"Aha! Suncheon"

An-nyong ha se-yo! Greeting from South Korea!

So it has finally happened. After years of anticipation, months of planning and some very tearful goodbyes, yours truly has arrived at her new home for the next 364 days- Suncheon, South Korea :)

My final days in Canada were some most memorable ones- a fantastic good-bye party at my place Sunday, a crazy day of packing Monday, and one last night out with the girls went by in a blur. Before I knew it there I was: on a connecting flight bound for Chicago wondering what the heck I've got myself in to!

I found one other teacher on the flight- Gabrielle, who is one of the other teachers from Canadian Connection teaching in the province. So nice to have found someone equally muddled as I am :) And good news to those of you wondering- all my luggage made it! I had packed 2 bags- one of which was a duffle bag big enough to put a few bodies into. Since it was $120 dollars for overweight luggage, I opted to split it up and put half of it into a huge plastic bag provided by the airline... sketchy? yes. pathetic looking? definately! As we were about to board Korean Air flight from Chicago, I hear Amanda Jade Ammon called over the loud speaker, only to go over and see my sad 3rd new piece of luggage with big holes in it and tag-less. The only one unaccounted for, thank goodness they found it! haha!

The flight here was a good one for the most part. A very impressive airline if I must say so myself. After leaving Chicago at 11:30am Nov. 5th, the 14 hr flight took us west up and over Canada and Russia, all in perpetual daylight, to arrive in Seoul at 4:00pm, November 6th! My poor body is so confused as to when I should be sleeping.. Last night I was lying there awake until 3:00am, which is 1:00pm back home.

Although I've been here for almost a full day, so far I haven't seen too too much. The first glimpses I caught of Korea out the window were foggy ones- rice fields and small houses on the islands surrounding Incheon airport, on the Yellow Sea. It's cloudy there most of the time being right on the ocean. From there Gabrielle and I found the other 2 Canadians, Danielle and Elliot, and caught a shuttle bus to Gimpo domestic airport, where we caught a 40min flight to Gwangju, the capital of Jeollanamdo province. By now the very humid weather and sleep deprivation was taking it's toll, and all I could look forward to was bed and a shower.

We were met at the airport by an entourage of Koreans and one Canadian, Alicia, who is the coordinator for the area. After bowing hello and making our introductions, I was quickly saying my goodbyes to my travelling buddies and being whisked away by Kim Im Seong and Hae-Jin, two female teachers at the school I'll be working at. Their English is pretty minimal, but much better than my all but non-existant Korean skills, and so we chatted for some of the way to Suncheon. They're both really great, very very friendly and helpful, and they laugh a lot! What else can you do when you can barely understand someone? Kim-seong's driving can be compared to me navigating Toronto - "not 1 1/2 but 3 hour to Suncheon!" very funny- luckily we weren't so turned around as she thought.

And so they asked me where I was from, and how old I was, (a very common question asked so people know how to address you in a respectful way). Fun fact: in Korea, the day you're born you're already one year old. So guess what! For the next year I'm no longer 23, but 24! :) When in Rome.... haha! They were also eager to learn what I thought of Korea- very nice so far, but hard to gauge when it was 7:00 by now and completely dark. Whenever I would ask something that they didn't really understand, they just giggle and say, uh oh- and look to each other for translation. hmmm those Korean lessons can't start soon enough!

And at long last! the moment I've been waiting for- my apartment! Tucked away at the base of a small tree covered hillside we drove up to a cluster of apartment blocks. Not that it was easy- cars park wherever they please here. Up on the curbs, infront of other parking spaces- it was all Kim-seong could do to navigate the road to the door. I don't know what happens if you want to leave and there's someone blocking your way... just wait?

But great news- the apartment was better than I expected! A lot was left there by the other teacher who I'm replacing- nice bedding, some decorations, even blinky white lights strung around the room. Nice bonus- I get a double bed! Other than that there's a small plastic orange couch, tv, small kitchen with a 2 burner stove, and a bathroom that has the shower drain in the middle of the floor. And you have to boil the water here before you drink it unfortunately. It was torture waiting for the water to cool down last night before I could have some! All in all, the place is pretty tiny, but it has everything I could need. I will post some pics soon :) Once I get internet set up in the apartment that is... At least the unpacking is done!

ahh home sweet home. Looking forward to getting to know ya Suncheon!

As for today, I'm off to school! More to come, stay tuned!