It's Nice to Know Some Things are Consistent...

…such as one of my favorite decades ever…the 80’s. It was just as tacky and ridiculous in other countries as it was in the states! I know this because for Hayley’s birthday (one of the foreign teachers in my same company and same building, but different school), I joined a rather large group of foreigners for a most interesting evening out in Seoul.

First of all, Hayley informed me of the event about 2 hours before so I had no time to get really great 80’s garb like most of the folks. However, I threw on a pair of skinny jeans and layered a bright pink sequined tank with a long black top that hung slightly off shoulder, but yet covered them (as it is rude in Korea for women to show their shoulders…an old tradition that is also changing with the new generation). With a little blue eyeshadow and a sideways ponytail, I was ready to go.

On the way down the steps to the subway to meet Stephanie, also a foreign teacher from “the upstairs” in my building, I fell and slid a few steps down. I was running extremely late and trying to rush and misjudged a step in my trusty stilettos (that I probably need to replace since the nails are starting to come out of the heel yet again). I wanted to cry but this very nice older Korean man helped pick me up and concerned himself with my state of being. This helped and since he was so nice, I thought he would be the one to ask to use a cell phone to call Stephanie to let her know of my tardiness. (I need to get one soon and plan on doing so ASAP after pay day.) The call made it through and she informed me we had a car ride waiting (quite the novelty for me here) to take us to the party from the aunt of a very sweet Korean girl – Ginny.

The ride was nice since we were all wearing fairly tall heels. Ginny’s aunt dropped us off at a 7Eleven (they are EVERYwhere here!) to purchase our drinks for the evening – soju, cider, and OJ. A few blocks later and we were at Hayley’s “flat” – as she is British and insists on using such terms for things. Here I began meeting a most interesting group of expatriates – all foreign teachers from various English speaking countries such as Great Britain (England, Ireland and such), good ole America, New Zealand, Australia, and mostly Canada. I met one fellow North Carolinian and we shared conversation about his school (East Carolina), Petey Pablo’s rap about the Carolinas and the like. One thing most of the party-goers had in common – CRAZY-awesome 80’s outfits!!! (See picture!)

We left Hayley’s “flat” and went…somewhere. I am still not acclimated to Korean names and at this point (not even a week into my stay), all these names sounded…well Korean to me! But we took the subway anyway and all the Koreans probably thought we were insane. Many were taking pictures and video of us because of the ridiculous outfits and sheer volume in numbers of foreigners loading the subway. There were about 30 or so of us foreigners – a sight that is unusual in the middle of the city to most Koreans, excluding Itaewon where expatriates tend to dwell.

Anyway, because of our large number, we separated and met back up at a park…again SOMEwhere. Here I met some very nice Korean girls that joined our party! We all went to listen to this band that a couple of the teachers know some of the members. There was also a DJ that played a lot of music I hadn’t heard before. It was all very wonderful and memorable…but it also made for quite a late evening and an unproductive next day. :)

Hayley & Stephanie

Walking down the streets of Seoul - we were quite a sight!

Some of the group waiting for the subway - check out all the neon!

From now on, I ONLY fly Korean Air!

So I had problems still getting my bag on Korean Air but once I got on, everything was pretty smooth.

First off, the entertainment available on Korean Air is WICKED AWESOME! (see picture) Everyone has their own personal LCD screen with lots of movies (all kinds – Juno, Enchanted, There Will Be Blood, and Breakfast at Tiffany’s!!!), a few games like Free Cell and Black Jack, a map that shows you where you are in the world and how fast you’re going and such, and music – mostly Korean but some Western. I watched three movies I think? The flight was about 14 hours and I only slept about 2 hours of it so I had a lot of time to kill. The food was good. They had choices between Korean and other food – Western/European. I didn’t really understand the flight attendant when she told me the choices the first time, and the second time I only understood “beef” so I just said “beef” and ended up with the Western dish. And speaking of the flight attendants – all the ones on my plane were like Korean models! They were beautiful, tall women that wore adorable outfits made up of the colors mint green and cream with scarves and sideways ribbons. They certainly broke the Asian “short” stereotype because they were all taller than me. I lucked up with an aisle seat AND an empty seat beside of me! I tried to lay down but it didn’t really help me to sleep any. The person behind me kept kicking my seat if I tried to lean back. The guy sitting on the other side of the empty seat was also going to Korea for his first time, to the army base. Neither one of us slept very well – blaming it on nerves and anxiousness.

