Just so that
I cover as much as possible I’m going to split this into three stories
1. Flight or fight
My trip from
Cape Town to Jozi was lovely but uneventful. I got a window seat which was
lovely and I did cherish looking out over our country for the last time but
after a while there were clouds and I closed my eyes and slept a little. I must
add that I felt very grown up and capable the whole time...I still do.
At Jo'burg
the drama began. My flights luggage took really long to come out, and when it
did it came out on the wrong carousel. It took me really long to get my luggage
and when I finally came out to domestic arrivals I couldn't find Noma who had
my passport which I needed to get onto the next flight. I finally found
her at my check in gate and it was a blessing she met me there because...
British airways had allowed me through to Jozi with 38kg of luggage. But when I
came to check in at Quatar, the gated me heavy and I had to either pay R380 per
kilo I was overweight or just take things out of my bag right there. R380 in
jou mag! Can you believe it! Since I didn't have R3000 to spare I had to
unpack, luckily my hand luggage could take four extra kilo's and Noma was still
with me to post the rest of my stuff home again. What a blessing she was, she
was lovely and wonderful and I was so grateful to have her there. When we
finally sorted out my luggage I went to check in and the check in guys said I was
too late, sjoe did I throw a little fit. I told him about the late luggage and
having to unpack and he took pity on me and said, “you're pushing it, but okay,
you're the last one” after that everything was smooth.
I boarded my
flight and watched Disney movies all the way to Doha, I had access to the
internet in Doha airport so I checked my mail and chatted to Ferron, Yumna and
Sinclair. Left my mum some offline messages and boarded my next flight on which
I slept almost all the way. I even slept through a mealtime.
The arrival at Incheon
 |
| Incheon International Airport |
Customs searched my bags when I arrived in Incheon, it took long but they didn't find anything. I was not nervous but I did feel a little annoyed that I had to open and close my bags that I packed so beautifully twice before I needed anything from them. Silke and her
friend Brandon met me at Incheon airport and escorted me to the hotel that
Teach Korea had arranged for me. I however had to pay for the hotel. A whopping
KRW 50 000! It wasn't that much actually, it's something like R300 and Silke
and her friend said it was reasonable for the quality of hotel. I was a nice
room that I didn't sleep in at all because that very night Silke and Brandon
took me to Seoul to party. I met an american korean called Sarah Oh and it turned
out she was the one who interviewed me and gave me the post in Chungnam. We
went o a place called Itaewon (I think that's how you spell it) and had supper,
my first Korean meal. No western food at all. It was nice, we also drank Korean
liquor. I can't remember what it's called but it's a lot like cane. Unfortunate
they don’t have cream soda here so I couldn't have cane and cream soda :-(
We stayed the night in a love motel. They are called love motels because they are affordable, charge per night and usually only have one bed. I felt positively scandalous, especially because Brandon and Sarah posed as a couple to buy the room and then snuck Silke and I in :-/what a fist night. We stayed up quite late, talking and drinking and eventually fell asleep. I think I slept for three hours and then couldn't anymore. My jet lag was being irritating. I woke up at five and didn't have anything at all to do so I just lay and absorbed the Koreaness of it all before we went back to my hotel and I could meet the Korean version of my agency coordinator who would put me on a bus to my little town of Buyeo. Pronounced like vuyo, but with a soft P in the front.
My apartment, co-teacher and more helpful
blessings
Well let me
say upfront that I have only met my co-teacher once but she is not the helpful
blessing from this segment.
My
co-teacher and the local co-ordinator met me at the bus stop and brought to my apartment in a car. When I got here they asked me if I had any questions and I
had a million. First and for most, where is my school. I will be leaving for
school in a little over twenty minutes and I still don't know where it is. They
told me I have to take a bus from the bus stop they picked me up at (where the
hell that was I didn't know) and get to Hongsan, which is where my school is.
There was nothing else they could tell me, they had very little English and didn't
understand when I asked for directions. When they could see that we were in
trouble, because we couldn't really get the directions clear they called in
assistance. Welcome Shaun and Theresa :-) Shaun is British and Theresa is
American and together we sorted out the whole mess. They took me to dinner and
showed me where the bus terminal is and how to get a bus and they helped me buy
bedding because my apartment didn't have any (and I left the bedding I packed behind
in Jozi).
 |
| The view from outside my apartment. |
I started
this email in my apartment this morning and continued it in transit and I am
now at my school and ready to start my first day. I'm early, but rather early
than late.
I am not
homesick yet but I must admit it's hard to see new things and not be able to
tell Sinclair about them instantly. I'm sure I'll get used to it, or just get a
phone and bombard him with texts, whichever comes first.
I love you
all and hope that you are as happy as I am.
Hugs and
smiles
Me
No comments:
Post a Comment