I made it to Seoul! Right now I’m at an internet cafe/gaming room a block from the hotel I’m staying at. The format is set to Korean, naturally, so navigating is a bit of a problem. It’s really busy so I don’t’ want to bother the attendant who has his hands full already and doesn’t speak English. I’ll muddle through. I remember the layout pretty well so I now what links go where for the most part, even though I don’t know what they say. If I get stuck I can always cut and paste and find a translator program.
My flight yesterday was great. From Chicago to San Francisco flew by and Singapore Airlines to Seoul wasn’t as long as I thought it would be. Singapore airlines gives you a fantastic flying experience. I flew economy so it wasn’t the Four Star Ritz experience the first class section received, but it was still nice and comfortable. The aircraft is styled in warm tans and browns and soft oranges. The seats are big and luckily I had an exit row. Gorgeous stewardesses shashay around in pretty wraparound dresses and sandals.
The meal selection included lunch and dinner with chocies of Korean noodles, Indian Vegetarian, Beef and rice, and a chicken dish. I ate everything which is a rarity for me and airline food.
Each seat was equipped with a personal tv with dozens of movies and tv selections as well as a game section and mini remote that doubled as a controller.
The flight literally flew by and once I arrived I walked into a modern, sleek, and beautiful airport. Did I mention they won best world wide airport in 2005 and 2006? I should because every few feet a sign or sticker or plaque reminded me. Kudos to them because it’s well deserved. After passing through immigration I located the nearest phone and, after purchasing some water for change, I called my Director. He was already there and ran over and helped me with my bags.
He’s a great guy and his English is perfect. We drove from Incheon Airport, which he explained is on a little island, and headed for Seoul by way of the airport only expressway (we need one of those back home). We talked about Seoul and Korea and he said that Korea is still classified as a third world country so I shouldn’t expect everything to be the same as back home. He also said that Seoul is densely populated but also very homogeneous so I should be prepared for a few stares. No problem. I dealt with that in India and it was more funny to me than off putting.
He took me to a hotel near his home where I will be staying until my place is ready. After dropping off the bags he took me out to dinner. I was surprised to find that each table has a built in grill where the customers cook their own meal! The dish is called Samgyupsal and you start off by grilling slices of pork with kimchi. We added garlic on the grill too. We both had bowls of noodles with sauces that we stirred. When the meat was ready he sliced it and combined the meat, kimchi, and garlic on a lettuce leaf with a bit of sauce. It was tasty, different, but tasty.
The waiter also brought over a bottle of raspberry wine. Delicious. I couldn’t even taste any alcohol. I’m going to have to beware of the stuff because it was so good and I can see myself having it with every meal. Afterward, we went to a bar where my director ran into a few of his friends. He also called another teacher, who was close by, to join us. We drank and watched a Korean-Uruguay soccer match. Good times. The other teacher brought along his friend who teaches Korean. Everyone told me that it will be easy to learn the Korean language. I’m looking forward to starting lessons and trying to figure out all the characters.
By the end of the evening I was dead tired and went back to the hotel to sack out. This morning I’ve been exploring and taking pictures. I’ll post them as soon as I figure out how to download them onto this computer. I need to buy a converter soon for my laptop.
Well until next time!
