Hello from the other side of the world!! I'm still getting used to the fact that it is usually a day later here than it is there...
Leaving Cleveland was tough--no doubt about it. Definitely my hardest goodbye in all my travels...
The flights were uneventful, my luggage all arrived here safe and unharmed (other than a little soap spilled in a plastic bag--but that was the purpose of the plastic bag, right??). It was a long day of travel, though. It was funny to see the contrast between the American airline and the Asian airline. I flew American West from Cleveland to Phoenix to San Francisco, where you had to pay extra if you wanted anything other than basic soft drinks and pretzels. It was also $5 to rent headphones for watching the movie they showed. My longest flight (close to 12 hours), however, was on Singapore Air. They spoil you like you wouldn't believe!! Each seat has it's own monitor with dozens of movies to choose from, plus tons of music, tv shows, video games, and even language learning software! And the stewards/stewardesses are constantly coming around feeding you and giving you drinks--and that's the economy class!! Well, it wrecked any chance of me trying to learn Korean on the way over, but it did make the flight go by fairly quickly.
Upon arrival at Incheon, immigration went very quickly and I gathered my ridiculously heavy baggage and headed out to find Mrs. Baek and her husband. Unfortunately, they weren't at the gate right when I came out. So I dragged my bags around for awhile, and was just about to figure out how to call them when they found me. From there we had a 1.5 hour drive to Dangjin. I tried desperately to stay awake so that my body would have an easier time adjusting to the schedule here, but I dozed off a couple times.
I've arrived here at the beginning of the rainy season. Last night it rained the entire way back and most of the night. So, I didn't see too much for scenery. It also seems to get dark earlier than it was in Ohio--maybe because they don't have daylight savings time?? A few things I observed:
-They drive on the right side of the road like in America
-There doesn't seem to be much poverty here--certainly not visible. Lots of nice, new cars.
-You don't have to pull over for an ambulance with its lights on
-There are churches all over the place. They're distiguishable by neon red crosses on their steeples. I don't know if that's only one denomination, but they're all over.
-The whole country (so far) seems to smell like a Chinese restaurant
The apartment I'm in is quite large. Much bigger than the one I was living in in Fort Wayne!! It sounds like the girls eat out quite a bit--it's much easier than cooking. Dangjin has very few foriegners--less than a dozen--so everyone here will know who I am. The perks are that everyone will be friendly and we often get discounts, etc. A bummer is that there is no way I'll find an English-speaking church service in town. Thus far no one else I'm working with has mentioned going to church, so that may be an adventure I take alone.
Today I'm observing some of the classes I'll be taking over. This morning I woke up at 7:30 and couldn't get back to sleep. I tried to occupy myself as best I could in the apartment, but was glad when the other girls arrived and I had something else to do. The classes don't start until afternoon (2:30) and get done around 9:30.
Hopefully I'll soon find a way to get my laptop hooked up to the internet. Then I'd have another way to occupy my mornings, and I'd be able to post pictures easily.
That's all for now!!
