Made It Safely and All Is Well

The title of this post says it all. I'm happy to say I made it on time on Friday and got to my apartment without a problem.

First off, when it comes to flights I'm now convinced of something. If I'm occupied for the trip, the length won't matter. I learned that when the five-hour flight to San Francisco was way more excruciating then the 12-hour flight to Incheon. That's because on the flight to Incheon, every person had their own monitors with a variety of movies music and games. The service from the flight attendants was also very good on the Asiana Airline trip.

When I got off the plane and went through customs, the president of my school was there waiting for me at the airport. His name is Mr. No, which is not to be confused with the James Bond nemesis who earned his evil medical degree.

He speaks very little English and my Korean is probably worse, so the hour car trip back to Okryun-dong was rather quiet. When we got to my place, we met up with Sunny, the school official who interviewed me on the phone. Her English is pretty good, so we had a translator for the rest of the night.

They first took me to my apartment, which is on the sixth floor of a building that is only a block and a half away from the school. I don't have the actual address yet. I have to get it from the other English teacher who lives down on the second floor.

Sunny and Mr. No took me to a Korean-style restaurant where we took our shoes off and sat at a sunk-in table. The cook then brought out hot coals and a grill to place overtop, which we loaded up with pork. There were also a ton of side dishes including rice and, yes, even kimchi.

The thing is, the Koreans eat kimchi with EVERY meal. There are about 20 different varieties and it's always on the table. Every Korean meal I've had so far has included it. It really isn't that bad. I'm kind of neutral on it. It's mostly just a very salty cabbage.

After dinner, they bought me some groceries and left me at my apartment. I got in touch with Dan, and he came over to meet up with me. We then went back to his place in Dongcheon-dong and he showed me where to buy a power converter for my laptop.

That night, we went out to a square in Incheon where there are a lot of popular restaurants and bars. Two of Dan's Canadian friends were with us and all three of them helped introduce me to the area. It turns out we really are like celebrities over here. It's pretty incredible. Everyone seems to be fascinated with us.

After the square, we went to a Western-style bar owned by a Korean guy with whom they are friends. We stayed out a little later than I expected after my long plane ride, but I made a lot of friends and had a good time.

On Saturday, two of the Korean teachers at my school took me out to lunch. They were 26 and 27 in Korean years. So the one girl was also born in 1983, just like me. Stacy and Chelsie took me to another restaurant that required removal of shoes and sitting at a very low table. Once again, the meal was pork and kimchi.

After that, I went to lay down for a bit before Dan and Mike, an IUP friend of Dan's who lives about a block away, came to get me. We went back to Dongcheon-dong to prepare for a trip into Seoul.

The city is like nothing I've ever seen. Where we went there were just so many people walking the streets. It was like walking through Manhattan during midday, except we were there at 11 p.m. It was just a zoo. We went to a place called Bar Boom, where a 1500 won cover charge got us free drinks for two hours. Well, it was supposed to be for two hours, but the bartenders didn't charge us anything the whole time we were there. While it's not common to tip here, that generosity certainly deserved one, which I happily gave.

Dan and I went with two Canadians again. One hold over from Friday night was there, along with a guy I just met that night. We decided it would be fun to place darts as teams. Naturally we went with U.S.A. versus Canada. And naturally the U.S. put the country that is affectionately known as our "hat" in its place.

We started making our way home around 3:30 a.m. after Dan secured us a taxi back to Incheon for 40,000 won. That's only 10,000 won apiece, which was a great deal considering the trip we took. The driver didn't really know his way to my neighborhood, and was lost for a good portion back. It may have taken us a bit longer than it should have, but we got it for a steal.

I got to Skype with Bethany and mom for a bit before hitting the bed and getting some rest for the first time since I got here. Needless to say, I'll be regrouping all day today before beginning work tomorrow.

So far, everything has gone really well. I got along really well with the president of my school, the school official and the other teachers I've met. I've made friends with quite a few English teachers. I've also gotten a whirlwind tour of the area.

The only tough part is lack of official Internet connection and no phone of any type. I'm just using somebody else's wireless, which makes it really unreliable. The lack of phone has made it hard to communicate with anybody effectively. All of that should be fixed on Monday, however.

Like I said, it's been a great trip so far. But my main priority here starts tomorrow at work. The school is located on the fourth floor of a building that houses a bunch of businesses on the other five floors. Those businesses include a little convenience store, a cell phone store and even a Dunkin Donuts.

I'll try to upload some pics, but it might be tough until I actually get a reliable Internet connection. I hope all is well at home. Feel free to Skype me or get me on AIM or e-mail at abruckart@gmail.com.

Time to get some rest!