the journey to south korea was......how do i put it........long! It was about 22 hours of travel between 3 planes/3 stops. however, with that said, it went as smooth as a 22 hour journey can go. along the way i found that alaskan airlines flight attendants don't appreciate it when travelers simply leave their luggage in the aisle for them to care for and stow away (yes, this did ACTUALLY happen), i learned that the korean air first class passengers are treated literally like royalty whereas, for all of us residing in the peasantry class, the seats are still unbelievably crammed together. but.......there was a lot of food (including my first official korean, albeit an airline, bibimbap...pretty delish), they had complimentary in-flight movies and shows (i managed to watch, youth in revolt, how to train your dragon, she out of your league, the cutting edge, one episode of friends (a cigarette held by the character of estelle was blurred out, interesting), an episode of house (all of the surgery scenes were blurred out, interesting) and a 30 minute segment on the New Orleans Saints' run to the super bowl. I know......pretty random selection and a lot of screen watching. But remember, 13 hour flight. Besides, just before lift off I went to access all of the shows, movies and music on my ever-so-dependable ipod that I had filled so diligently the weeks leading up to my departure only to find that every single item had been ERASED!! So, thank you Korean Air for saving me from having to stare either at the back of the seat in front of me for 13 hours or at other people for 13 hours (which the lady to my right did to me, THE ENTIRE FLIGHT! She had a window so there WAS another option, but she just decided that watching me watching almost 13 hours straight of tv was MUCH more entertaining. don't get me wrong, i'm sure i put on quite the show, but I feel like the window might've at least acted as an intermission to the action known as, "Nate."
arriving in Seoul I realized that I needed to retrieve my bags from baggage claim and then re-check-in for my final leg. sounded like an added stressball, but my bags arrived, it was easy to get through customs and find the check-in desk and I was off to Daegu in no time. i also got to use my first korean to a legit korean and get their response to this lame whitey cracka trying to act cultured and in with the K-crowd. the man actually seemed to appreciate my attempt so all was well in the world.
picked up at the airport by a school employee, very nice guy and was brought to my temporary housing. good thing, i could finally lay down, bad thing, I had a huge pile of documents I needed to read for the next day's training session (9:45 pm), the apartment left a lot to be desired (glad i chose to bring a lot of the things I thought they "might" provide upon arrival) and the tv was not hooked up thus making it impossible to watch the first world cup semi-final match between the netherlands and uruguay. but, i was safe and had made it. plenty and then some to be thankful for.
first day of training can be summed up by the five words I kept hearing from almost all school teachers working through the Moon Kkang English School, "the workload is a joke." careful not to count the chickens before they hatch, i'm leary to take those words at face-value, although after completing my first day observations, it seems like the words have some weight to them. my student teaching term most definitely helped prepare me for this experience in terms of the teaching and classroom management. so, for that one AND ONLY, thing, I am grateful to Old Dominion University.
after I completed my day I was picked up by another school employee in charge of getting new teachers situated. very nice guy. (it's interesting how many young koreans have learned slang english but don't always know how to use it properly. but hey, i just appreciate their effort to speak my language) we got talking about the world cup and soccer, and i mentioned that I was kind of disappointed I couldn't watch my germans take on espain, and before i knew it I was being told to just get some valuables from my first apartment so that he could take me to another apartment that had just been vacated that was outfitted with cable. are you kidding me?! couldn't believe my luck!!
arrived at the new apartment and what I found was complete paradise compared to my first apartment. it had cable, food in the fridge and soft bed (the first bed i had was literally as hard the linoleum floor, literally) and internet!! thank you god!
so, that brings me to right now. taking advantage of some internet time that I might be without for another 2-3 weeks. this night will find me putting up my feet, drinking a vitamin water given to me earlier in the day at the school, waking up at 3:30am to catch the match, and then starting the whole thing over again. friday I move to my actual apartment, I get my medical exam taken care of, and i complete my final day of observation before starting MY actual classes next monday.
so far, I have been dealt the setbacks I anticipated and i've been fortunately blessed by some things i did not anticipate. i do feel somewhat lost in this fast and foreign world but with every person i meet, i am reassured that finding ones place in this world is a puzzle ready to be solved.
thank you to everyone who sent me well wishes the last few days. pictures are on their way.
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