (Caption: My kitchen with washing machine and drying rack. There is a door on the right that goes to the bathroom.)

Anyway, by the time I got checked into the motel and got some quick dinner (from Burger King), it was around 10pm. I had barely slept at all on the plane and hadn't really slept the night before my flight either so I was exhausted. I crashed as soon as I ate and this is where not sleeping worked out for me. Because it was around 10 when this happened, I woke up on my own the next morning around 9am. This had the effect of totally adjusting my sleep cycle and therefor I did not suffer from any jet lag.

It was Sunday in Korea when I woke up the next morning so I basically just kinda holed up in my room that day. I was nervous about leaving Mewster alone and wasn't ready to go wondering around on my own I guess. But once Monday came around I met all the other new teachers who were going through orientation with me (there were 9 of us total) and a few of them had been to Korea before. That was helpful because there was usually someone around who knew at least something about what he was doing.

Anyway, during that week I arranged for some of my luggage to be sent down to Daegu so I could manage the rest on my own. It was surprisingly cheap to do so too. There was one other new teacher who was going to the same school I was so I had company on the train down and someone to hang with that first weekend in Daegu when we were basically just on our own. (Caption: My bathroom, larger than many I saw. You stand in front of the sink to shower. There is a shower head hanging on the wall. Its the kind that you can hold in your hand or set in the mount on the wall.)

All in all it was a pretty painless experience getting here and getting settled in. It was a bit stressful, for both me and Mewster, but all things considered, it could have been a lot worse. I think my next post I will try to just answer questions from everyone's comments. And bonus points to anyone who knows what movie I'm quoting from the title of this post and the opening and closing statements.

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