But the more interesting part came once I got off the plane. I stepped through the doors out of the quiet baggage claim into a noisy arena filled with taxis, buses, and people with signs. I scanned the signs looking for my name and didn’t find it. Just as I started to panic, the cutest little Korean man came up to me and said “Inglid Kerrel?” As soon as I nodded and said yes, he reached for my HUMONGOUS luggage and insisted on carrying it all, even though I was taller and probably stronger than he. It was TOO precious. I felt terrible and offered several times to carry my own but he was quite the stubborn one. We got to his car, a car proportional to cars as little Andy is to adults. I wasn’t sure we would be able to load everything but we managed to squeeze it all. He asked me if I spoke Korean. I told him no and he proceeded to tell me that his “Engrish” is not very good. That made it difficult to have any kind of conversation so I asked him if he minded if I sleep. He said no (I think) so I nodded off. When I woke up, we were in the thick of the city and I was seeing Korean writing EVERYwhere. At one point, Andy pulled the car to the side of the road, turned on his flashers and said, “Wait.” I listened obediently but secretly began to panic, of course questioning my decision to come to Korea at all. However, the man upstairs must have realized this because I turned to my right and what did I see but signs for all the latest Broadway shows in town – Mama Mia, Company, etc. I’ve found this to be true in many cases. I see all these Korean signs that confused the bigeezus outta me, then I turn the corner and there is an Outback Steakhouse or a Papa John’s or 7Eleven. Then out comes Andy with sandwiches from McDonald’s – HAH of all places! It was a chicken sandwich with some sort of Korean sauce on it but I was starved and the gesture was amusing. We picked up a friend of Andy’s named Steve who spoke slightly better English than Andy, which is probably why Andy picked him up. Steve helped explain the dials in my apartment to me (for heat and water heat) and also carry some bags in.

As soon as they left, I hooked up my computer and talked to the parents! Then I began to unpack and trying to figure out things in my apartment…which deserves a whole entry of its own, that you will receive next installment.

“And yet how strange that it’s like any other day….”

That is what my dad said as I was driving to the airport Sunday morning and it really struck me as a profound statement. (Good job Pops.) It didn’t feel as if I was leaving the country for an entire year without seeing my family or friends. It felt more like…it was just another day.

However, that QUICKLY changed once I got in the airport and found out I was being charged $230 dollars for overweight and oversized luggage haha. WHATEVER – I was glad I got to bring the few extra pairs of shoes that Lena would allow me to pack in my suitcase. Worth the extra charges in MY opinion….at least that’s what I keep telling myself.

After my luggage crisis, I went through security and OF COURSE my carry-on was pulled because it was jam-packed full of stuff. Luckily the girl was very nice and realized I wasn’t trying to sneak dangerous toxins onboard and let me go pretty quickly without giving me too much grief. So then I rolled my incredibly heavy carry-ons down to my gate. Of course, one would not fit into the bin overhead, but the Delta lady just asked if I would like a bag to take some things out so that it would fit. So I pulled out my trusty “Paper or Plastic Neither” tote and filled it with some of the goods that were causing my bag to puff out and everything was fine. The flight to ATL was quick and painless. As soon as I got there, I had trouble finding my gate but asked someone and then problem was ceased. I had a long time to wait and as I sat there listening to music, reading, etc., I began to question myself…as any normal person would. Was I really doing the right thing? All signs seemed to point in the right direction but I really wasn’t sure. I don’t know ANYone in this country really…just people that I am trusting will help me but who knows if they will? What if they are unfriendly? What if I hate my job? What if I don’t adjust? What about culture shock? What if Kim Jon decides to bomb the country while I’m there??? What if what IF….then I look to my left and a small Korean boy sat down beside of me and gave me the biggest most adorable smile I think I’ve ever seen….thank you God.