Getting to Jeonju

I wrote this in Word when I couldn't sleep Monday morning and didn't have internet yet. First blogpost! Enjoy... 

So it’s 5 AM on Monday morning, and I am wiiide awake. I am trying to adjust to the time difference. It’s been a long two days of time traveling prior to this.

My trip started Friday at 1:15 PM in Norfolk. I flew to Newark and on my layover I enjoyed a Guinness with Brandon and Patrick. They were headed to Ireland for a Notre Dame and Navy football game. Very funny guys; good conversation helped shorten a long layover.

My flight to LAX was delayed and left around 7 PM instead of 6 and we switched planes. That ended up being a blessing in disguise. The plane was literally half full. I think everyone got their own set of 3 seats to themselves. After admiring the breathtaking (once in a blue) moon from the window, I watched some free comedy re-runs on the headrest TV and passed out across 3 seats. When I arrived at LAX around 9:30 PM (West Coast time) I had to switch terminals, and go back through security. I spent my last hour in the states checking emails and searching unsuccessfully for an IPA to drink. (I guess someone has to send me one now…)

The flight to Korea was on Asiana airlines. We took off around 12:30 AM Saturday morning (West Coast time) and arrived in Korea at 4:30 AM on Sunday (Korean time). The flight was not too bad. We were served dinner about an hour into the flight. There was a Western choice and a Korean choice; I went Western, since it was probably my last chance for a while. 

I tried to sleep as much as I could, but I would wake up every two hours and realize we still had multiple hours left. I sat next to a very nice Filipino man named Jay that works at the CLIF Bar distribution plant in Fullerton, CA. He was on his way to see his two children and wife in the Philippines, and possibly adopt a third child. We chatted about what I was thinking about doing for the next few years, about his family, and places we had been/would like to go. With about an hour left in the flight, we were served breakfast. Again with a choice, eggs and Canadian bacon or spicy chicken and rice; this time I went Korean. It was incredibly delicious… they even gave you your own tube of hot sauce! 

I must say this about the stewardesses… they were all incredibly sweet Korean girls. They were flawlessly beautiful and I swear they changed outfits three or four times over the course of the flight. Jay and I were commenting on the food and he told me that the stewardesses were good examples of how good traditional Korean food was for you…

After arrival in the Seoul airport, I did the usual picking up of bags and going through immigration and customs. This took all of five minutes since the airport was empty. After waiting for the counter to open, I got my bus ticket to Jeonju and called my recruiter Paul to let him know I had arrived. The Incheon airport that I flew into is an island off the coast. The sun had just risen when the 6:30 bus ride started, and the morning light highlighted the mountainous coastline beautifully. 

We passed by Seoul and the cities around its outskirts. I noticed the Korean cities are very built up, but also very populated with green spaces and directly next to the “breadbasket” farming areas and national parks. I guess you have to make good use of space in a country the size of Kentucky. We made a stop at a rest stop where there were a ton of buses full of mostly older Koreans stylishly decked out in hiking gear offloading to use the bathroom and buy snacks. After that we made 3 residential stops, one where a lot of people got off and I followed thinking this could be my stop, the bus driver was helping people unload their bags, and he told me immediately to get back on. Once we got to my stop, the last one, he put in a tape of a lady speaking English, “This is the last stop, Jeonju Core Hotel…”

We had gotten there a little earlier than my ride was instructed to pick me up. The bus driver was very sweet and was concerned that I didn’t have a ride. I tried to explain to him that I was waiting for one, but he did not speak English. He ran and got his phone and tried to get me to speak into it for a translation, but it wasn’t working right. A few minutes later a mother and her daughter walked up and the mother said hello and gestured to her daughter who spoke perfect English. I got her to tell the bus driver that I had a teacher from Woosuk University coming to pick me up. He immediately chuckled, shook his head and was on his way to loading up the next bus back to Seoul.

Andy, one of the Korean teachers in charge of the program picked me up and took me to my apartment. He is incredibly nice and very smiley. One of the other English teachers, Chris, was hanging out in the patio area underneath my building with his mother that is visiting. He helped us carry my stuff up. My apartment was still being cleared out by the previous teacher, John, whose girlfriend, Noreen, lived across the hall. They were both in the process of moving out. I was told that I was taking over Noreen’s two schools. She was supposed to come discuss the school and the position with me after she ate breakfast and did some packing. I unpacked most of my stuff for an hour or two and tried to stay awake as long as possible, but I ended up passing out around 1 PM. I woke up a few times, but didn’t truly wake up until around 10:30 PM.

I knew that Quinn, the other English teacher arriving yesterday, would be getting in around 11 PM, so I stayed awake and said hello to her when she got here. Sometimes the world feels really small, Quinn went to UNCW as well and she majored in Environmental Science and Political Science. I think her and I will get along well, and I am glad that there is someone else going through the orientation process at the same time that I am.

Aside: the apartment is a studio on the third floor of a four-story walkup. It has awesome matte wood floors and a huge mural of a forest on the ceiling that I wake up to in the morning. There is also a sliding door to my own personal porch where my washer and drying rack are located. From the patio I can see between a few buildings into the downtown area of the city and you can see the mountains in the distance. There are also some landscaped beds with trees and what looks like a children’s school with a playground next door. Andy brought me a new bedspread and pillowcase, and there are some new pots and pans in the cabinet above the sink. I will post pictures in another blog post.

The initial arrival in Korea was not very stressful and I am really looking forward to exploring the area more. Today, I am going to go get my medical check with Quinn and my co-teacher Andy. Quinn and I talked about an adventure to the grocery store, since my apartment is currently devoid of toilet paper and food.

This post is a tad long-winded and a bit boring. I apologize. Hopefully, the other ones will be shorter and more exciting! Also, the photos are from my Ipod... Not the best quality! I will get some with the DSLR once I orient myself with the city a bit more.