A Korean Adventure
I have been in Korea for a month now and have yet to write anything about my stay here so far. So I’ll start from the beginning to fill you guys in.
I flew out of Portland on Aug 24th to come to Korea. I left early in the morning and hopped onto a small plane to Los Angles. That flight wasn’t too bad, there just wasn’t a whole lot to do for the two hours. after arriving in LA there was a long walk to the international terminal. Not too much to complain about there except for the five hour layover. I met a lot of other teachers before taking off and learned that there was a huge JW conference occurring in Seoul so the flight was full of them. Then there was the twelve hour flight to Korea. If it weren’t for the personal entrainment center, I would not have survived. I was able to watch a few Korean movies, Castaway on the Moon, very funny and My Girlfriend is an Agent, I met one of the main people in that movie.
When I finally arrived in Seoul, and went through 10 forms of screening, I was met by my recruiter who drove me to my apartment. It was reassuring to meet the person I’d been working with for the last month or so. We drove for a little over an hour before getting to my place and there I met my boss and got moved into my apartment. It’s pretty small but livable for the next year.
I’m living in a place called Dongtan. it’s about an hour south of Seoul near a city called Suwon, if you want to check it out on a map. It’s a really new area and isn’t very populated… yet. There are new businesses opening up everyday. My place is about a 40 minute walk away from my school where I teach. A little far, but it allows me to get some exercise in twice a day.
After two days of arriving here I was off to Guam. My boss dropped me off at a bus stop where I caught a bus to the airport. Buses are great, but are a little slow. I was able to get to the airport with 20 min to spare. Then I hopped on the plane for another 5 hour flight. I slept most of the way, they only had one movie and it was not worth watching. I also had the row to myself so that was another bonus. I arrived in Guam at 3am and got to my hotel. When I woke up I was able to get the things done I needed. I went to the Korean Embassy and started the process of obtaining my Visa. I had to fight for it though, they were a man short and wanted the whole weekend to process it. I told them my situation and then had my recruiter call them. He was able to resolve the situation.
I spent the rest of the day exploring the little city I was in. It was a huge tourist area so there were lots of outlet malls and shop mingled among lots of over priced restaraunts. But of course I had to eat at one of them. So I went to the Hard Rock Cafe. It wasn’t bad, but I’ve had better. I was going to buy a shirt, but not for $40. I went to bed early that night and was woke up by the front desk at 12:30 am to catch my flight back to Korea.
Since it has been so long since I have written I’m going to break it up into small chunks. It will be easier to read that way.
