Quick entry
before I go tour the campus for orientation so I can get this blog going. 14 hour flight – not so bad. Going two days
with no sleep and emerging in a new country where I know very little language –
not so bad. Jet lag – not so bad. I woke up at 4 in the morning but managed to
go back to sleep and wake up at a decent hour. We missed dinner last night so
we were ravenous this morning. Breakfast was kimchi, rice w/ mushroom soup, and
cocoa puffs. It was different but also not bad.
I sat by an
Oceanographer from San Diego and a transfer student from Daejon on the plane.
The oceanographer shared some apples from the farmers market with us since he
wouldn’t be able to take them through customs and told us all about his
upcoming voyage from Busan to Hawaii to measure… the ocean and things, I can’t
remember. He told me I should move to Antarctica when I’m done in Korean
because I would meet the most interesting people there. Not sure if that was a
round-about way of calling me an ice-queen or if he was being genuine but I
might consider it.
There are
zero Utahns at orientation - the closest
thing I could find was a band of Canadians from Toronto so they’re my people
now. They’re crazy-friendly. My roommate, Shankary, is from Toronto as well and
if anyone asks her she tells them she’s Canadian, but she’s definitely Indian
with the cute accent and everything. She’s a tad shy and forgetful but very
nice. We bonded over trying to “translate” TV shows on our little TV last
night.
I haven’t
taken a single photo yet but I’ll try to get some for my next entry.
Everyone
here is really fun, I talk to a new set of people everywhere I go. The Toronto
kids and I spent last night helping people with luggage and chatting. We met
people from New Zealand, South Africa, the UK, Canada, and a couple of
Americans. A lot of the teachers here have already lived abroad in places like
Spain and China before this or have been in Korea for a while. One guy had a
massive bag that was about 3 ft wide and 7-8ft long. He told us we had to guess
what it was… I’m going with Kayak or a strange Japanese instrument. I guess
we’ll find out.
Anyway,
Korea’s great so far – people are really friendly and it’s hella humid. I’m
pretty sure it’s more humid than Atlanta was in the summer. It’s also monsoon
season so it’s been really rainy and that doesn’t help the humidity thing. My
hair had gone curlier than ever. I’ve seen the most beautiful mountains and
rivers though and a couple little temples and shrines from the bus. The lady in
the convenience store downstairs doesn’t speak any English so we get to
practice our Korean when we go to buy snacks. She’s constantly got her Korean
Dramas going too so sometimes we’ll hang out and watch a bit. Man, I’m so
nervous about the language barrier. I’ve never been in a country where I speak
so little. I had a lot of random people approach me in the airport and ask the
most random questions. I’m not sure if they were practicing English or if I
just looked super lost but it was entertaining.
More to come
and hopefully some pictures!
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